I have a day job. I work 9-5, Tuesday through Friday. It pays the bills and provides me and my wife with healthcare. My commute is a seven minute walk and my supervisors are kind, thoughtful people. As I age, the more I value these benefits. I see these aspects of my job as rare and precious, but when you’re in the daily grind of human existence it’s easy to lose sight of the good and slip into rumination on the bad. I’m in therapy, I take antidepressants and anti-psychotics, and I practice several cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to cope with the darker corners of my consciousness. Even so, with all these benefits, it’s still not enough to get me through the day.

“Well it pays the bills…” or “You have healthcare…” or “You have a good therapist…” doesn’t answer a particular yearning in the soul. What is that need - that part of you that’s unmoved by the objective positives in your life?

What is it you’re searching for?

THE REALITY OF WRESTLING OR: WHY EVERYTHING IS FAKE

I believe in professional wrestling.

Like any other storytelling medium, the theater of pro-wrestling can inspire, enlighten, and unite. The transcendent power of a pro-wrestling match is best comprehended by those viewers caught in The Moment of Pop - that instant where the onlooker forgets what they're watching is staged and is inspired to rise to their feet or sink into their seat.

In that millisecond of purity, all contrivance fades.

MICK FOLEY AND DANIEL BRYAN: THE GENERAL MANAGERS WE NEED & DESERVE

This past Monday on RAW it was officially announced that Daniel Bryan will take over as the General Manager of SmackDown Live and Mick Foley will take over as the General Manager of RAW.

In terms of capitalizing on fan-enthusiasm for the creative direction of the upcoming "brand split" (or "brand extension"), these are great choices for the GM roles. Two beloved fan-favorites in positions of fictional power will be a nice shift away from the domineering "evil boss" gimmicks that have defined the WWE's primary narratives in recent years.

The Road To Better Representation Of Asians At WrestleMania

On January 28th, 2018, two performers of Japanese descent, Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka, won their respective Royal Rumble matches.

This was a defining moment both in pro-wrestling history, and in my personal pro-wrestling fandom.

When you’re an ethnic minority, growing up a pro-wrestling fan presents a challenge.

Pro-Wrestling's xenophobic roots result in the depiction of ethnic minorities as the heels (villains) opposite the "All-American" babyfaces (heroes). We are represented by racial caricatures and stereotypes that are designed to emphasize one’s foreignness. It’s a constant reminder that we are the “other”; that the way we look, the way we sound, the way we act inevitably elicits boos.

WOW - EP148 - Hitman

Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by resident Bret Hart-expert, Al Monelli, to finally discuss Bret's New York Times Bestselling autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling.

The Inaugural Women's Royal Rumble Review (2018)

The WWE's annual Royal Rumble is many pro-wrestling fan's favorite pay-per-view, and with good reason.

It is the pop-filled prelude to WrestleMania, typically establishing the primary Championship narratives that lead into Vince McMahon's "showcase of the immortals". Unfortunately, recent Rumbles have been mired in fan discontent, with the WWE and its audience locked in deep disagreement about who deserves the "top guy" moniker, and thus a shot at WrestleMania's main event.

All eyes await, with a mounting sense of anticipatory dread, as the final four participants are revealed. There is a collective sense of "really...this is who it's going to be?" that hangs over the final minutes of the match like a grim cloud.

Tim Kail's Raw Review

There are times when the WWE strikes that perfect balance between heavy-handed schmaltz and sincere, logical storytelling.

That elusive sweet spot may just be the purest representation of the WWE's perspective on professional wrestling; an over-the-top family saga wrapped in spandex, fireworks, and an assortment of colorful heroes & villains that occasionally results in genuine expressions of pain, joy, surprise, and psychosis.

One such moment occurred on the November 13th, 2017 episode of Monday Night Raw when Kurt Angle and his tearful "son", Jason Jordan, were interrupted by a grim & determined Triple H.

Am I A Pro-Wrestling Fan Or A Human Being

I stood with my hands in my pockets and my eyes on the floor, waiting for the next stall or urinal to open up. We were a pack of shifty men, unaccustomed to bathroom lines. A father and a son talked about Spiderman: Homecoming (the movie we'd all just finished watching) behind me. The father liked it. The son wasn't so sure. Both loved Michael Keaton. Most of us were quiet save a few customary post-pee man-grunts.

A stall door opened, and a bearded young man exited. He wore a Bullet Club tee-shirt. I recognized the skull and crossed AKs immediately. Even though I knew nothing about the Bullet Club (other than the fact that they exist and are important in indy wrestling) I experienced the warmth of recognition.

A fellow wrestling fan!

WOW - EP136 - G1 Climax 27 - NJPW

Pro-Wrestling Is An Art...But It's Better When Wrestlers Don't Know That

Professional wrestling is an art.

That's the simple truth.

Proving and reinforcing that truth with my style of pro-wrestling-arts-criticism has always been the purpose of my writing and my podcast. It is an accurate way of analyzing the medium that quickly dismantles the age-old claim "wrestling is fake", and simultaneously positions pro-wrestling to be watched (and created) with the respect it deserves.

The idea that pro-wrestling is an art is by no means new: philosopher Roland Barthes wrote about wrestling as theater in the 1950s, Bret Hart stated with his trademark tempered pride, "There is an art to wrestling" in the 1998 documentary Wrestling With Shadows, and CM Punk told GQ in 2011, "It's truly, I believe, one of the only art forms that America has actually given to the world, besides jazz and comic books".

The Magic Of Wrestling Action Figures

I held Anakin Skywalker in my hands, and I felt nothing.

For the first time in my life, an action figure wasn’t anything more than a piece of cheap plastic. His poorly molded head stared up at me, devoid of magic. His unarticulated arm was stiff so that a lightsaber would go in and out the hilt extending from his hand, making it appear as though the blade could be turned on and off; the kind of gimmick I always hated even as a little kid. Toys with “Chop action!” buttons, bells, and whistles assumed I didn’t have an imagination. His fixed pose felt like an insult to my intelligence.

My mom sat next to me in the car, watching me open two more figures inspired by Attack of the Clones: a similarly stiff Obi-Wan Kenobi and a tiny Padme Amidala. We were in the parking lot of Wal-Mart, our custom during these sacred action figure openings.

Is WWE Too Smart For Its Own Good? What The Women's Money in the Bank Controversy Reveals

"Too smart for their own good" is a criticism that doesn't just apply to pro-wrestling fans, though.

It's a criticism that also applies to the WWE.

How exactly?

We needn't look further than the way the WWE booked the first ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match to see "too smart for their own good" on unapologetic display.

The Writings