I've hit a wall with Monday Night Raw.

The past few weeks, I've turned it on and just felt a vague sense of disinterest. Some of that feeling is on me, but some of it is the result of the weekly program. I'll take responsibility for my mood going into it. If I watch it reluctantly, it's not going to be a good time. If I, instead, just relax and let the show wash over me, it's usually a success.

RAW is responsible for its rigid structure, however, one of my main turnoffs. The opening scene this week between Sami Zayn and CM Punk felt ill-conceived and forced. I couldn't help but see parallels between AEW's A-story and WWE's A-story. Both involve champions holding a title "hostage" as a collection of benevolent characters endeavor to "rescue" said title. Sami interrupted Punk to give him a little more than a pep talk, explaining why he needed to win his MITB qualifying match. It didn't feel like a natural interaction between these characters. The pair had to thread a fairly convoluted needle; Sami, dejected from losing his MITB qualifying match last week, interrupted Punk in an effort to inspire him to win. Reason being, if Rollins won, that would spell doom for the WWE.

JOURNAL ENTRIESTim KailJune 2, 2025raw, dynamite, John cena, wwe, aew

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 5/8/25

I've enjoyed RAW for what feels like an unprecedented three weeks in a row.

Something about the show has been better; perhaps it's the combination of a livelier midcard and an exciting main event scene. I also appreciate the simplistic yet effective narrative construct of good guys versus bad guys. On the bad guy side of things is Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Gunther, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Chad Gable, and others not worth mentioning. On the good guy side of things is Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, CM Punk, Penta, Pat McAfee, Sheamus, and others not worth mentioning. With firm moral alignments established, both heels and baby faces believing in their version of "right", the stories tell themselves.

I particularly enjoyed seeing two of my favorite wrestlers, CM Punk and Sami Zayn, at the end of this week's Monday Night Raw making the save for Jey Uso.

JOURNAL ENTRIESTim KailMay 8, 2025wwe, aew, seth rollins, gunther, pat mcafee, fight forever, jj mcgee

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 4/18/25

Hello there, dear reader. How are you?

It feels like it's been a while, though it's only been a few weeks since I wrote my last RAW REVIEW. I don't regret not reviewing the latest episodes in the slightest, but I do miss the weekly interaction with you (hence this journal entry).

I'm overjoyed CM Punk will be main-eventing night one of WrestleMania. There's a lot of pressure on this match - at least, I know I'm putting pressure on it. I want it to steal the weekend, a clash of styles and an intricate contest of wills. I predict Roman Reigns will win it, and I'm fine with that. A case could be made for each participant, though, which makes the match more difficult to figure out. And how will Paul Heyman factor into things - where does his loyalty lie?

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 3/28/25

Raw is, very simply, bad television.

How can I write a good review of the show when it all boils down to that? I don't want to depress my readers, but I will if I maintain my current course. The reviews have gotten shorter and angrier, a bleak reflection of the show itself. There isn't a single wrestler who really excites me. Not even Heel Cena is all that interesting. I can't believe WWE didn't explore the fact that Michael Cole called Cena a prick last week. Watching Cena beat the shit out of Cole would have been visceral and unsettling. Cody could have made the save and Cena would have further cemented himself as a heel. I liked that he said he was going to "ruin wrestling" for everybody, but I don't think he explored that concept enough.

I'm disappointed with Paul Levesque's booking. His main roster has none of the excitement and purpose that his NXT roster had in 2014/2015. A lot of wrestlers are missing in action, and those who are staples of the show feel adrift, aimless.

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 3/21/25

I'm starting to feel the burn of reviewing RAW every week.

Now, when I get home from work on Tuesday I don't immediately start writing. I fire up the XBox Series S and play Starfield. And that's all I want to do - play Starfield and watch Severance with my wife.

As I was writing this week's review I realized something fairly substantial (and worrying). I don't actually enjoy watching RAW. I find so much of it grating - the advertisements, the backstage segments, the scripted promos. There's usually one good thing each week, but that's not enough to justify giving two and a half hours of my life to something. As far as improvements to the show, I think they've gone as far as they're willing to go (better editing, interesting camera angles, a more structured start to each episode). Backstage segments clearly aren't going anywhere. No amount of criticizing them, no matter how right I am, is going to change that. The ensemble cast of characters fluctuates wildly in terms of quality. On one hand we have CM Punk and Roman Reigns and on the other we have Dominik Mysterio and The Creed Brothers. The interviews, no matter where they happen in the arena, are terribly performed and terribly written. I wince through them, wondering what in the blue hell I'm even watching.

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 3/13/25

I'm bursting with excitement. As I write this, tomorrow I'll be a guest on NPR affiliate CT Public radio's The Colin McEnroe show. I'm nervous, psyching myself up to make the most of this opportunity. I had a pre-interview call on Tuesday to prepare me for the interview. I love talking about wrestling as an art particularly with people who don't know much about wrestling but are curious.

This interview has activated my imagination.

Maybe if I do well I'll get some new listeners and readers.

Maybe if I do really well NPR will offer me a job.

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 2/27/25

AEW Dynamite has become an afterthought in my wrestling viewership, sad to say. Wednesday rolls around and I find my wrestling appetite has already been sated by RAW. This is especially true because I review RAW and spend a lot of time thinking about it and honing my critiques throughout the week. As of now, I have no intention of purchasing AEW's next ppv. I need to save money, for one thing, and I'm not enamored with any particular story. If I find myself bored and with nothing better to watch, I'll put Dynamite on the TV when I get home from work, but there's no longer a sense of urgency. There was a time when I firmly believed AEW was producing not only the best weekly wrestling television show at present, but the best I'd ever seen at any time in my life.

JOURNAL ENTRIESTim KailFebruary 27, 2025tim kail's wrestling journal, wrestling, pro wrestling, art, wwe, aew, orange cassidy

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 2/21/25

I'm sick with a bad cold. I've missed a couple days of work. Sore throat, congested, hacking up phlegm as my nostrils turn raw. It's incredibly unpleasant. All I've done is drink tea and sleep. I'm starting to feel better - it's been about six days since the symptoms began. I've tested negative for Covid. The biggest casualty of this sickness is this week's RAW Review. Try as I might I couldn't summon the strength to give much detail or fully fleshed out "takes". I'm exhausted and occasionally in pain. I apologize to anyone who was hoping for more. I figured what I did manage to produce was better than nothing at all. I'll bounce back next week.

JOURNAL ENTRIESTim KailFebruary 21, 2025tim kail's wrestling journal, tim kail, wrestling, work of wrestling, podcast, blog, cm punk

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 2/15/25

Sometimes I'll be sitting calmly at my desk at work when I'll remember something particularly embarrassing from my past. A girl I tried to flirt with who wasn't having any of it. Something deplorable I said in middle school. That time I hurt a friend's feelings.

Such memories are accompanied by the following thought, "I hate myself". Then there's a whole other category of dark thoughts related to mortality that pop up like Wack-A-Moles. I'll find myself with nothing to do after completing a task, and then the dread slips in, seducing me into a tiny spiral, "What does any of this mean?"

For the past few weeks, I've been attempting to course correct this pattern of thought by "staying in gratitude", "reality testing", and "thought stoppage". Much to my surprise, the results have been positive. When such thoughts arise I say to them something like, "No thank you" or "I know what you're doing and I choose not to accept it". I feel like I'm getting to know myself better, because I know exactly what prompts the dark thoughts and I know their goal. When you know those things, it's harder for the thoughts to take shape in reality. They're actually fake-thoughts based in fear that only become real when you accept them as fact. But if you cut them off, you start to recognize the little game your lizard brain is playing.

JOURNAL ENTRIESTim KailFebruary 15, 2025wwe, aew, captain america, the avengers, endgame, thor, podcasting, the work of wrestling

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 2/13/25

For this blog entry I simply want to reflect on the state of my wrestling fandom and The Work Of Wrestling. It's not a review or an essay - think of it as a journal entry with little structure. I wrote it because I felt like it with no immediately apparent purpose. Let’s see what shakes loose.

For the past six weeks I've watched and reviewed Monday Night Raw. During that time I've also caught up on AEW Dynamite. One show is not particularly better than the other. They share so many similarities that their differences hardly register. If I showed one show to a non-fan and then the other show a few minutes later and asked them to tell the difference, I don't think they'd be able to.

I'm particularly perturbed by AEW's backstage camerawork.

It's indistinguishable from WWE's, and they've even started doing that thing where the camera lingers on the subject or interviewer for a few seconds after the scene is over. I cannot fathom why AEW would do this. Someone in a position of power is actively making this terrible creative decision. There is no visual wrestling rule book dictating it be done this way. Also, don't they want to distinguish themselves from WWE? Why not do so in easy, simple ways like camerawork?

JOURNAL ENTRIESTim KailFebruary 13, 2025journal, raw, aew, wwe, Seth rollins, criticism, arts criticism

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