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411mania is a pop-culture website located at 411mania.com covering "hot topics" in movies, television, music, pro-wrestling, politics, sports, video games, and more. The site dates back to August of 1996 and is independently owned by founder Ashish Pabari. The site's reach makes it one of the larger independently owned media websites currently on the internet.
411mania is often considered to be one of the more influential pro-wrestling media outlets in terms of actually having an impact on the industry and specifically World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in terms of the storylines and booking of wrestlers and matches. Several notable pro-wrestlers and pro-wrestling executives have gotten into online feuds with 411mania writers over the years. 411mania is also currently regarded as one the most powerful members of the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) due to its extremely large and influential pro-wrestling section ("zone").
The site is often credited with originally developing their current pop-culture format which has since been copied and spun-off on several other websites. The site promotes a "rebel" image among its columnists who are mostly aspiring writers and/or college students. Due to no significant corporate influence, the site can generally get away with posting whatever it sees fit. Past writers have included author Scott Keith. The site also houses a large online forum community approaching 10,000 registered members.
411mania consists of six core areas or "zones"; Movies, Music, Wrestling, Politics, Sports, and Forums. Each zone features news updates, news reports, columns, reviews, and more.
As of June 2006, 411mania claimed four million unique visitors and nearly 20 million impressions per month. 411mania survives almost exclusively off of ad sales. Site traffic is claimed to have reached record levels in April 2006. Traffic in general is extremely cyclical, usually peaking during March and April of each year, corresponding with the interest in the WWE WrestleMania event that take place around that time.
Brief History
411mania started as 411wrestling slightly prior to the boom in pro-wrestling interest during the late 1990s. The site grew to become one of the larger pro-wrestling websites on the internet during the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, competing mainly with SCOOPS Wrestling. The two sites had a brief period where they competed for writers and influence in the industry, as well as getting signs on air during major pro-wrestling events. From 1997 to 1999, signs reading "411" and "SCOOPS" were seen weekly on pro-wrestling TV shows such as WWE RAW on USA Network and WCW Monday Night Nitro on Turner Network Television (TNT).
After the dotcom bubble burst in 2001, 411wrestling and most of its competitors lost significant portions of their revenue streams due to a sudden global lack of confidence in the effectiveness of internet advertising, specifically in the oversaturated pro-wrestling sector. Pro-wrestling, a trendy pop-culture phenomenon in the late 1990s, also lost popularity during 2001 and 2002.
Following in the footsteps of SCOOPS, 411wrestling shifted their core focus in 2002 from pro-wrestling only, adding sections for video games and action figures. SCOOPS had tried a similar approach to branching out from pro-wrestling in 2001. Their attempt ended up being a failure and the site eventually stopped operations completely. 411wrestling continued to expand out of the pro-wrestling area and by 2003 had established sections in movies, music, television, video games, action figures, comics, politics, and pro-wrestling. The site also re-launched in 2003 as 411mania, a more mainstream-acceptable name. Editor Jonathan Widro was also promoted to Managing Partner in 2003.
The resurgence of internet advertising in 2003 also helped 411mania's expansion, allowing for expanded operations and coverage that otherwise would not have been possible.
In 2003, 411mania received global publicity after the site was involved in an elaborate prank with site contributor Erik Ashley on rock band Metallica. The prank received publicity on MTV, VH1, CNBC, and other mainstream outlets. CNN's article on the prank.
In 2004, 411mania reshuffled the site structure after the departure of editor Jonathan Widro and several other writers (including many prominent contributors like Scott Keith) leaving to start InsidePulse.com.
Pro-wrestling remains 411mania's main focus, followed by movies and music.
Site Editors
- Ashish Pabari - Founder, Editorial Manager
- Larry Csonka - Editor, Pro-Wrestling
- Leonard Hayhurst - Editor, Movies/TV
- Brandon Ratliff - Editor, Music
- Jason Easley - Editor, Politics
- Scott Rutherford - Editor, Sports
- Mike Watters - Administrator, Forums
