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THE SMARK REPORT DEBUTS

I’m proud to introduce the first edition of the Smark Report. There are many of you out there asking yourself, “What’s a Smark”? The definition of a Smark is a fan who believes he or she is “smart” based on a certain amount of inside knowledge, but is perceived by someone else (usually someone within the industry) to be less informed than the fan himself  or herself believes, combination of the words smart and mark. Feel free to look it up, it’s become an actual professional wrestling term. I felt this would the perfect name for my column. I’m clearly a huge fan of the professional wrestling industry (mark), I believe I’m smart to the inside beliefs and ways of the industry, and there’s no doubt I will be marking out on many Superstars and topics that will arise in the future.  This is not my first stint as a Pro Wrestling Columnist. I’ve written many columns in the past, had the honor of interviewing some great wrestling talents, and I’ve had the privilege of helping some successful independent wrestling companies by writing about their shows and helping them market their product. I can’t tell you how excited I am about my resurrection into the world of opinionated wrestling columnists. My goal is to not only entertain those who read my columns and interviews, but to help the wrestling industry in a positive manner. You will never read a column from me that trashes or defaces talent or the business. I love Professional Wrestling too much to be a martyr or to have a negative impact on the business. Of course I will have opinions that people will not agree with. That’s the point behind being a columnist. However, I refuse to be a negative influence on the world of Professional Wrestling. With that being said, allow me to jump into a topic I believe to be very interesting.

I’m the first to admit, 15 years ago or more, as soon as I saw a “Diva” making her way to the ring for a match, I would change the TV channel to something else. I was not a fan of women’s wrestling and I thought the talent was not entertaining. Then along came talents such as Lita and Trish Stratus and I began to pay closer attention due to their tremendous athletic ability in the ring. I’ll never forget how amazed I was to see Lita do a moonsault from the top rope during her debut. Today’s product is even better! I’ve become a huge fan (mark) of the current Diva talent. Entertainers such as Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Becky Lynch, and many more have revolutionized the industry. It never ceases to amaze me the moves, athleticism, and tremendous mic skills they all possess. The WWE is doing a tremendous job finding and developing talent in NXT. My 8 year old daughter had zero interest in Professional Wrestling. She would scoff at the television and demand the channel be changed when she saw me watching my favorite WWE programming. One evening, I decided to take a chance and see if I could sway her opinion of the entertainment her Dad has loved passionately since the age of 10. I pulled out my IPad and brought up my subscription to the WWE Network. I asked her to watch the famous match between Bayley and Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover in Brooklyn. As she watched that match, her eyes lit up and she started flinching and jumping at every dynamic move those women pulled off in the ring that night. My daughter was instantly hooked! All she talks about is how she wants to be like Bayley and she wants to watch as many Diva matches as I will let her. She has also started collecting her own Diva wrestling action figures and uses them to spin off her own dynamic matches. The WWE has made a tremendous impact on my daughter and countless other young ladies in the world. Watching these ladies perform has become inspiring and motivating for many women, both young and older. I would like to petition the WWE to take the Divas division a step further and introduce another title for the women to battle over. This side of the business is growing tremendously and now’s the time to help elevate some of the lower card Divas by having their own version of the Intercontinental title. Eventually, it will be necessary to introduce a Divas tag team division. I can’t wait to see how the talent will continue to grow and entertain us and possibly convert more non-believers like my once ignorant self.

I welcome your feedback and will do everything in my power to reply to everyone who graciously takes the time to write to me. Feel free to email me at thesmarkreport@yahoo.com.