I haven't watched a full episode of RAW in over three months.

I catch up by way of clips on Twitter and I skim through Hulu's already abridged version. I spend most of my time perusing the promos, the skits, and whatever vignettes there may be, cramming the broad strokes of the larger narratives so that I might be able to pass whatever WWE-quiz comes my way. Altogether, after also checking up on SmackDown, I've condensed my WWE-viewership into about thirty minutes a week (unless there's a pay-per-view and then that duration naturally increases).

The result is that I'm a much happier human being, and I'm probably a lot easier to be around. I don't obsess about booking decisions. I don't bicker with anyone online. I don't care about anyone's criticism of my criticisms. The imagined judgements of some phantom "real pro-wrestling fan" have vacated my mind, replaced with a sense of peace and the ability to interact with pro-wrestling in a healthier way on my own terms.

Millions of Us Have Stopped Watching Wrestling - Can The Era of Wyatt Bring Us Back?

There are millions of us out there who have lost faith in the world of professional wrestling. It was a world we used to love. But since the end of the Attitude Era, so many of us walked away.

Is now the time for us to come back?

And is Bray Wyatt the man to bring us back?

THE RAW REVIEW

I can’t remember the last time I wanted to boo Triple H.

Although I don’t personally know the man who performs Triple H (Paul Levesque), my maturation as a human being has coincided with his maturation as a performer. When you watch someone evolve over the course of nearly twenty years, you become comfortable with them. You start to notice what they do well, and you start to admire their capacity for reinvention. You appreciate the quality of the performance, not the moral alignment of the character they play.

THE NXT REPORT

Like some classic songs, fine foods, or abstract art many pro-wrestlers are acquired tastes. It’s rare that I’ll ever instantly like a pro-wrestler. It’s especially rare that I’ll ever instantly feel like the talent I’m seeing could easily become a favorite of mine the first time I see them perform.

THE RAW REVIEW

The February 16th, 2015 episode of Monday Night Raw is the best episode of the WWE’s flagship show that I’ve seen since The Attitude Era.

Now I haven’t seen every episode in the past fourteen years and nothing overtly historic or game-changing appeared to happen last night (depending on how you viewed the show). But I cannot remember the last time in over a decade I haven't, at some point, mentally tuned out of RAW or rolled my eyes or groaned or sighed or been eternally frustrated with the direction of the company by the end of the night. There have been great episodes, to be sure, but few and far between have emanated from a sincere, professional wrestling perspective in quite some time (a perspective that has existed exclusively on NXT).

THE RAW REVIEW

Two weeks in a row I’ve been somewhat stumped as to what to write about in The Raw Review. Last week, after several false starts and actual drafts, I created what was, for me, a less than satisfactory nitpick of the WWE’s ongoing booking woes.

I very much want to write about the symbolism and themes of various WWE scenes and matches, but when the performances are subpar, when the booking and the creative and the script looms like a dark, inescapable cloud over the proceedings, it’s hard to get to the goods and even harder to write about the goods.

THE RAW REVIEW

What was the last pay-per-view you remember where the main event was set well in advance and the WWE expanded upon that main event story for several weeks?

SummerSlam. 2014.

I remember the build into that now-infamous and incredibly satisfying SummerSlam encounter between Brock Lesnar and John Cena. It was consistent, enjoyable, and straightforward. There was never any doubt that you were going to see John Cena defend his championship against Brock Lesnar. Even if you hated the idea of Lesnar vs Cena, you had seen the promotional packages for a solid four weeks.

THE NXT REPORT

NXT offered an episode that was even better than usual this week, building upon the various top rivalries and serving up a variety of excellent pro-wrestling matches.

Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy, a team that’s made occasional appearances, scored an upset victory over Tag Champs The Lucha Dragons. The match wasn’t particularly memorable apart from the fact that Blake and Murphy were victorious. The win isn’t dissatisfying because Blake and Murphy don’t deserve the win because they haven’t been on-screen much. It’s mostly a dissatisfying win because The Lucha Dragons didn’t have a very impressive run.

The Writings