Why do wrestling fans still respect wrestling writer Dave Meltzer?

I didn’t really want to write another column this week, but I read something Dave Meltzer wrote in his newsletter about Dutch Mantell, and I knew I had to respond. I thought what he wrote was incredibly classless given the circumstances, and it made me wonder why so many fans still support the guy.

I’m not going to delve into Dave’s career as a whole because we all know how he started in the business and how his newsletter began. What I will focus on are the numerous missteps he’s made over the past few years that have caused me to lose all respect for him.

Let’s start with some of the fake news he reported as fact over the years. The most recent was when he claimed that WWE Backlash would take place at the Tokyo Dome next April, even though it was clear the source of this information was fake. How can a seasoned reporter be so gullible as to publish news this big without verifying it with WWE first? This isn’t the first time he’s done this; multiple wrestlers and promoters have called him out over the years for reporting false information in his newsletter and on his podcast.

But that’s not even the worst of it. Let’s not forget when he made derogatory remarks about women’s wrestling a few years ago, for which he was criticized by multiple female wrestlers. He never really apologized, yet fans continued to support him.

But here’s the main reason for this column and why I lost all respect for Dave. We all know Dutch Mantell is going through a tough time health-wise, and numerous people in the wrestling business have donated to his GoFundMe, including Tony Khan and Chris Jericho. This is despite Dutch being critical of them on his podcast in the past. Tony and Chris showed they could put their differences aside to help someone in need. However, someone who didn’t do that was Dave Meltzer. On his last podcast, he mentioned the GoFundMe and how Jericho and Tony donated. He could have stopped there, and everything would have been fine, but he felt the need to add how great Tony and Chris were for helping someone who had been critical of them. Then he went on to say that people like Dutch need to understand the wrestling business isn’t what it used to be, since AEW doesn’t rely on big names to draw an audience, and that the new deal AEW signed ensures they’ll be profitable next year.

This comment received a lot of backlash, not just from fans but also from some of Dutch’s friends and family, including his podcast partner. I won’t repeat everything his partner said, but it boils down to this: Dave’s comments were classless, and I completely agree.

I get that Dave has a fanbase to cater to and that this business is all about getting as many subscriptions as possible, but at some point, you have to take off the fanboy hat and be a decent human being. This was not the time to push the “old-timers don’t understand the business” narrative. This was a time to show respect to a man in poor health, whom people in the industry are willing to support, despite past differences, because he’s a legend who has done so much for wrestling.

After this, Dave has shown me what kind of person he truly is, and I’m left wondering why anyone would still respect him or subscribe to his podcast or newsletter.