Writing about professional wrestling has been for me an exercise in churning out old school critical content at the speed of the internet age. I have learned much! I used to be the type to fiddle with my sentences, question the quality of my thesis, wring my hands for days on end before I felt confident sharing my writing with the world, or anybody. But that doesn’t work when one is writing about wrestling. I’ve…
The Spectacle of Excess Posts
It occurs to me that CJ Parker is actually an impressive character. In the era of monster douchebag asshole heels like Seth Rollins and creepy greasy antihero heels like Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, good on this kid for getting over as a loathsome pussy hippie liberal jobber heel. Sorry to be crude, but I can’t think of a better way to describe CJ Parker. And while he gets his ass kicked every time, he…
We all, I think, come at wrestling with our own collection of references, noteworthy matches we saw live, caught as children when they aired on television, or special pay-per-views we saw back in the day when, because of price or cable TV limitations, you didn’t necessarily see every pay-per-view. These important moments in a wrestling fan’s career define the fan’s perspective at its core. They are foundational, just like the books and films that influenced…
Something cool happened, by the way — my story about indy wrestling called “The Unshakable Kayfabe of Tommy Rage” got nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the folks at New Pop Lit! You can read the story at the link below. Also check out Thomas Mundt’s story “Placeholders”, I found it hilarious.
I contend that we may be witnessing an era of missed opportunity. In these post-Authority times, there is a chance for the WWE to turn a corner – start a new chapter, head down a new storyline. The Authority’s departure is an opportunity for the WWE to experience a true period of lawlessness. Oh, we’re told things are lawless right now by Seth Rollins because he for one has been a marked man. But they’re…
I have precious little to say about TLC which is a shame, because I think so fondly of the days when tables, ladders, and chairs meant something huge. A ladder match used to fill me with fearful excitement, and the crunch of a split table would stir in me a primal thrill. I used to try to write poetry about the iconography of hardcore, hardcore being a kind of revolution, a period of anarchy in…
Look, I like Erick Rowan just fine. His face turn was alright by me. But the overwrought story forced on him undermines the character he naturally seems to be. The Wyatt Family had a certain authenticity about it, and within that world he was a mute weirdo. I could buy him as a sort of autistic genius specializing in chess, Rubik’s Cubes, bomb building, that sort of thing. But really, it took him a little…
Well, you know. It was the Slammies and all, and there’s nothing like an awards show to dampen my writerly spirits. Plus, I’m a little behind still — I need to listen to the Vince McMahon podcast, but I first need to dig up my password so I can renew my subscription to then network, which recently expired. I almost don’t want to, considering how much I hate looking up passwords, as well as the…