Month: November 2014

November 27, 2014 /

Sometimes I find it enlightening to simply transcribe a Bray Wyatt promo, one that ascends to the level of theatrical monologue. When he feuded with John Cena he sounded very Shakespearean (further reading here and here), a sort of deep south Iago, but now that he’s going after Dean Ambrose his style is much more Tennessee Williams. I’m reminded of the reverend losing his faith and his shit in Night of the Iguana. Check it…

November 25, 2014 /

My notes are a little scattered, this was quite a mind-boggling couple of days! Suddenly we have a whole new cast of characters. The earth has wobbled on its axis and Big Show is a bully heel, Daniel Bryan is in charge of RAW, the authority is gone, and until this Anonymous General Manager popped up the whole company appeared to be running off the rails, booking itself last night, which was a wild ride…

November 23, 2014 /

I do understand that behind the kayfabe, John Cena is tired lately. Possibly starting to burn out. You can hear it when his voice cracks, and in the real emotion that surges beneath his words when he talks about the haters and his controversial roll as a booed babyface. His fortitude is mighty, but the grind of life on the road may be starting to take its toll. One night a couple weeks ago, he…

November 21, 2014 /

There was a strange night a few weeks ago when I had a small flurry of new followers on Twitter for some odd reason. One of them was Funaki. I know I didn’t dream this because I still have the notification in my email: FUNAKI (@shofufu824) is now following you on Twitter! A few days later I looked through the list for some reason and noticed Funaki had disappeared from my followers list. And I…

November 18, 2014 /

RAW Notes are back! The way Cena approached Ryback for Team Cena recruitment totally came off as soap opera. But what he said to convince him was absolutely Best of Cena material: “It’s amazing that the guy who always wants to get fed more finally gets a chance to eat at the big table and suddenly he’s not hungry.” Cena is really working the populist hero angle while Triple H is nailing the corporate tyrant.…

November 15, 2014 /

Lately I’ve been interested in examining the areas in which wrestling and the creative arts overlap, intersect, inform and inspire each other. In this realm there is no better artist to write about than Rob Schamberger. Schamberger is a Kansas City pop artist who works with a variety of mediums and techniques to create stunning and vibrant portraits that capture all that is larger than life about wrestling’s superstars, past and present. Schamberger paints legends,…

November 2, 2014 /

Bray Wyatt was powerfully convincing about John Cena being a false hero. Will he hit on such an uncomfortable truth about Dean Ambrose? Will he talk about Dean Ambrose’s sometimes awkward delivery of humor? Or will he try to win Ambrose to his side? Like, behold the foolishness you’ve been reduced to, oh venerable hardcore legend. Could there be a Dean Ambrose-like storyline inside Luke Harper and Eric Rowan? Might we discover the soul of…