You find a handbook inside the envelope. You read every last word of it, not paying attention to your body's craving for sleep. Instantly, you are hooked. You do your strategy that night, and send it the next day. You waited by the mailbox every single damn day until the next report came. This tradition continued cycle after cycle. Those were the good ole days...
Come back to the present. Now, the internet is involved. Stables signing people... people being accused of cheating for having a good cycle... message boards full of people's trash talk, and people taking the game too far. Nowadays, you see the JNL when someone posts it. You are worried on whether you will have a high strat, rather than back in the good ole days when you just wanted the titles. You see, in my opinion, the internet takes a lot of fun out of the IWA when you take a look at the small picture. However, if you take a look at the big picture, the internet kept me from leaving the IWA.
I had been getting bored. Cycle after cycle of not talking to any managers. Cycle after cycle of jumping the UA and getting jumped by the UA. Cycle after cycle of pointless feuds. Hell, it got so boring that I was fixing to turn on all stablemates and leave. However, it was that Christmas I got my WebTV. I remember searching on search engines for an IWA page, and one day stumbled upon the one page that befuddled me. I came up on Super Dave's IWA Page. From there, it led me to the PRO Message Board, stable pages... and many others. From that day forward, the IWA would never have been the same for me.
Nowadays, the IWA is too damn corrupted with immature little punks and people who take things too far. All because of the internet. Simply put, I think that the internet has saved and ruined the IWA. I am positive that others have gone through the same thing with the internet keeping them form quiting. However, on the other side of the coin... many people have left the IWA due to the immature people on the message boards and in the IWA in general. So, the IWA is a two-way company. One way, is that you love the IWA and ignore the people who take the fun out of it. The other way is that you let those people get to you, and they help contribute to your retirement.
My point is this... dont let people get to you. Have your fun in the IWA however you want. Run angles. Spend hours on your strats if you think it'll help. Do whatever. If you let these punks get to you, then it will make your IWA-expirience less pleasant. Take me for example. I am one of the most cool-headed people in the IWA. If people want to talk trash to me, I will either completely ignore them, or just come up with a level-headed response. I try not to piss people off. That is why some people say I am one of the easiest to get along with in the IWA. If most people do the same, then the IWA will be more enjoyable. So basically... the moral of this column is... "Don't let people get to ya... just have fun and play the game like you want."
Until next time...
~Nick~