10 years of WWEForums

[Roadster]

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been 10 years to the day since the founding of this site by @Crayo​

Despite the name changes, the look changes, the ownership changes, the moderator changes, and member turnover. This site has remained as an institution of the online wrestling community.

This site, in its heyday, was attracting dozens of active members. Hundreds of new registrations every week, and a vivid community. Guys like @Big Hoss Rambler, @Xanth, @seabs, @Jonathan and @CM Punk were some of the original active members on this site. There are others that I'm probably forgetting, of course. Regardless, this site continued to grow and offered a lot of fun and community for a bunch of young wrestling fans with too much time on their hands.

WWEF has a lore of its own. Plenty of hilarity, drama, serious discussion, tension and friendship developed and maintained on this site. Guys like @Dolph'sZiggler, @Aids Johnson, @Dat Kid, @Super Saiyan Goku, @Farooq, @CrayJ Lee, @Lady Deathbane, @Stopspot, @Leo C, @Lacky, @Senhor Perfect, @Shadow, @Nickelodeon, @DK James, @THG?, @Danielson, @Snowman, @GrammarNazi82 helped grow this site during its peak years. It was around that time that people like myself, @Killer Orange Cat, @Prince Bálor, @Just Kevin joined, as well.

Enough roll call. What I'm trying to say is that there was a lot of great people on this site. We had a lot of fun. It's crazy to think it's been over 7 years, almost 8 years since I joined. It's crazy to think that there's people I've met on this site that I've kept in close contact with for years. This site has connected me to a lot of interesting people. I know it's corny to commemorate website milestones, but I genuinely do have a special place for this site. I sorta grew up on this site. I only spent about 2-3 years during my first stint, but it was a new world for me, and I learned a lot. I think a lot of people have similar stories of how environments like this can have a net-positive effect on them.

At the end of the day, I think that is really the true mark of a site: the lasting impact of the connectivity and social forums provided. This site has had a long-lasting effect, in that regard. There's plenty of people here that met some of their best friends or their significant other on this site.

I wanted to be here for this moment, for a while. I wanted to be present to express my gratitude to the people I've met, the things I learned, and the site that I did all that on!

However, despite its longevity and legacy, the site has had a very hard few years. It's been quite bleak, and I've felt it was on borrowed time for a while. The server wipeout from a year or so ago has left a lasting scar. I know it's a bummer to talk about, but it's impossible to mention the story of this site without the hiccups and mistakes whether that be calling it WATCH WRESTLING FORUMS or letting it rot for 2 months with a server malfunctions. It's sad, in a way, that at a time a thread like this would've garnered hundreds of responses by dozens of members in a matter of a day or two, meanwhile now we struggle to get a hundred or so posts in a week or a month.

With that said, I wanted to take this chunk of the thread to explain that I plan to step down from being moderator, and I plan to leave the forum altogether. I first joined this site as a 13 year old kid, and I'm almost 21 now. I've gone through a lot of changes in my life, and I realized that a chunk of those formative experiences had occurred on this site. However, with the circumstance of the sites health, as well as the future I have hopes for, I plan on ending my decade long stints on forums altogether, and not just this site. It's probably not immediate, as I plan on responding to responses if there are any, but it will be in the near future.

Anyone willing to keep contact, send me a DM and I will share my discord ID. Thank you to @All Elite Punk, @Jonny Nostradamus, @EvilBlackCat and @Killer Orange Cat for making me a mod.

It's been a mighty fun ride.

 

[CM Punk]

Only 11 more days until it's my 10 year anniversary here. For context, I've been on this site since I was in my final year of high school and 10 year later, here I am still to this day.

I wish there were more people who cherished this site as much as I did. I feel that like Roadie, I've learned a lot of things from the site. Mostly due to the fact that I was a fucking idiot for the most part, but hopefully if I wronged you or treated you poorly, I hope it didn't affect you too badly and I'm sorry. Honestly, anyone from the start of the forum till maybe 2016, I've made somewhat of an impression or a friendship for that duration of time. I still remember nearly everyone because realistically, I don't have many irl friends who watched wrestling. So to find a small community who were around my age group, had the same sense of humour and wanted to play video games after was a dream come true.

I know in this political climate, some friendships have been torn apart, but for the most part, I'd like to think I got along with everyone and never tried to start beef intentionally. I have so many stories I could share of my experience here, but honestly that would take a lifetime typing. I think first and foremost, I'd like to thank @Crayo for starting this site alongside with @Xanth. I still remember the conversation you guys had on HackForums talking about the site because I was making discussion threads there at the time. Eventually, you guys launched it and literally impacted my life. I kinda regret not becoming closer with most of the people I grew up with like you guys, seabs, Stopspot, Dolph'sZiggler, Shadow, Danielson, Aids, Dat Kid, Jonathan, Zach, DK James, Tumbas, etc.

Honestly, if you were a member between 2011-2016 just assume you're on that list. Unfortunately, the forum business ain't as strong as it used to be with alternatives like Reddit or Discord. And I never see forums becoming as popular as they once were. I think there was a chance this site could have still thrived if we pushed and expanded it on reddit, but I think the owners at the time were just content having the community they had. But realistically too, I am getting older, and my time is much more needed in other places. I'm thankful to this site and who it made me. Like I said, I can realistically write all day about this site, but I'm just gonna leave this here. Just like Roadie, I'm down to answer questions too below.

Thank You, WWEForums.

 

[Zany Clowny]

Love this place. Somehow, as a devoted troll I survived like four different regimes. I can be pretty chaotic, lots of things change in my life but this forum was a constant. The writing is on the wall that we're soon going to have to plan a funeral, and I've dreaded that day. Although forums have lost the popularity they had when I was a kid browsing them in the late 2000s, we forget WWE itself had their own official message board. After the social media sites took all the traffic, usually the users who stuck around were much more interesting people, I think that was the case here. Killer Orange Cat, Snake, Armageddon, Roadster...listing users would take too long. Thank you guys, without you this forum would just be another website.

One other thing, I don't know if we know how to process digital grief, no idea how else to describe it. When a forum goes down for the last time, a server, a friend who goes offline and never returns. It feels a bit silly to let it hurt, but it does. Speaking of silly, apologizing for hurting someone's feelings online is off brand for me, but if I did that on this forum as a dumb kid I'm sorry. Thanks again for the 9 years. They went by too quickly.

 

[Roadster]

The most fun I had on the site was 2016 IWT. Lots of people, lots of crazy stuff, and lots of fun. I had a lot of fun making logos for the shows too. It was great.

 

[IndyWrestler1]

With the lows this site has endured, you'd think it'd survive Chernobyl.

While I have mentally moved on a good 5 years or so, as when I got banned in late 2016 (yeah, it's been more than 5 years, Beaver! Jet Starr Nostril! Move on you traumatized little shits! Touch grass!) I kinda got tired of forums in general, but I have experienced WWEF and TWF both since 2013. While my main reason to join was to RP on the WWE 2K games, it is kinda impossible to not get involved in weird high school drama. Whether it was bullying Nero_x3 in 2013 or aligning myself with good mates to bully together, there was a lot of good fun to be had in bullying weak-minded souls. While I have issues keeping things serious in posts like this, I did in a weird way mature on these sites and basically had my entire puberty using it. It was fun, even when the intended purpose of a forum was kinda lost for most of it. A lot of people barely discussed anything, wrestling was weirdly secondary on this wrestling discussion forum but that made the site so fun. It really did become a community. I've met people on this site in real life, I talk on a daily basis with people from this site and some people on this site I'll likely talk to the majority of my life (that is if I die of bowel cancer at age 23). I know people that have had love blossom from this dumb site, and that is something cool to see.

On the other hand, obviously as many (many meaning 2 of the 3 people that read this) of you know I am certainly someone that loves a bit of drama, a bit of confrontation, a bit of chaos and this site carried so much of that with psychotic owners trying to blackmail me, I've been threatened, I've been told I'll be killed. Obviously nothing about it phased me, but it did make me laugh a lot! Kept life interesting. Fun times!

That's what always peaked my interest on this site. Either it be keeping contact with people I genuinely care/cared about, or enjoying provocating people I thought were morally bad. I hope I did a pretty good job at both!

While I have no real feelings about this site beyond thinking it's funny that it still exists and some sadness that Solidus and Brita were able to actually sell this dump as I wish them nothing but financial hardships, I do hope everyone on this site who reads this either gets back on their feet or continues on walking the good path of life and hopefully will be happy in the years that follow. I won't do any mass tags as the people that would be tagged, likely know I appreciate them. To the people that consider me a dick, I'd suggest you choke on me~!~!~~~! HAHA, THE BIG GUY~!

 

[Roadster]

He met @Swift who thought he was a saint sent from heaven. He IS that good-lookin!

 

[Koko B.]

As my interest in WWE declined, so too my involvement here. At one point I subscribed to the Network and joined live chats. Now I can’t remember the last RAW that I watched. Even reading summary / review is boring.

 

[Pop Tatari]

Members like stopspot and seabs are class , do not make them like that anymore. Stopspot especially was a big presence on here especially when talking about non American wrestling.

The early days were a blast.

 

[Marty McFourth]

Congratulations on 10 years. I echo wishing more people would use forums again rather than social media, they've always been my favourite form of communication online. Great way to meet people with similar interests.

 

[Vampire Quinn]

This Coming May of 2022 will be about 5 years That I've been apart of this Forum. WOW! I've seen Great Things, Been apart of some Amazing E-Fed's with Snake, Mason, and a few others. It's sad to see how it's gone down hill so much in the past 2 years. I'm glad for the friends I've made here, I'm glad for any R.P's That we have had.

 

[Leo C]

I miss wrestling forums. These days the Facebook groups, subreddits or discord chats or whatever just don't have the same vibe. Had a lot of fun here. In fact if it wasn't for this website maybe I wouldn't have gotten into NJPW (or AJPW, thanks again Stopspot by the way), and I ended up working myself into a shoot and actually live in Japan now haha so yeah. I guess it was about 10 years ago when I was on the site the most, who was it, Crayo, Stopspot, Rainman, Aids Johnson, a bunch of guys whom I have fond memories of. Brings me back to a simpler time in my life

 

[Dat Kid1]

Who the hell made Roadie a mod?

Anyway, like most of you all, I found this place out of nowhere. A seemingly insignificant under the radar forum that has ironically influenced my like in unexpected ways. When I went to college I lost all of my high school friends and if I wasn't here I probably wouldn't have had any. I mean, I met the girl I'm dating on this site in 2012. I've even gotten to meet Fooq & Danny two of my closest friends on this site.

I enjoyed making videos and doing the IWT stuff. At its peak I really enjoyed the banter in the Live Discussion, it made WWE watchable. If one day I randomly decide to check in and this site isn't here I'd be pretty bummed. I know no one from those times logs on these days, but the forum was a special place for me because it let some really good people into my life and I'm grateful for that.

#FreeNiggaswag2022

 

[Roadster]

#FreeNiggaswag2022

Trust me I tried. Some pussio hard banned him tho. Crayo has blood on his hands smh :tough1:

 

[Jacob Fox]

Who the hell made Roadie a mod?

That would have been me. I may have been off my meds that day...

Just kidding. He did do a lot to try and keep the site from dying but it just became futile after a while. Especially after those server issues.

 

[seabs]

10 years, time does fly.

I miss wrestling forums. These days the Facebook groups, subreddits or discord chats or whatever just don't have the same vibe. Had a lot of fun here. In fact if it wasn't for this website maybe I wouldn't have gotten into NJPW (or AJPW, thanks again Stopspot by the way), and I ended up working myself into a shoot and actually live in Japan now haha so yeah. I guess it was about 10 years ago when I was on the site the most, who was it, Crayo, Stopspot, Rainman, Aids Johnson, a bunch of guys whom I have fond memories of. Brings me back to a simpler time in my life

Just to echo this point, subreddits always feel like they go to fast for me and you don't learn the person whether it was Crayo and Xanth with their Sheamus marking, StopSpot with his Johnny Wrestling fandom or Leo C and his love of Neymar.

A huge thank you to those of you who I've participated with through the years and to those who kept the place going. It's a special little corner of the internet.