My name is Ryan Gunn,
I started a WWE-themed Twitter Account in early 2015 while I was at University. I had a random digital media class, where one of the assignments was to start a Twitter account and try to grow the following. I had been a big fan of WWE when I was a kid but stopped watching for several years when I was in High School. As I got older, wrestling became less and less “cool” with my friends, so I inevitably stopped watching.
For the assignment, I thought that it could be a way to get back into something that I used to love. Also, it would help me work on not caring about what people think of me as much. The idea was for this to be an outlet to let out my ‘Inner Nerd’. And that is how this was all born.
I jumped back into the world of WWE, and started watching every week. The Twitter account started gaining a solid amount of traction, growing to over 20k+ followers in the first year. After this success (and with the assignment now over) I decided to keep it going and dipped my toes into the world of blogging.
I first started the blog on a simple blogger account (shoutout to innerwrestlingnerd.blogspot.com for where it all began). I focused mainly on the latest news and rumors from the world of pro-wrestling (mostly just WWE). After some success, I decided to spend some money and take it more seriously. This included buying a domain name, my own hosting server and more. I had zero help with this and learned everything myself (and with a lot of help from Google). So it was a lot of trial and error.
As for the name. I thought that ‘Inner Wrestling Nerd’ was too long for a domain name. I initially tried for WrestlingNerd.com, which I liked but it was taken at the time. In my research, shorter domains were better for branding, so I picked IWNerd.com instead.
Over several years I learned a lot. This included how to build and maintain a WordPress website. How to download plugins, how to customize the theme of a website, how to run things from the backend, how to make some money. I was also putting out a ton of content. News, predictions, rumors, results, etc. I would watch RAW on Monday and do a results article, a predictions article and post any major stories from after the show.
I continued on for several years, with this mainly as my main source of income. Unfortunately, I wasn’t making enough money from this to live and was working 80+ hours a week. It just wasn’t sustainable. I ended up getting a real job (which my blogging background helped me land) and I slowly stopped posting as much.
I knew that I still enjoyed it but I needed to pivot. I disliked focusing on breaking news and rumors, where you would need to be on the clock at all times if something happened. I didn’t like writing ‘clickbaity’ articles to get people on the site. I didn’t like writing about serious topics, when I wasn’t doing any of the research or journalistic work myself, just serving as a second-hand source. So I decided to stop focusing on news and rumors.
I am now focusing mainly on predictions, which I have always enjoyed and thought that people enjoyed reading. I also focus on longer form content, which doesn’t need to be updated every minute of the day. I have found a new enjoyment in this and it has been a great outlet for myself.
So that is where we are today. Everything on this site has been completely written by me, without any AI or help from other people, which I am really proud of.
Here are some questions and answers.
Who are your favorite wrestlers?
All-time, it is Jeff Hardy. I was a massive, fan of Jeff when I was growing up. My prime of watching wrestling as a kid was right during all of the TLC matches. I always gravitated towards Jeff and the crazy moves that he would pull off.
Second would be The Rock. Just a big fan of his promo work and overall entertainment value.
I also have to give a shoutout to Bret Hart. I am Canadian, so this shouldn’t be very surprising.
As for current stars, I really like Seth Rollins. I am also a big fan of the Four Horsewomen: Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Bayley.
What is your favorite match of all time?
The one that comes to mind is Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 13. The sharpshooter with Stone Cold’s face in a pool of blood is an all-time memory.
I also have to shoutout all of the ladder/ TLC matches between The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, and Edge & Christian. Some of the most entertaining matches of all time in my book.
