UPDATE! I was totally wrong here! Somebody who speaks Bulgarian corrected me on Twitter, check it out: @AndreaGregovich when he screams “aaa predavam sa” this means i qiur — Mario (@bloodicha1) May 18, 2015 So thank you to Mario for setting me straight on the words that I struggled with (predavam sa), and I owe Lana an apology. But now the match seems even more hokey. This means Rusev forgot how to speak English, he…
The Spectacle of Excess Posts
How quickly Bray Wyatt swings from incoherence back to literary! This week’s promo on RAW was a reminder of how Wyatt can, when the stars align in his favor, cut to the core of our cultural angst and inflate it into a giant interplay of existential archetypes that represent the state of our nation, perhaps even the broader human condition. I was skeptical about Ryback as a suitable target for Wyatt’s attention, but it turns…
I find myself with a contrary opinion in regards to the story we’re being told about Kevin Owens. I was behind him from the very first day, even as he went about putting my heartthrobs on stretchers. Here was a mercenary prizefighter, an anti-hero so strong and bold that he scorched any possibility of alliance in NXT. He doesn’t need friends, he’s confident in himself and he stands alone. Kevin had no use for aging…
Sami Zayn’s shoulder injury will be for us one of those memorable heartbreaking moments in WWE history. Perhaps the best everyman underdog of all time, on an iconic RAW debut against John Cena (that very much echoed Cena’s own iconic debut against Kurt Angle a decade ago), dislocated his shoulder before he even entered the ring as he swung his arms to rouse the crowd. He wrestled the entire excellent match on a bum shoulder…
Now this was quite unusual: Sheamus did something interesting! I think we were all concerned about where the foolhardy punk rock hairstyle and Captain Lou rubber band beard attempt were going to go, but I do think it’s going to be okay. Maybe even pretty cool. Sheamus is acting like an asshole trickster, and I think he’s pulling it off. (I need to go off on a parenthetical here, though, and point out that Becky…
Hello friends! I’m still trying to get a few things finished before I start blogging like a fool again, but RAW this week was so chock full of memorable promos I’m compelled to transcribe as many as I can over the next few days. On the topic of a compelling RAW, have you noticed that at this stage in the monthly pay-per-view storyline cycle, there is almost always a compelling RAW? What is it about…
Hello My Friends! The time has come again for me to take a hiatus from Notes on the Spectacle of Excess. I got a paying translation gig this morning that will take me most of April to crank out, plus I’m doing a reading in Fairbanks this weekend, and also I’m trying to get The Book Proposal finished once and for all. (What’s that? A book proposal? Stay tuned, it’s getting close…) Don’t worry, I’ll…
Tim Kail reads from my piece On Mankind vs. the Undertaker on the Work of Wrestling podcast this week! When Tim reads my words, I hear ideas in them I hadn’t noticed before. Have a listen to this truly stellar podcast: https://twitter.com/MaximusWrestler/status/580009196717936640 Also on the podcast is Kyle & Oliver’s latest parody, a song about Daniel Bryan which is incomplete without a viewing of their video: I really think Kyle and Oliver have outdone themselves…
I’m fascinated by the way Bray Wyatt’s promos cycle through periods of stagnation in which he’s mumbling the tedious nonsense of a nutjob cult leader, and then suddenly out of the blue he is delivering a profound theatrical monologue with undertones of Dostoyevsky, Tennessee Williams, maybe even Dante or the Bible, that cuts right to the heart of humanity’s existential angst. I find that once a wrestling narrative tanks I get really jaded and have…
I’ve been checking out TNA Impact and am finding it captivating. TNA is not what I remember from a decade ago and not what I have heard from so many. I thought surely I would be a hater, but no, not at all. It’s unapologetically violent, the crowds roar like they’re at an old world gladiator match, and I’m somehow finding the whole thing to be a breath of fresh air as I contemplate not…