Bio
Keelan Balderson: “WrestlingTruth.com aims to be the most accurate pro wrestling news resource on the web, while always remaining FREE, offering educated opinion and analysis, and allowing readers the freedom to comment on any topic, or to submit their own columns.”
Introduction and Editor Bio:
Firstly like most wrestling sites, The Wrestling Truth was born out of a passion for Pro Wrestling, which although isn’t as widely popular as it used to be, can still put nearly 80,000 bums in seats and consistently dominate ratings on TV like no other series of shows.
WrestlingTruth.com is a one man gig ran, created and maintained by Keelan Balderson an aspiring TV/Screenwriter, who works as a freelance web writer, and SEO specialist from the UK. And allows any reader to submit columns for consideration. Thanks to all those that submit on a regular basis, you are greatly appreciated!
I have qualifications in Media, Business, English and IT, and work full time writing a wide variety of articles and SEO content for various websites and clients all over the world, as well as managing several other non wrestling websites. I have been reporting wrestling news for numerous sites for a number of years but only transitioned in to my own website in 2007, when I felt I had the time, skills and qualifications to make it a success. Big thanks to twnpnews.com for giving me my first gig with no prior experience, and thanks to all the sites that still put up with me to this day.
I have been involved in the online aspect of Pro Wrestling for a several years and have been a part of many projects. I’ve ran a popular wrestling message board known as “Indystrutcable” that you can still see the routes of today on our official forums, with many members sticking around from the early days. Before the likes of youtube I headed up a site called IndyWrestlingBroadcasting (IWB) a streaming video website that hosted and promoted Indy promotion’s footage (legally). Before the return of ECW I also ran a site called ECW-Legacy, featuring a complete guide to the original ECW, including many lost interviews with the promotion’s stars. In 2003 I was the backbone of wrestling radio show Indy Xtra and have had a hand in many things from PC wrestling games, newsletters and e-feds, to wrestling DVD rental and syndicated column writing.
I’ve interviewed countless stars, had the pain of covering the whole Chris Benoit tragedy and am read by thousands of people daily. In under one year Wrestling Truth proved to be one of the top destinations for wrestling fans and the site now ranks up there in traffic and search engine positioning with many sites that began in the mid to late 90s.
The Big Idea and The Big Problem:
I decided to create Wrestling Truth after graduating college and getting my first magazine article printed. I’d had some hard times without internet access so my previous work had disappeared, giving me a fresh start with a fresh website. Many people can start wrestling websites, but without qualifications in business (how do you expect to legally run the financial side of things?) Without qualifications in English (how do you expect to write coherently?) Without qualifications in Media (how do you expect to fully understand what news is and conduct interviews professionally?) And without qualifications in IT (how do you expect to understand web design, marketing and what it really takes to run a website?) As you can tell I take this very seriously!
After countless research I came to the conclusion that the online wrestling community is seriously lacking in unique content. 95% of websites out there tend to employ the exact same staff, who copy and past the exact same news, often without rewriting, and duplicate reporting errors and falsities 10 times over. A lot of these reporters focus more time on their false plug at the end of the story than the news itself, and often rehash old news, sensationalize it for more traffic or drag the same story over several posts. Accuracy is also a big problem. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reported something, only to have the next poster say something totally different or even reword what I previously said. It could be argued that the politics online are as bad as in the business itself, I mean there are only really 4 or 5 columnists on the whole internet, they are just syndicated by hundreds of the same wrestling sites – so much for a wide view on things.
I decided to tackle this by by offering stories in my own words from multiple sources. Not only do I credit the veterans such as Dave Meltzer, Wade Keller or the PWInsider guys when they break a story (you’d be surprised how many don’t), but I also spend hours a day checking wrestler’s Myspace pages, reading the regional newspapers, monitoring press releases and getting info from correspondents in Orlando for TNA and the major WWE markets. Everything posted is researched and checked without any slants, embellishment or fact as opinion. To others, wrestling sites mean extra cash, to me it is a job (albeit a fun one) that should be treated with respect.
Technicalities:
Originally the website was created in notepad with basic html and is combined with cutenews, a php based news management system – but as time went on it became difficult to manage so I converted to a highly modified version of the blogging system Wordpress. All graphics were made with Microsoft picture it or by my buddy Carnage. All copyrights go to wrestlingtruth.com unless otherwise stated. I know it’s not the flashiest of sites, but last time I checked it’s what is written not how the page looks that counts. I don’t have million dollar media networks backing me like some sellouts. I just have knowledge about wrestling and a passion to write.
I will not lie, the site’s secondary purpose is to turn a profit, I cannot put so many hours in to it without funding the time I could spend working my other writing gigs. That’s why you may notice various banners and popups on the site. All of these come from respected advertisers and any sign of malicious adverts will be dealt with. If you have any browsing issues please contact me right away.
So before this becomes a novel I’ll stop there. Enjoy the site, enjoy wrestling and thank you for your continued support!
You can email me to submit news or columns, request an interview, send press releases or to buy advertising at typesthetalk@gmail.com
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