WRESTLING
Jack Fenton Sep 8, 2022. 8 minute read
My Wrestling Fandom Lived and Died with Shinsuke Nakamura
On a cold January night, Shinsuke Nakamura relit a fire. I’d been a wrestling fan from childhood, growing up on the leftovers of the Attitude Era, which blossomed into Ruthless Aggression. I was captivated by the colorful characters, pure physicality and engaging storylines. Some of my fondest memories are of…
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WRESTLING
Rob Hutton Sep 8, 2022. 5 minute read
“Speedball” Mike Bailey Made the Most Out of Exile
If you’ve been watching independent wrestling this year, and even if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard of Mike Bailey. Lately he’s been on a storm through the America’s biggest indie promotions, having the match of the night on seemingly every show. Earlier this year, he wrestled a staggering nine matches…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Sep 7, 2022. 9 minute read
On Killing a Wrestling Section at This Moment in History
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…
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WRESTLING
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Leo Healy Sep 4, 2022. 6 minute read
The 1/21/99 Episode of Thunder Was Kevin Nash’s Opus
Kevin Nash – Big Daddy Cool. Big Sexy. Auteur? From quoting popular films and television shows on commentary, impersonating comedians and celebrities in front of the camera and using his and Scott Hall’s love of West Coast Hip Hop as an influence on the aesthetic and attitudes of the nWo,…
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WRESTLING
Cameren Lee Sep 4, 2022. 7 minute read
Jumbo Tsuruta and Mil Máscaras Revolutionized AJPW with the Idol Showdown
All Japan Pro Wrestling took a very long time to form its own identity. Between the long shadow of the Japan Wrestling Association, a comfortable reliance on big foreign names to sell tickets, the sensibilities of ace and booker Giant Baba, and the influence of Americans such as the Destroyer…
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WRESTLING
TAPE Sep 4, 2022. 6 minute read
One Loves Arn Anderson Because He Is Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson was never designed to be among a young child’s favorite wrestlers. Growing up in small town Michigan in the 1980s, I came to pro wrestling as most children my age did, at least in my neck of the woods. Hulk Hogan was the rampaging hero of the World…
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mer Sep 2, 2022. 7 minute read
From the Ground Up: The Women’s Tag Division Gets A Much Needed Overhaul
It’s been three months since Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of Raw one fateful Monday night, and as of this writing, we are no closer to a resolution between WWE and the former tag team champs. Both are still members of the SmackDown roster, despite numerous reports to the…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Aug 31, 2022. 6 minute read
That Kid’s Money: On Scott Hall vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
The now sadly deceased Scott Hall, fairly or unfairly, had a bit of a reputation backstage. After a certain point in his career, he was seen as lazy, unmotivated, and … a few other epithets. Whether or not that rep was justified is not the point of this story. What’s…
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WRESTLING
Maffew Aug 31, 2022. 4 minute read
As Ray Parker Jr. Once Said, “Botchin’ Makes Me Feel Good.”
I made the mistake of going to University, thinking my world would open up after years of hard work like that plant from the live-action Dennis the Menace movie. I didn’t learn much but I had one amazing lecturer who instilled in me some amazing advice that I still carry with me…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Aug 31, 2022. 4 minute read
Before All Out, All Eyes Are on CM Punk, But Not for the Right Reasons
Well, that was different. Last Wednesday, after a very tense week in All Elite Wrestling, Jon Moxley more or less squashed CM Punk to unify their respective interim and lineal versions of the AEW World Championship. Punk did get an out, that he “wasn’t 100% yet” and re-injured his left…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Aug 31, 2022. 6 minute read
After 33 Years of Terror, The Great Muta Returns to the Mist
On Saturday, September 3, 2022, one of the final matches that Keiji Muto will wrestle in his career will take place at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N1 Victory 2022 Grand Final show in Osaka EDION Arena. Here, Muto will wrestle his final match in Osaka as The Great Muta, teaming with…
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WRESTLING
Jay Deitcher Aug 31, 2022. 5 minute read
We Need Eco-Friendly Wrestlers if We’re Going to Save the Planet
I imagine that when Ludvig Borga first stepped on American soil — probably off a boat because it reduced his carbon emissions — he lifted his nose aloft and took in a whiff, grimacing. “Look at this filth. This pollution,” the Finnish quasi-superstar said in one of his inaugural WWF…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Aug 30, 2022. 6 minute read
On Wrestling Criticism Part 3: Structure
As with most storytelling in the Western world, we begin with the three-act structure. This ties into our most basic and essential understanding of stories — they should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Bare as it may seem as a framework, it’s still useful in understanding and…
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WRESTLING
Will Cooling Aug 30, 2022. 5 minute read
Revolution Pro’s Epic Encounter 2022 Was Wrestling at Its Most Resilient
Who would want to be a wrestling promoter? One wouldn’t forgive Andy Quildan asking himself that as he went to bed the night before Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Epic Encounters. For over a year he had fought to survive as lockdown forced RevPro behind closed doors and then, even after reopening,…
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WRESTLING
Brett Davis Aug 29, 2022. 3 minute read
The Best Butts in Professional Wrestling
“I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly.” – Beyonce Knowles “Booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin’ everywhere!” – Bubba Sparxx “Whatcha gon’ do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk?” – Will.I.Am, or maybe the other guy ASS. Everyone can appreciate dat azz. It’s universal. Big ones,…
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WRESTLING
Geoffrey D. Wessel Aug 29, 2022. 6 minute read
Maybe You Can Go Home Again: Konosuke Takeshita in the United States
Two cliched phrases come to mind when looking at the extended excursion DDT’s Konosuke Takeshita just completed in the United States of America. The first one is “Travel broadens the mind.” The whole idea of Japanese wrestlers going on excursion, of course, is to get experience with multiple styles of…
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WRESTLING
Belle Magee Aug 28, 2022. 5 minute read
DDT Pro’s Comfort with Butts Paves the Way to Wrestling Utopia
For as many times as we’ve had it drilled in our heads that wrestling is a love story, or a war of attrition, it is with only the utmost seriousness that I must add that sometimes wrestling is just bare-assed hi-jinks. If you are reading this, you’ve probably seen at…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Aug 26, 2022. 5 minute read
REPORT: What’s Going On with Thunder Rosa? New Sources Speak
On Wednesday, months of public discontent and years of simmering tensions with AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa boiled over when she announced that she was taking time off to deal with a nagging back injury. With Toni Storm reportedly (per Fightful Select, h/t Diva Dirt) being set to win the title…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Aug 26, 2022. 5 minute read
El Lindaman and Shigehiro Irie Had the Japanese Match of the Year
Some matches just cut straight through the noise. I don’t think it’s any big secret that I watch a decent amount of wrestling in my daily life from a wide variety of promotions and time periods. It’s a lot of material — a lot of it pretty good, and some…
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WRESTLING
Brett Davis Aug 26, 2022. 5 minute read
Few Talk Show Hosts Understood Wrestling Like Arsenio Hall
Some people just get wrestling. Regis was one of them, and pioneered the wrestler talk show guest model with the likes of Fred Blassie and The Destroyer. The formula was a tricky one, and many interviewers just didn’t grasp it. Regis’ formula worked: lightly sanitizing a wrestler’s persona for the…
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