Embracing the fun in Wrestling
One of the biggest stories surrounding WRESTLEMANIA 37, was Night One’s history making main event, which saw Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair go head to head for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. WRESTLEMANIA is always a time where emotions run high for WWE superstars, but this time, it was even more significant as these incredibly talented women took center stage at American …
This is part 4 of a multi-part series on CM Punk. You can find part 5 here. We began in the latter months of 2011, as we remembered the trials that CM Punk had suffered, from his infamous ‘Pipe Bomb’ promo to losing the WWE Championship, having the ‘Summer of Punk’ derailed, and finally winning his title back from …
WrestleManias are built on moments. One of my favorite parts of the iconic TLC 2 at WrestleMania X7 is a tiny “blink and you’ll miss it” moment, and it’s something you’ll never quite understand without knowing the context, but it makes me shake my head and laugh every single time. I’ll help set the stage a bit. We’re less …
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 …
This is part 3 of a multi-part series on CM Punk. You can find part 4 here. We began our journey with a voice, a tale of CM Punk as he decreed himself ‘The Best In The World’, discussing the trials he battled through in order to win the WWE Championship back from the man who stole his title, …
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 …
This is part 2 of a 2 part series. You can find part 1 here. While Ole Anderson and Jim Herd viewed Sting’s first run as WCW Champion a flop, the Stinger stayed in a marquee position with the company. At the WrestleWar 91 show, Sting teamed with Brian Pillman and the Steiner Brothers against the Horseman in a …
Wrestling cards across the world will always attempt to hype the uniqueness of a match, whether through the contrast between the competitors, how they complement in styles, or very rarely, the fact it is a first ever meeting between two superstars. You need only see the excitement of American fans when AJ Styles first appeared at Number 3 in …
The idea of story in pro wrestling is often used to debate whether a story is being told in the ring – but the idea of what a story is is often lost. According to scholar and writer Robert McKee, a story is an event that creates meaningful change in a character through conflict. A character has a goal; …
