WRESTLING
mer Mar 21, 2022. 5 minute read
Steve Austin Cracks Open His Final Can of Whoop Ass
As a young, hip, and extremely cool millennial, my memories of the 1990s are fuzzy at best, admittedly. This means I unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask) have little to no idea what it was like to experience a time period where wrestling was actually pretty cool. I…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Mar 18, 2022. 13 minute read
Scott Hall, Wrestling’s Bad Guy, Was Eternally Cool
Scott Hall died on Monday, March 14, of after an attempted hip replacement surgery loosed a blood clot which caused three heart attacks two days earlier. He was 63 years old. I have been struggling for two days to think of something to say about his passing, but it’s difficult.…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Mar 18, 2022. 7 minute read
To Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary, NJPW Chased Its Past
New Japan Pro Wrestling currently has a complicated relationship with its history. The company has existed for half a century now, having spent most of that tenure as the leading wrestling promotion in Japan. New Japan’s grip on the top spot in Japan has rarely wavered in any quantifiable way.…
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WRESTLING
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Geoffrey D. Wessel Mar 15, 2022. 7 minute read
Crowning Underachievements: Tag Teams Collide at NJPW’s 50th Anniversary
Not everyone can be a superstar in professional wrestling. Indeed, the entire history of the business is littered with more “journeymen,” “good hands,” jobbers, midcarders, curtain jerkers, also-rans and never-weres, then your rare, bona-fide mainstream names and pop culture icons. But hey, someone has to fill the slots on the…
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WRESTLING
Ashley Naftule Mar 14, 2022. 7 minute read
Shake On It: Chris Jericho & Eddie Kingston Fought For Respect at Revolution
November 13, 2021: Eddie Kingston loses a grudge match to CM Punk at Full Gear. Punk, his battered face veiled in blood, stretches his hand out to Eddie—offering him the respect he’s denied Kingston for so long. Eddie doesn’t take it. He turns and sulks off, so bitter at his…
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WRESTLING
mer Mar 13, 2022. 2 minute read
WWE’s Butch (FKA Pete Dunne): A Review
Last night’s SmackDown (re)introduced us to a fan favorite wrestler; he’s been with the company for years, held numerous titles, broke company records, and contributed to some of the most talked about moments throughout NXT’s black and gold era. He’s a fantastic performer in the ring and intimidating enough out…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Mar 11, 2022. 4 minute read
After AEW Revolution 2022, NXT’s Adam Cole is Officially Dead
When Shawn Michaels moved to Orlando to take an active role in WWE’s NXT developmental brand in early 2018, there was a noticeable shift in the style of the big matches. The first TakeOver special of the Michaels era was in New Orleans during WrestleMania weekend, and was headlined by…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Mar 9, 2022. 5 minute read
Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley Are Done Compromising Their Vision of Pro Wrestling
Bryan Danielson has an uncompromising vision of professional wrestling. And why wouldn’t he? This is a man who has gone on record to say that a bloody pro wrestling match has brought him closer to sensing God’s presence than years of organized religion. “I’m not doing it to have the…
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WRESTLING
Brett Davis Mar 8, 2022. 4 minute read
QT Marshall’s Road to History at AEW Revolution
He’s a sensation. Since the moment he debuted, there has been an air of mystery around him. Even before he stepped in the ring, people were clamoring for his official debut. And despite not holding any major titles or having any big-name victories under his belt, his rise has felt…
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WRESTLING
mer Mar 7, 2022. 4 minute read
Down Team B.A.D Again
As we find ourselves four weeks away from the young, hip granddaddy of them all, the WrestleMania card is taking shape. Roman and Brock are unifying titles to take us right back to the horrifying days of 2016, alongside a match that no one really asked for in Charlotte vs…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Mar 4, 2022. 6 minute read
What Is a WWE Superstar? A Theory.
Yesterday, Vince McMahon did an interview on The Pat McAfee Show, hosted, as you might guess, by former NFL punter turned podcaster and WWE SmackDown color commentator Pat McAfee. While it probably would have been a good idea to—interviews with McMahon have tended to be rare, and are increasingly so…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Mar 1, 2022. 7 minute read
The Fever Dream That Was the First Six Weeks of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night
To most wrestling fans who would recognize it, Shotgun Saturday Night signifies the domestic version of the WWF’s first-run syndicated show that aired from 1997 to 1999. If you didn’t know it by that name, you may have seen it as Shotgun Challenge, Shotgun, WWF New York, 11 Alive, or, at different times, both the…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Feb 25, 2022. 8 minute read
Did THAT MJF Promo Make You Uncomfortable? Good. It Was Supposed To.
On Wednesday night, at the AEW Dynamite and Rampage taping in Bridgeport, Connecticut, MJF did something different. “[I]n their hands, they’re holding rolls of quarters,” he said (transcription h/t CageMatch.net user Rocky7), describing his then-new football teammates he expected to become his new friends while in his tweens. “And all…
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WRESTLING
mer Feb 25, 2022. 5 minute read
Bad Guys Do it Worse: Logan Paul Reveals Mania Potential
Elimination Chamber aired this past Saturday, coming to us live at noon Eastern from Saudia Arabia. There’s not much else for me to contribute to the conversation around WWE’s involvement in Saudi Arabia, as it’s pretty much all been covered. This was the first time Elimination Chamber aired from Saudi…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Feb 23, 2022. 13 minute read
Interview: “Hoodfoot” Mo Atlas Is Making Moves
Hoodfoot likes to play chess. It’s not the first thing you’ll ever find out about the independent wrestler currently based in Indianapolis. More likely, you’ll first hear about his time as the top champion in Paradigm Pro Wrestling, where he wrestled under UWFi rules. Or perhaps you’ve seen him on…
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WRESTLING
Danny Acosta Feb 22, 2022. 6 minute read
WWE’s History of Illegal Immigration Storylines and Stereotyping Mexican Talent
After failing to bridge Andrade from NXT to WWE World Champion, with his departure to AEW in the rear-view, it was time to revisit WWE’s track record with luchador talent Three world champions have represented Mexico in WWE history. Only Rey Mysterio did so without an illegal immigration storyline. Eddie…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Feb 18, 2022. 6 minute read
FTR Finally Wrestled the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, the Fathers of Their Style
There’s a danger to making one’s influences so well known. Since they first burst onto the scene in late 2010s NXT as The Revival, FTR have never made any secrets about who they were trying to be. In their aesthetic, their ring work, and their dedication to classic tag team…
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WRESTLING
Joseph Anthony Montecillo Feb 16, 2022. 5 minute read
Biff Busick’s Bloody Return to Wrestling
It’s been close to seven years since Biff Busick last wrestled in Fete Music Hall. On his last night for Beyond Wrestling, he defeated longtime rival Eddie Edwards to win the first ever Greatest Rivals Round Robin. Having won all three of his matches on that night, Busick left the…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Feb 15, 2022. 5 minute read
Reexamining Shawn Michaels Losing His Smile, 25 Years Later
February 13, 1997’s Thursday Raw Thursday special has, in the past 25 years, become synonymous with one thing: Shawn Michaels, in the process of giving a speech where he vacated the WWF Championship, told the viewing audience that, in addition to sustaining a career-threatening knee injury, he had “lost [his] smile.”…
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WRESTLING
mer Feb 11, 2022. 5 minute read
Ready, Willing, and Still (Chad) Gable
To the shock of anyone who lived through the year 2020, Chad Gable is, hands down, one of the best things Raw has going for it right now. He’s always been charismatic (that’s being a short king), but WWE has done their best to hinder his momentum (that’s also being…
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WRESTLING