We have two new features up on the site today covering the ongoing situation regarding the departure of two of WONF4W podcast hosts and personalities.
We look at Mike Coughlin’s side of the story, and how he was forced out basically because of Dave Meltzer and Todd Martin, plus his thoughts on Metlzer’s criticism over how Coughlin covered a UFC show in Las Vegas and didn’t cover a Phil Brooks press conference announcing his signing with UFC.
Also featured is our look at Martin’s appearance Tuesday night on Rob McCarron’s podcast Shake them Ropes. we break down what his future may hold, including what he said and didn’t say about his current status at WONF4W.
Couple of notes up on the site today, including botched priorities on WrestlingObserver.com and how they missed one of the bigger breaking news stories of the day regarding Seth Rollins no longer using the Curb Stomp while managing to report some weird non-story about the price of the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight. We also have a look at Dave Meltzer finally being forced to admit a difference in audience numbers between taped and live shows when it comes to WWE Raw.
Our feature story this weekend covers some of the biggest podcasts in wrestling, both paid and unpaid, from how they cover the current scene, whether they break or report news vs whether they report and analyze various shows.
Wednesday News Update
** Early, and short, update today as I have other things to attend to. But we should be back periodically with notes and updates as time permits.
** As a followup to our feature on Todd Martin’s appearance last night on STR, it’s interesting to note that Martin’s departure likely occurred after Alvarez tried to get the whole dustup between Martin & Coughlin to just blow over. Martin and Meltzer wanted Coughlin gone, and saw his remarks to Martin as a “last straw” of sorts. Alvarez, while not exactly defending Coughlin, was hopeful to just keep the status quo. Ultimately, what happened was Coughlin was barred from the site, and Martin—fed up with Alvarez’s blasé attitude toward Coughlin’s attack on his character—refused to do anymore F4Daily.
** More on the story of Meltzer calling into question Coughlin’s coverage of that infamous UFC show, according to those in the know, Coughlin was told at the last minute possible that he would be covering the show, and was unprepared for the demand. He didn’t even have a laptop with him, and had to file his reports from his phone in order to appease Meltzer’s wishes. This is the latest in a string of stories casting Meltzer as somewhat of an out of touch control freak, prone to eccentricity and poor communication skills.
** Joe Babinsak is back in action with a piece over at the Camel Clutch Blog looking at how the stigma of fakeness in pro wrestling has changed. We’ll have a more detailed look at Babinsak’s latest essay later on today or tomorrow.
** We’ll also have a conversation with, and profile on, Justin LaBar coming up. He’s the writer and podcast host who broke the story—for FREE—earlier this week on WWE’s shelving of the Curb Stomp finisher.
