Embracing the fun in Wrestling
The beauty of territory wrestling was the difference in styles. Each promotion had different fundamental ideas about how professional wrestling should be presented. Each of the various promoters would tell you they only booked what drew fans to the shows. But in reality, those promoters shaped the tastes and preferences of their fans, and were inclined to book wrestling …
Ten years ago, Randy Poffo, known to wrestling fans as the Macho Man Randy Savage, died of a massive heart attack while behind the wheel of his Jeep Wrangler. Few knew where to find the line between Poffo the man and Savage the performer. Many have wondered if such a line even existed. A recent A&E special brought new …
The veils of kayfabe were lifted from the pro wrestling landscape decades ago. Most people believe that what happens in front of the camera is just pretend, part of the story, a “work.” But, every now and then, something happens that makes fans question if some slice of reality may have slipped through the carefully produced and protected world …
Tonight on TNT, All Elite Wrestling will present what could be its most anticipated televised event. AEW has made no secret in being the spiritual heir to Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor World Championship Wrestling. On this night, they will unleash what many have called Dusty Rhodes’ greatest creation. Two rings wrapped in steel with two teams of …
Typically, when I write these retrospective pieces, I try to stay as professional as possible and avoid using the phrase “I.” Speaking in the first person should be done in a column and not in an article setting. However, since this week’s article took inspiration from something personal, I figured I would make a one-week exception and talk about …
If 1985 was the year the mainstream accepted professional wrestling, 1986 was when the medium found its identity within that mainstream. While Wrestlemania 2 might not have been a critical or creative success, it made a lot of money at the box office. More importantly, it helped push the WWF’s brutal national touring schedule. During this era, the Fed …
Coming off the heels of Wrestlemania, the WWF and pro wrestling itself could do no wrong. In the months leading up to Wrestlemania 2, the WWF’s penchant for bigger and better left them with a show that on paper should have been epic but turned into a bloated mess. The week after Wrestlemania 1, the WWF surrendered its TBS …
A common misconception among pro wrestling fans is that Vince McMahon took over his father’s World Wide Wrestling Federation company, slapped the championship on Hulk Hogan, and the old territories withered and died shortly after. That’s not exactly true. Vince McMahon wasn’t the first promoter to try and “go national.” He is the one that made it work. The …
In the territory days, the NWA Champion served many roles. The most important was making sure when the champion was on the card, the houses were up. If the NWA Champion couldn’t move tickets in multiple territories, they would be replaced by someone who could. The NWA Champion was constantly shuffling between the various territories, balancing threats from multiple …
On March 4th, one of the greatest professional wrestling promoters in history succumbed to liver and kidney failure after battling through a bout of COVID-19. Jim Crockett Jr. was a brilliant promoter with an eye for talent whose unique insight for understanding the human condition helped shape the professional wrestling landscape of 2021. For more than a generation, WWE …
