On April 1st, WWE Announced they will air a Global Women’s Tournament this summer with 32 competitors from 17 different countries. The Cruiserweight Classic and United Kingdom Championship Tournament were both critical successes for WWE Network. The single elimination tournament format created stakes based in reality for those involved and was portrayed as legitimate sport, real people with backstories all vying for a championship and the opportunity to be seen by the WWE Universe.
Read MoreAlthough the pro-wrestling industry often appears content to exist on the fringe of popular culture, fancying itself apolitical, asocial, and purely "entertainment", it does not, in fact, exist apart from society.
Pro-wrestling is every bit a reflection (the good, the bad, and the reprehensible) of society as any other theatrical medium. Just as Hollywood, the video game industry, the sports world, and every other business enterprise where creativity, athleticism, and culture collide, professional wrestling is undergoing a transformation.
In pro-wrestling, particularly in the past few years, those fans & performers who have historically been underrepresented, marginalized, or vilified are pushing back. The bigoted and sexist caricatures in pro-wrestling, as well as those fans who dismiss people who don't fit the white, straight, eighteen to thirty-five year old male demographic as "fake fans", face a mounting resistance. Pro-wrestling fans are combating the tired, false narrative that this form of art is "for the few, by the few".
Read MoreTune in to today’s pro wrestling fandom, and one of the first words that springs to mind is ‘entitlement.’
Wrestling fans have become consumed with their idea of Monday Night RAW; their World Wrestling Entertainment. We live in a culture of ‘smarks’, connoisseurs of the squared circle who believe themselves to be above the art of professional wrestling itself. Rather than simply following storylines and enjoying matches, we now take to Twitter to complain about the art we supposedly love. We argue about booking directions in forums, make fun of title belt designs at live shows, and urge Vince McMahon to #CancelWWENetwork when ‘our guy’ loses.
Read MoreI haven't watched a full episode of RAW in over three months.
I catch up by way of clips on Twitter and I skim through Hulu's already abridged version. I spend most of my time perusing the promos, the skits, and whatever vignettes there may be, cramming the broad strokes of the larger narratives so that I might be able to pass whatever WWE-quiz comes my way. Altogether, after also checking up on SmackDown, I've condensed my WWE-viewership into about thirty minutes a week (unless there's a pay-per-view and then that duration naturally increases).
The result is that I'm a much happier human being, and I'm probably a lot easier to be around. I don't obsess about booking decisions. I don't bicker with anyone online. I don't care about anyone's criticism of my criticisms. The imagined judgements of some phantom "real pro-wrestling fan" have vacated my mind, replaced with a sense of peace and the ability to interact with pro-wrestling in a healthier way on my own terms.
Read MorePro-wrestling has changed dramatically in the past twenty years. Wrestlers are leaner, faster, and seemingly less tethered to gravity. There is no "top guy" in the industry, but "brand identity" is stronger than ever. In WWE, promos and segments are highly controlled, heavily scripted bits of theater rather than loose, improvisational workshops. There are no Monday Night Wars, but there is a vast and interconnected independent wrestling circuit that's more accessible than ever thanks to the internet. Wrestling isn't drawing ten million viewers every Monday, but how many scripted television shows are in this Era of Niche?
Pro-Wrestling, like the whole of entertainment, has fragmented into an increasingly specific subset of ever-evolving tastes. Gone are the rigidly defined days of your average "18-35 year old male demo" showing up to RAW & Nitro in their tank tops to drink beer and scream obscenities into the camera. Today's wrestling is about gathering together with fellow "smart" wrestling fans (whatever their age, gender-identity, race, or sexuality), and then evaluating themselves or their particular group against other individuals and other groups, all while existing under the larger umbrella of "modern pro-wrestling fandom".
Read MoreThe WWE has embarked upon its self-proclaimed "New Era".
The past two months, this idea has taken concrete form in a strict separation between the shows Monday Night Raw & SmackDown Live (separate rosters, brand-specific stories, brand-specific championships, and brand-specific divisions), a renewed focus on the significance of earning a Championship opportunity or victory, showcasing talent that might typically be underutilized, new General Managers in the form of Daniel Bryan for SmackDown & Mick Foley for RAW, and a variety of structural and aesthetic changes to both shows. It is an experiment still in its infancy, and like many experiments it results in some successes and some failures.
Read MoreAlmost every day I see comments from frustrated professional wrestling fans claiming that Roman Reigns "doesn't deserve" all of the opportunities WWE has given him. This comment is incredibly reliable regardless of how Roman Reigns evolves and regardless of how his booking changes.
At this point, if a pro-wrestling fan is reciting the same laundry list of criticisms that have been leveled at Leati Joseph Anoaʻi over the past two years, I tend to question their true intentions as it relates to their love of professional wrestling.
Read MoreA true star in entertainment is very rare.
Much like the celestial bodies they're named for, a star's talent, charisma, ingenuity, or personality burns so brightly and distinctly that they're impossible to ignore. They shine through the impenetrable dark of sameness that defines the vast majority of our existence. Their reach is seemingly infinite, easily comprehend and appreciated upon first glance.
Read More"Here we, here we, here we fucking go!"
With these words, Glasgow-based independent pro-wrestling promotion ICW declares itself to the world. This is more than a chant.
This is a battle-cry
Read MoreThe Attitude Era wasn't great because it was raunchy, sleazy, blood-soaked, extreme, and testosterone-fueled. In fact, all those segments, matches, and angles from The Attitude Era that weren't good were the ones that could be easily reduced to a set of trendy adjectives.
The assertion many modern professional wrestling fans make is that The Attitude Era was "so much better" than today's TV-PG Era, without offering a worthwhile explanation as to why. This noisy group of armchair critics likes to cite "Better promos", "getting color", "more interesting characters", "cooler stables", and "better angles" as adequate precedent. Working alongside that lack of an explanation is the unavoidably revisionist history that comes with nostalgia. Moments of time that were distinct, perhaps entirely unrelated, get lumped together and cataloged as the same event; Shawn Michaels chopping his crotch, Triple H sitting on a cannon, Chyna giving low blows, The Rock raising an eyebrow, Steve Austin stunning Vince McMahon, and Mick Foley falling off a cell.
Read More“Family' are not just those that share bloodlines, Family offers unwavering love and support. Sending a thanks + I love you to our #Family”
That’s what John Cena tweeted the day after the post-Elimination Chamber RAW, as he was just coming off his loss in the champion vs. champion match with Kevin Owens.
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