One Man Rant :: The Introduction to the Website... of the original hobby-wide magazine that used to be a little column *breath*

So how did this happen?

For those of you that have read the first two issues of The Mark, as I was able to get them out, you probably where wondering were the third issue has been this last year (since issue two featured the 2004 Mark Awards... ahaha, ha, sigh). Well long story short, and I'm sure you'll find out more about it in future rants, but Pro Wrestling Magazine moved it's offices from Rochester to New York City (well more specificly Brooklyn) and brought me with them as a Senior Staff Writer (yeap, promotion). Which more or less put The Mark on hiatus as life got itself in order. Now with things settling down and life in the Big City treating me well, I've decided to turn The Mark into it's own website, so that I don't have to wait till every feature or special feature is finished before the issue is posted on fwrestling.com. Why? Well even though the general reaction to things has been positive, I sure I haven't been quick on the turnover, what with two issues in 2005 and the third set to come out a year after the second. Well, the turnover... and the HTML, which makes things so much easier when I don't have to do it myself.

And after so many features are up on the website, then I can put a collection up on fwrestling.com, and I'll point it out to anyone who wants to see the new Rant that is bound to go with each collected issue. For the comic book fans out there it'll be like a trade paperback coming out after so many sweet issues o' content.

Wrestling writer and comic fanboy? Ahem, yes. Quiet you.

Okay, with all that said... there are people that are new to The Mark, starting with this blog. Which would just show how this little column has grown since The Bookmark. heh, And if you're new...

Then you’re probably wondering who I am and what I’m all about, aren’t you?

For that matter, why a man you’ve probably never heard of is putting together all sorts of features for a hobby-wide website. I'll take something from the first One Man Rant to explain myself...

Well my name is Russel David and this, if you haven’t realized yet, is The Mark! I’m a twenty-five year old Calgary-native, canuckle head born and raised… and a journalism major from York University in the greater Toronto area. So growing up both in the east and west of Canada, where did I parlay my journalism degree? Rochester, New York of all places. Hey, nobodies perfect. What I found in Rochester though was a Staff Writing job with Pro Wrestling Magazine or PWM. That job has only helped the fruition of this concept, it’s not only given me the ability to write… but thankfully it’s opened up a number of contacts and friendships within this industry of pro wrestling.

So what do I do with those two great things, oddly enough brought up by a staff writing job on a wrestling magazine?

I take that chance given to me by the fine people at fwrestling.com and I write myself a column, a mini-magazine of sorts. For those of you, yeah all two of you, who remember my old column on the web-site of Terry Nodar’s Championship Wrestling League, that I also ran through The News wrestling web-site during my college years, called The BookMark… yep, this is very much it’s matured next step. Any fans of the old column would also be happy to know that the two main features (Casting Call, though with a new name, and Last Man Standing) are back in full force and with a host of all new attention grabbing features with ‘em.

Speaking of which, you’re probably wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into, aren’t you?

Regular Features (posts you'll see with regular consistency)

Let’s start with the start, this One Man Rant is my introduction to you the reader... and will now also become my soapbox when I need to do one of those usual "man on the street, yelling about things" style of columns. Not only will I rant about the things that have grabbed my attention, but I’ll also be telling you what you've got to look forward to... what regular features and special features I have in the pipeline. The OMR will be me with my heart on my sleeve, pulling as good as an Ivy as I can muster (which isn’t all that good, honestly, but I do know what I'm talking about, if anything), telling you what’s what from my point of view. One thing that I’ll be bound to complain about will be my lack of ability to be topical. I write for a major magazine on pro wrestling, I don't promise to pay attention. Then again, you’ll pick up on that one in a hurry. Sure I’ll talk about those big events… but don’t expect me to be the first one.

After that it’s a bit of Roleplay. If you ever thought two superstars, that're *ahem* still alive, would never meet... but you always wondered what would happen if they did. Well this is where you find out about the when and the how, when it comes to the who and the what. With Roleplay, I reeeally get to play with the rolidex I've put together over the last handful of year. The idea behind the feature is I contact one superstar and ask them the simple question "Who would you like to meet in this business, who you've never even crossed paths with at a press conference?" And talking to those I know, I set up a meeting between the two... and let superstars talk to superstars, and see where the interview takes itself. You'll get to know about the lives of two pro wrestlers, there point of view on the business, any number of things... and I won't even need to do much work, or ask any tough questions. In the end, we all win.

Must Read TV gives me the chance to spotlight my personal choice for the RP, segment, match, moment and show of the last month. Though I won't neccesarily spotlight all five choices (RP, segment, match, moment, show), expect a mix and match of atleast three everytime MRTV is posted. I'll take what has caught my eye and whore it out to the masses! Huzzah! All in all, that’s Must Read TV to a tee.

The Fantasy Wrestling Stock Exchange (FWSX) is officially the showcase of my wide knowledge of a handful of federations out there in a world full of federations, and also my favorite feature for possibly that reason. ;) Honestly though, these are the Top 25 men and women in the world of wrestling… from my POV. Everyone has a different opinion I’m sure, and in no way is this a list that’s been figured out by a mathematic formula, but here’s hoping that if nothing else you atleast enjoy it for what you think it’s worth. I mean, it's not as if I have an affiliation to any fed out there. Though I DO have favorites. To me it is always a hell of a lot of fun to put together and every last person on each list is deserving. What I might even be most proud of is the number of communities involved, and the future possibilities that that gives this list. The only rule I gave myself is that to be on the list the person had to be active over these last month… after that, what they’ve done has determined where they are. This used to be quarterly, but with the timing of the issues, that almost spanned itself to bi-yearly... so I'm sorry to all those I've missed the ability to give a spot on the list as #1 next to former #1ers Rook Black and Karina Wolfenden, during the last half of 2005. After the next FWSX, which will encompass the first quarter of 2006, this feature'll be monthly. Phew. Mouth full. Hella fun though, as I've said.

An old favorite feature of mine is the last word of each issue, and thus it’s only fitting that the one-on-one interview is called Last Man Standing. I must admit that even though there will be no "last word" in a blog... but I'm not changing the name of the feature. Because, uh, me and the person I'll interview will still have some fisticuffs. Right. Now it’s nothing in-depth, don’t fool yourself… this won’t be Larry King Live, a Barbara Wawa Special or even Bitch With Mitch. It’s me taking those last ten minutes of the day and shooting the shit with the latest and greatest wrestlers out there. Whether the questions asked are completely asinine or actually have something to do with what’s currently happening in the career of the man or woman on the hot seat, well that’s to be seen. It’s just the fun of seeing where a handful of predetermined questions will take a conversation. Look for both Reel Wrestling features and this, the Last Man Standing interviews, from the past. Not just from the Mark issues, but from the Book Mark days of this site.

Pulped Culture. One of the two regular features that will make it's debut on this site is the Pulped Culture Grid. Simply enough it's a pro wrestlers point of view on all things currently relivent in pop culture. Not just one POV though, five or six wrestlers will give there own blurbs on five or six pop culture flavored questions. "What's the last movie you saw in the theatres?" and then ACW's Jimmy Cain goes crazy with laughter and bites a chickens head off. That sort of thing. The way things are going, answer-wise, they'll also be a little 'and this is the rest of the answer' section underneath the grid.

Thomas Ford's Book Mark. The other shiney and new feature that'll debut on the website is not actually anything I'm doing... but instead, it's from my first regular contributor, pro wrestling's own Thomas Ford. Plus it uses this projects original name in as clever a twist as we could manage. Ford takes the knowledge that he's accumulated as owner of the IWO and an advisor to tSC and... becomes a columnist. In his regular feature he'll be looking at the current atmosphere of a fed, then he'll take it's roster and book into the future, giving his spin on things. Thomas Ford has been an organizor all of this life and now this is the chance to see the "life inside my head", as he put it.

Special Features (posts you'll see anywhere from bi-monthly to yearly)

So far there are three special features, the epic VS, the original feature Reel Wrestling and also the annual hobby-wide awards, The Mark Awards.

VS, which will no doubt return down the line, is when dream matches are given a very visual reality. Not only are you given a tale of the tape, and not only is a rundown given on what could happen… but a snapshot of the colossal meeting that would never happen is hand drawn in clean lines for this very special occasion. They say a picture is worse a thousand words, anyway. The dream matches will tend to be figured out through multi-person tournaments voted on by fans on either the EWN, PTC or FW forumns. In the first VS match-up, a 32-man tournament, open to all those who have ever competed in this sport… as the fans at the EWN Forumns (www.ewnweb.net) voted, was whittled down to two men. Keith Scott Zimmerman vs Kodiak Vic Creed. Creed won. Who's up next? We'll have to wait and see.

The squared circle gets the silver screen touch with Reel Wrestling. This is another feature that’s taken completely out of my hands, well except for my deciding of whom does it of course. I give the people who know your favorite superstars the best (OOC:*cough*said character’s writer/handler) the chance to cast a movie around that personality. They get the chance to cast every last supporting character, and even other superstars important to the story, all the way up to the superstar themselves (sorry, no ‘as Himself’ roles this time around). The budget is in no way an option when it comes to putting Hollywood’s finest and the best of the indy scene in roles you’ve learned to love.

The Mark Awards came to mind as a simple column based awards ‘ceremony’, with the added bonus of making it as WORLD spanning as possible. Now to make them as world-spanning as I want this column to allow itself to be, I needed some help… and that’s where the formation of the eWrestling Associated Press (eWAP) comes in, while also doubling as a funny sound. Which was certainly a nice unexpected bonus. With the great people that make up eWAP, the Award deciding is taken out of my hands of considerably low all-encompassing knowledge and is put in the hands of a collection of individuals. And this collection of individuals is also a growing collection, might I add... up from six in 2004 to thirteen in 2005. I’ll stop ranting about it here though, and save some descriptive set-up for the feature itself. The 2005 Mark Awards, also, are just around the bend... as voted ended in February and all winners are just waiting to be annouced. Possibly one at a time.

And what else might I have to say? Introductions have been made, and features have been annouced, so as to be looked forward to with baited breath... I'll do some retro-active posting eventually, getting every feature I've ever done, onto the site as well.

Otherwise... enjoy The Mark. I know I have, otherwise my name wouldn't be in the title.