WWE
Sean Neumann May 1, 2020. 6 minute read
Against All Logic, The Show Went On: April’s Pro Wrestling News Roundup
In the coming years after the coronavirus pandemic is over, the World Wrestling Entertainment will reflect on April 2020 with a sense of nobility. The company will tell you it was there for you when no one else was, entertaining you when others wouldn’t. The WWE will say it went…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Apr 26, 2020. 5 minute read
Howard Finkel’s Voice Defined a Wrestling Role Forever
I’ve been thinking a lot about the human voice lately, about how pared back my experience of it has been over the last month and a half. When I’m not writing about professional wrestling and when I’m not a poet, I’m the manager of a record store. Before my store…
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WRESTLING
lb hunktears Apr 24, 2020. 5 minute read
It’s Time to Raise Our Expectations of Pro Wrestling
The thing about pro wrestling is that the bar is low. Like really low. Like really, really low. Like all a wrestling promoter needs to do to be a shining example of what a wrestling promoter should be is pay the talent fairly and on time. All a wrestler needs…
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WRESTLING
FOLLOW US
John Warren Apr 16, 2020. Less than a minute
Fanbyte Morning News April 16, 2020
You can download this episode directly right here. Otherwise, check out the player above, or head to iTunes and Spotify. While you’re there, consider rating us or leaving a review. It helps. Seriously!
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NEWS
John Warren Apr 15, 2020. Less than a minute
Fanbyte Evening News April 15, 2020
You can download this episode directly right here. Otherwise, check out the player above, or head to iTunes and Spotify. While you’re there, consider rating us or leaving a review. It helps. Seriously!
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NEWS
Colette Arrand Apr 15, 2020. 11 minute read
An Unbearable Descent Into Hell: WWE As An Essential Business
I want to start by going back to 2018, when World Wrestling Entertainment was last the center of national and international scorn. You may remember 2018’s Crown Jewel event, broadcast live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia exactly one month after the state carried out the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Apr 12, 2020. 7 minute read
Professional Wrestling Is Already Cinema, Losers
WrestleMania 36, the collective fever dream of a world hungry for live entertainment and yet somehow sick to death of the WWE’s signature brand of live entertainment, took place last week, forever altering many fans’ perception of what wrestling is—what wrestling is capable of being—through its presentation of the Undertaker/AJ…
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WRESTLING
mer Apr 11, 2020. 6 minute read
WWE Recap: Post-WrestleMania Blues
It’s the week after WrestleMania and there’s not a beach ball to be seen! Instead of uninspired chants and the constant sound of batting plastic, you can hear all the moaning and groaning of wrestlers as they duke it out in another week of pre-taped, closed set shows. With a…
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WRESTLING
Emily Pratt Apr 10, 2020. 5 minute read
The Only Way The DIY Feud Can End Is With Gargano And Ciampa Boning Down
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa had the match that was promoted as the finale of their feud this week, the nearly hour-long, cinematically shot “Blackheart vs. Rebel Heart: One Final Beat.” It was supposed to be epic, artistic, and emotionally resonant. It was disorienting, often boring, and unintentionally very funny.…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Apr 6, 2020. 10 minute read
The End of Wrestling As We Know It: WrestleMania 36 Part Two Recap and Review
Previously: WrestleMania 36 Part One At last, wrestling can sleep. It won’t, of course—as a long-running metaphor for the strength and endurance of America(n capitalism), there’s more Raw, NXT, SmackDown, and AEW to come—but it could. And if it did, what strange new territory it’d have to explore upon waking. AJ…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Apr 5, 2020. 9 minute read
WELCOME TO THE BONEYARD: WrestleMania 36 Part One Recap and Review
WrestleMania shouldn’t have happened this year, but it did. Pre-taped in the WWE Performance center from the hours of 11:00pm to 5:00am and with a card heavily altered due either to talent being ill in an undisclosed fashion or being immunocompromised, WrestleMania defied logic and safety, practically spit in God’s…
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WRESTLING
mer Apr 4, 2020. 6 minute read
WWE Recap: The Very Bumpy Road to WrestleMania
While it feels like the last few weeks have mentally been about two decades, we’ve finally WrestleMania week, and everybody’s getting in the holiday spirit. While we’re unfortunately unable to sit in a dive bar and drink lukewarm beer just feet away from Colt Cabana, we can all take comfort…
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WRESTLING
David Bixenspan Apr 3, 2020. 7 minute read
The Owen Hart Police Report Is a Chilling Reminder of WWE’s History with Worker Safety
Earlier this month, when the coronavirus pandemic and the safety measures designed to slow its spread started threatening not just pro wrestling, but the live event business in general, WWE’s public stance was curious. The situation did escalate quickly, but WWE’s initial defiance in the face of the novel coronavirus…
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WRESTLING
Sean Neumann Apr 1, 2020. 5 minute read
Wrestling with Public Health: March’s Pro Wrestling News Roundup
Well… one of the craziest months most people alive will ever remember has finally come to a close. It feels a little strange to be upset about something like pro wrestling having been derailed when the world is fighting to stop the spread of a global pandemic. It’s infecting thousands…
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WRESTLING
mer Apr 1, 2020. 6 minute read
Too Big For One Night: WrestleMania 36 Preview and Predictions
In undoubtedly the most unique WrestleMania we’ve ever seen, the Granddaddy of them all will emanate pre-taped from a closed off Performance Center on both Saturday and Sunday night. Rob Gronkowski will be hosting for the non-existence audience, a sight I personally am very much looking forward to in the…
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WRESTLING
mer Mar 28, 2020. 7 minute read
WWE Recap: A Visit to the Boneyard or a Trip to the Funhouse?
This year’s Mania is shaping up to be a unique experience, to say the least. As things change on the daily, wrestlers are being pulled from the show for health concerns and it seems the card is being updated every few hours. Personally, I think that if WWE can’t produce…
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WRESTLING
Calvin Kasulke Mar 24, 2020. 6 minute read
Mechanics of Wrestling 101: Force
The first lesson in Mechanics of Wrestling 101, Space, is not a prerequisite for this, but is highly recommended. Beginning in late 2018 and extending through Wrestlemania 2019, Daniel Bryan orchestrated a heel run as iconic as it was unlikely. It would’ve been easy—even advisable—to take his story in a…
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WRESTLING
Colette Arrand Mar 21, 2020. 5 minute read
Actually, Wrestling Is the Last Thing We Need Right Now
At the risk of repeating myself, it is insane that there is still professional wrestling on television right now. It is irresponsible that there is still professional wrestling on television right now. It is, depending on your level of concern over coronavirus, morally reprehensible that there is still professional wrestling…
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WRESTLING
mer Mar 21, 2020. 6 minute read
WWE Recap: No Audience, No Problem?
This week was the most excited I’ve been for WWE programming in arguably forever. After last weeks SmackDown, which held my attention for two full hours as these men and women played to an imaginary audience based off muscle memory alone, I couldn’t wait to see what WWE was going…
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WRESTLING
mer Mar 20, 2020. 2 minute read
Daniel Bryan & Drew Gulak: Wrestling with Social Isolation (and Children’s Toys)
It’s a weird time for everyone in the world, but especially for people who make their living performing half naked while trying to get a crowd to yell mean things at them. As wrestling evolves through new health restrictions and audience-less shows, things have shown they can get a little…
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WRESTLING