I’ve been dreading writing this column because there are way too many people to thank and I’m bound to forget a bunch of people, so I believe I’ll keep this one short and sweet.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t begin by thanking all of the fans who have been coming back to TBL for a decade now. Granted, I suspected that most of the hits that we got back in 1996 are not the same people who have been visiting for the last few years, but every now and again I get someone who e-mails me reminiscing about the good old days of The Balrog’s Lair! Thanks to you guys for your feedback and for your responses – you make having such a gigantic website a lot of fun!
Of course, I have to thank all of the fine folks who’ve worked at TBL over the years. Now this is where I’ll forget more than I remember, but of the ones who are sticking out in my head I have to thank the following columnists: Michael Gelfand, Eric Benner (for better or worse), Cindy Barnes (Wrestlebabe), Vom DeKind, Sam Jerry, Michael Blaszkowski, JW Storm, Iggy (one of my friends from my hometown), Sean O’Leary, Matt Healing (one of my fraternity brothers who did the Trivia on the site for a while), Lou Corsaro, Josh Fox, Rick Elsey, and of course, Trevor Hunnicutt.
How could I not thank the wrestlers who have made this wrestling site worth putting together in the first place? I have to thank my favorite wrestlers – Ric Flair, The Undertaker, and Vader (this is a pre-Coach’s assistant Vader we’re talking about). I thank all of those wrestlers who get saddled with the most ridiculous of gimmicks and have no way out of them like Goldust, The Headbangers, Eugene, Luna Vachon, etc. I thank the technical wrestlers who make watching wrestling extremely fun – guys like Bret Hart and Chris Benoit and even the occasional Chris Jericho match. Of course, all of the hardcore wrestlers who make watching wrestling extreme! Mick Foley is really one of the only guys who I thought was great with this particular gimmick, but Jeff Hardy was good, too. Thanks to all of the wrestlers who I’ve forgotten – especially the legends of the business that got me hooked so many years ago.
My webmasters throughout the years have been the most integral part of the operations of this site. Sidious, Dave Talbert, Martin Hawrysko, and Eddie are the main players from the past (and present). Their contributions have been invaluable to the progress and success of this website. I thank them all for their help and I openly admit that without their help, this site would not even be on the internet right now.
A final thanks goes out to Eddie, who has been a masterful operator of this website for the past few years. Before Eddie, Martin did an equally impressive job with keeping TBL up to date and fresh with new updates, however in the last few years I have become more detached from the internet wrestling scene such that without Eddie stepping in to run the show, this site would most definitely be closed (or at least not have been updated since 3 years ago!). Thank you, Eddie – I appreciate all of your help.
And for those of you reading, understand that these relationships are more than just an Owner/Worker connection. Dave, Martin, and Eddie are all good friends of mine now and Eddie may even be a business partner in the near future!
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