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On Killing a Wrestling Section at This Moment in History
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It’s Wednesday, and nobody in the world of professional wrestling knows what that means anymore. In the practical sense, there’s Dynamite, but what does AEW’s Wednesday night show look like in the wake of All Out 2022, a pay-per-view that bore the weight of a thousand possible futures the way CM Punk’s repaired foot…
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Jungle Boy Calling Christian Cage a Pussy: A Review
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Jungle Boy’s return has been heavy on cussing, including one word you don’t hear much on cable television.
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The Greatest Wrestler of All Time (The Fifth and Sixth Ten)
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The Rock. Steve Austin. Ric Flair. Randy Savage. When I took up the task of naming The Greatest Wrestler of All Time, it was partially out of frustration with similar pieces (though, those being ranked lists, they weren’t similar at all) where the same names kept cropping up. If pieces like this are a…
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I Hope Triple H Starts Pointing at People Again
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WWE announced today that Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been installed as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. Given that John Laurinaitis is ensnared in an ongoing investigation into his (and Vince McMahon’s) alleged use of company funds to buy the silence of employees with whom he’s alleged to have had affairs, as…
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Nobody Has a Lariat Like Stan Hansen’s Western Lariat
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Before understanding Stan Hansen’s Western Lariat, it’s important to consider what a lariat/clothesline is. I don’t mean the mechanism — at its simplest, one wrestler sticks his arm out and takes off the head of another with it, one of the most no muss, no fuss moves in professional wrestling — I mean the…
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A Field Guide to the Gimmicks of NXT 2.0
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I watched NXT 2.0 last night. No, no, hold your applause and save your medals; I, like all of you, am human, and humans tend to fuck up from time to time. It is no secret that NXT 2.0, once a jewel in the crown of WWE’s unquestioned dominance over professional wrestling, is a…
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It Is Now Andrade El Idolo, Jay Lethal, and Jeff Jarrett’s Task to Keep Ric Flair Alive
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At last, the world knows what Ric Flair’s last match will be: him and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett. A 24-minute hype package that weaved together Flair’s working with Jay Lethal to get ready for his match, the question of whether or not Jeff Jarrett was ever a Horseman (which…
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The French Fries Bret Hart and Sean Waltman Aren’t Eating: A Review
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Sometimes a plate tells a story.
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We Need to Change the Way We Talk About Chris Benoit
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Chris Benoit is one of the best wrestlers of all time. Chris Benoit also murdered his wife, Nancy, and his son, Daniel, before hanging himself over a three day period in June 2007. Leaving aside the issue of individual taste, the former statement is widely held to be true and the later is established…
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If There Is an Ethical Way to Watch WWE, It Is Via Piracy
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Money in the Bank, WWE’s failed attempt at turning a lukewarm narrative conceit into another stadium show, airs this Sunday on Peacock/WWE Network. Please do not pay for the pleasure of either means of watching WWE’s product. Actually, let me walk that back: I love The ‘Cock. It features great shows like Columbo and Murder, She…