Greetings folks. What with one thing or another, I'd thought I'd stockpile some of these up and then blast through them all in one sitting. I'd like to say this would heighten the excitement for you, bringing you slowly ever closer to the vinegar strokes of blog reading before finally shooting my literary wad all over your faces as you find yourself shaking and quivering with ecstasy. Truth of the matter is, I'm a lazy so and so at the best of times and as much as I love writing, sometimes the idea of it does get a bit tedious. All good things are worth the wait though. Suck it up.
So, confession time: I like wrestling.
Yes, that programming with the oiled up beefcakes slapping each other about, pretending to fight each other whilst dealing with ludicrously scripted storylines, terrible acting and ridiculously sterotyped characters. Or as I like to think of it: Eastenders with more baby oil.
Obviously my love for this stemmed from my school days when all of the classic 80's wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior first captured my attention. Even back then, it wasn't really cool to admit to liking wrestling but I loved the sheer over the top spectacle of it all. Mainly WWE (or WWF as it was then known) but occasionally I would dip my virtual toe into WCW when they showed it on ITV on a Saturday teatime. It's something that's drifted in and out of my life throughout the years and while I still don't watch an awful lot of it (although my friend Chis E and I watch Wrestlemania each year religiously), I still get to keep abreast of both the storyline and business aspect of it through the quite brillant website Lords Of Pain (www.lordsofpain.net)
Aside from the programme updates and all the stuff I've discovered from the various news articles, there is an impressive cadre of writers offering their tuppence worth on all aspects of the business which just add to the flavour - and of these, my favourite writer is by far and away the gentleman known as Hustle. Not only is his writing top drawer and his opinions more often than not backed up with a slew of research and a genuine love of the subject matter but he also put together a daily post streak that topped a good two years and every single day was a delight to read, even the occasional repost where time and circumstances didn't allow for something fresh. Which in part was something that inspired this crazy challenge of mine and so with that we finally get round to the task of the day: write some fan mail. For those of you who have read this far without being bored, here it is:
Hey Hustle,
My reason for writing to you is two fold. The first is to say a huge thank you for the work you do over at LOP - for many years now, you've been one of my favourite Main Page writers and while I don't get to watch as much wrestling as I would like, it's good folk like yourself that keep alive my interest in the product. Your columns are always interesting, insightful and laced with the kind of humour I can get behind. Oh, and I was in total agreement with you on the whole Tito/CM Punk burial thing (I loved that podcast!) :o)
The second reason I'm writing has been more a kick up the arse to write for the first reason. Like yourself, I've been a writer (on and off) for a good few years now and I've recently started a new blog documenting my attempt to do 365 new things (1 every day) for the next year - partially inspired by your amazing streak on LOP. One of the tasks was send in some fan mail and given that I've always wanted to show my appreciation for your work, this seemed like a good a time as any to do it!
If you want to check out the blog, you can find it here (http://mikeediablo.blogspot.co.uk), although this is in no way compulsory or reason for my writing to you. I just wanted to give props where props are deserved and to once again say thank you for keeping a scruffy Northern wrestling fan from Manchester England entertained - along with the rest of the readers over at LOP - while crossing something off my list and doing something I've been meaning to so for a good while anyway!
Keep up the good work fella, it's very much appreciated!
Cheers
Mike
I've not had a response and in truth I'm not expecting one (although I think he may have had a cheeky look at the blog) - I just wanted to show some love to someone whose work I've enjoyed immensely over the past few years and hopefully will continue to enjoy for some time to come.
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