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| Our 3rd Anniversary | BrewGuy |
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/3 - RISE OF THE CRZ MACHINE Three years. Doesn't seem like much, does it? But bay-beh, is it ever something. I wish I could remember HOW I found out about [slash]. Curse my short-term memory. But I do remember reading my first CRZ recap. It seems like 10 years ago sometimes. That's the Internet for ya - When a mere 365 days pass on our calander, it's seems like generations have passed online. Travel back a short distance in time with me a little bit, if you would (feel free to imagine your computer screen getting wavy, or Wayne and Garth standing behind you, waving their hands up and down while making the "Travel Back In Time" noise). Once Upon A Time (what'd you expect, a SPECIFIC time machine?), I happened upon slashwrestling.com and the original CRZ EZBoard. I read some recaps, and I liked them. I liked them a lot. Before I knew it, I was headin' there every week. Then I saw "Join The Crew!" message. 'Hey, what a cool idea!', I said to myself. And myself said 'Yer right - maybe you oughta give it a try!'. And then I said to myself "Yeah, I maybe ought to". I wavered a bit - I was a tad nervous about doing it, but then I read this in CRZ's second anniversery special message: In those rare instances when a writer can make a point in a way you haven't heard before... in a way that infuriates you to the point of taking action... in a way that resonates so strongly you have to pound your fist to the table and say "yes, FINALLY that's it..." in a way that takes everything you believe in and makes it dance on the head of a pin... when that can happen between you as a reader and someone who has made a contribution to this site, or if you've written something that has reached ten thousand readers - or a few hundred - or one, that's the SHIT, man. That's the stuff. That sealed the deal - I decided to write, and so I did. Who knew I would enjoy it so much. So, I kept at it - posting articles not every week, but every now and then. After a few articles, I noticed that "[slash] wrestling" began appearing underneath my name at the end of my articles. I liked that. I liked that a lot. A lot has changed for me on this site over the past year. I started with "Yin and Yang", proceded to "Brew Spew", and currently make up titles as I go. Along the way, I started doing recaps of pay-per-views. My first was No Mercy on October 21st, 2001, and it was done as an attempt to walk a mile in Chris' shoes. 7 hours and 15 minutes later, I was extremely tired, the sun was up, and I went to bed with an even deeper respect of Chris' dedication to [slash]. I must have liked it though, because I've done every pay-per-view since - with the exception of the 2002 King Of The Ring, 'cause I was THERE, and ridin' on a bus for a total of almost 20 hours tends to tire you out, and I haven't had time to view the tape since (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!). 19 articles (this one makes the Big 2-0), 8 PPV recaps, 1 on-site report, thousands of EZboard/Wienerville posts, and a partridge in a pear tree - I've put in a lot of hours doing it, and I'm pretty proud of my work. I certainly have not been perfect (as this little example of Chris layin' the smack down on my grizzly ass (and rightfully so) will attest to), but each piece has been a learning experience, thanks to the great feedback I've been fortunate enough to receive. Ok, so now yer all sayin' "This guy is all 'ME! ME!!! ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!! This is supposed to be about Z! Z!!! Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z!!!!!!'" Well, see, that's what I'm leading up to. All this 'work' I've done, all the time I've spent, all the material I've submitted that I'm so proud of.......and I can't even hold a candle to the Recapping Machine known as C.....R.....Z. Let's put aside all of his recapping years before [slash] became a reality, and concentrate on the past three years. Three years of running the site. THREE YEARS of recaps, NEVER missing one. Think about that for a sec. Two recaps EVERY week times fifty-two weeks in a year times three years....that's 312 recaps. THREE HUNDRED AND TWELVE. And that's NOT including Nitro and Thunder OR TNA shows, so you can add a whoooole lot MORE to that number. All for you. All for free. No matter how good or bad the show was, we could still count on a recap. No popups. No ads. Just recaps and opinions. And it's ALWAYS been that way. As a result, [slash] is a very rare, and very beautiful thing. Thanks to [slash], many other talented writers have gotten a chance to strut their stuff. The Cubs Fan, Drop, Llakor, Seadawg, Michaelangelo, Tom Dean, cfgb, Justin Shaprio, E.C. Ostermeyer, Ian Mowat, Tanya, DrewDeuce, Jim Ross Jr., Hot Newz, and many, many more. All have contributed to [slash] - with recaps, with opinions, and with hilarity. I thank them all, and I think we all are grateful for the opportunity - an opportunity that anybody can get, if they want it - to contribute to [slash] and prove that the phrase "high-quality wrestling site" is not an oxymoron. Geez, all this, and I haven't even mentioned Wienerville yet. OR the Year In Quotes. OR the r.s.p-w awards. Chris does SO much work on this site, it really boggles the mind. I have learned so very much - as a fan, and as a writer - over this past year. In speaking with Llakor, he told me that the last two articles I've done (on the Edmonton fan run-in and Shawn Michaels 'lying') are the best I've done to date. I have my personal favorites, but that's awfully kind of him. And it's been awfully kind of everybody who has furnished me with so much great feedback - on my articles, on my recaps, on my Musical Markouts. Positive and negative, it's great to hear from you, and I appreciate it more than I can say. Getting people to think about things in different ways, having them get me to think about things in different ways.....well, as Chris said - it's the SHIT. And all of it's been possible, thanks to [slash]. So Chris, please allow me to extend my personal thanks for allowing me to contribute to your site, my admiration at your amazing dedication to it, and most of all, my heart-felt congratulations reaching this very significant milestone. The [slash] is strong - and it'll just keep getting stronger. And that's the bottom line - 'cause CRZ said so. BrewGuy [slash] wrestling |
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