As any reader to my site has likely noticed, I don’t like doing reviews the same way anyone else does. First, I don’t consider myself to be a “journalist” of any nature, and honestly that particular title comes with all manner of baggage and expectation that I’m not down for. I worked briefly as a “video game journalist”, and the sort of politicking and drama there soured me, thus why I run a crappy little blog in my spare time. Because of this, I avoid many things such as giving arbitrary “star ratings”, grades, or percentage scores you see on most reviews – my opinions are no more important than anyone else’s, I’m just here to have a discussion. If anything I am a “reviewer” and “blogger”, and like to keep the spirit of what I write in that wheelhouse.

Secondly, I largely try to avoid reviewing in a negative manner unless something was completely disastrous and ignoring it would be me willfully hiding something (an “elephant in the room” so-to-speak). I have had a couple of instances where I read something and found some issues that I highlight, but I never go out of my way to “bury” something. I did however really make one author mad once by pointing out his past as a antisemitic conspiracy theorist, to which he found my review, bombarded my email with a drunken rant calling me an “intellectual bigot”, and more-or-less cursed me. I kept my review as-is, one that was largely positive despite my qualms, and added a disclaimer that I should have listened to my instinct – even in a situation like that, I tried to “keep my cool”. That dude can have his internet beef somewhere else.

I honestly don’t like the modern-day overly-critical slant that journalists employ for every entertainment medium – this honestly extends to the news as well. Contrarianism and playing “Devil’s Advocate” 24/7 is tiresome and performative. This new way of thinking involves “hate viewing” (real or pretend) or simply acting outraged about trivial matters to generate page views, clicks, or fake engagement. Those sorts of reviews are honestly a dime a dozen on the Internet, and I’m sure those guys rake in tons of money by getting red-faced and acting personally offended by every little thing that happens. I make an active effort not to act like that and don’t see a benefit to trashing people’s jobs and generally being a horrible person just to look cool on the Internet.

In terms of professional wrestling reviews, there is an extra layer at play. I try not to go “behind-the-scenes” because I have no clue if any of the “news” we see on so-called dirt-sheets is worthwhile, and I’d rather not perpetuate false truths. “Wrestling Journalism” is almost entirely made up of dudes writing weird corporate fan-fiction, and I’m fairly certain industry insiders laugh at them all the time. I feel that trying to know everything about wrestling can somewhat hurt the show a bit. Since I watch this stuff with my young son, preserving a bit of “kayfabe” has made us both really enjoy what we’ve seen. It’s refreshing honestly. I will try my best to always be positive because life’s too short otherwise.