The Demise of Total Wrestling

The international wrestling scene was dealt a tremendous blow this week with the announcement that Total Wrestling magazine was closing it's doors.

To say that this was a surprise to many would be an understatement. In just under two years, Total Wrestling magazine had gained one hell of a reputation on the wrestling scene.

Based in Britain and first published in 2002, Total Wrestling was the replacement for the defunct World of Wrestling and Power of Wrestling magazines. With the legendary Bill Apter as senior editor, and boasting such writing talent as Vince Russo, Mile Altamura and Jon Farrer, Total Wrestling was greeted with great fanfare at a time when more and more wrestling fans relied on the Internet as a valid news source.

As time went on, the magazine gained a loyal readership, with many of the writers penning some of the best articles you could read outside of the web. Bill Apter's many contacts within the industry allowed him and his staff the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in the business.

Total Wrestling also did something that no other wrestling magazine in Britain had done recently, and that was giving the ever-growing British wrestling scene the kind of coverage it had been crying out for for years. With the likes of WAW, FWA, Hammerlock, All-Star and many more having gained exposure in Total Wrestling's pages, British wrestling looked to the magazine to help take it to that all important next level.

Their coverage of the international scene was also second to none. While other magazines concentrated on the WWE and the larger American independents, Total Wrestling gave us coverage from all over the world, including Mexico, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Things looked like they were going to get better and better for the magazine, especially with the news that one of Britain's most popular wrestling writers, Mo Chatra, was leaving Powerslam to join the Total Wrestling staff. Many of Chatra's long-time readers were excited by the news, and wished him the best of luck.

With the April 2004 issue having just been published, it came as a complete surprise when on March 31st, the news broke that the magazine was closing down. At first many people thought that this was something of an early April Fool's joke, but this wasn't the case.

One can't help but feel sorry for Bill Apter and his staff. I've had quite a bit of contact with Bill through my PR work for WAW over the past year or so, and like many others in the business, I found Bill to be quite respectful to what I do. He always treated me with respect, especially when we discussed the possibility of writing some articles for the magazine. Sadly, ill health and personal problems meant that I couldn't complete those pieces, but I always hoped that someday soon I would be submitting work to Total Wrestling on a semi-regular basis.

There will probably be many rumours circulating about why Total Wrestling has closed down. Some have said it was because of financial problems, while others have said that perhaps the days of the wrestling magazine are now behind us, saying that something that reports news that is two months old doesn't belong in the age of the Internet.


In my opinion there will always be room for magazines like Total Wrestling, publications who don't try to bore us with smart mark like views. Any magazine under the leadership of Bill Apter will always be worth reading, and I'm sure that the great man will soon be back on his feet, reporting on a industry he has loved for most of his life.