The Work Of Wrestling podcast turned ten years old this past January. It’s hard to believe I’ve been podcasting and writing about any subject with consistency for that amount of time. In so doing, I’ve produced several episodes I’m proud of but none more so than The Third Law.
Read MoreAEW Dynamite has become an afterthought in my wrestling viewership, sad to say. Wednesday rolls around and I find my wrestling appetite has already been sated by RAW. This is especially true because I review RAW and spend a lot of time thinking about it and honing my critiques throughout the week. As of now, I have no intention of purchasing AEW's next ppv. I need to save money, for one thing, and I'm not enamored with any particular story. If I find myself bored and with nothing better to watch, I'll put Dynamite on the TV when I get home from work, but there's no longer a sense of urgency. There was a time when I firmly believed AEW was producing not only the best weekly wrestling television show at present, but the best I'd ever seen at any time in my life.
Read MoreI'm sick with a bad cold. I've missed a couple days of work. Sore throat, congested, hacking up phlegm as my nostrils turn raw. It's incredibly unpleasant. All I've done is drink tea and sleep. I'm starting to feel better - it's been about six days since the symptoms began. I've tested negative for Covid. The biggest casualty of this sickness is this week's RAW Review. Try as I might I couldn't summon the strength to give much detail or fully fleshed out "takes". I'm exhausted and occasionally in pain. I apologize to anyone who was hoping for more. I figured what I did manage to produce was better than nothing at all. I'll bounce back next week.
Read MoreThis week’s Monday Night Raw, another middling, mostly pointless episode, ended with an intense dialogue between Cody Rhodes and CM Punk. It was a well-acted scene with several well-constructed statements, mainly that Cody Rhodes is no longer “chasing” CM Punk but that it was now Punk “chasing” Rhodes.
One would be forgiven to surmise, based on this scene, that Punk v Rhodes will headline WrestleMania 41. In fact, I’d argue this scene necessitates Punk face Rhodes for the title at Mania. Otherwise, why am I seeing it?
The characters have an interesting history and the imagery and soundbites would make for a fantastic pre-match vignette. Everything about their interactions over the past year, culminating in this promo, lays the groundwork for a championship match.
And yet, I don’t buy any of it.
Read MoreOn January 28th, 2018, two performers of Japanese descent, Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka, won their respective Royal Rumble matches.
This was a defining moment both in pro-wrestling history, and in my personal pro-wrestling fandom.
When you’re an ethnic minority, growing up a pro-wrestling fan presents a challenge.
Pro-Wrestling's xenophobic roots result in the depiction of ethnic minorities as the heels (villains) opposite the "All-American" babyfaces (heroes). We are represented by racial caricatures and stereotypes that are designed to emphasize one’s foreignness. It’s a constant reminder that we are the “other”; that the way we look, the way we sound, the way we act inevitably elicits boos.
Read MoreWork of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by resident Bret Hart-expert, Al Monelli, to finally discuss Bret's New York Times Bestselling autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling.
Read More
Kenny Omega drove his knee into the side of Okada's head.
There was an audible pop as boot met flesh, and Okada tumbled to the canvas, devastated. The crowd, enraptured by every strike, let out an awe-struck gasp (this knee was particularly vicious). That gasp spread out as a wave within the arena, and then fractured into light clapping and sporadic cries of "Kennnnnyyyyyy!"
My jaw was firmly on the floor. My eyes were stretched wide, straining to confirm what they had just seen.
Was this real? How could that have just happened?
Well...yes, it was real. It was New Japan Pro-Wrestling. And I was in love.
Read MoreOn April 1st, WWE Announced they will air a Global Women’s Tournament this summer with 32 competitors from 17 different countries. The Cruiserweight Classic and United Kingdom Championship Tournament were both critical successes for WWE Network. The single elimination tournament format created stakes based in reality for those involved and was portrayed as legitimate sport, real people with backstories all vying for a championship and the opportunity to be seen by the WWE Universe.
Read MoreIf you still boo Roman Reigns, nothing will convince you to stop booing Roman Reigns.
It doesn't matter if the WWE books Roman Reigns in a manner that "emphasizes his strengths and hides his weaknesses", it doesn't matter if Roman Reigns adds fifty death-defying moves to his repertoire, it doesn't matter if Roman Reigns journeys back in time and works the indies for fifteen years before coming to the WWE, and it doesn't matter if Roman Reigns starts cutting promos with the eloquence and depth of a classically trained Shakespearean actor.
No matter the objective improvements in Roman Reigns' performance or the improvements in the way WWE books him, and no matter how well-reasoned an argument in Roman's favor may be, you will go on booing.
And that's fine. I've accepted this. Keep booing.
No energy should be expended by anyone (least of all Roman Reigns fans) in an effort to convince you to change your mind. You are entrenched in your perspective and you're just going to keep digging in.
Read MoreThis song, and the "My Way" vignette that helped build Rock & Austin's fateful main event encounter at WrestleMania 17, was so effective that it is permanently embedded in the minds of the wrestling fans who witnessed it.
I cannot separate my own adolescence from The Rock & Steve Austin's feud, and particularly the song that helped define it. It plays on a permanent loop in the hallowed halls of teenaged angst in my mind, recollections of doing things "My way!" because The Rock & Steve Austin did things their way, giving and taking Rock Bottoms and Stunners to my brothers (on mattresses, of course), walking through my high school purposefully locked away in my own little world of catchphrases and iconic gestures, a Rock-like twitch to my neck and a bad-mother-fucker bravado to my stride.
Read MoreWhile I spend most of my time these days writing arts criticism related to professional wrestling, at heart I'm a fiction-writer. That's what I've done my whole life, and that's what I'll continue to do long after I've written or said my last word on pro-wrestling. While I love the writing process itself, I am not enamored with the "literary world".
Readings, wine-tastings, workshops, conferences, literary-networking, talking about books, waiting six months for a response...all of it interests me a lot less than working on something and then sharing it directly with you free of charge.
Read More
