The Trouble With WWE's Opening Segments

May 12, 2019

- INTRODUCTION - 

Pattern recognition goes hand-in-hand with being a WWE fan. After years of consistent viewing, it’s easy to spot the various formulas, cliches, tropes, and unwritten “rules” of any WWE broadcast.

One of the more obvious formulas plays out in "opening segments": a character enters, cuts a...

In Defense Of WWE Live Crowds

Apr 10, 2019

In the four years I’ve been writing articles and producing podcasts for The Work Of Wrestling, I’ve written and talked a lot about “entitled”, “rude”, “obnoxious” pro-wrestling fans. From Full Sail disrupting NXT promos and matches to the infamous “Raw After Mania” crowds that appear more interested...

The Women Warriors Of NXT

Apr 5, 2019

Note: This article was originally published in January 8th, 2015.

Where the WWE main stage frequently reserves Divas segments and Divas matches as time to advertise the more popular, more successful Total Divas on E!, NXT presents a world of legitimate female athletes; complex characters who have aspirations,...

The Architects Of The Attitude Era: Steve Austin vs Dude Love

Feb 10, 2019

Note: This article was originally published on January 24th, 2016. It is being reposted following www.workofwrestling.com  switch from Squarespace to Libsyn.

The Attitude Era wasn't great because it was raunchy, sleazy, blood-soaked, extreme, and testosterone-fueled. In fact, all those segments, matches, and angles...

Tim Kail's Raw Review

Jan 16, 2019

I skimmed this week's Raw, and came away feeling...weird.

This was, at the very least, a new emotional response.

I felt less like I was watching WWE's flagship series and more like I was watching a parallel universe's vague facsimile. It’s not that I think the booking decisions were bad or that the performances...