THE PRO-WRESTLING RENAISSANCE

Professional wrestling is on the verge of a renaissance.

The signs are there, if you’re keen to see them.

This potential revival can be traced back to CM Punk’s "Shoot Heard Round The World". The effects of that single promo continue to radiate throughout the professional wrestling community and particularly in the WWE; namely in the current top program that revolves around Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. If CM Punk had not incorporated their names into that promo, would we be seeing them at the top of the mountain today? Had CM Punk not talked about Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in that promo, would The Authority stable exist today?

The Art Of My Way

This song, and the "My Way" vignette that helped build Rock & Austin's fateful main event encounter at WrestleMania 17, was so effective that it is permanently embedded in the minds of the wrestling fans who witnessed it.

I cannot separate my own adolescence from The Rock & Steve Austin's feud, and particularly the song that helped define it. It plays on a permanent loop in the hallowed halls of teenaged angst in my mind, recollections of doing things "My way!" because The Rock & Steve Austin did things their way, giving and taking Rock Bottoms and Stunners to my brothers (on mattresses, of course), walking through my high school purposefully locked away in my own little world of catchphrases and iconic gestures, a Rock-like twitch to my neck and a bad-mother-fucker bravado to my stride.

WORK OF WRESTLING PODCAST - EP63 - DX - PT1

THE PODCASTTim KailMarch 7, 2016dx, degeneration x, shawn michaels, triple h, chyna, rick rude, wwf, wwe, 1997, wrestlemania 14, stone cold steve austin, work of wrestling, work of wrestling podcast, arts, arts blog, pro wrestling blog

THE RAW REVIEW

The kind of pro-wrestling I’ve been advocating for on The Work of Wrestling home-site & podcast for the past twelve months already exists.

It can be easily found by taking a trip into the past.

Last night, instead of watching RAW, I perused the WWE Network in search of something historically significant. I watched a few Attitude Era episodes of RAW. I watched a bit of WCW Nitro.

WWE 2K16 COVER: STEVE AUSTIN IS THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

EDITORIALSTim KailJuly 6, 2015steve austin, stone cold steve austin, stone cold, stone cold podcast, wwe network, WWE 2K15, WWE 2K14, wwe 2k16, wwe 2k games

THE STEVE AUSTIN PODCAST REVIEW

The Steve Austin Show returned to the WWE Network following the June 1st episode of Monday Night Raw. While there weren’t many hard-hitting questions to be asked (as Austin stated in the open of the show), it was still a thoroughly entertaining exchange where Heyman and Austin spoke openly about some of the booking woes and performance issues that plague the WWE’s main roster. Austin seemed even less reserved this go-round, speaking candidly and critically about the misuse of the DDT and John Cena’s “wasted” Springboard Stunner. The intensity and the unapologetic way in which he spoke, eliciting a similar candidness from Paul Heyman, was a refreshing change of pace from Jericho’s friendly, occasionally meandering conversation with Stephanie McMahon a few weeks back.

THE RAW REVIEW

What was the last pay-per-view you remember where the main event was set well in advance and the WWE expanded upon that main event story for several weeks?

SummerSlam. 2014.

I remember the build into that now-infamous and incredibly satisfying SummerSlam encounter between Brock Lesnar and John Cena. It was consistent, enjoyable, and straightforward. There was never any doubt that you were going to see John Cena defend his championship against Brock Lesnar. Even if you hated the idea of Lesnar vs Cena, you had seen the promotional packages for a solid four weeks.

WOW:EP 5:A STONE COLD STORY

THE PODCASTTim KailJanuary 30, 2015steve austin, stone cold steve austin, wwe, wwe network, professional wrestling, the royal rumble, podcast, work of wrestling, roman reigns wins the royal rumble, roman reigns

THE RAW REVIEW (12/29/14)

The last RAW of 2014 was a good representation of the entire year.

Some good performances, some progressive booking, some stilted performances, and some incredibly regressive booking.

2014 has been a good year for the WWE, despite the flaws, with several younger performers slowly rising to a place of prominence and, in so doing, reinvigorating some of the veteran talents. While fans have had to endure a truly disheartening stream of advertisements on an overlong flagship show and angles that seem booked and built by a blatantly out-of-touch board of directors, they’ve also been treated to an overall sense of increased hope and positivity and signs of legitimate change in the wake of significant events in the WWE fiction and in the actual WWE company.

STONE COLD CALLS WRESTLEMANIA 13

“I’m laying in a pool of blood. This is the greatest feeling in the world."

You might read that quote and be unsettled, maybe even concerned for the individual who spoke it.

STONE COLD CALLS WRESTLEMANIA X-7

EDITORIALSThe Good WorkerOctober 18, 2014austin 316 says I just whipped your ass, dwayne johnson, podcast one, stone cold steve austin, stone cold, the rock, unleashed, vince mcmahon, wrestlemania x-7, wrestlemania, wwe network

The Writings