Post by Emanuel Melo on Jul 6, 2004 23:08:34 GMT -5
Well it's hard to believe that this site is a year old now. I started the site on July 6, 2003 because as a fan I felt there was nowhere to go to find out about independent wrestling in Ontario. In fact, I didn't even know that indy wrestling existed in this province and I considered myself a diehard wrestling fan. I had gone to a few AWF shows in Toronto in 2002 but felt that the shows were a bit lackluster. I did a search online and went through countless Ontario feds that were no longer in existence but I did find a couple that were still running shows. After attending a couple of OPW shows (April & June of 2003) and a Ring Wars show in May 2003, I decided to start the site.
One thing I noticed during my search was that all the indy wrestling photos I saw online were very grainy and many of them were just low quality freeze frames captured from video. Being an amateur photographer, I enjoyed taking photographs at these shows and wanted to share them too. Wrestling is a great subject for photography. Capturing a wrestler in mid air from the top rope or getting that _expression of selling a move on film is a thrill, much like a hunter capturing his game, there's a sense of pride when I get the film back from the processor and see that I got the shot.
So the site went up in July of 2003 with about 60 or so photos, some events listed and links. Over 36,000 hits later the photo gallery has grown to over 1400 photos from 21 different indy shows across 5,535 KM's through out Ontario and the USA, various interviews (of which I intend to do more of), indy news, event listings, games and an online community of fans and workers on the very active message board. In the past year, I have seen workers having their first match and starting on acheiving their dreams and I have seen many veteran indy workers going on to the bigger leagues (NWA TNA, WWE ...) I hope to continue to see Ontario talent make it to the big time.
I've made quite a few new friends in this business and I can honestly say that everyone in the business have always treated me well and with the same respect I have for them and for this business. To everyone that I've met through the site, I thank you. To the workers and promoters who let me into their circle, to the fans that appreciate the work and time I put into the site, I sincerely thank you. I only hope that this site will continue to grow in the coming years and continue to be THE site for Ontario Indy Wrestling.
One thing I noticed during my search was that all the indy wrestling photos I saw online were very grainy and many of them were just low quality freeze frames captured from video. Being an amateur photographer, I enjoyed taking photographs at these shows and wanted to share them too. Wrestling is a great subject for photography. Capturing a wrestler in mid air from the top rope or getting that _expression of selling a move on film is a thrill, much like a hunter capturing his game, there's a sense of pride when I get the film back from the processor and see that I got the shot.
So the site went up in July of 2003 with about 60 or so photos, some events listed and links. Over 36,000 hits later the photo gallery has grown to over 1400 photos from 21 different indy shows across 5,535 KM's through out Ontario and the USA, various interviews (of which I intend to do more of), indy news, event listings, games and an online community of fans and workers on the very active message board. In the past year, I have seen workers having their first match and starting on acheiving their dreams and I have seen many veteran indy workers going on to the bigger leagues (NWA TNA, WWE ...) I hope to continue to see Ontario talent make it to the big time.
I've made quite a few new friends in this business and I can honestly say that everyone in the business have always treated me well and with the same respect I have for them and for this business. To everyone that I've met through the site, I thank you. To the workers and promoters who let me into their circle, to the fans that appreciate the work and time I put into the site, I sincerely thank you. I only hope that this site will continue to grow in the coming years and continue to be THE site for Ontario Indy Wrestling.
