Kath Barbadoro Jan 28, 2022. 5 minute read
Wrestling and Jackass: Two Silly Approaches to the Pain of Being Alive
This Sunday, less than a week before the premiere of Jackass Forever, Johnny Knoxville will enter WWE’s Royal Rumble. As a 23 year veteran of the Jackass franchise, in which he has been concussed by a bull, thrown from a motorcycle, and KO’ed by Butterbean himself, entering the Rumble is…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Sep 27, 2021. 4 minute read
At Arthur Ashe Stadium, Is Wrestling Fandom a Community?
Wednesday night, I attended AEW: Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe stadium, along with about twenty thousand other people. The show was AEW’s most highly attended event ever, and the stadium likely contained more people than I have personally laid eyes on in in the last year and a half combined.…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Aug 1, 2021. 3 minute read
Bray Wyatt’s Theme Songs Reviewed
When I first heard about Bray Wyatt’s release from WWE, my thoughts immediately turned to the composer and performer of Bray’s theme song, Mark Crozer. Crozer is a British guitarist whose credits include touring with The Jesus and Mary Chain—not the kind of person you’d expect to write a hugely…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Mar 21, 2021. 4 minute read
Orange Cassidy and Stokely Hathaway’s Grammys Street Fight Set the Bar for Cinematic Wrestling
The past year has been pretty dispiriting for pro wrestling fans. Promotions alternated between running shows in dystopian empty arenas and putting on the occasional superspreader event, while wrestlers, promoters, and audiences alike continuously revealed their cynicism and stupidity when it came to keeping each other safe. But there’s been…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro May 22, 2020. 7 minute read
Understanding the (Not So) Unlikely Bond Between John Cena and BTS
Lots of people are fans of international Korean pop sensation BTS. Like, lots of people. Probably more people than are fans of literally any other thing in 2020. And one of these people is WWE legend, iconic jorts-wearer, and owner of too many suits John Cena. Interviewers LOVE asking him…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Dec 26, 2019. 5 minute read
2019 in Wrestling: Invisible Man vs Invisible Stan at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3
Marking Out As A Form Of Religious Ecstasy For all its creativity, the main purpose of professional wrestling has always been to part as many rubes as possible from their money. Wrestling is not compelling despite this goal, but because of it: it’s a form of entertainment that has evolved…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Dec 5, 2019. 3 minute read
2019 in Wrestling: New Japan’s MVP Tomohiro Ishii
The tragedy of Tomohiro Ishii is that he works in a field uniquely unsuited to rewarding his talents. Wrestling is an industry of spectacle, flash, high drama and camp. Ishii is a squat, short, middle aged man of few words and fewer flashy moves. If he stands out, it’s only…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Nov 4, 2019. 9 minute read
Thank You Meow: New Japan Power Struggle Recap
This year’s Power Struggle got off to a confusing start, at least for me. NJPW indicated a 1am start time EST, but I guess they couldn’t figure out how to indicate that they meant the second 1am of the evening, as the show started right at the end of daylight…
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WRESTLING
Kath Barbadoro Oct 14, 2019. 7 minute read
To Walk a Mile in Dave Meltzer’s Sauconys
What even IS Dave Meltzer, publisher and editor of pro wrestling’s most authoritative dirt sheet, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter? He’s ostensibly a critic. He watches major pro wrestling matches and awards them any number of stars (he broke his own five star scale years ago, so who knows how many)…
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WRESTLING