EW(R)'s Legacy

[TeemuFoundation]

Hey, guys.

 

I know this isn't TEW related, per se, but I felt this was the right forum for this, anyway, If not, mods can fewl free to move this.

 

But I was thinking about the anniversary of the EW series and how the EW series as a whole has shaped the way people view the wrestling business. As in, I'm sure I'm not the only one who got interested in the "inner workings" of the wrestling business by getting into the EW games.

 

Guys like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels were always high rated in EWR, and, being young, of course it made me think that these guys must be awesome, and the style that they work must be the correct way to wrestle, hah.

 

EWR was also a source of sorts for "smark knowledge" back in the day when my country only got the WWF, and you got "street cred" on the Finnish message boards by not being a "WWF noob" and knowing what went on in the indy scene. And if on top of that you knew what was going in Japan, you were master rank.

 

EWR made me seek out these companies I had never even heard of like TNA, RoH, CZW, and so on. I'm sure it has shaped me as a wrestling fan more than I even know.

 

And the relationships section of EWR was just amazing! All this inside dirt way, way, way before I ever subscribed to the Observer. "Triple H doesn't like Chris Jericho? This is why he is held back in the midcard! Damn you Triple H!" Hah, I can't be the only one.

 

There was also THIS photoshoot:

 

http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/pictures/styles2.jpg

 

That TNA photoshoot was used in a picture pack I used when pictures became a thing in EWR, and the picture pack includes my earliest memories of certain wrestlers. Especially AJ, Punk, Daniels, Joe. This was before our family got a high speed internet, so I couldn't waste my time on the internet all day, so I spent a lot of time browsing the EWR database.

 

Needless to say, when I booked WWE in EWR, my shows consisted of AJ vs. Daniels and Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk, etc. And I felt like a wrestling booking genius. "Why doesn't the WWE do this, it's so easy!"

 

Would I have discovered independent wrestling without EWR? I was such a huge wrestling fan that it was probably inevitable, but EWR absolutely opened an entire new world for me, and it would be interesting to hear if you guys have similar stories to share.

 

It's the 20th anniversary of the EW series, so this feels rather fitting.

[Woodsmeister]

I totally agree it helped a lot of people learn the insides of wrestling and probably helped the ROH boom period of people buying DVDs as I wouldn't have bought so many back in the day if it wasn't for EW and TEW.

 

I remember finding EWD just as WWE bought WCW in 2001 and for some reason the WCW workers had a - before there names so you could distinguish who was on which roster, it was such an exciting time (shame it was such a letdown - the invasion angle) EW has never been a let down.

 

One time remember been at a house party and getting the taxi home at 6am I remember EWR 1.3 was going to be released it had some big updates if I remember correctly might have been pictures added which blew my mind and yes I remember them TNA pics brings back modding memories, so after a all night party I played EWR all day

 

So thank you for the memories and here's to many more even though I'm now 31 and still modding