Gosh, two years. Two years for this site. It seems like only yesterday I was logging onto the 'net at college and looking at those hallowed blue pages, a multitude of different writers, some good, one or two really awful, but there was always something fun to read, a new opinion being expressed. Its been over a year since I wrote for this site, I can't really say I thought my loss was any great shakes, and looking at some of the new guys coming up now such as Shaddax and "Dean Malenko", I'm certainly not needed back. However, CRZ asked a bunch of us former slashers to contribute to the celebration of his site's 2nd anniversary! I'd like to be able to say that I went through all of the [slash] archives and picked out all my favourite columns, but I didn't I'm afraid. I don't like reading stuff I wrote for some reason, and there are far too many people that I liked on this site to make a good list of their favourites, and I'm also really lazy, so I'll just have to settle for saying that I REALLY HATED THIS COLUMN :)

I guess one thing about my old columns were, for the most part, they were largely more optimistic than my thoughts on wrestling these days. Thing was, I really enjoyed wrestling, or more specifically I enjoyed WCW. Now WCW is owned by the WWF, something I could never have contemplated when I was writing for this site. I doesn't seem all that long, but so much has changed! First off ECW died just as I was really getting into it, then the WWF engulfs almost the entire industry! Sure there's CZW and a load more indies, there's *snigger* Hogan's proposed promotion, but lets face it, the WWF owns sports entertainment! This worries me in one aspect, the way that there's no longer 'another option' for wrestlers. What do I mean? Well back in the good ol' days, a wrestler had more than one potential employer. If one organisation didn't want a guy, there was still a chance of him finding a job elsewhere. Wrestlers who feel under-appreciated and badly treated could leave and still get a decent pay packet elsewhere, or they had the bargaining chip of defection to 'the other side' in order to give leverage to their case. Look at the Radicalz, what would have happened if the WWF didn't exist? What if WCW was all of wrestling? They'd have no choice but to keep on being ignored, or they wouldn't be able to put food on the table at home. I'm afraid that there are guys getting lost in the shuffle, like where the hell is Nova? You get guys like Big Vito having to try and find a spot down in Mexico because the only group in the USA worth a damn doesn't want him. Plus, the WWF can pretty much treat their talent as shoddily as they like and there's very little they can do unless they fancy risking their careers. The silver lining here is obvious however, no more Brian Christopher or Road Dogg clogging up the screen with their total lack of rhythm! No more Chyna being over-pushed despite her complete lack of talent! Hopefully pretty soon we'll be able to say 'no more Buff Bagwell' too, now isn't that a great thought? Hmm, maybe this isn't so bad afterall.

As for how WCW is going to turn out, well I'll have to wait and see. The 'Invasion' PPV isn't going to be the great indicator of what's to come I don't think, WWF vs. WCW just tells us what WWF wrestlers against WCW wrestlers will be like, give them a month or so of the actual WCW show before calling it all a dismal failure, okay?

Well I guess I should take the opportunity to mention what I've been doing since. As some might be aware, I write for the Oracles War Room, which has been going for a year now, not bad for a failure of a website huh? If you get the chance, stop on by and give us some feedback on what you see there. I have also been writing reviews for Kurt Schulz over at the music site Mesomorph Enduros. Kurt is also starting a brand new venture in the form of Vox Tops which I will also be contributing to and you should definitely check out. Also, hopefully my own movie review site will be open at some point soon, so keep an eye on Vox Tops for that.

I quick shout out to some of the writers I used to share pages with, some of whom have become good friends: Rob "Mr. T" Harris, Butch Rosser, Josh Haggard, Jerry Root, Shawn Colton, Tanvir, Rebecca, and anyone else who I might have forgotten, you guys all RULE! I'd also like to give a special mention to my girl Sharon Austin, who I would never have met if we had not both written for this very site. I guess I owe a massive thanks to CRZ and [slash] in a funny kind of way for that. I'm glad that CRZ offered me the chance to talk to you like this. This is a remarkable site, no banners of any sort, just pure wrestling opinion and, of course, CRZ's (now exclusive?) recaps. I'm very glad I could be a part of it, and I think that it's a credit to CRZ and his site that when sites all around are closing down, this can still keep on going without any of the big web sponsorships and big names behind them (well, except for Chris) that many other sites had. Here's hoping you're around for quite some time to come, Chris.

Thanks for reading, and take care.