Bill Apter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill Apter is a journalist specializing in professional wrestling and best known for the kayfabe or so-called "mark" magazines he edited from the 1970s through the 1990s, most prominently Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Apter was so closely associated with these popular magazines that they were often known colloquially as "Apter mags."

Apter was a successful photographer for several wrestling and boxing magazines published by Stanley Weston, including The Wrestler and Inside Wrestling. He eventually moved up to the top editorial spot at Weston's wrestling properties. When wrestling boomed in popularity in the 1980s, Apter's magazines rode the wave, commenting and expanding on the storylines of the World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions and the American Wrestling Association in addition to a multitude of smaller companies, plus providing readers with a wealth of exclusive interviews and photographs.

Unlike Dave Meltzer, editor and publisher of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that was widely read by wrestling insiders, Apter directed his publications at the common fan and usually operated under the conceit that professional wrestling was not in any way scripted or predetermined. But despite Apter's reluctance to let his readers in on wrestling's big secret, fans who bought Apter mags became more informed about the business than most casual wrestling viewers, especially if they were fans of the dominant WWF, which tended to act as if other promotions did not exist.

In 1991 Apter compiled the PWI 500, a detailed ranking of the top 500 wrestlers in the world according to Pro Wrestling Illustrated. PWI has published the list every year since, and it has been and remains quite influential.

Starting in the mid-'90s, the wrestling industry went through a radical transformation. As the Internet became more and more popular, more fans gained access to news and information on the inner workings of the wrestling business. Promotions were no longer able to openly claim or imply that wrestling was legitimate competition, and ultimately, neither was Apter. Eventually he left his kayfabe magazines and accepted the editorship of WOW Magazine, a new glossy publication that assumed its readers knew the truth about wrestling.

Apter is now a feature columnist for Fighting Spirit magazine. The magazine covers professional wrestling along with MMA, and also features wrestling columnists such as Scott Keith.

[edit] Trivia

Bill Apter introduced Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman, enabling them to start their famous feud in the 1980s.
Apter presented Mick Foley with a Lifetime Achievement Award at International Showdown in 2005.