Sorry for the trouble with some of the links at the top, especially the FW Central link. One of the add-ons used to block spam went out of business and apparently their site got gobbled up by someone. With some help I’ve deactivated the add-on and everything seems to be good. Private message me on the forums at Chad if you notice any other issues — or if you know how to get a hold of me in the more direct ways, feel free to do that as well.

If you’re new to FWrestling.com, then you might be thinking, “20 years… what the…?”  If you’re a long-timer, then you might be thinking, “Didn’t they just have that 15 year banner a couple of years ago?”

Either way, you’re right.

Twenty years is a long time.  What became FantasyWrestling.com in 1998 and then FWrestling.com, first started way back in mid-1994 as “FW Central,” thus the ongoing name of our forums. (So yes, we’re actually closer to 21 years than 20!)  Back in the pre-WWW days, the Prodigy online community had a robust fantasy wrestling community that had been running alongside the “regular” wrestling community.  If you know names today like Gabe Sapolsky or Dave Lagana, among others — those were our peers on the ‘real’ side, while we were on the ‘other’ side.  (For a great view into those days and beyond, see Gregg Gethard’s column published on Salon and elsewhere.)

As ‘web pages’ became something, we jumped on the bandwagon.  First there had been a newsletter by mail, and now it became a website covering news from all the leagues on the ‘circuit.’  News, rumors, features — all of it intended to add new aspects to the growing game. (You can see the 1997 version of the original site here). As Prodigy died its slow death, we stepped away to help create a certain “real” wrestling website or two (e.g. 1wrestling.com and ecwwrestling.com) and then opened what is today FWrestling.com in 1998, first focused on the CSWA and then expanded to allow Prodigy leagues to move over and then new leagues to be created.

For those of us that started in the 90s, we remember there were older guys in the hobby.  For example, one ran a league almost exclusively so his two teenage sons would have a chance to play and he could monitor what was going on and interact with them.  Odd to think that we’re now the age of “the older guys” and still around. Those of us who grew up loving to hate Ric Flair are joined by those who grew up loving to love Stone Cold and now those who have grown up loving to love (and then hate) John Cena.  Such is the cycle of [wrestling] life, huh?

But I digress. FWrestling.com has always been the key place to enjoy the hobby itself.  There have been plenty of other news and community sites along the way, a lot of them mired in drama and snarky discussion. The simple fact is that while we have a lovely community here, we haven’t done a great job in a few years of giving you a chance to connect, and in bringing in new fans to be a part of our fun, underground hobby. So it’s time to jump back in and see what another 20 years of hype, story and excitement has to offer.
So that said, welcome to the new FWrestling.com.  For those of you who have been around, you’ll see some old features brought back in a new way and an easier way to use.  We’re open to hearing what you want to see and what would make things more fun.  The goal here is to allow you to continue to tell and hype your stories in a broader way, allowing a large community (and beyond) to get a glimpse into how you play the game, and to hopefully find a way to join in and continue telling the story.

Because, as we all know, our stories are even better than the real thing.

-Chad  (chad[at]fwrestling.com)