I’ve often thought the best compliment I can give a work of art is that it transports me back to a childlike place of magic and wonder.
We strive to achieve that “kid-again” feeling less because we’re terrified of our own mortality and more because we recognize the purity of a child’s experiences. The untainted mind seems to more fully appreciate and experience life. Art (a book, a film, a painting, a song, a wrestling match) that essentially wipes your insignificant, adult preoccupations away and restores you to that nirvana-like place of purity and joy could be considered a public service; that’s how important that cleansing process is to our lives and why we’ve built our culture around pleasant, inspiring, uplifting fictions. We need these brief excursions into a place where magic exists, where all conflicts inevitably resolve themselves, where love conquers all, and where human beings overcome the psychological traumas and the petty jealousies that plague them daily.
Read MoreThe purpose of The Work of Wrestling is, first and foremost, to prove the artistic merit of professional wrestling by dissecting the narratives and the subtleties of the craft. Pro-wrestling isn’t a legitimate sport. It’s a form of theater. As such, it naturally demands more than top ten lists, rumors, dirt, predictions, impressions, and click-bait.
Read MoreA vicious little game is often played by the WWE and the WWE fans.
The WWE excuses dissatisfying episodes of Monday Night Raw or cliffhanger conclusions as “slow-burns”, chastising the fans for not having the patience to wait for the payoff while the fans, so dissatisfied with so many different aspects of the flagship product, wield their hatred like an oversized, flaming long-sword, attacking anything and everything without regard for the real enemies of progress and good television. The result is that the WWE often makes the slow-burn argument or the "it's three hours of television" argument at the expense of addressing valid criticisms, and the fans go on slashing with their IWC Twitter-sword of hate at the expense of addressing valid criticisms.
Read MoreIn the early AM hours, before turning in after a hard day’s work, I decided that I wanted to watch some wrestling. And this latest episode of NXT delivered.
Filmed a couple weeks ago, this episode put the spotlight firmly on Hideo Itami as he ascended through a tournament to earn his spot at the Andre The Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania.
The opening match between Hideo & Adrian Neville was a technical gem, especially the opening back and forth of armbars and locks. I cannot emphasize how refreshing it was to watch pro-wrestlers lock holds on one another and stay there, comfortable that they wouldn't lose the crowd, contributing, piece by piece, to the excitement of the comebacks and the finishes.
Read MoreI just want the WWE to understand their audience.
That's one of my goals with The Work of Wrestling. I want the WWE, Vince McMahon, and whoever else makes the decisions with the company to understand what the WWE-viewer who lives in the year 2015 actually wants from the company.
It’s hard not to feel dejected sometimes when watching a Monday Night Raw like last night’s Monday Night Raw. It’s hard to accept that the WWE’s flagship show is, more often than not, simply not made for someone like me.
Read MoreI’ll be honest with you, dear reader…I really don’t know what to make of this latest episode of NXT. It certainly wasn’t bad, and I don’t necessarily think it’s fair to judge an episode of NXT harshly because it doesn’t “live up” to brand’s standard of excellence.
I can only accurately describe this episode as awkward.
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