Hey Substack Family:

First of all I want to give a sincere “thank you” to everyone who read, liked, re-stacked and gave me positive feed back on the feature for the late Dennis Condrey.

Late on Sunday night I just hit “publish” on what I honestly believe is one of the best features I’ve ever written for this newsletter. It took me longer than usual. All weekend I watched every Midnight Express match I could find, reread old interviews, talked to a couple of people who were there in the territories, and tried to get the tone right—part tribute, part time-capsule, part love letter to an era that is not around anymore.

Since I write about territory wrestling history, that’s the feel I have in my writing daily. But, sometimes the subjects are more personal. Since Dennis Condrey was a large part of my engagement with pro wrestling from my earliest days as a fan in my home territory of Tennessee, it was very personal.

When I finally hit the schedule button it, I felt that rare, quiet satisfaction you get when you know you left everything on the page. The numbers came in over the next 24 hours and they were way better than I could have possibly hoped for. But also, a little mixed in the most Substack way possible.

Since you are a writer on this platform, I wonder if this has happened to you?

I would wager it has.

On the good side: several new subscribers rolled in. People who found the piece through a share on X or a wrestling forum, read it, and decided this was the kind of storytelling they wanted in their inbox. That part still gives me a genuine rush. It’s validation that the hours were well invested.

But right alongside those new names, some cancellations popped up.

A few people who had been here through the weekly columns, the deep dives, the random 1980s memories—and apparently another feature from me was the bridge too far. Maybe they don’t care about the Midnight Express. Maybe they’re burned out on my biography pieces. Maybe they just prefer the lighter stuff. Whatever the reason, they voted with their unsubscribe button.

And yeah, it stings for a second.

You pour your heart into something you’re proud of, something that actually matters to you, and a handful of people immediately say, “Nah, not for me.”Then the sting fades and you remember why you started this thing in the first place.

This newsletter was never meant to be for everyone. It was meant to be for the people who still get chills when they hear a Gordon Solie or Lance Russell call who can quote Jim Cornette’s promos from 1986. The new subscribers proved some of those people are still out there. The cancellations proved that not every piece is going to land with the entire list—and that’s okay.

That’s actually healthy. I only want the hardcore wrestling history enthusiasts. Those who value and support my work. They are worth gold to me.

Now, here's what I want to share with you.

If you continue to do this (and I desperately hope you do) every time you publish your work, people are going to vote with affirmation or cancellation.

One thing I want to stress with you is that you have to focus on the affirmation.

Whatever you give your focus to grows stronger and what you remove your focus from will die. Focus solely on the new people who are with you and pay no attention to the ones who leave.

And perhaps most importantly:

If you’re a writer on this platform (or any platform), keep swinging for the fences on the stuff that matters to YOU. Some pieces will bring growth. Some will cost you readers. Both things can be true at the same time, and neither one changes the fact that you wrote something you’re damn proud of.

If this resonates with you at all, please pour out your thoughts and feelings in the comments.

We have to support each other and I hope me sharing my experience encourages you to continue to fight the path of least resistance and keep swimming upstream.

Thanks for being here—whether you’ve been around since day one or just signed up after reading about Dennis. The time tunnel keeps rolling every day, and I’m already working on the next one.

Tony