In three weeks, PWH is going offline to make way for the next evolution of sports entertainment forums: NXT.
Not really, I just had to get that ECW reference out of the way early. Although, as timing would have it, the proposal in this thread is not so different.
It seems to me that these forums have lost their direction and sense of identity. When we became Pro Wrestling Headlines in August 2005, the aim was to go mainstream on the back of an active main site with its own newsboard, and inbound traffic driven by Neil's reporting around the web (and the advertising opportunities such networking would create). However, understandably, that vision has fallen far beyond the wayside due to Neil's increasing work and university commitments. As a result we're left pretending we're something we're not. The PWH brand is cold, generic, sterile. It's hard for people to feel loyal and passionate towards three letters that, in our current state, mean nothing.
This board began as WrestleXpress in 2003. WX represented the shared values of wrestling posters who challenged established forum protocol, brought a knife to a gunfight and stood their ground, together. WX was a small pack of underdogs fighting for a place in a then-crowded genre, unequipped to compete with newsboard forums but embracing each minor advantage earned by tooth and nail.
Most of those posters are no longer here or likely to return, but that fighting spirit can. If we stop pretending to be something we're not, if we acknowledge that Pro Wrestling Headlines is not who we are or who we truly want to be, then we can return to the roots that made these forums a unique entity, and one that its members could proudly call their own. We have been static, stationary, for far too long in this rigid shell - I say it's time we thawed the engines, relit our fires and put WrestleXpress back on track.
In proposing a rebranding, let me be clear: I am talking about the future, not the past. Progress, not nostalgia. This week's retro skin for our 7th anniversary is a trip down memory lane for some, but what I'm putting on the table is a new WX with all the grit and determination of the old. I believe that sometimes you have to step back to move forward, and that reclaiming WX will open up new doors and concepts, some of which I'll hold close to my chest for now but what I ask is this: What do we have to lose? If we rename from Pro Wrestling Headlines to WX, with a new design and a new focus, are there any drawbacks that a reinvigorated direction and sense of identity can't overcome?
This is not a done deal, it relies on your feedback and support. If you don't want to change, we won't. But with the near-stagnant condition these forums are in and have been for so long, something's got to give and I strongly believe this is the turning point we need. If you're with me, say so. If you're not, state why. Is it all aboard, or do these wheels keep turning on the spot?
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Topic: The future of PWH (Read 1121 times) Share