THE CHALLENGES
Let's take the recent CM Punk fiasco and use it as the example of what "did happen" compared to what "should have happened", and what "would have happened" if the wrestling industry was like any other.
First, the email was sent to WZ by a fan. I'm sure dirt sheets aren't the only form of media that have idiotic followers with too much time on their hands, so much so that they actually spend the time and energy to create fake tweets and send them in to a news outlet.
I guess they find it funny. Or maybe they think they are helping the wrestling business in their own warped, imaginative mind. Either way, it's up to us what we do with it.
Most of the time, at WZ, we are very leery of fan-submitted leads. Most of them go unpublished. However, in this case, it was simply a judgment call on Mike Killam's part, whether or not to run with it.
What were his options?
1) Prove it's authentic.
Ah, of course! That's exactly what he should do! Well, let's see how he could have done that.
a) The little blue check — I read where a lot of commenters said that "they" knew it was a fake immediately because it didn't have the verification checkmark Twitter posts next to their profile name. Well, if you'll notice (seriously, go HERE and see for yourself — there's no blue check), the program even WE use to capture individual tweets from pro wrestlers also do NOT include the check. The one sent to us looked like they all do.
b) He could have researched better — Well, research proves that it's not unlike CM Punk to tweet whatever he wants, when he wants. Furthermore, it's not unlike WWE superstars to take something down quickly due to pressure from the office.
c) Call CM Punk or "his people" for a comment.
Here's the big one I really want to touch on, because it spans well beyond this one situation. It's one of the main obstacles we face as individual reporters in pro wrestling.
