Dave Meltzer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dave Meltzer
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Meltzer in 2018
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David Allen Meltzer
October 24, 1959 New York City, U.S.
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| Years active | 1971–present |
| Children | 2 |
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist and writer. He is known for reporting on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON). This newsletter mainly covers professional wrestling news. Meltzer has also written for other well-known publications like the Oakland Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo! Sports, and The National Sports Daily. He has covered mixed martial arts since the very first UFC 1 event in 1993. He also writes about it for SB Nation.
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Early Life and Interests
David Allen Meltzer was born on October 24, 1959, in Upstate New York. His family later moved to San Jose, California. He studied journalism at San Jose State University. He started his career as a sportswriter for local newspapers.
Meltzer showed a strong interest in professional wrestling from a young age. He began writing about it in a journalistic way as early as 1971. Before WON, he created several wrestling-related publications. One important one was the California Wrestling Report around 1973–1974. This report covered wrestling events in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Dave Meltzer's Career
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) started in 1980. At first, Meltzer just ran an annual poll for wrestling fans he knew. Soon after, he began sharing wrestling news and match results. He wanted to keep his college friends updated on wrestling events. Mainstream wrestling magazines at the time were for younger audiences.
Meltzer has appeared in several documentaries and TV shows. He was part of HBO's documentary about André the Giant. He also appeared on episodes of Vice's series Dark Side of the Ring.
How Meltzer Influenced Wrestling
Dave Meltzer played a part in a big change in wrestling around the late 2010s. In 2017, a fan on Twitter asked him if an independent wrestling show could sell 10,000 tickets. This number had not been reached by any company other than WCW and WWE since 1993. Meltzer replied, "not any time soon."
This comment caught the attention of wrestler Cody Rhodes. Rhodes had left WWE the year before. He said he would "take that bet." Rhodes and the tag team The Young Bucks then promoted an independent show called All In in 2018. The event had an attendance of 11,263 people. This success led Rhodes and the Bucks to join All Elite Wrestling (AEW). AEW was created by Tony Khan in 2019. It quickly became the second-largest wrestling company in the U.S. after WWE.
Meltzer's Reputation
Meltzer's work is generally praised by journalists and historians. However, his reputation can be mixed within the professional wrestling business itself. Some people he has reported on have not always liked his coverage.
In 2016, Washington Post called Meltzer "pro wrestling's top journalist." In 2022, Mel Magazine called him "the most important journalist in professional wrestling history." Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated said in 2013 that Meltzer was "the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism." He even said Meltzer did a better job covering wrestling than some reporters do covering major government offices.
Many wrestling figures have praised Meltzer. Bret Hart said that during his career, many wrestlers wanted to be featured and praised by Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He was glad WON became a trusted source of news in wrestling. Seth Rollins has praised Meltzer's coverage of international wrestling and his skills as a wrestling historian.
Terry Funk was impressed by WON in his 2013 book. He noted that Meltzer wrote about the "behind the scenes" business. This was different from other magazines that treated matches as real competitions. Funk saw it as a way to understand how different things were being received in wrestling.
However, not everyone agrees. Some writers and wrestlers have criticized Meltzer's work. For example, Dave Scherer of PWInsider has criticized him. John Bradshaw Layfield has claimed that WWE gave Meltzer false information, which Meltzer then published.
In May 2015, Meltzer reported that Destination America planned to cancel Impact Wrestling. The wrestling company strongly denied this, calling it "defamation." They said they would seek legal action. However, the show was indeed canceled by January 2016, and no legal issues followed.
In March 2025, Meltzer reported in a WON article that matches involving certain WWE talent were directly planned by a WWE scout. He also said promotions could use WWE branding and talent would be paid. The promoter of Game Changer Wrestling denied the scripts and payments. However, he did confirm they could use WWE branding if they wanted to.
Star Rating System
Meltzer helped make the "star rating system" popular in wrestling. This system rates matches from zero to five stars. It is similar to how movie critics rate films. The idea for this system came from Jim Cornette and his friend Norm M. "Weasel" Dooley. The first 6 and 6.5 star matches were rated by Dooley in 1981.
Meltzer's highest rating for a match was seven stars. He gave this to Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega for their match in June 2018. On the other hand, matches that Meltzer thinks are very bad can get a negative star rating. The lowest rating Meltzer has given is −459.6 stars. This rating has been given to two matches: The Men Down Under vs. The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff in October 1999, and Minoru Suzuki vs. Butterbean in April 2025.
Wrestlers like Bret Hart have said they were proud when Meltzer praised their performances. Will Ospreay has also noted that a 5-star or higher rating from Meltzer helped his career. Others, like Cornette himself and Seth Rollins, have criticized the system. Meltzer himself has said that his star system is "the least important" part of his work. He believes wrestlers and fans care more about the ratings than he does. Still, Meltzer's ratings are often a big topic in the world of professional wrestling. This was especially true in the late 2010s after a six-star rating was given to the Omega vs. Okada match in 2017.
Film Appearances
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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| 2018 | André the Giant | Himself |
Awards and Achievements
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- James Melby Historian Award (2017)
- George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Jim Melby Award (2016)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Stanley Weston Award (2024)
See also
In Spanish: Dave Meltzer para niños
