Month: October 2016

October 20, 2016 /

It’s impossible to separate pro wrestling from the culture that spawned it — whatever’s going on in one arena, you can find its reflection in the other. (Never consciously, though, because any time Vince McMahon attempts to get all #topical by incorporating anything zeitgeisty into his storylines, it universally ends in corny-ass tragedy.) Goldberg made his sweaty, meaty return on this week’s Raw. This annoyed me for lots of reasons, but it also got me thinking about…

October 18, 2016 /

If you follow this blog, you know I’ve been making a lazy, extremely unscientific study of the word “machka”, a seemingly humble Bulgarian word that has taken on a heightened significance as Rusev’s rallying cry and chief buzzword. My post a few months ago called On the Progress of Machka and Its Relevance in Wrestling Theory laid out a hodge-podge of graphs and whatnot to show what happened to traffic on this site’s posts about…

October 14, 2016 /

New friend of the blog John Dvorak is making his debut guest post with a Barthesian reading of James Ellsworth, how great is that? This jobber who came out of nowhere becomes valued for that which is the opposite of traditional value in wrestling, what a perfect emblem of these strange times. Take a look:   On Tuesday I had the enjoyable opportunity to take my ten-year old son to the SAP Center in San Jose…

October 12, 2016 /

I noticed last night on Smackdown that at the end of the James Ellsworth/AJ Styles comedy match, Dean Ambrose was pointing menacingly at his package as a threat to AJ Styles. You can see it at the end of the clip in this here tweet: THAT'S RIGHT! @realellsworth has DEFEATED the @WWE World Champion @AJStylesOrg on #SDLive! @TheDeanAmbrose pic.twitter.com/46GCT7Mziv — WWE (@WWE) October 12, 2016 Their feud has been focused on the exchange of low blows,…

October 2, 2016 /

Dolph Ziggler cut a devastating promo on Smackdown this week, a monologue that made me cringe with guilt, that indicted us all for our callous indifference toward the hardworking eighties gimmick pretty boy. Ziggler got raw and real, characterizing wrestling as what it is in its ugliest form: a strange addiction, a pursuit that’s hard to quit, even when it’s become unhealthy and unproductive. His voice was unstable and veering into higher octaves as he…