Month: October 2015

October 31, 2015 /

image credit: rohwrestling.com A little secret to let you in on, dear readers: I have a devastating crush on Dalton Castle. I haven’t written anything about him thus far, because where do you even begin to describe a wrestler so sublime? As you know, I’m fairly prolific on the topic of professional wrestling, but I find myself without words enough to express the feelings when someone so thoroughly steals my heart. This is not the…

October 29, 2015 /

Artwork courtesy of Punkrockbigmouth (punkrockbigmouth.tumblr.com) Another wonderful wrestling writer has stepped up to help me keep Spectacle of Excess afloat while I grind away on the novel I’m translating. Barry F. Hess offers an insightful look at the relationship between wrestling and Shakespeare here, touching on a number of concepts about the bard and the business that I never noticed before: Two of my most favorite pastimes in life are reading William Shakespeare and watching…

October 15, 2015 /

As much as I hate to admit it, Baron Corbin and Dana Brooke looked like absolute stars at NXT Takeover: Respect. I hate to admit this because, like just about everyone, I hate modifying my opinion, especially when it comes to pro wrestling. There’s this phenomenon where, when you sit with people and watch wrestling and yell things at the screen, you feel like you have to hold this position because you’ve given your disgruntlement shape and…

October 6, 2015 /

For my final nostalgic reblog of this Mercury Retrograde, I wanted to share this post about the classic essay that inspired this blog: “The World of Wrestling” by Roland Barthes. I felt pretty feisty when I wrote this, like I still had to defend my project of what I’m calling “wrestling theory and criticism”. I’ve finally moved past that anxiety so many of us have over thinking wrestling is important, worthy of critique, emotionally resonant,…