Dave Meltzer started writing and publishing a wrestling newsletter at just 10 years old, even receiving endorsements in fan club sections of wrestling magazines. Readers of his newsletter would send him a quarter, and then Meltzer would send a 24-page booklet with the latest details of the wrestling world.

Although Meltzer’s star rating system has become the widely accepted standard for rating wrestling matches, he admitted that he got the idea from a short-lived wrestling newsletter written by Norman Dooley, a close friend of Jim Cornette. Cornette suggested he begin rating wrestling matches on a scale of one to four stars.

In 2016, Meltzer responded to Bruce Pritchard’s accusations that WWE was paying Meltzer to write good things about the company by confirming he had worked for WWE in the past. He said, “I did consulting work” for WWE as a Japanese correspondent, although he quit the company when asked not to report a failed drug test.