The Work Of Wrestling: Recent Episodes
Tim Kail
Professional wrestling is an art. The Work of Wrestling is dedicated to exploring that simple truth. Produced & hosted by Tim Kail.
Tim Kail returns to review AEW's latest pay-per-view, Wrestle Dream.
Follow Work Of Wrestling on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Give the podcast a five star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Thank you for listening.
Tim Kail answers your questions.
The Rock video mentioned in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlb8EfgeIv0
Tim & Al join forces to dissect WWE's latest PLE, Summer Slam.
They discuss the lack of marquee names, La Knight vs Logan Paul, what's specifically lacking with LA Knight's identity, Seth Rollins' attire (of course), CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre and more.
Visit www.monellifilms.com for a peak at Al's great filmmaking.
Follow Work of Wrestling on all social media gimmciks @WorkOfWrestling.
Thanks for listening. May the moment of pop be with you.
Tim can't sleep. And so he podcasts. Talks mental health, Raw, new camera angles, AEW, Shane McMahon, pro-wrestling podcasters, Netflix, The Raw Review.
Follow on social media @WorkOfWrestling.
May the Moment of Pop be with you!
Tim returns. Talks current (and excellent) WWE TV. AEW's dropoff. Women's wrestling. Talking to Charlotte and Becky Lynch back in the day. Why it's okay to not watch wrestling. Not caring about other people's opinions. Eager for RAW on Netflix. Personal life. Sleep apnea. Sleep walking. Work-stress. Rocky, his dog. And more.
Give this one a listen (it's the best in a little while).
In the 11th hour Tim Kail puts together an episode about coming down off the WrestleMania high, his plans for the podcast, going on hiatus, his short film, and his dog.
Music by Ben Holland.
It's WrestleMania week! Host Tim Kail is joined by Al Monelli to discuss and dissect WWE's latest showcase of the immortals.
This Saturday Tim talks about being excited for WrestleMania!
He also talks about his short film, The Rock and Roman Reigns being self-actualized, and gives tips for navigating WrestleMania.
Follow The Work Of Wrestling on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week on The Work Of Wrestling podcast Tim Kail analyzes the latest incarnation of The Rock, eventually leading him to ask "What is a man in 2024?"
In this episode host Tim Kail compares and contrasts arguments had in a relationship with professional wrestling matches.
Follow WOW on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
(Note: if the audio sounds strange it's because I was using my Zoom H1N for the intro and outro - Rocky, my dog, wouldn't let me record in the room with the better mic, so I ask for your forgiveness and give you my thanks)
This week Tim Kail talks about The Rock, only everything he's doing outside the ring. He then compares that to what he has going on and what we all have going on.
Topics include:
- Pro-Wrestling
- Movies
- Social media
- Exercise and nutrition
- Spot on The Board of TKO
- Sit-com
- Athletic Wear line with Underarmor including his own shoes.
- A credit card Acorn w/Visa
- Terramana Tequilla
- XFL into the UFL
- Papatui skin care for men
- Father
- Husband
- Son
- Being a good person
And more!
Follow The Work Of Wrestling on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail returns to talk about the ongoing Road To WrestleMania (among other things).
Topics include:
- The Rock being amazing.
- Roman Reigns' aura.
- Social Media promos being superior to television promos.
- What if Tim wrote a wrestling book?
And more.
Follow The Work Of Wrestling on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim is joined by his friend John Macy for a discussion on a variety of pro-wrestling topics, including but not limited to:
- John's thoughts on The Iron Claw.
- Our viewing habits.
- Losing interest in AEW.
- The downside of two more AEW shows.
- Too much wrestling.
- CM Punk.
- AEW Fight Forever.
And more!
Follow The Work Of Wrestling on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews WWE's latest premium live event, Eliminatioin Chamber.
Topics include:
- not getting enough sleep.
- Becky Lynch's Raw promos.
- Randy Orton telling a story.
- The dryness of Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins.
- Nia's lack of fluidity in the ring.
- Rhea Ripley winning in the main event.
- How to tell the story of a wrestler's resiliency in a new way.
And more!
Follow The Work Of Wrestling on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week on the podcast Tim examines The Rock's promo from the February 16th episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
Topics include:
- Dwayne Johnson still having access to this character.
- What's new about Dwayne Johnson that makes the character all the better.
- Dwayne Johnson doing this because he loves it.
- The clarity of the character's motivations.
And more!
Follow The Work Of Wrestling on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim talks about the WrestleMania Kickoff show, The Rock's performance, bad writing, Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns, and what match The Rock could have at WrestleMania.
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail returns for a surprise episode all about The Rock vs Roman Reigns. Topics include:
- Metlzer journalism.
- The way WWE got to The Rock vs Roman Reigns
- How they could f*&$ up something so simple.
- We Want Cody hashtag and inevitable chants.
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his longtime friend and fellow pro-wrestling fan, Alexander Monelli to review the 2024 Royal Rumble. They discuss each match of the Royal Rumble as well as:
- the awesomeness of Jade Cargil
- loving Roman Reigns
- whether or not The Rock "went into business for himself?"
- if it's definitely Cody vs Roman Reigns at WrestleMania
- the contracdictory nature of "finishing the story" within a neverending story.
And much more.
Watch Al's great documentaries at www.monellifilms.com
Subscribe to The Work of Wrestling on social media @WorkOfWrestling
Thank you for listening!
It's Christmas day, and Tim Kail returns to give the gift of a new episode! He talks about his evolving relationship with wrestling, how he hasn't been watching AEW, how his mental health has been, and why he loves pro-wrestling so much.
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail returns for a new round of questions from the listeners.
You wanted to know how Tim's work on his short films affecteed his appreciation for the pro-wrestling craft, who Tim would want to see in AEW & WWE, Tim's advice for how to get "back into" wrestling, his thoughts on the upcoming film The Iron Claw, his thoughts on whether AEW uses blood too much and WWE not enough, who would Tim put on the pro-wrestling Mount Rushmore, his favorite movies of the year, who could defeat Roman Reigns, who on the current roster has the potential to be the next top guy, how Tim comes up with thoughtful questions and what he most enjoys about interviewing someone, what Tim thought of Punk's latest promo, what favorite dish he's most looking foward to this holiday season, a series of questions from Mith Gifs, and finally how to manage a low point in one's wrestling fandom.
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
CM Punk has returned to WWE! And even though he's still on hiatus, Tim Kail dusted off the microphone and recorded some thoughts on this seminal moment in pro-wrestling history.
Topics include:
- Tim making a top 5 wrestlers list in real-time.
- How some characters expand a fan's consciousness.
- Why CM Punk is so beloved by a particular generation of fans.
- How will Punk exist in modern WWE?
- How will he regard his time in AEW?
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail returns for a "Holiday Special" episode.
He talks about what he's grateful for as well as his disdain for professional wrestling journalism. This episode, while inspired by the holiday spirit, is not family friendly!
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail announces he's going back on hiatus. He's working on promoting one short film as he starts work on a feature and needs to clear up his headspace.
That said, he's pleased with the handful of episodes his done this mini-season.
In this episode topics include:
- AEW being in a good place.
- Not being a fan of Seth Rollins.
- Roman Reigns being a captivating motherf&*#@$
And more!
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Music by Ben Holland.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks CM Punk being fired from AEW.
Topics include:
- Tim's new article on www.workofwrestling.com 'CM Punk is Toxic and We're Okay'.
- how fans get brainwashed into believing anything.
- directing one's anger in the right direction.
- drama following Punk.
- the "love fest" being short-lived.
And much more!
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Music by Ben Holland.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail returns to review WWE's event, Payback. Topics include:
- Becky Lynch's emotional vulnerability being her strength.
- Austin Theory and Rey Mysterio performing a quintessential WWE match (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
- Tim's concern for the future of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
- A beautiful vignette on Cody Rhodes.
- Size not mattering in Raquel vs Rhea.
- Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura telling a good story.
And much more!
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail joins the wrestling universe in London, England to watch AEW All In play out at Wembley Stadium.
Topics include:
- the perfection of Jack Perry vs Hook.
- how giving CM Punk is in his matches.
- hitting the reset button on Saraya.
- The Stadium Stampede not living up to expectations.
- Why Tim doesn't care for FTR and The Young Bucks.
- Chris Jericho vs Will Ospreay not quite clicking.
- The complexity of Adam Cole vs MJF.
And much more!
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
The wrestling world was shocked Thursday by news of Bray Wyatt's death (cause of death unkown at the time of this writing). Work Of Wrestling host shares his thoughts on Bray, commenting on his creativity, his WWE career, and what his passing should mean for all wrestling fans.
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail gets existential in the latest episode, inspired by an interaction he had with a fellow AEW fan.
Topics indlude:
- Is the universe just having a long conversation with itself?
- What can we learn about our universe by imagining a lifeless one?
- What positives can be gained by interpretting the universe as organism that desires understanding?
Until August 22nd, buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Music by Ben Holland.
Tim Kail returns to talk about the things he hates about professional wrestling. It's not as harsh as it sounds! It's actually quite constructive.
Topics include:
- Why he's closing his tee-shirt store and switching off his Patreon.
- Long pauses to allow fans to chant.
- Impromptu matches.
- Modern promos.
Until August 22nd, buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Music by Ben Holland.
Tim Kail returns once again to review WWE's latest PLE, Summer Slam. Tim goes over each match from Logan Paul vs Ricochet to Roman Reigns vs Jey Uso. The standouts for him were Brock Lesnar vs Cody Rhodes and Asuka vs Bianca Belair vs Charlotte.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Email Tim at wrestlingworks@gmail.com for inquiries and feedback.
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Music by Ben Holland.
Work Of Wrestling podcast host Tim Kail makes a surprise return for this special episode where he discusses excitement for Summer Slam, life away from pro-wrestling, working on short films, ghosting and hurting friends, the excellence of the Bloodline story, Tim's issue with the basic structures of pro-wrestling storytelling, and much more!
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
What kind of pro-wrestling critic has Tim Kail become? That's the question at the heart of this season finale episode of The Work Of Wrestling podcast.
Topics include:
- taking a hiatus from Work Of Wrestling.
- doing WOW weekly for 1 year and 9 months.
- what Tim will do while on hiatus.
- the grounding power of producing a weekly podcast.
- is Work Of Wrestling kind of...dead?
- being self conscious about one's wrestling "takes"?
- why it's all working out the way it's supposed to.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
For this week, the penultimate episode of the season, Tim Kail review WWE's latest premium live event, Backlash.
Topics include:
- the ways in which WWE is narratively lazy.
- Bianca Belair carrying herself like a champ.
- what would Bret Hart do with Omos?
- Bobby Lashley vs Austin Theory vs Bronson Reed delivering.
- Zelina Vega overdelivering.
- Damian Preist vs Bad Bunny.
- Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens & Matt Riddle vs The Bloodline.
- Loving Brock Lesnar vs Cody Rhodes.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail returns for another week of in-depth reviews of Raw, Dynamite, and SmackDown.
Topics include:
- A review of Monday Night Raw 4/24/23
- A review of AEW Dynamite 4/26/23
- A review of Smack Down 4/28/23
- The similarities and differences between WWE and AEW.
- The way WWE puts midcard characters in little stories.
- Wanting the Blackpool Combat Club to attack more than jobbers.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
In this episode it's Week 2 of Tim's experiment chronicling his week of pro-wrestling watching.
Topics include:
- Quality vs consistency.
- The differences between WWE & AEW.
- WWE's robotic characters.
- Can Seth Rollins "put it all together"?
- Trish Stratus talking to us like children.
- The distinction between WWE and other television.
- The death of Rampage.
- AEW's inconsistency with narrative.
- WWE's dead crowds.
- 3 of the 4 pillars not being good at promos.
- Ricochet and Braun Strowman.
- SmackDown ending on a few good matches.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail returns for an episode where he chronicles his week of watching wrestling.
Topics include:
- A Monday Night Raw Review.
- Talking a lot without saying much.
- The pitfalls of tag teams behaving as individuals.
- The overabundance of "backstage attacks".
- Why is Cody Rhodes smililng so much?
- An AEW Dynamite Review.
- The "Four Pillars" scouting eachother.
- Does Tim give too much leaway to AEW?
- Why do so many cars get beaten up in pro-wrestling?
- Tim's thoughts on CM Punk's potential return.
- Coping with mental illness as it relates to wrestling.
- A Review of Friday Night SmackDown.
- Tim not being too happy with Matt Riddle's involvement.
- Damian Preist shining in The Judgement Day.
- It being too easy or vague to get a title match.
- There being one character too many in WWE's stories.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks about how he has nothing to talk about, which leads to a lot to talking! Topics include:
- Being on vacation and how that affected Tim's week with wrestling.
- Shawn Michales vs John Cena on RAW.
- Finishing a short film.
- What narratively does the 'heavy lifting' in police procedural.
- How to deal with feelings of inadequacy.
- The state of Tim's fandom being "totally fine".
- An anlysis of Jey Uso.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail is joined by friend and fellow pro-wrestling fan Al Monelli to discuss WrestleMania 39.
Topics include:
- The meloncholy that comes with the end of a WrestleMania.
- What does it mean that Cody Rhodes lost?
- Al's gambling conspiracy theory.
- The excellence of the night one main event tag match between The Usos and Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens.
- Does Rhea Ripley connect with the crowd?
- Seth "Freakin" Rollins personality (and his pants).
- What's it like to put a kid to sleep.
- The faded auras of Brock Lesnar and Rhonda Rousey.
- The McMahon's having "weak legs".
And much more!
Visit www.monellifilms.com to view Al's documentaries.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
In honor of WrestleMania day, Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail publishes this bonus episode. Pass some time with Tim as he shares his predictions for Night 1 and 2 of the Showcase of the Immortals.
Topics include:
- Seth Rollins' character (or lack thereof).
- why Trish Stratus should turn on Becky Lynch.
- getting bodies out there for a participation trophy.
- what's missing from Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley.
- allowing midcard titles and tag titles to be the main event.
- Tim being ready for Cody Rhodes to be champion.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
In this episode host Tim Kail chronicles his week in effort to capture what life is like for a pro-wrestling fan in 2023.
Topics include:
- a review of Monday Night Raw.
- what it's like to be a wrestling fan in 2023.
- a review of AEW Dynamite.
- reflecting on a lackluster episode of Dynamite.
- sharing regrets and frustrations related to the podcast.
- a review of SmackDown.
- final thoughts on what makes pro-wrestling unique.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week sees the return of the three-part format.
For The Lock-Up, Tim reviews WWE 2K23, for The High Spot he discusses the role memory plays in professional wrestling fandom, and in The Finish he shares three short stories about how pro-wrestling factored into his personal life in unexpected ways.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week host, Tim Kail, answers your questions!
You wanted to know:
- what happens if Cody doesn't win at WrestleMania?
- what does Tim think about gambling & WWE and whether or not it would bring more people to WWE.
- what Tim thinks about how the WWE has handled the transition from Sami Zayn to Cody Rhodes.
- Tim's feelings on refs holding ladders.
- Why are people so quick to pull the "heel turn" card?
And more!
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Host, Tim Kail, reviews AEW's latest pay-per-view, Revolution.
Topics include:
- was the PPV worth $50?
- Christian Cage vs Jungle Boy Jack Perry delivering despite expectations.
- Ricky Starks' awesome spear.
- The House of Black failing to resonate with Tim.
- Ruby Soho delivering her best performance to date.
- The bloody fun of Mox vs Hangman.
- Why Wardlow should not be painted as a sympathetic character.
- The excellence of Bryan Danielson vs MJF.
- Why MJF is a pitiable character.
And much more!
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week host Tim Kail shares with listeners the ten things he's learned since becoming a pro-wrestling critic. The list includes:
- Allow for change.
- Set goals - even if they're big.
- Interviews with fellow fans are better than interviews with "in the business".
- Emotional detachment might be necessary.
- Relationships evolve, and if the foundation is love it will last.
- Know when not to talk.
- Don't take social media seriously.
- Cherish your audience.
- Keep doubts in their proper place.
- You will surprise yourself (and you should).
And much more!
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week host Tim Kail reviews WWE's latest premium live event, The Elimination Chamber. Topics include:
- The enduring excellence of Asuka.
- The humor of Carmella.
- What makes a good Elimination Chamber match?
- The dissapointment of Bobby Lashley vs Brock Lesnar.
- The messy fun of Edge & Beth Phoenix vs Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley.
- Crowds not responding to Johnny Gargano.
- Montez Ford standing out.
- The excellence of Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn.
And much more!
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail discusses, in The Lock-Up (1:03:14), the February 10th episode of Friday Night Smackdown and how The Bloodline Story may be the first wrestling story ever where he's been emotionally invested in every character. In The High Spot (1:19:00) Tim asks whether or not the WWE audience has been beaten into submission. And in The Finish (1:33:20) Tim chronicles his history with pro-wrestling video games from WrestleMania 2000 all the way to WWE 2K23.
Watch Tim's wrestling videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WorkOfWrestling
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week for The Lock-Up (2:18) Tim Kail reviews the February 3rd episode of SmackDown. He critiques a few matches before discussing, in more detail, the closing Romen Reigns/Sami Zayn segment. In the High Spot (13:23) he examines the idea that the Bloodline saga is one of the best things to ever happen in wrestling and why that's sad (it'll make sense when you listen to it). And, finally, for The Finish (30:40) he's joined by his mother Granny Franny, to discuss whether or not he should stop writing weekly articles for www.workofwrestling.com.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his friend and fellow pro-wrestling fan Al Monelli to discuss this year's Royal Rumble.
Topics include:
- the men's Rumble being bland and forgettabl by design.
- Cody Rhodes on the road to winning at WrestleMania.
- whether or not it should have been Sami Zayn winning the Rumble.
- the core purpose of the WrestleMania main event.
- the creativity of the Pitch Black match between LA Knight and Bray Wyatt.
- the letdown of Alexa Bliss vs Bianca Belair.
- how impressive Rhea Ripley is, especially in the closing minutes of the women's Rumble.
- the Shakespearian drama of Sami Zayn attacking Roman Reigns with a chair.
And much more!
Visite www.monellifilms.com to learn more about Al's documentaries and support his work.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail returns for an all new and free episode of The Work Of Wrestling podcast. This week, for The Lock-Up (4:15) Tim reviews the January 18th episode of AEW Dynamite. For The High Spot (22:08) he examines the complex relationship between fandoms and coorperations. For The Finish (31:26) he opens up about how the consistency of his pro-wrestling routines helped him out of a two-year long depression.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week, on The Work Of Wrestling podcast, in The Lock-Up (2:58) host Tim Kail reviews the January 13th episode of AEW Rampage. In The High Spot (17:15) Tim examines the potential sale of WWE, and how that may not impact professional wrestling as much as some fans fear. He cites the Speaking Out Movement as an example of how pro-wrestling isn't owned by any one person or organization, and how it will endure regardless. And then in The Finish (30:00) he shares how he's going to apply for a wrestling writing gig.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail unleashes on the story that WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabia, and how the terrible reporting misled the wrestling community. He explains the damage that can be done through this kind of reporting, the real problem with their being a lack of accountability, and the real benefit of their being a mechanism in place to hold power to account.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The Work Of Wrestling returns to the original three-part format once again! For The Lock-Up (4:40) Tim Kail reviews the January 4th episode of AEW Dynamite. For The High Spot (28:09) Tim focuses on the importance of "taking care of each other" and how art helps people. He emphasizes that the specific perspective an individual artist has may be just the thing someone feeling lost and alone needs to hear. Finally, in The Finish (39:11), Tim shares his thoughts on Wrestle Kingdom 17, especially on Mercedes Moné.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
This week on The Work Of Wrestling podcast, host Tim Kail returns to the original three-part format of the show. In the intro he explains that it's been a struggle to write about wrestling lately, leaving him unsure if he'll be able to keep writing one article a week.
In The Lock-Up (9:38) Tim reviews the latest episode of NXT. He describes the bland tone of the show and how it feels like a fusion of NXT Black & Gold with NXT 2.0 and, as a result, fails to have an identity.
For The High Spot (23:58) Tim talks about "trying this at home" despite warnings to the contrary, where the responsibility lies with parents showing their kids wrestling, and what other values wrestling might unintentionally teach us.
And in The Finish (34:50) Tim shares a story about how he's rekindled his fandom of The Rock.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
It's the 2022 season finale! In this episode Tim opens up about the insecurities he's faced this season. He's visited by an old friend who has just the right words of wisdom.
Thank you, dear listener, for sharing your time with me this year. It's been a pivotal season, where I finally feel like the show is back to where it was meant to be.
Enjoy this episode and have a happy new year.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Warning: this episode contains descriptions of suicidal ideation and depression.
This week Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by longtime listener, occasional contributor, and overall friend of the pod Daniel Lee.
Topics include:
- The origin of Daniel's fandom.
- Explaining your pro-wrestling fandom to people who don't get it.
- Tony Khan being just another promoter.
- The women's division of AEW.
- The Attitude Era really being The Nitro Era.
- The greatness of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.
- Daniel's journey to WrestleMania.
- How the consumption of media has evolved.
- Coping with depression and suicidal ideation.
- Robin Williams and the legacy he leaves behind.
- Leaning into one's uniqueness.
Follow Daniel on Instagram @daniel721lee. And read his blog daniellee721.blogspot.com.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reflects on 2022.
- Having a new episode ever week.
- Pro-wrestling Tees.
- Patreon.
- Great interviews with Mith Gifs and Kayla Fabienne.
- Writing weekly again.
- CM Punk having a great and terrible year.
- Wrestling proving structure to Tim's life.
- Getting better.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Work Of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, is joined by the iconic pro-wrestler, podcaster, and comedian Colt Cabana.
Topics include:
- when Colt first starting thinking of pro-wrestling as an art.
- why Colt thinks it's harder to be a babyface than a heel.
- the two Art of Wrestling guests who made Colt nervous.
- what it's like to have people rooting for him.
- how wrestling locker-rooms deal with "bad apples".
- more realistic backstage segments.
- what it's like when wrestlers think it's okay to "bust Colt's chops" because he's a comedian.
- Colt's relationship with AEW.
- How he was contacted by AEW for his recent match with Chris Jericho.
- What advice Colt has for Tim in his goal to "get over" on the internet.
- A wresetler's relationship with their body.
- How comedy subverts expectations.
And much more!
Support Colt by checking out the Whatnot stream he hosts with PWTs http://PWTLive.com.
Also follow him on http://Twitch.tv/coltcabana and his socials are @coltcabana. You guy buy his merchandise at http://Coltmerch.com.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews Survivor Series: War Games!
Topics include:
- 2 of the 5 matches being of consequence.
- The women's War Games match.
- Nikki Cross not connecting with her new, old character.
- Roman and Jey Uso talking backstage.
- Finn Balor vs AJ Styles.
- Shotzi vs Ronda Rousey.
- Seth Rollins vs Bobby Lashley vs Austin Theory.
- The men's War Games Match.
- Wanting to believe Sami Zayn could main event WrestleMania.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his friend John Macy to discuss and dissect the latest AEW pay-per-view, Full Gear.
Topics include:
- the matches on the buy-in.
- the excellence of Jungle Boy vs Lucha Saurus.
- the uplifting return of The Elite.
- Ring Of Honor not fitting with AEW.
- The return of Saraya.
- Tim's match of the night Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter.
- The dissolution of Swerve In Our Glory.
- The crowning of MJF as AEW World Champion.
And much more!
Here's a link to John's podcast The B Team: https://anchor.fm/john-macy
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week, host Tim Kail reviews the November 11th episode of SmackDown.
Topics include:
- Writing 1 article a week, producing 1 video a week, and 1 podcast a week.
- Ronda Rousey and the damage done by scripted promos.
- The New Day vs The Usos for the unified Tag Titles.
- How it wasn't cool to like Roman Reigns just a few years ago.
- Why Bray Wyatt should be human, but not normal.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail shares his thoughts on the reborn Bray Wyatt following Bray's promo at Crown Jewel. He also discusses the revitalized www.workofwrestling.com
Topics include:
- Why modern wrestling fans cheer & boo.
- Why Bray Wyatt has always been a babyface.
- Why Tim is on board with this latest version of Bray.
- Wyatt's story being evocative of an addict's.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews SmackDown and Rampage, before answering your questions!
Topics include:
- The Bloodline drama being the best thing in WWE.
- An analysis of Jey Uso and Sami Zayn.
- Liv Morgan vs Sonya Deville.
- Not really liking Ronda Rousey anymore.
- Analyzing Karion Kross and his entrance.
- The visual beauty of Bray Wyatt.
- How to get "back into" wrestling.
- Who is the best wrestler turned actor?
- Grading Triple H's performance since taking over WWE creative.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews SmackDown and Rampage, before answering your questions!
Topics include:
- The Bloodline drama being the best thing in WWE.
- An analysis of Jey Uso and Sami Zayn.
- Liv Morgan vs Sonya Deville.
- Not really liking Ronda Rousey anymore.
- Analyzing Karion Kross and his entrance.
- The visual beauty of Bray Wyatt.
- How to get "back into" wrestling.
- Who is the best wrestler turned actor?
- Grading Triple H's performance since taking over WWE creative.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail is joined by pro-wrestling gif-essayist Mith Gifs!
Among other topics, the two discuss:
- Mith's creative process.
- Why Gifs are so perfect for pro-wrestling.
- What it is about Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens that captivates Mith so much.
- Dealing with the pressures of content creation.
- Mith's favorite wrestling match.
- Mith's favorite films and TV shows.
- The core reason pro-wrestling is so captivating.
- Advice for those just starting out on the internet and eager to find their niche.
You can follow Mith on Twitter @MithGifs.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail is joined by pro-wrestling gif-essayist Mith Gifs!
Among other topics, the two discuss:
- Mith's creative process.
- Why Gifs are so perfect for pro-wrestling.
- What it is about Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens that captivates Mith so much.
- Dealing with the pressures of content creation.
- Mith's favorite wrestling match.
- Mith's favorite films and TV shows.
- The core reason pro-wrestling is so captivating.
- Advice for those just starting out on the internet and eager to find their niche.
You can follow Mith on Twitter @MithGifs.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
*Warning - this episode contains explicit content...
Granny Franny joins Tim Kail for a very special and very personal episode of The Work of Wrestling podcast.
Topics include:
- Bray Wyatt's return address on Friday Night SmackDown.
- Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns stellar segments.
- Tim's new favorite shirt, Sami Zayns "Honorary Uce" tee.
- And just how that shirt helped Tim during a routine medical procedure.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
*Warning - this episode contains explicit content...
Granny Franny joins Tim Kail for a very special and very personal episode of The Work of Wrestling podcast.
Topics include:
- Bray Wyatt's return address on Friday Night SmackDown.
- Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns stellar segments.
- Tim's new favorite shirt, Sami Zayns "Honorary Uce" tee.
- And just how that shirt helped Tim during a routine medical procedure.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews WWE's latest premium live event Extreme Rules.
Topics include:
- Sheamus being great as a babyface.
- Ronda Rousey's bad attitude affecting her performance.
- The superficiality of the Karrion Kross character.
- Drew McIntyre in need of a reinvention.
- Edge vs Finn Balor bringing the good kind of melodrama.
- The many characters of Seth Rollins.
- Tim's full thoughts on Bray Wyatt.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews WWE's latest premium live event Extreme Rules.
Topics include:
- Sheamus being great as a babyface.
- Ronda Rousey's bad attitude affecting her performance.
- The superficiality of the Karrion Kross character.
- Drew McIntyre in need of a reinvention.
- Edge vs Finn Balor bringing the good kind of melodrama.
- The many characters of Seth Rollins.
- Tim's full thoughts on Bray Wyatt.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks ticket sales and cognitive behavorial therapy for the entire wrestling fanbase.
Topics include:
- Catastrophizing after the news of AEW's low ticket sales and dipping ratings.
- Why Tim likes AEW more than WWE, but doesn't assume that means anything in particular.
- Different cognitive distortions within the pro-wrestling community.
- Why Tim is more disturbed by AEW's new inability to use the word "shit".
- An alternative rational response to pro-wrestling news.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail dissects a segment from Smack Down and tells a story about sleep walking & wrestling action figures.
Topics include:
- The quality and depth of Sami Zayn's performance.
- Roman being bound for Hollywood.
- Tim's thoughts on the rest of Smack Down.
- How sleep walking has affected Tim's life.
- How a surprise placement of a figure helped him.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail dissects a segment from Smack Down and tells a story about sleep walking & wrestling action figures.
Topics include:
- The quality and depth of Sami Zayn's performance.
- Roman being bound for Hollywood.
- Tim's thoughts on the rest of Smack Down.
- How sleep walking has affected Tim's life.
- How a surprise placement of a figure helped him.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
It's Suicide Prevention Month, and host Tim Kail, who has faced his own mental health issues of late, lets you know you're not alone and that things can get better.
CLICK HERE for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Dial 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline.
Reach out to Tim on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
It's Suicide Prevention Month, and host Tim Kail, who has faced his own mental health issues of late, lets you know you're not alone and that things can get better.
CLICK HERE for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Dial 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline.
Reach out to Tim on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
This week host Tim Kail is joined by Kayla Fabienne, a writer, teacher, ring announcer, and lover of professional wrestling.
You can read her and others' work on http://thespectacleofexcess.com.
Topics include:
- the unappreciated role of the ring bell.
- the difficulty of music cues.
- the improvisational nature of pro-wrestling.
- attempting to honor kayfabe.
- the meaning of certain in-ring rituals.
- confronting writer's block.
And more!
Follow Kayla on Twitter @SpectacleOfX.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week host Tim Kail is joined by Kayla Fabienne, a writer, teacher, ring announcer, and lover of professional wrestling.
You can read her and others' work on http://thespectacleofexcess.com.
Topics include:
- the unappreciated role of the ring bell.
- the difficulty of music cues.
- the improvisational nature of pro-wrestling.
- attempting to honor kayfabe.
- the meaning of certain in-ring rituals.
- confronting writer's block.
And more!
Follow Kayla on Twitter @SpectacleOfX.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks about CM Punk's post-All Out media scrum, the fallout, what it means from the perspective of art, and Jon Moxley's Dynamite promo.
Topics include:
- Tim's initially positive response to Punk's press conference.
- Realizing the toxicity of Punk's words.
- Taking issue with the idea that Adam Page has "done nothing..."
- The hypocrisy in some of Punk's statements.
- Jon Moxley's promo as a rebuttal.
- Wanting to move on from what Punk represents.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks about CM Punk's post-All Out media scrum, the fallout, what it means from the perspective of art, and Jon Moxley's Dynamite promo.
Topics include:
- Tim's initially positive response to Punk's press conference.
- Realizing the toxicity of Punk's words.
- Taking issue with the idea that Adam Page has "done nothing..."
- The hypocrisy in some of Punk's statements.
- Jon Moxley's promo as a rebuttal.
- Wanting to move on from what Punk represents.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim is joined once again by his friend John Macy to discuss AEW's latest pay-per-view, All Out.
Topics include:
- The masked man with the casino chip.
- There being one too many trios matches.
- The trios matches detracting from the Tag Champions.
- Has John changed his mind on Jade Cargil??
- Should Wardlow hug children?
- Powerhouse Hobbs defeats Ricky Starks; how much does this really hurt Ricky's ascent?
- The Acclaimed as fan favorites and how their tag title match has made them a more serious threat.
- The crowd loving Jamie Hayter.
- Was Jungle Boy Jack Peery underserved?
- Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson put on a low key banger.
- Does Sting belong in AEW?
- And, finally, how could CM Punk possibly defeat Jon Moxley?
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week we journey to Cardiff to review Clash At The Castle.
Tim gives his thoughts on every match and then some.
Topics include:
- an analysis of every woman in the opening six-woman tag match.
- Sheamus and Gunther beating the hell out of each other in the match of the night.
- Some of Liv Morgan's shortcommings and how they could be improved.
- The bad acting of The Judgment Day vs the good acting of Edge and Rey.
- Rollins vs Riddle and how a lack of story reveals itself.
- Roman Reigns knowing his body.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week we journey to Cardiff to review Clash At The Castle.
Tim gives his thoughts on every match and then some.
Topics include:
- an analysis of every woman in the opening six-woman tag match.
- Sheamus and Gunther beating the hell out of each other in the match of the night.
- Some of Liv Morgan's shortcommings and how they could be improved.
- The bad acting of The Judgment Day vs the good acting of Edge and Rey.
- Rollins vs Riddle and how a lack of story reveals itself.
- Roman Reigns knowing his body.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail analyzes Jon Moxley's squash of CM Punk and Sami Zayn's ascent to "honorary uce". Topics include:
- CM Punk's UFC losses.
- Jon Moxley becoming "The Man".
- What this loss means for Punk and, conversely, what this victory means for Mox.
- Falling in love with Sami Zayn in 2014.
- Forcing one's self to fall out of love with Zayn upon his main roster debut.
- Feeling like the joy of watching present day Zayn is unearned for anyone who stopped watching him over the past few years.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail and The Work Of Wrestling podcast have reached 300 episodes! In honor of this milestone Tim focuses in on the basics of a good pro-wrestling segment rather than the dirt behind the scenes. He also share his thoughts on Mid South Wrestling. Topics include:
- lack of focus on pro-wrestling.
- frustration with wrestling fans and media.
- CM Punk vs Jon Moxley.
- Camerawork in pro-wrestling and what it's meant to achieve.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail shares who his top five active wrestlers are and why. He also answers your questions.
Topics include:
- Inhabiting your character.
- AEW being new.
- Lack of diversity (even in Tim's own list).
- Who should win, Moxley or Punk?
- Is Tim going to WrestleMania?!
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail shares who his top five active wrestlers are and why. He also answers your questions.
Topics include:
- Inhabiting your character.
- AEW being new.
- Lack of diversity (even in Tim's own list).
- Who should win, Moxley or Punk?
- Is Tim going to WrestleMania?!
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail covers the AEW special event, Battle of the Belts.
Topics include:
- Tim's 2 year anniversary and of being diagnosed bi polar.
- How Wardlow can regain some momentum.
- Thunder Rosa vs Jamie Hayter underwhelming.
- Is Claudio the right fit for the Blackpool Combat Club?
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week host Tim Kail reviews the WWE premium live event, Summer Slam!
Topics include:
- Becky Lynch vs Bianca Belair as match of the night.
- Great storytelling developments for Becky Lynch.
- Logan Paul doing big moves to hide his lack of fundamentals.
- Theory on the dak path of symbolically answering for Vince McMahon's misdeeds with booking and beyond.
- The always enjoyable Pat McAfee.
- The stellar tag match bewteen The Usos and The Street Profits.
- Liv Morgan not inhabiting her character.
- The iconi imagery of the Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar match.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail is sick this week. He's tested negative for Covid so this is just a good old-fashoined cold or sinus infection. Unfortunately this means he won't be able to review all of Summer Slam. So he gives a mini review in this short, informative episode.
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews the Ring Of Honor pay-per-view Death Before Dishonor. Before he gets to the ppv, though, he offers his thoughts on Vince McMahon retiring from WWE.
Topics include:
- Claudio winning his first world Championship.
- Dalton Castle making an impression.
- Serena Deeb being a vicious, technical master.
- Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal going all out.
- The Briscoes vs FTR being an instant classic.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail checks in with the listener on the state of his mental health, pro-wrestling fandom, and critical wrestling theory.
Topics include:
- Tim's wrestling viewing habits.
- Low expectations for RAW.
- High expectations for Dynamite.
- Broad vs specific arts analysis.
- Being fair in one's critical analysis.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail discusses the recent news from the Wall Street Journal that Vince McMahon comitted acts of sexual misconduct and paid millions to keep it quiet.
Topics include:
- Tim's article "Hold Vince McMahon Accountable".
- The practical reason Vince McMahon must be removed.
- Thinking about his misdeeds through the prism of art.
- A simple way fans can hold him accountable.
And more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Vince McMahon paid $12 million to four different women "to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity". When I first saw that headline it barely registered as news. Vince McMahon and the company he runs are so reliably bad (both in terms of content and morality) that they merely meet expectations. When someone meets your expectations, especially if those expectations are low, their offense doesn't hit so hard. But that's not good. This news should register as significant, because it is significant. It should elicit strong emotional reactions. My initial reaction could be called dismissive, or the act of a mind shaped by "fake news", a dystopia wherein reality doesn't matter and "alternative facts" reign. Vince could easily squeak by unscathed because he's merely behaved as you always suspected he did. But shouldn't he be held accountable for his nefarious actions? Has he really earned a free pass, specifically from wrestling fans, because he's Mr. McMahon, the strutting King of Sports Entertainment? He didn't "just" have "affairs". He paid "$7.5 million to a former wrestler who alleged that McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex and demoted her and ultimately declined to renew her contract after she resisted further sexual encounters". This is not the story of a horny old man, a cheater, a liar, or even a bad person. It's the story of abuse. The abuse of power. The abuse of women. In those terms, the severity of McMahon's actions is more sobering, and we start to arrive at why he should be held accountable (if not how). I suggest, for starters, that he resign from WWE. Surely the "Disney of professional wrestling" agrees. How can the company proceed "putting smiles on faces" when it's headed by a man who coerced sexual favors and then attempted to hide such activity with hush money? WWE's options seem blatantly clear and yet I doubt they'll do what should come naturally - apply pressure on McMahon to resign immediately and totally from WWE. I have no suggestions for what should happen to McMahon in his personal life. He and his family will have to reckon with his misdeeds in their own time. That's not for me to judge or speculate. There is, however, a larger reckoning that needs to take place in professional wrestling. The art needs to be better and safer than it has been. As those who dismiss this story are quick to point out, abuses of power are common in the entertainment world. The fact that abuse is common doesn't mean it's okay, and that doesn't mean things can't change. This McMahon story is intimately connected to the Speaking Out movement, which is also connected to the Me Too movement. Time leaves gaps in people's consciousness, but these reckonings are not isolated incidents. They are interconnected threads that strengthen one another with each story told, each abuse revealed. McMahons outing should function as a springboard for others, and inspire another call to action for pro-wrestling to be safe for its employees and independent contractors. For too long promotions have been able to operate with impunity, thriving in a boy's club. It's past time the boy's club disbanded. It leads to nothing but misconduct and abuse, and this cannot be allowed to go on. And that's where professional wrestling fans must bear some of the burden. We fund these companies, these performers. What exactly are we paying them for? Do we prefer to live in a world where we pay Vince McMahon $9.99 a month so we might turn a blind eye to his misconduct and watch Brock Lesnar slam someone through a table? Is that what being a pro-wrestling fan means? Up until now, that's exactly what it's meant. But we cannot go on turning a blind eye because it suits us. Identifying as a professional wrestling fan should carry with it certain responsibilities. To be honest, to be respectful of others, and to call out bad actors. We already bear the burden of explaining why we like it in the first place. Can you not see that those who commit sexual misconduct make it harder to be a pro-wrestling fan? We've consumed McMahon's often seedy product as he operated behind the scenes in an even seedier fashion. We were raised on his television shows and the hundreds of electrifying catchphrases his superstars shouted into microphones. We did this secretly suspecting the likelihood of his real-world wrongdoing, but looking the other way, hypnotized by pyro and daring acrobatics. It behooves pro-wrestling fans to break that spell sooner rather than later. We have immense power, power that goes beyond our cheer and our boo. We can hold the whole of pro-wrestling accountable, especially when it has failed to police itself. That, now, is a part of what it means to be a pro-wrestling fan; refusing to turn a blind eye, help make wrestling safer for performers and fans, and stop allowing nostalgia to corrupt one's moral compass. Where can wrestling fans start? Continue writing articles, conducting interviews, and Tweeting threads that expose abuses of power in the medium. Tear down the misogynist, racist infrastructure of the professional wrestling business by calling it out, voting with your dollar, and shining a spotlight on oft-ignored voices. Police the pro-wrestling community online and at live events, not permitting destructive voices a space. People with more than terrible opinions feel safe when they're surrounded by other loud and angry people, even if those people share opposing views. So perhaps some of the work that needs to be done is subtle but steadfast. Look within. Ask yourself what it means, to you, to be a professional wrestling fan in 2022, and what it means to sing along to "No Chance In Hell" when Mr. McMahon saunters down the ramp. I contend that you are not necessarily culpable for his misdeeds when you cheer him, but you're not entirely removed from them either. And that idea should grab one's attention if recent headlines don't. What role do we inadvertently play by offering up our money and our voice to a system that breeds abuse?
If things are going to get better, pro-wrestling fans can't sit on the sidelines. They'll have to do something to ensure they're able to watch their chosen promotion with a clear conscious. Only then, when we know people are safe and wrongdoers are forced out, can we really enjoy this art. Follow Tim on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram Subscribe to The Work Of Wrestling podcast Visit his official Pro-Wrestling Tees store Subscribe to his Patreon
This week Tim Kail reviews the WWE premium live event, Money in the Bank. Topics include:
- Becky Lynch and Asuka being eternally "over".
- Bobby Lashley vs Theory.
- Not being able to "stand Theory".
- Liv Morgan being a feel good win.
- Carmella and Bianca Belair's underwhelming match, but interesting conclusion.
- "Integrated adverts".
- The excellet Street Profits vs The Usos.
- The also underwhemling Natalya vs Ronda Rousy, with an interesting conclusion thanks to Liv Morgan.
- A solid main event with a disatisfying conclusion.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews AEW's latest pay-per-view Forbidden door.
Topics include:
- The excellence of commentary.
- Why story and stakes makes for good matches.
- Why Tim's match of the night is Orange Cassidy vs Will Ospreay.
- Claudio vs Zach Saber Jr. being pure wrestling joy.
- Why does Adam Cole not resonate with Tim.
- Why it's so interesting to see Okada in a multi-man match.
- Tim feels like we have enough mediocre white guys at the top.
- Why Jay White is interesting.
- Why are so many matches anticlimactic?
- The main event match between Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jon Moxley for the interim AEW Championship.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week host Tim Kail is joined by his mother and fan favorite Granny Frannie to answer some of your question.
Topics include:
- Tim's ongoing love of action figures.
- Granny Frannie's views on blading.
- Granny Frannie's views on women's wrestling and whether or not she'd like a child watch wrestling.
- Her crush on Roman Reigns.
- Did Tim ever get in trouble as a child or teen.
- How pro-wrestling has inspired Tim creatively at a young age.
- Tim's happiest wrestling moment.
- Tim's thoughts on wrestling video games.
- Tim's favorite wrestling action figures and why.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim talks about the role anger plays in the pro-wrestling fandom, particularly his own. Topics include:
- Evolving beyond anger.
- Having less intense emotional reactions to pro-wrestling.
- How a less angry mindset has affected Tim's ability to generate topics.
And much more!
Buy WOW-themed tee-shirts at www.prowrestlingtees.com/workofwrestling
Become a Patreon subscriber at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
And follow on Social Media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail shares a snippet of the all new episode "It Hurts Inside" which is available exclusively at www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
Sign up at the $5/month tier to recieve two new, exlusive episodes of The Work Of Wrestling podcast every month.
This week Tim Kail reviews WWE's latest premium live event Hell In A Cell.
Topics include:
- Bianca Belair's star power.
- Omos' inability to emote.
- Kevin Owens' ability to make anything work.
- Tim likes The Judgement Day?
- Madcap Moss vs Baron Corbin as time for a break.
- Ali vs Theory being competent.
- The excellence of Cody vs Rollins.
- Should babyfaces use sledge hammers?
And much more.
You can follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram@WorkOfWrestling.
Sign up to become a Patron of The Work of Wrestling by visiting www.patreon.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail is joined by his friend John Macy to discuss AEW's latest pay-per-view Double Or Nothing.
Topics include:
- Timhausen & Johnhausen's thoughts on Danhausen.
- Wardlow being a good actor and generating an authentic feel good moment.
- Not giving a sh*t about The Hardy Boyz vs The Young Bucks.
- John's unfiltered take on Jade Cargill.
- Tim wishing he could watch Death Triangle vs House of Black live.
- John's unfiltered take on Adam Cole.
- Tony Khan's purchase of Ring Of Honor.
- Ruby Soho vs Britt Baker D.M.D.
- What is AEW doing with Sammy, Scorpio, et el.
- Darby's unweildy, spindly body.
- Anarchy in the Arena underwhelming.
- The tag titles threeway match.
- Thunder Rosa vs Serena Deeb match of the night?
- CM Punk vs Hangman Adam Page - successful feud or muddled story?
And much more!
Subscribe to John's podcast "The B Team"!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-b-team/id1547054610
You can follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail had a dream about The Rock. He shares that dream, along with some thoughts on:
- Spirits.
- Science vs Spirituality.
- Pro-wrestling hero-worship.
- Why you don't want to meet your heroes.
- Ghosting and being ghosted.
And much more!
You can follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail opens up about one of his recent failures; launching a podcasting business. He explains how his psychotic breakdown interferred with his plans for ftkail.com and how his priorities have changed ever since.
Topics include:
- Mania-fueled creativity.
- Starting ftkail.com.
- Having a psychotic breakdown.
- Healing and reevaluating.
- Deciding to end ftkail.com and why.
- What he's learned from all of this.
And much more!
You can follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
This week, Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail revies WWE's latest premium live event, WrestleMania Backlash! Topics include:
- Cody vs Seth striking an excellent balance.
- Omos' shortcommings and the damaging affect they have on a match.
- Edge and Damian being joined by Rhea Ripley.
- Charlotte and Ronda beating the hell out of each other with chairs and Kendo sticks.
- A spectacular six-man tag main event the continued to solidify The Bloodline as WWE's most dominant group.
And much more!
You can follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
This week Tim Kail charts the human soul to figure out where Pro-Wrestling comes from.
Topics include:
- Theatre
- Dance
- Spectacle
- Legitimate Sport
And much more!
You can take the new Work Of Wrestling survey by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8NVLSY
You can also follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail opens up about his attempts to write about pro-wrestling and why he hasn't been successful of late. Topics include:
- Watching RAW intently
- Wanting to simply enjoy Dynamite
- This being a great time in pro-wrestling
And much more!
You can take the new Work Of Wrestling survey by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8NVLSY
You can also follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling.
Thanks for listening!
Seth Rollins on the April 18th episode of Monday Night Raw
My threshold for enjoying WWE television is incredibly low these days. Some might argue even unfairly low. All I ask of RAW, for example, is for it to have a discernible through line and for that through line to slightly entertain me. This week’s episode had the former, but couldn’t muster the latter. The opening fifteen minutes, as expected, was a promo between Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes wherein Rollins spontaneously booked the main event of the show; Cody vs a mystery opponent of Seth’s choosing. It’s important one not ask questions like, “How does Seth have this power?” or “How does RAW go to air each week without a main event booked?” When one does ask such questions the thin fabric that represents RAW’s narrative universe unravels. So if we set such obvious constructive criticisms aside, give the show the benefit of the doubt, and just stare at the screen, what are we left with?
We’re left with a variety show the fluctuates wildly in tone and quality from one scripted segment to the next. There was a time when I took RAW seriously, thought about it seriously, and wrote about it seriously. That version of me would have found no joy in the double-commitment ceremony segment and dismissed it as crap. Today, I enjoy it because R-Truth is funny and it’s at least being honest about its intentions. The Cody/Seth drama can’t make up its mind about what it is. One moment Seth is a dancing Joker, the next he’s complaining that Cody had an unfair advantage at Wrestle Mania for the second week in a row, and the next we're booking serious matches that have the potential to be "clinics". The overall story is attempting to do something serious with its mentions of Cody’s family history and focus upon in-ring action. But it’s not crackling with spontaneity. It’s lumbering from one story beat to the next and doesn’t even deliver a good match with a good finish.
The rest of the show didn’t fair much better. After a short, messy tag titles match against Naomi and Sasha Banks, Rhea Ripley turned on Liv Morgan. Later, walking in the back with an invisible camera in her face she was waked for an explanation by an interviewer and didn’t give one (all of this despite the explanation already being clear; she was tired of losing due to Liv being inept).
Next, Sonya Deville cut a labored promo about being a competitor first and a WWE official second, which prompted Bianca Belair to come out and almost KOD her latest rival. This culminated in a backstage segment where Bianca paid her fine - one dollar. It’s around this time I start to wonder, “What weird kids’ show am I watching?”
The next segment inspired that same question, Kevin Owens giving Ezekiel a lie detector test.
This was mildly amusing thanks to Owens and Gable, but it’s unclear who this is for and where it’s going. Most of the humor comes out of the fact that Kevin Owens is clearly right, that Ezekiel and Elias are one and the same, but that everyone else around him can’t seem to see it. This story is predicated on such a thinly drawn comedic narrative that I’m left wondering what Owens' Wrestle Mania experience was for. He fought Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event and now he’s giving wrestlers goofy lie detector tests?
Veer, who we are meant to take as a serious threat, dispatched a jobber in a squash match and then choked him out after the bell. Officials had to come in and remove Veer’s hands from around the jobber’s throat in what was a formulaic heel beatdown. It’s impossible to take Veer seriously because his segments and his presentation are so familiar.
The one area of the card that does crackle with some life, surprisingly, is the RAW tag division. Between RK Bro, The Street Profits, The Alpha Academy, and now The Usos, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Through months of good character work, Riddle and Randy have managed to make the Randy Orton hot tag one of the most entertaining things in all of present pro-wrestling. The Street Profits won their match against RK Bro after a distraction from the Usos’ music. It was never made clear who played that music despite the street profits alluding to someone playing it for them in the back. The segment was simply meant to establish the Street Profits as a threat to RK Bro’s titles and it was mostly successful.
Finn Balor and Theory had a decent match that ended with Theory as United States Champion. Despite the narrative that Theory is Vince McMahon’s protégé, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s similarly destined for midcard obscurity in the years ahead.
Nothing about the character explains why Vince McMahon would take a liking to him. And very little of what’s been presented, be it in backstage segments or matches, shows why it’s good to be Vince McMahon’s protégé. Like many of RAW’s stories there are little holes and leaps in logic, which is also why so much time is spent on exposition each week. Perhaps if RAW constructed simpler narratives it wouldn’t have to spend so much time and energy reexplaining everything.
That brings us to the main event, a serviceable match between Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes that wasn’t about anything (other than Seth’s attempt to throw Cody off his game). It ended when Rollins, on the outside with Owens, screamed at Owens to get his “fat ass” back in the ring. To this Owens tossed his hands in the air and shouted, “This is your match” and walked away, thus causing Cody Rhodes to win via count out. Rollins then shoved Cody off a turnbuckle and into a barricade, a weak ending to a weak A-story.
I was left feeling, “Why did I just watch all of that?”
To better explain that feeling, understand that I know exactly what I’m getting into when I watch RAW. Years and years of disappointment have cultivated my aforementioned low expectations. It’s when RAW can’t even rise to those low expectations that I’m left feeling like I completely wasted my time.
Three hours is a lot to ask of someone, because RAW isn’t just RAW, it’s also all the adverts for fast food, vaping, and drugs. It’s an absolute slog to sit through and that’s why double-wedding segments are so welcome. They break up the monotony with hilarity, which inspires some kind of emotion even if it’s the result of so-bad-it’s-good-television.
One day, I’d like to watch a RAW that’s so-good-it’s-good television.
But today is not that day.
Follow Tim Kail on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling
Subscribe to The Work Of Wrestling podcast on Apple Podcasts
Tim found a lost episode of The Work Of Wrestling podcast! First he explains how "EP29 Action Figures" was deleted from WOW's feed, and why he's now trying to restore it.
You can take the new Work Of Wrestling survey by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8NVLSY
You can also follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling where the survey has been pinned.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail shares the early results of The Work Of Wrestling Survey.
You can take the survey by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8NVLSY
You can also follow WOW on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling where the survey has been pinned.
Thank you for participating! Enjoy the show.
This week Tim Kail answers your questions.
Topics include:
- Are positive changes in pro-wrestling indicative of a renaissance or just a blip on the radar.
- How to judge Cody Rhodes in WWE.
- Is it possible to love one promotion without blungeoning another.
- How has bipolar affected Tim's viewing habits.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail is joined by the triumphantly returning Al Monelli to discuss Wrestle Mania 38!
Topics include:
- The night 2 main event letdown.
- Aging gracefully.
- Night one being better.
- Should Wrestle Mania stay 2 nights?
- Ronda and Charlotte being awesome.
- WWE trying to sculpt Ronda Rousey instead of letting her go.
- Cody Rhodes as US Champion.
- The expert craftsmanship of Steve Austin vs Kevin Owens.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail shares his WrestleMania Day One misadventures.
Topics include:
- Mold remediation
- Hotels
- Using The Force
- Rocky's stairs
- Peacock
- Cody Rhodes
And more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim takes a trip down memory lane to watch and review WrestleMania 17. Topics include: * What makes this such a memorable pay-per-view. * The Vince McMahon character as abuser and the narrative pitfalls resultant from such a character. * Triple H wanting to be both sniveling heel and ultimate bad ass simultaneously. * Stone Cold Steve Austin working the entire main event as a heel. * The real reason the Austin heel turn doesn't work.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews Monday Night Raw!
Topics include:
- Why RAW is more fun to review than Dynamite.
- Kevin Owens vs Steve Austin being a story we can emotionally invest in.
- Seth Rollins fussing with KO's plans.
- Kevin Owens vs Steve Austin being a story we can't emotionally invest in.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews the March 9th episode of AEW Dynamite live! Topics include: * Backstage & interview segment camerawork. * The demise of The Inner Circle. * Fragmented narratives. * Jeff Hardy's return. * What is Rocky eating? * The excellence of Thunder Rosa. * Tim "not getting" Sammy Guevara as a baby face.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week, host Tim Kail reviews AEW's latest pay-per-view, Revolution Topics include:
- Eddie Kingston vs Chris Jericho overperforming.
- The explosive hot tags of Lucha Saurus.
- The surprising athleticism of Orange Cassidy.
- Jade Cargill's awesome entrance attire.
- CM Punk vs MJF being an instant classic.
- Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker getting better the longer it went.
- Mox vs Danielson getting good once the blood appeared.
- Sting's awesome dive!
- Hangman's inexplicable ability to build great matches.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail discusses the three best things in pro-wrestling right now.
Topics include:
- The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns' latest promo
- Why Roman is 'getting over' now
- MJF's latest promo and how it will factor into his feud with CM Punk
- Daniel Bryan wanting to establish a dojo with Jon Moxley
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews the WWE show Elimination Chamber.
Topics include:
- The nice brisk pace of the entire show.
- The excellence of Roman Reigns' performance.
- The fun of Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair.
- The lackluster feud between Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre.
- Did Lita vs Becky Lynch live up to its promise?
- Ronda's one-arm fighting.
- Kevin Dunn's editing.
- Brock Lesnar standing supreme.
Host Tim Kail previews the Elimination Chamber.
Topics include:
- Each match w/predictions.
- Getting off the "Goldberg train".
- Lita being awesome.
- Mental health and pro-wrestling.
And much more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail delivers another bonus episode of Work Of Wrestling podcast all about the recent news that Cody Rhodes is leaving AEW.
Topics include:
- Cody's Sports Entertainment sensibility
- Why this could be good for both companies
- The toxicity of a polarizing figure
And more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail discusses what pro-wrestling can learn from the Super Bowl.
Topic include:
- Interview camera angles
- Lingering on the defeated
- Creating a living locker room environment
And more!
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail takes some questions and covers an assortment of issues. Topics include:
- the concept of finishing moves and how they evolve with a character.
- the last remaining dream match.
- Hook being Orange Cassidy + Brock Lesnar.
- Keith Lee's awesome AEW debut.
- Naomi vs Charlotte for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
- Will WWE ever be good again?
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks about perception vs reality and creating for its own sake.
Topics inlude:
- Was Tim wrong about The Royal Rumble?
- Is there an objective reality?
- Being guided by "the truth" in arts analysis.
- Becoming an Autotelic.
- Judging success by a metric different than society's.
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail reviews The Royal Rumble. Topics include:
- Seth Rollins' Shield Attire.
- Commentary not allowing for visual storytelling.
- Nikki A.S.H. vs Mighty Molly Holly.
- Becky Lynch and Doudrop overdelivering despite the lack of crowd response.
- The lack of a clear moral scale in WWE.
- The It Couple vs The Grit Couple.
- Brock Lesnar destroying everyone in his path.
Give the podcast a 5-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail previews the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @WorkOfWrestling to share your Rumble predictions with Tim.
This week Tim Kail compares and contrasts recent promos by Cody & Jon Moxley.
Here is Cody's promo on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/h4Ue6pON9yY
Here is Moxley's promo on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/gbKccBmvv28
Topics include:
- Making art accessible.
- Too many obscure wrestling references.
- The difference between being indiscernable and metaphorical.
- Jon Moxley as storyteller.
And much more!
Follow on Twitter and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week it's a love fest as Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reads your messages.
Topics include:
- That time Tim was on Steve Austin's podcast and why he feels he didn't make the most of it.
- Introducing Rocky, Tim's dog.
- Not letting your dreams die despite the practicalities of life taking over.
And much more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail reflects back on 7 years of podcasting.
Topic's include:
- speaking with one's authentic voice.
- maintaining contacts.
- audience size.
- making the most of opportunities.
- the importance of the listener.
And more! Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail is joined by his mother "Granny Franny" to review WWE's latest pay-per-view, Day One.
Topics include:
- Matches being too long.
- Wrestling barefoot.
- Edge not having better opponents since his return.
- AEW Rampage.
- Liv Morgan vs Becky Lynch being the second best match of the night.
- Brock Lesnar stealing the show.
- Inevitable fall out from Big E losing the title to Brock.
And more! Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail pits Raw against Dynamite to illustrate the difference between good and bad in professional wrestling.
Topics include:
- Bobby Lashley's involvement in the title picture.
- Leaps of logic that interrupt the suspension of disbelief.
- Austin Theory and Vince McMahon's incoherent grumbling.
- Why it's not biased to prefer one show over the other and allow that preference to inform criticism.
- Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens working well together.
- Talk shows embedded in Raw? Why?
- Omas and AJ break up.
- Chad Gable vs Randy Orton.
- WWE making a joke out of its own tropes.
- A Liv Morgan monologue.
- Dynamite brimming with life.
- Adam Cole vs Orange Cassidy.
- Great character work.
- The one thing professional wrestling needs more than anything else.
- Hangman's subtle, emotional performance.
- Wardlow being awesome.
- Sean Spears is a sadist.
- Ruby Soho's excellent selling.
- Sting & Punk's face paint.
And more! Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Tim Kail recounts the epic Bryan Danielson vs Hangman Adam Page match from the December 15th episode of AEW Dynamite.
Topics include:
- A detailed description of the match.
- The impeccable timing of both performers.
- The deceptively simple nature of the match.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Also listen to Tim discuss Star Trek on John Macy's podcast The B-Team:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-b-team/id1547054610
Thanks for listening!
This week host Tim Kail covers a variety of matches as recommended by the listener.
Topics include:
- Troubles w/Peacock and the WWE Network.
- Brit Baker vs Thunder in a Lights Out match.
- Walter vs Dragonov at NXT Takeover 36.
- Bianca Belair vs Sasha Banks at WrestleMania.
- The Lucha Bros vs The Young Bucks at All Out.
- Bryan Danielson vs Kenny Omega on Dynamite.
- Go Shiozaki vs Kazuyuki Fujita from 2020
- full match https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7szys9
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews NXT War Games.
Topics include:
- Cora Jade's story in the women's War Games match.
- Why hair vs hair matches are ineffective.
- Character vignettes and the lowering of expectations.
- A detailed take on Joe Gacy.
- Thoughts on each member of 2.0.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
and on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week, Tim Kail answers your questions.
Topics include:
- WWE's latest releases.
- Is the CM Punk/MJF feud happening too soon?
- Will Roman Reigns ever jump to AEW?!
- Which wrestlers embody their culture from the 1980's to today.
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week, Tim Kail review the latest WWE pay-per-view Survivor Series.
Topics include:
- Are Charlotte & Becky working us?
- The men's five on five match.
- The pairing of RKO & Matt Riddle.
- The women's five on five match (and why it was better than the men's).
- Tim no longer enjoying battle royals.
- Do titles matter?
- Roman Reigns vs Big E.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his friend John Macy to review AEW Full Gear.
Topics include:
- The brilliance of MJF vs Darby Allin.
- A great tag match spoiled by a wonky finish.
- Brit Baker lacking a good FOIL.
- The women's division not having enough stars.
- Miro vs Danielson as match of the year contender.
- Punk getting color!
- Dan Lambert needing to just go away.
- Hangman Adam Page vs Kenny Omega in a stellar match that rewarded the fans.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail discusses CM Punk, AEW vs WWE, and Jon Moxley.
Topics Include:
- Praise for Moxley seeking help.
- CM Punk "getting serious" on Dynamite.
- Eddie Kingston earning a headbutt.
- The AEW women's division.
- What makes good criticism (or "takes").
- Tim feeling like a kid again watching Dynamite.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
and on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim's Mom, Granny Franny, joins the show to discuss pro-wrestling.
Topics include:
- Is wrestling real?
- Life in the 1960s.
- How entertainment has changed.
- Granny Franny's top five favorite wrestlers.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail explains why he loves AEW.
Topics include:
- Finishes.
- Characters.
- Faith.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews Saturday Night Dynamite.
Topics include:
- Happy CM Punk.
- Malakai Black vs Dante Martin.
- Tim's confusion at Andrede paying MJF.
- Penelope Ford's lack of personality especially when juxtaposed to Ruby Soho.
- The Dark Order "turning it around" by just being nerds.
- Bryan Danielson vs Bobby Fish and Bryan Danielson vs Minoru Suzuki.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail tells a personal story about his father.
Topics include:
- Alcoholism.
- Adolescence.
- "Being a wrestler...".
- Reconciliation.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
And www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail discusses wrestling subjects you suggested this week on Work of Wrestling podcast.
Topics include:
- History of pro-wrestling in film and other media.
- Authority figures and managers and whether or not they need to exist anymore.
- The role time plays in our perception of pro-wrestling.
- AEW; where have they fallen short, met, and exceeded expectations.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail reviews WWE's latest pay-per-view, Extreme Rules.
Topics include:
- Bobby Lashley being awesome.
- Alexa Bliss being overwhelmed by her character.
- Damien Priest needing to edit his entrance.
- Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair having the match of the night.
- Roman Reigns facing off against The Demon.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Tim Kail talks about the concept of a Champion and Championship Belts.
Topics include:
- the history of belts in combat sports
- the history of the WWE Championship
- Big E being the forth Black WWE Champion
- What Tim would like to see for Big E's run as Champion
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail answers your questions on everything from CM Punk to Bipolar Disorder.
Topics include:
- Is AEW's roster getting too big?
- Will WWE change because of AEW?
- How would Tim book Chad Gable.
- What are some underutilized ways of building stakes?
- What are Tim's "Five Matches" that shaped his understanding of wrestling as art?
- How much of Tim's enjoyment of Punk is nostalgia?
- How has bipolar affected Tim's creativity?
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Tim Kail is joined by his friend John Macy to discuss AEW's latest pay-per-view, All Out.
Topics include:
- Punk's history making return.
- Kingston vs Miro.
- Getting a taste of New Japan Mox.
- Britt Baker's remarkable transformation and improvement in the women's division.
- The match of the night.
- Who Punk's next opponent could be.
And much more! Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebok.com/workofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail deconstructs CM Punk's AEW debut promo.
Topics include:
- Subtle vs overt.
- Anaphoric construction.
- Connecting with a crowd.
- Implication vs explanation.
- Allusion.
And more! Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail
And follow on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews Summer Slam.
Topics include:
- Finding it hard to enjoy Matt Riddle.
- Alexa Bliss as Harley Quinn knockoff.
- Mysterios v Usos and the benefit of having a story.
- Bianca Belair being squashed by Becky Lynch.
- Nikki ASH vs Charlotte vs Rhea Ripley.
- Edge vs Rollins being a refined, excellent match.
- Cena vs Roman and the return of Brock Lesnar.
Tim is flying solo on this episode but as an homage to Al he does talk about Seth Rollins' pants.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
For today's episode host Tim Kail returns to the original three-part format, a Lock-Up, Highspot, Finish.
- Lock-Up: Review of AEW Rampage.
- High Spot: Moral ambiguity in pro-wrestling.
- Finish: A personal story on why you should watch what you say.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, talks about narrative through lines and much more on this episode.
Topics include:
- Possible returns of CM Punk & Daniel Bryan.
- Glow.
- The disconnect between Kenny Omega as babyface and Kenny Omega as heel.
- RAW's structure.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
And follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
In this episode Tim Kail reviews the 2008 modern classic film, The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke and Marissa Tomei.
Tim discusses symbolism, themes, images, and lines of significance.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews the latest WWE pay-per-view, Money in the Bank.
Topics include:
- A kick-off match that actually mattered.
- The all encompassing reach of the Roman Reigns character.
- Nikki ASH.
- A surprisingly good tag match.
- Bobbie Lashley brutalizing Kofi Kingston.
- The dynamics between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair.
- Peacock as a streaming service.
- Edge and Roman Reigns working an excellent match.
And more! Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and visit www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Tim Kail returns to Work of Wrestling to talk about his four favorite wrestlers in AEW:
- Hangman Adam Page
- Orange Cassidy
- Kris Statlander
- Darby Allin
Tim discusses the relatability of Hangman, the coolness of Cassidy, the humor of Statlander, and the innovations of Allin.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
Follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This week, Tim is joined by his buddy John Macy to go over AEW's version of War Games, Blood and Guts.
Topics include:
- John's new podcast.
- Sammy Guevarra as Blood and Guts MVP.
- The intelligence behind the booking of the match.
- Kenny Omega's run as a heel.
- Darby Allin's stellar run as TNT Champion.
- The future of AEW and it's new upcoming show.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail gives a brief update on the state of his mind, the podcast, and his thoughts on AEW.
Topics include:
- Being creatively blocked by Bi-polar
- Darby Allin
- The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Don Callis
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
And www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail his joined by Al Monelli to discuss WWE's latest Showcase of the Immortals.
Topics include:
- Being tired due to the length of the show.
- Preferring a one night Mania with a lean card.
- Seth Rollins pants.
- Night one vs night two.
- The Fiend and why does he keep losing?
- The good old college days.
- John Cena and what he's been up to.
- The magic of Bianca Belair.
And more!
Visit Al's website www.monellifilms.com
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail
Thank you for listening!
Tim Kail returns to let listeners know there will be a review of WrestleMania from The Work Of Wrestling podcast!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
In this episode, Tim Kail discusses his love of action figures again.
- A revelation Tim had thanks to action figures
- The particular goodness of his pro-wrestling figure shelves
- The healing power of embracing who you really are
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail
And on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail and Al Monelli join forces once again to review The Royal Rumble.
Topics include:
- Is it time for Goldberg to ride off into the sunset.
- Bianca Belair's feet touching the ground, her charisma, and her endearing post-victory speech.
- Roman Reigns being an amazing badass.
- This being Tim's first podcast in a while.
Visit Al's website www.monellifilms.com for access to all his work.
Visit Tim's site www.ftkail.com
Follow Tim on Twitter
A bitter & disillusioned pro-wrestler finds inspiration in the exuberance of his young opponent, Missy Keen, in a barbed-wired death match.
Performed by Tim Kail.
Work Of Wrestling host is joined by his friend John Macy to discuss AEW Full Gear.
Topics include:
- Kenny Omega vs Hangman Adam Page and the future of both.
- Orange Cassidy's excellent wrestling.
- Confusion at the idea of Darby wanting to be "the face of TNT"
- Feats of strength from Hikaru Shida
- Aspects of the tag match potentially spoiled by a roundabout build.
- "Cinematic Wrestling" running its course.
- The good but perhaps unsafe Eddie Kingston vs Jon Moxley.
Work Of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, is joined by author Barry Hess to discuss the trilogy of matches between Superstar Billy Graham and The American Dream Dusty Rhodes.
Topics include:
- What makes a "babyface territory".
- The irrelevance of the term "sports centric".
- Bringing icons back to life in writing.
- The enduring joy of pro-wrestling.
And much more!
Follow Barry on Twitter @BFHess171 and Facebook
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, answers your questions this week!
Topics include:
- Writing.
- The Mandolorian.
- Fantasy booking The Fiend.
- Star Trek and watching things to cope with this strange & difficult time.
- Championship victories that were so ecstatic they felt real.
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail returns to review the one-year anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite.
Topics include:
- Miro being worse off than Rusev at present.
- Not connecting with wrestlers because of their real-world hobbies.
- MJF and Chris Jericho segments needing to "get to the point" sooner rather than later.
- Britt Baker and Tony Schiavone's chemistry.
- An excellent TNT title match between Cody and Orange Cassidy.
- Swole and Shida getting lost in the fold.
- Archer and Mox delivering another excellent match.
For more follow @FTKail on Twitter and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail announces that his hiatus is coming to an end on October 19th. He'll be returning to review the one year anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite.
This week we revisit Tim's conversation with Al about Bret Hart's autobiography Hitman.
This week we revisit Tim Kail interviewing his friend, documentary filmmaker Al Monelli.
Purchase or rent Al's doc At The Drive-In on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3mb8XWA
Tim Kail announces that he's taking a hiatus from The Work Of Wrestling for the foreseeable future, but he'll be uploading "new, old" episodes for you to enjoy every Monday, as usual, while he's away.
Work of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, is joined by his friend John to discuss the latest AEW pay-per-view, All Out.
Topics include:
- Safety protocols for wrestlers.
- The overall quality of the show despite the Matt Hardy botch.
- The nuance of Hangman Adam Page.
- The confusion resultant from The Young Bucks reaction to Kenny Omega.
- The brilliance of Jon Moxley.
And more!
Follow on www.facebook.com/workofwrestling and on Twitter @FTKail and sign up for Tim's newsletter at www.ftkail.com!
Work of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, explores the difference between having good judgment and being judgmental as a pro-wrestling fan.
Topics include:
- Judgment vs Judgmental.
- AEW vs WWE.
- Modern wrestling fandom.
- How to identify immature perspectives and how to process them in a healthy way.
And more!
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and sign up for his newsletter at www.ftkail.com!
Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by a fan-favorite guest to reaction, in real-time to the WrestleMania classic: Macho Man Randy Savage vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat!
Topics include:
- The stellar technique of both performers.
- The fluidity and speed of the match.
- The realistic selling and pacing.
- How the roles of heel & babyface are established through the actions and reactions of the characters.
And more!
Follow Tim on Twitter @FTKail and sign up for his newsletter at www.ftkail.com!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail describes why there wasn't a new episode this week.
Topics include:
- The realities of Bi-Polar Disorder
- The National Alliance on Mental Illness resources: https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Bipolar-Disorder
- Gratitude for everything good in life.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
This week, on The Work Of Wrestling podcast, we revisit "A Way Forward" with a discussion about AEW. Enjoy, one and all, and thank you for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail takes you back to February 2015, the first time his mother, Granny Franny (as she's dubbed in this episode) appears as a guest on The Work Of Wrestling podcast.
Topics include:
- Growing up over the past five years and cringing at who you were.
- Being nicer to your parents.
- Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens' rivalry.
- Coping with loss and loneliness.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock (not in the way you're thinking).
- Living life rather than trying to explain it.
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and visit www.ftkail.com to sign up for Tim's newsletter.
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail takes a detour into 1992 and 1993 to watch Sting vs Vader at The Great American Bash, Starrcade, and Superbrawl.
Topics include:
- The origin of Tim's interest in WCW and Sting.
- The negative affect WWE's documentaries of WCW have had on shaping Tim's perspective on the company.
- The defining characteristics of "Surfer" Sting, as Tim sees them.
- How refreshing it is to see a character's creative equity maintained even in defeat.
- How the character's naiveté is balanced by his toughness and intelligence.
- The effective combination of Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura on commentary.
- Why this version of Sting resonates with Tim and activates his imagination.
And more!
Subscribe to Tim's newsletter on www.ftkail.com and follow him on Twitter @FTKail.
Thank you for listening. May the Moment of Pop be with you!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail wades into the philosophical swamp of "separating the art from the artist".
- Living a life consistent with one's values.
- Navigating one's pro-wrestling fandom in the wake of Speaking Out.
- Wanting to "do the right thing", but not always being clear on how "doing the right thing" operates in the real world.
- The Undertaker and The Last Ride
And more!
Follow on Twitter @FTKail and subscribe to his newsletter at www.ftkail.com!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail examines the role of camerawork in professional wrestling - practically and philosophically - drawing insight from film and stage performance.
Topics include:
- A recap of a point Tim made about camerawork during the premiere of AEW Dynamite back in October '19 and a listener's response.
- The influence of a "Work the hard cam" ethic on professional wrestling performance.
- The function Hard Cam serves in comparison to a "Master Shot" in film & Television.
- A pro-wrestling being a polymath who's been required to develop dual skills of "playing to the crowd" and "playing to the camera" simultaneous.
- Tim's fundamental belief that "playing to hard cam" is not a skill a wrestler should have to develop or, more specifically, that it should be a much lower priority.
- Figuring out camera positioning and a directing/editing style that allows pro-wrestlers to not have to self-consciously "hit their mark" when they should really be focused on the life & death scenarios playing out in the ring.
- The actual constructive criticism Tim has for WWE's visual rhythm, which has less to do with camera position and more to do with editing & direction.
Follow on Twitter and Facebook @WorkOfWrestling!
Thanks for listening, one and all!
A story, in two parts, about growing up and the awe-inspiring power of The Undertaker...
This story was submitted by Félix who was born in 1994, and he's mostly watching AEW & New Japan pro-wrestling (he wishes he had more time to also keep up with Lucha Libre and Joshi Puroresu).
He and his friends have a podcast called Catchacast (@catchacast on Twitter) and he writes wrestling analysis on hist website:
exceptioncatchesque.wordpress.com
Follow him on Twitter @pHeLyKs_G.
If you would like to submit your story for reading on the podcast visit www.workofwrestling.com and click on the submissions banner.
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail discusses the recent #SpeakingOut movement, a social media reckoning with the pervasive abuse within the pro-wrestling industry.
To read more about Speaking Out in Sports Illustrated, Click Here.
Topics in this episode include:
- The lack of oversight in professional wrestling, both from within and without due, in part, to how little people respect it.
- The real-world function social media plays in people's lives and why people turn to it as a last recourse.
- Knowing when to listen and when to speak (and how to speak so as to not co-opt the conversation).
- Tim's own experiences, which have made it easy for him to believe these stories.
- The ways in which our culture's systems set us on a destructive path and how, if we're lucky, our course gets corrected over time.
- How to improve that system, which involves ideas born out of a consciousness not built by that very system.
- Why improving working conditions will improve the quality of the art.
Follow on Twitter and Facebook @WorkOfWrestling!
Thanks for listening, one and all!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail shares his article "The Evolution Of A Podcaster", opening up about living and growing with depression & anxiety.
Topics include:
- The "Inner Dictator".
- The "Tortured Artist" story being an unhelpful myth.
- How our external reality encourages our inner monologue to be increasingly negative.
- Learning it's okay "to take care of yourself".
- Learning from one's mistakes.
- Reaching out for help when you need it.
- How therapy & meditation has improved Tim's podcasting.
Click Here to purchase A Liberated Mind by Steven Hayes.
Click Here to visit Steve's website.
Click Here Download Headspace.
Follow on Twitter and Facebook @WorkOfWrestling! Thanks for listening, one and all!
Tim Kail is joined by his friend John Macy to discuss the instantly iconic Stadium Stampede from AEW's latest pay-per-view Double Or Nothing.
Topics include:
- Jon Moxley vs Brodie Lee.
- The debate around Cody vs Lance Archer.
- Forms of comedy and how the Stadium Stampede embodies almost all of them.
- The surrealist humor of Broken Matt Hardy, and his contribution to a particular tradition in professional wrestling.
- The way limitation inspires innovation.
- Hangman Page marching to the beat of his own spurs.
And more!
Follow on Twitter & Facebook @WorkOfWrestling and visit www.workofwrestling.com to submit any stories you have about the art of professional wrestling and its affect on your life.
Stay safe, and catch you next week!
Tim Kail, host of The Work Of Wrestling reviews, AEW's latest PPV, Double Or Nothing.
Topics include:
- Why different forms of comedy, blended together, must compliment, rather than negate, each other.
- What MJF gets right and how Jungle Boy may evolve.
- Cody's perfectly calibrated performance and Lance Archer's blend of brutality and athleticism.
- What are wins and losses (really) in pro-wrestling?
- Nyla Rose and Hikaru Shida delivering a feel-good contest.
- The real reason The Dark Order doesn't work, but how Brodie Lee could.
- The excellence of Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee.
And while Tim shares some of his thoughts on the Stadium Stampede match...it deserves its very own episode (so look forward to that soon)!
Follow on Twitter & Facebook @WorkOfWrestling.
In this mini-episode, Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail introduces his new recording equipment!
He began with a USB condenser microphone in 2015, moved on to the Zoom H4N with a Shure SM58 later that year, and now he's working with a Zoom LiveTrak L-8 Mixer and an Electro Voice RE320.
Don't worry - there will be a new episode on Monday! This is just a quick example of how the show's audio has evolved through the years.
Follow @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter & Facebook
Tim Kail examines artistic realism in professional wrestling; what distinguishes realistic wrestling from surrealistic or impressionistic wrestling, and the various potential approaches to realism.
Topics include:
- The definition of "Realism" as an artistic movement or genre.
- Bret Hart as "The Technician".
- Steve Austin as "The Brawler".
- Brock Lesnar as "The Mixed Martial Artist".
- Tomohiro Ishii as "The Fighter".
- The unifying principle of art that goes beyond genre, philosophy, or ideology.
Follow on Twitter and Facebook @WorkOfWrestling.
Submit #WOWStories on www.workofwrestling.com.
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail is joined by his wife, Ellyn, to discuss the relationship between art, commerce, and morality...before Tim's curiosity for Money In The Bank gets the better of him.
Topics include:
- The difference between engaging with art and being a consumer.
- The highly personal nature of morality, values, and one's relationship with art.
- Why the wrestling ring is a stage, and how fans & promotors don't really think of it that way.
- How Money In The Bank could've been better.
- How Money In The Bank delivered.
- Why Asuka stole the show.
And more!
Follow on Twitter and Facebook @WorkOfWrestling.
Read Tim's latest article The Evolution of a Podcaster.
Submit to #WOWStories!
“Welcome one and all to The Work Of Wrestling podcast where professional wrestling is analyzed and celebrated as an artistic medium…”
I first recorded those words from inside a closet in December of 2014.
I thought being in a confined space would improve the audio quality. I also, secretly, liked the idea of being able to one day tell this story; the auditory-equivalent of Silicon Valley’s legendary garages. Turns out getting a better microphone was the key to better audio.
Five years later, I could still do better in that regard. I know my levels are too low. I continue to not buy equipment and not build a custom sound proof box, all of which would improve the sound quality of my show. I imagine actual audio engineers, broadcasters, podcasters, and filmmakers listening to my show and cringing at every slight smattering of saliva or "popped p".
These phantoms and their judgments may or may not exist.
That doesn’t actually matter.
My choice to believe in them, to take their judgments to heart, definitely exists. In trying to figure out why I don’t take such simple, calms steps toward improving something I know can be improved, I jump to conclusions like “I’m just too comfortable” or “I’m just too lazy” or “I’m just not technically gifted”. Such thoughts apply to more than my podcast - they apply to anything I want to do with my life.
These are the negative judgments of the inner dictator - the angel and devil on our shoulders. Only, for human beings, they're usually both devils and their advice is reliably terrible. The default mode of our internal, evaluative system is negative. And it’s emboldened by our external reality. We are bombarded with phraseology and imagery, hourly (not just daily), that suggests something about us is off or somehow wrong (and it just so happens it can be fixed for the low monthly price of…).
There are times I look in the mirror and I just think, “Ugh”.
I actually hear that sound in my mind.
There are times I’m in the shower and I remember something embarrassing I did in high school and I let out a muted scream, “Ahhh!”
Phrases like “I’ve really let myself go” and “I need to lose weight” and “I need to start exercising again” are always right around the corner. I don’t usually ruminate on such phrases. They’re just in there. Always. The sort of thoughts I file in the “normal” category, thoughts that don’t rise to the level of immediately troubling. They just quietly chip away at the self-esteem, like a horde of microscopic zombie-insects feasting on the pink matter between my ears. The thoughts that do inspire rumination, the thoughts that do rise to the level of immediate “Red alert! Abort! Abort!” are more destabilizing. They’re usually not as catastrophic as you may imagine. It can be as simple as, “Are they mad at me?” and the day is over.
Before last year, when I finally started going to talk-therapy, I firmly believed, “Well…this is my life. This is me. There's no making it better. Tortured artist and all that.”
I likened depression and anxiety to a lifestyle choice - as germane to being an artist as smoking or wearing black (guilty of both). Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I know I believed this because I had to cope. I told myself a story that made depression and anxiety more bearable in my twenties, before I had any conscious tools for living with it.
That closet, where I recorded that first episode of The Work Of Wrestling, was not unlike the state of my mind.
Compact and cluttered, a small, hopeful voice floating in the dark, desperate for air.
Eventually, the tortured artist myth became useless.
It started to feel untrue (because it is), and it didn't help me navigate life in the slightest.
I wasn’t depressed and anxious from 1995-present because I’m an artist.
I’ve been depressed and anxious…because I have depression and I have anxiety.
There is a gulf between those two understandings and acceptance is the bridge.
It’s only when I decided I really needed help, sought help, and accepted the “tortured artist” myth wasn't helping, that I was able to do the real work of living with myself.
And it is work, and it never ends.
It would be lovely to let the credits roll after that last sentence about “acceptance”, but there are no tidy endings when it comes to living. It’s incredibly difficult. I still occasionally groan in the shower. Thoughts like, “Ugh” and “I hate myself” pop like fireworks in my skull. I still get intrusive thoughts. Just last night, I was beset by a cloud that, even now, I can’t quite articulate - I just felt tired and overwhelmed and like there was no way I’d ever “get everything done”.
The only difference between my twenties and now is that I do have a few conscious tools for living with it. Also, I now think these thoughts inside a nice room populated by pleasant imagery and warm memories of all that I love, rather than inside a shadowy little cave.
In my twenties, I didn’t know that was possible. I unconsciously believed my external must always reflect my internal, and that one could not positively inform the other.
I didn’t know it was okay to “take care of yourself”.
Even writing that phrase makes my skin crawl a little bit.
That’s how fused I am with the idea that life is meant to be hard and taking care of one’s self is, somehow, a sign of weakness or extremely selfish given all the suffering in the world - all the people less privileged to be surrounded by “pleasant imagery”.
That’s my dictator, hard at work.
He’s not wrong about all the suffering in the world or the fact that I'm privileged...but he’s also not doing anything about it.
He’s adopting a posture of self-indulgent superiority; a disingenuous tactic not unlike a Twitter troll because that's where he feels safe. He’s weighing my every action or thought and finding some way to make me feel bad, which, ironically, puts me less in a place to help others. Even now, he has real reservations about publishing this (he doesn’t know I’ve already decided for the both of us - I’m going to break it to him gently and help him through it).
Why does my dictator do this? What gets in the way of those calm steps towards improvement?
If I’m being completely honest, seeking an answer beyond the negative inner monologue, it’s not comfort or laziness or lack of talent.
It’s fear.
I am afraid.
I don’t always know what I’m afraid of or why I'm afraid, particularly when it comes to art, but I’ve come to learn that “what” and “why” are not as important as simply accepting the feeling (which is anything but simple). Considering what life is and what's in store, fear is an appropriate response. It only becomes a problem when it rules our actions and gets in the way of accessing more helpful emotions.
When I think back to the early days of my podcast, particularly the literal spaces where I recorded, I’m reminded of my twenty-something fears. I refused to buy “real furniture”, because I’d learned that the twenties were transitory. Even after moving into my first apartment with my then fiancé (now wife) in October 2013, I was convinced we wouldn’t be there long enough to make “settling” worth it. I lugged my dorm room futon, my rickety TV stand, and my bins-as-end-tables up four flights of stairs, into that one-bedroom, and there they remained…for four years. The desk where I podcasted was too small for me and made of particle board.
I didn’t want it anymore, but it was the last thing my father bought me before he died.
I feared that getting rid of it would continue the process of getting rid of him.
So there I sat (after moving out of that closet) for the first season, podcasting at an uncomfortable, decaying desk, seated in a lawn chair, in a sparsely decorated room (small signals of the future revealed in a stuffed animal here, an action figure there).
If I’d been content with that space, then there wouldn’t have been a problem.
But I wasn’t content. I didn’t like it, yet some part of me believed I didn’t deserve "nice things", that I didn’t deserve what I really wanted. The room, which was beautiful on its own, was a manifestation of my anxieties. I was terrified to establish roots, to embrace the onset of adulthood and “real life” even as it was happening to me.
Then, one day, in 2016, I saw a picture of a friend’s office desk. He’d arranged little toys and memorabilia on it, creating a pleasant, human space defined by his personality. It was impossible to look at it without smiling. That image, combined with a mounting sense of utter dissatisfaction with myself, jostled something loose in my head. That February, I bought and built a new desk.
I remembered my love of action figures and started collecting.
The podcasting space continued to evolve, becoming more comfortable, more me. The depression and anxiety remained, of course, ebbing and flowing with the tide of life, but it wasn't alone anymore.
Then, in the Fall of 2017, our lease was up and we had to move.
It was a nightmare. Those first months in the new apartment were defined by confusion, stress, and love. I distracted myself (and, at times, added to my wife’s stress) by building us "real furniture". I was determined to “make it nice”, even if the sound of banging hammers and under-the-breath cursing is anything but. I’d witnessed the positive affects of putting time and effort into a space, and I knew too well the negative affects of neglecting it. I decided that I would learn from every mistake, and ensure we had everything we needed in our new apartment in order to live well and comfortably.
I saved my office for last - for the first few months, it looked like a small dump. Little by little, I pieced together a new podcasting station.
The first iteration of this room had the lingering touches of a dorm: plastic TV stand, a futon, an inelegant sensibility.
I kept at it, my aim to create a space that serviced the following needs: a comfortable place to sit and think privately, a comfortable bed for guests and naps, a good desk for writing, podcasting, and displaying figures. I spent years denying and avoiding this part of me - always thinking it wasn’t worth it, that I’d be losing something, that it was selfish, that I was bad for some inexplicable reason...
In truth, establishing roots, even in the form of a good desk, has helped.
When you enter a space that is the literal manifestation of the best parts of you (the things you love), you let your inner dictator know, “See…we’re not so bad, after all”.
The more time I’ve spent watering these roots, the more I’ve noticed an improvement in my overall mood and productivity.
My podcast has traveled from the confines of that angst-filled closet to a warm, thoughtfully curated representation of my personal history.
I can detect that transition in the tone of my voice, and the focus of my episodes, even if listeners can’t (though I suspect some of them can).
I’m not “cured” just because my room is nicer and I’m honest about the fact that I love action figures. There is no cure. There’s always more I could do, but fusing with that thought ignores a larger trajectory of progress.
We are, each of us, finding our way through the cave, clutching at our torches, eager for a crack of sunlight.
Sometimes, the best you can do is reach out for a helping hand.
There's a good chance, given how many of us are in there, you’ll find one reaching back.
Follow on social media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter & Facebook
Submit your pro-wrestling stories to #WOWStories!
The Work Of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, has launched The Work Of Wrestling: Stories- a new way for you, the listener & pro-wrestling fans all over the world, to reconnect and take pleasure in a shared love of wrestling.
This introduction explains the origin of the concept (an update to "The Finish"), what you can expect from the next episode, and how there's a new, more enjoyable way for you to share your stories about how pro-wrestling shaped you, changed your, or affected you.
Submit your story via this handy Google form: https://forms.gle/RnYmAmZAFWYwVgdUA
Or visit www.workofwrestling.com and click on the Submissions Banner.
And be sure to listen to "Childish Things", the first episode in the #WOWStories series, available now!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/workofwrestling
Tim Kail endeavors to better understand the basic building block of pro-wrestling storytelling: "the move".
And thus begins an auditory journey that bridges the gap between reality and fiction, the tangible and the intangible, physics and emotions.
Topics include:
- The definition of motion.
- Newton's Laws of Motion.
- The literal definition of a wrestling move.
- The figurative definition of a wrestling move (i.e. the purpose it serves in a story).
- The six levels of "force" at work in a pro-wrestling match.
- Why a wrestler is "an artist who uses gravity".
And more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling.
Thank you for listening!
This week, Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail discusses the concept of cognitive dissonance, being completely honest with one's self, and his relationship with WWE.
Topics include:
- WWE being deemed an essential business during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Why it's become harder to remain a WWE-fan but, also...
- Why Tim has always struggled with his WWE-fandom, going as far back as his teens.
- The mass firings at WWE.
- Will pro-wrestling evolve following Covid-19 or will it stay the same?
- Will pro-wrestlers ever form a union?
And more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail discusses the value of gaining distance from our emotions when analyzing art.
Topics include:
- The ups & downs of the latest episode of AEW Dynamite.
- How being "in one's feelings" can corrupt one's ability to effectively analyze art.
- How mindfulness practices can help one better appreciate art (and life).
- An exercise to illustrate how overpowering thoughts and feelings obscure our view of reality.
- What does constructive criticism become when it is unmotivated by passing judgment?
And much more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Watch Steve C. Hayes' Ted Talk on psychological flexibility via the following link:
https://youtu.be/o79_gmO5ppg
You can buy his book A Liberated Mind: How To Pivot To Watch Matters here:
https://amzn.to/2xrREfc
Thanks for listening!
Tim Kail and Al Monelli join forces once again to review the weirdest WrestleMania in WWE history!
Topics include:
- The surreal, acid-trip, post-modern, meta masterpiece that is the #FireFlyFunHouse match.
- All the ways in which WWE could have mitigated the loss of the crowd.
- The fundamental difference between the #BoneyardMatch and the #FireFlyFunHouse match...but why it's okay to enjoy them both (or not).
- Did WWE want viewers to believe the #BoneyardMatch was "cool", or did they understand they were making something "so bad it's good"?
- Charlotte being the best, and why.
- Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins becoming an instant "hidden gem".
- Randy Orton vs Edge being one of the few examples of using the lack of a crowd to a story's advantage.
- Whether or not WWE should have done this show at all.
- The real reason why WWE hasn't yet shut down.
- What WWE could do in the weeks ahead if they're forced to shut down by the government.
And much more! This is a great convo between two old friends longtime listeners are sure to enjoy.
Follow Al on Twitter @MonelliFilms and follow his latest feature-length documentary at https://www.facebook.com/marionettelandfilm
Thanks for listening, one and all. See you next week!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reveals what this episode was originally intended to be about...a fun surprise that was undone by a not-so-fun surprise. But all is not lost!
In the midst of his story, he is gets a call from an old friend of the pod, resulting in an impromptu conversation that promises to make us all feel like "everything is going to be all right."
Topics include:
- AEW Blood And Guts being postponed.
- Interactions with customer service ticket vendors in the wake of Covid-19.
- The distinction between being a critic and being a consumer.
- Roman Reigns reportedly dropping out of WrestleMania to protect his health.
And more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening and have a great night!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail returns to talk "Empty Arena Wrestling", and answers your questions!
Topics include:
- Modern WWE's default sterility and how "empty arenas" have only brought that into focus.
- The peculiar grimness of WWE commentary during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Refusing to accept WWE's Orwellian perspective (regardless of the global pandemic).
- AEW Dynamite understanding how to provide actual escapism.
- What these "empty arena" circumstances reveal about a promotion's perspective on the art of pro-wrestling.
- Answering listener questions about favorite feuds, Drew McIntyre, 2-night WrestleMania, and more!
Thank you so much for listening, one and all! It's greatly appreciated.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Stay safe and see you next week!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his friend Johny Macy to reconvene and discuss AEW Dynamite after it's been on the air since October 2019!
Topics include:
- Dynamite's strengths & weaknesses.
- Tim & John marking out for Darby Allin.
- The shortcomings of the Women's Division.
- Hangman Adam Page and the nuances of his "drinking problem".
- The "greatest tag match of all time".
- The potential lineage of the AEW Championship.
- The simple reason Tim & John enjoy Dynamite so much.
And much more!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail offers a detailed review of WWE's latest pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber!
Topics include:
- The concept of "mattering" on The Road to WrestleMania.
- Daniel Bryan vs Drew Gulak and great pro-wrestling.
- Otis and Tucker eliciting the strongest crowd response in the Elimination Chamber Tag Titles match.
- WWE's terribly scripted promos robbing wrestlers of their ability to 'get over'.
- Aleister Black vs AJ Styles exceeding expectations to become a good match in its own right, and one of the few to advance a WrestleMania story.
- A brief history of how the Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens feud represents WWE's creative failures and inability to create new stars.
- Why this year's Elimination Chamber PPV should've been dedicated entirely to the women's divisions of WWE.
- The excellent main event which solidified Shayna Baszler as the killer she needs to be on the main roster.
- Why the crowd will turn on Becky Lynch and why that never needed to happen.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews the latest AEW pay-per-view Revolution!
Topics include:
- Dustin Rhodes forcing himself upon Jake Haggar's wife.
- Darby Allin's organic ascent to AEW-stardom.
- The masterpiece that is The Young Bucks vs Omega & Hangman.
- How Bucks, Omega, and Page explore the realistic nuances and tensions of male friendships in a way film & television haven't.
- Why does Kris Statlander "boop" people?
- Why a specific set of moves would benefit Nyla Rose.
- Why Cody's Sports Entertainment instincts betrayed the seriousness of his feud with MJF.
- PAC vs Orange Cassidy taking the negatives of modern pro-wrestling fandom and transforming them into positives.
- The toughness of Jon Moxley, and his future as Champion.
And much more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
This episode of Work Of Wrestling podcast is all about the importance of recommending great art.
Topics include:
- Watching MLW for the first time.
- The ups & downs of the modern wrestling style.
- The positive influence of MMA on pro-wrestling.
- Matt Riddle vs Shane Strickland.
- Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair for the WCW Championship.
- Quick reactions to a list of matches Tim's watched recently along with the revelations they inspired.
- Ultimo Dragon vs Dean Malenko
And more! Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews NXT Takeover Portland!
Topics include:
- Merging the TV-viewing experience with the live-audience experience.
- The spectacle of Keith Lee vs Dominic Dijokovic wearing off.
- The arrival of Dakota Kai, and why she's found her perfect attire.
- Finn Balor delivering his best WWE/NXT performance to date.
- Bianca and Rhea delivering, Charlotte accepting Rhea's challenge.
- The chemistry of the Broserweights.
- What tag team wrestling symbolizes.
- How Ciampa/Cole exceeded expectations, and delivered an excellent match.
- The parallelism of Gargano/Balor & Ciampa/Cole.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
The Road to WrestleMania has felt especially bumpy in recent years. Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail wonders why that is, and endeavors to find an answer. His search takes him into the past, beginning at the 1993 Royal Rumble and ending at WrestleMania 17.
What he discovers forever changes his perspective on The Royal Rumble and The Road to WrestleMania.
Topics include:
- WrestleManias IX - XVII.
- Royal Rumbles 1993 - 2001.
- Raw from 1993 - 2001.
- Vince McMahon's remarkably consistent perspective on professional wrestling.
- The true purpose of The Royal Rumble.
- The underlying reason modern WWE feels more random and how that affects today's fan.
- The true birth of the Mr. McMahon Character.
- The role fans play in shaping Mania.
- The need to adapt WWE's booking model to the tastes and purchasing habits of the modern era.
Follow Tim on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail returns to discuss a few of his favorite things about wrestling .
Topics include:
- What does he genuinely enjoy about WWE today that has very little to do with the actual content they produce?
- Despite all his constructive criticisms of AEW, what does he love about Dynamite and what keeps him tuning in every week?
- What's his favorite thing about NXT at the moment?
- Who is his favorite wrestler and why?
- The importance of escapism; the purpose it serves and why it's okay for kids to play video games.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined once again by friend, fellow pro-wrestling fan, and filmmaker Al Monelli to review WWE's latest Royal Rumble!
Topics include:
- The good cinematography of the Roman Reigns vs Baron Corbin Match
- Bianca Belaire's superbly told Royal Rumble story
- Al's new arrival!!!
- What's wrong with Bayley's heel turn?
- The Fiend's pants
- Daniel Bryan's greatness
- Why Asuka vs Becky Lynch, for Tim, was a major disappointment
- Al loving Brock murdering wrestlers and why he could have watched him toss everyone over the top rope all night
- Why Tim is cautiously optimistic about Drew McIntyre's victory
And more!
Follow Al @Monellifilms. And https://www.facebook.com/AtTheDrivein
Follow Tim @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening!
Drew McIntyre On Monday Night Raw
Seemingly overnight, Drew McIntyre became a guy you'd like to get a pint with.
For the past month on RAW, he's been sauntering to the ring as a big, surly, sexy bastard, perpetually grinning, cutting funny promos, counting down Claymore kicks, and connecting with the crowd.
If you're a WWE-fan his energy, at long last, is in alignment with your perception of his potential.
If you had the good fortune to watch Drew's work as Galloway on the indies from 2014-2017, then you've likely already had this experience. His excellence, for you, isn't merely theoretical (which made it all the more frustrating to watch him play second fiddle to heels upon his return to "the main roster").
Drew was always going to have a hard time returning to WWE, though. His gimmick on the indies was built upon the idea that, fresh off a dissatisfying run in the land of Sports Entertainment, he was going to "take a stand for Professional Wrestling". At the time, this message was incredibly resonant.
In 2014, the phrase "Professional Wrestling" was a far dirtier word in WWE than it is today, and a rallying cry for frustrated wrestling fans. Drew Galloway was an early modern example of a wrestler who embodied the ideological divide between Sports Entertainment and Professional Wrestling; how the former fails talent in a way the latter doesn't.
His argument was convincing because he'd been through the WWE system, he knew what he was talking about, and every promo and match that followed proved his point. He quietly pioneered, for a new generation of wrestling fans, a creative philosophy that's since been taken for granted: the only way to "get over" today...is to leave.
And that's why Drew was going to struggle upon his return to WWE.
How does one “get over” when they return to a system that failed them?
Furthermore, Drew faced a greater challenge regarding his character’s identity. Flaws in WWE's "star-making" mechanisms aside, Galloway's mission-statement no longer resonates because Professional Wrestling won the argument. Marriage ceremonies, cuck angles, goth stables, and librarians aside, Sports Entertainment has gradually tiptoed into the background. It's not gone (not by a long shot). And it can come back, in force, at any moment.
But, for now, great professional wrestling is en vogue.
Drew McIntyre stands victorious on Monday Night Raw
Almost every week, wrestling fans are guaranteed a five star match from a promotion of their choosing, be it mainstream or streaming.
Our community’s interests, tastes, and priorities are less defined by McMahon's goofy mini-movies and more defined by our understanding of Pro-Wrestling's inherent value and versatility. Our hunger for improved quality, both inside and outside the ring, has nudged the business in a positive direction.
So where does that macro-growth leave someone like Drew...McIntyre?
What stand could he take for professional wrestling that wouldn't feel redundant today?
He needed to find another way to connect, to service an overlooked need. And that's exactly what he's done on RAW in 2020.
What did he find?
Drew McIntyre counts down to a Claymore Kick.
Fun.
Pure. Simple. Fun.
And he's fun to watch because he's having fun.
This is a deceptively simple revelation.
I was on my way home from work, listening to a wrestling podcast, thinking about how much I've enjoyed his work of late, wondering what, specifically, was so endearing about it. Why was he "getting over" with WWE-fans in a way he hadn't before, even in NXT? Why did it look so easy? Then it occurred to me that one of the largest threads that binds all acts who "get over" is that surprisingly elusive ingredient: fun.
Think of New Day, Becky Lynch, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Macho Man Randy Savage, Ric Flair, etc. Each of these acts, in their own way, is extremely fun to watch. We take this aspect of their character & performance for granted because it seems a given, but it's not. It's incredibly difficult to be fun and perform fun given the pressures of show business. It takes a particular mindset and a profound amount of courage to convey that positive, joyous energy to millions of people. If one’s performance isn’t calibrated perfectly, their attempts at fun will read as insincere. These "over" characters represent a wish fulfillment that gets us "regular people" through our days. If it doesn’t seem like they’re enjoying it, the myth is dispelled.
Whether they're playing a trombone, celebrating their broken face, raising their eyebrow, driving beer trucks, holding up tiny cups of cream, or luxuriating in their limousine lifestyle, they can do what we can't. In watching and enjoying them, we're subtly (if not overtly) invited into their world, able to ride along with them, high on the vapors of their liberation.
In real-life, it's very clear when these performers are legitimately enjoying themselves and their craft, and when they’re not.
This magical period usually occurs right after they've "found their voice", and the WWE (ideally) cashes in on their newfound magnetism in the form of a push. Maintaining that energy depends upon an assortment of increasingly complex factors, but once a talent forges a genuine bond with the audience, it's hard to break.
Drew McIntyre has found his main roster voice, and it’s rooted in unselfconscious fun. He couldn't have found it at a better time.
Consider how absent genuine fun is from our present world.
Consider how hungry you may be for uncomplicated fun.
For some of us (like me), the world is burning, we’re doomed to water wars, ancient viruses, widespread violence, and the dissolution of democracy. For others, everyone has a stick up their ass, can’t take a joke, is in hysterics over nothing, and insists upon unraveling long-held values for the sake of one's feelings not getting hurt.
The only thing we have in common is how much fun we’re not having.
Take NXT vs AEW as an example, a lighthearted contest that has resulted in some of the best wrestling this generation has ever seen (the actual takeaway of Wednesday nights). It’s a “war” invented by promotions and wrestling fans who have a financial or emotional stake in it being realized as a war. Someone spray-paints "AEW" and "TNT" over "NXT" and "USA" on a subway advert and it's considered a “shot fired”. Meanwhile, those firing shots in retaliation fail to consider the commonality of graffiti in subways, the tradition of being "worked" in pro-wrestling, and the existence of “guerrilla marketing" in media.
Our investment in appearing "right" overrides our investment in the experience of communal joy, mutating pleasure into a self-inflicted mental pain deemed "morally correct". As a result, fun gets sucked into the quicksand of our collective self-righteousness, sincerity, idiocy, and inability to have complicated, often contradictory beliefs & experiences simultaneously.
In such times, genuine fun has immense value.
We must guard it against the onslaught of our own minds.
Drew McIntyre celebrates on Raw.
The fun I describe is not the dopamine-infused fun of distraction, nor the fabled "wildness" of one’s twenties.
Do not confuse this defense of fun for a "boomer" comedian’s complaints about today's teens and twenty-somethings being “too serious” (as if "fun" is a specific set of self-destructive behaviors prescribed to a particular age-group by way of social conditioning).
I'm describing fun as defined by friendship, love, camaraderie, banter, play, mindfulness, discovery, invention, insight into self, and gratitude. Fun that doesn't need to justify itself, concede anything, or adhere to a destructive social construct.
This kind of fun is timeless, benevolent, and communal.
That's the sort of simple, meaningful fun I experience when I watch Drew McIntyre countdown to a Claymore.
That's the fun I had when he "Didn't even drop the microphone!" after delivering said Claymore kick.
That fun is just as important now as "taking a stand for professional wrestling" was in 2014.
Getting to watch Drew have a good time in his match against Randy Orton made this week's RAW more entertaining, and it helped me forget whatever caused that day's ruminations. His promo after receiving a RKO didn’t just protect his revitalized gimmick. It allowed us to see, in yet another way, how he's enjoying (rather than enduring) his attempt to become WWE Champion. That is especially refreshing after years of watching "disgruntled employees" (e.g. CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, etc), fueled by their legitimate frustration or the anger of fans, seek success out of spite more than hope.
Drew's chase for the title, no matter the outcome, isn't a slog through internet angst and unrealized superstar potential - it's an enjoyable adventure undertaken with good cheer and determination.
While this model could be applied elsewhere on the card, it does not represent a strict “one size fits all” solution to WWE’s creative missteps. It’s all too easy to take my argument in favor of fun, extract the meaning, and reduce it to “WWE Superstars just need to go out there and have fun...pal!”
That is not what I am suggesting.
WWE Superstars, like any artists, need to find their voice.
But, just as importantly, WWE needs to create the conditions, for all superstars, wherein that is actually possible. Then, when that superstar finds their voice, WWE needs to support them with enthusiasm and foresight. That experience of discovery, regardless of a character's particular temperament, is pleasurable.
We are witnessing that process unfold for Drew McIntyre, and all we can do is watch, enjoy, and hope for the best.
His transformation into Banter King seems like it happened overnight, and that's yet another testament to his skill. In reality, it's taken years of diligent work and commitment to his craft to arrive at this point. He has graciously invited us to participate with the simplest, most brilliant call and response of the past several years, "Three! Two! One!”, just in time for The Royal Rumble, where counting aloud is reason enough to attend.
Should he continue on his present course, and should WWE allow him to showcase his charm in suitable segments and matches, Drew will successfully claim his prize and give wrestling fans exactly what they need (even if they don’t quite know it yet).
Follow Tim on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling
and
www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail previews the 2020 Royal Rumble.
Topics include:
- Why Brock Lesnar's inclusion is a good thing
- Who should win the men's rumble
- Who should win the women's rumble
- Fantasy booking to WrestleMania
- Daniel Bryan vs The Fiend
- Becky Lynch vs Asuka
- How WWE can use The Rumble to get NXT over
And more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling.com
This week Work Of Wrestling host, Tim Kail, unleashes his pent up response to CM Punk's "Return".
Other topics include:
- David Starr vs Jordan Devlin for the OTT Championship
- Effective modern symbolism in pro-wrestling
- WWE Backstage and how it won't exist a year from now
- How pro-wrestling (and Tim) have moved on from CM Punk
- Tim's renewed desire to live "the art life" and find purpose through writing & podcasting
And much more!
Click here to watch Starr vs Devlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lurEXADlboY&feature=youtu.be
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thanks for listening! Return next week for a Royal Rumble preview!
Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson, Brandi & Cody of AEW
AEW's second Dynamite of the year featured back-to-back-to-back segments with The Nightmare Collective, The Dark Order, and The Butcher, The Bunny, & The Blade.
Short The Librarians joining in to shush an already silent crowd, it watched like a parade of wrestling's worst instincts. Bad timing, awkward delivery, flubbed reveals, cheap attire, hokey gimmicks, authority figures, unclear motivations, and labored narrative reasoning.
As this played out, a word slowly came into focus in my consciousness, floating in the dark like bright balloon letters, “MESS!”
The Nightmare Collective Interrupts Riho vs Kris Statlander
So eager for AEW to fulfill its potential, I've been giving the promotion the benefit of the doubt since I first saw The Creepers crawl on stage. I've been rationalizing the promotion’s mixed messaging, the existence of pre-shows on five-hour pay-per-views, Dynamite’s spotty audio, Dynamite’s WWE-influenced visual language, Dynamite’s WWE-influenced structure, and Dynamite’s general inability to focus on a single wrestler or group with perceptible momentum (Darby Allin, Riho, PAC, Jon Moxley, The Inner Circle).
“It’s a new promotion,” I’ve told myself, “give it time.”
After the latest episode, Dynamite has had enough time. It must no longer be viewed through "the benefit of the doubt" and, instead, constructively critiqued like any other prime-time television show.
I can’t ignore the show’s creative and aesthetic stumbles in an effort to convince myself it’s WWE's antidote, especially when I experienced WWE's antidote, in vivid detail, at Wrestle Kingdom 14.
Swearing off Dynamite after one especially bad episode is unrealistic, of course. Proclamations of changing channels and cancelling networks rarely stick because professional wrestling, itself, is fundamentally good. No matter what promotion produces pro-wrestling, it's inevitably going to create something worthwhile because pro-wrestling is a reliably effective art form.
I know I'll continue tuning in, and I know I'll enjoy something along the way, but I'll be doing so with a proper understanding of the show's purpose.
After three months of dedicated viewership, I see through the alluring fantasy of AEW (that it will save wrestling) to a less exciting reality.
Cody, EVP and performer in AEW
The word “MESS!” has less to do with the aforementioned unsuccessful segments and more to do with the mind that produced them. The fact that such segments were greenlit in the same stroke as genuinely enjoyable segments is revealing.
Dynamite lacks a unifying narrative principle. There is no clear foundation upon which the show’s fictional world is built. As a result, the company's characters, stories, and production values fluctuate wildly from week to week, segment to segment, dependent entirely upon the quality of act being featured.
Sound familiar?
This inconsistency has been generously defended as “something for everyone”. In theory, that’s a noble pursuit given the variety of wrestling styles and tastes today. In practice…well…it’s not actually in practice. Does “something for everyone” explain AEW’s audio troubles, antiquated gimmicks, inability to book women, and a host of other persistent troubles?
The more I watch Dynamite, the less I see a “pro-wrestling buffet” and the more I see a television show struggling to "get things right".
When we take all of Dynamite’s positives and negatives into consideration, it becomes apparent that AEW is motivated by something simpler than “changing wrestling” or “offering something for everyone”.
Dynamite, in its simplest form, is a show for wrestlers who don’t want to work at WWE.
If it has any recognizable unifying principle, it's that.
Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho in AEW
A desire to not work at WWE doesn’t automatically translate to better, more original television, though.
One must still be good at producing TV.
More importantly, a promotion’s perspective on professional wrestling must be fundamentally different from Vince McMahon’s if it sincerely wishes to produce something different from Vince McMahon.
If the differences are, “Wrestlers should have creative control of their characters, wrestlers should be able to cut bullet-point promos, matches should have finishes more often than not, top-guys shouldn’t need to be big & tall, house-show circuits should be abandoned, Championships should matter,” then you’re going to end up with a different shade of the same color.
You may enjoy that shade more, but it’s on the same part of the spectrum.
When a promotion doesn’t share WWE’s creative guidelines but it does share WWE’s perspective on pro-wrestling, the result is nothing more than slight alterations to Sports Entertainment's incessant formulas. When a promotion does have a fundamentally different perspective on pro-wrestling, it creates something truly different.
"Different" doesn't necessarily mean "good", though. Again, the production team, the booker, and the wrestlers all need to be exceptional at their jobs to produce something equal parts fresh & laudable.
But, when pro-wrestling is in good hands and it's built from a different point of view from McMahon's, it can be remarkable.
Tetsuya Naito wins the IWGP Intercontinental & Heavyweight Championships at Wrestle Kingdom 14
When pro-wrestling is in unproven hands and it's built with the same point of view as McMahon, it can be hit or miss, but it's not going to change anything.
Just look to the closing segment of this week’s Dynamite (a hit).
Jon Moxley baited and switched Chris Jericho in a closing promo segment where he had to choose whether or not he’d join a heel faction. Sure…Moxley’s name was Moxley, not Ambrose. Jericho was Le Champion, not Y2J. Improvisational flourishes dotted the scene, reminding us how charming both men are, and what they can achieve when they don't have to answer to a team of beleaguered writers. But apart from the real-world guidelines informing the scene, what was intrinsically AEW about it?
Jon Moxley announces that he has "joined" The Inner Circle.
Unless you knew you were watching Dynamite in 2020, you’d be forgiven for confusing it for Raw in 2017. It even looks the same.
One could argue that Dynamite doesn’t need to be fundamentally different from WWE, or that its alterations to the Sports Entertainment formula are enough.
That's fine, but it means AEW's EVPs and owner should start accurately describing their product as a WWE-Thought-Experiment.
One could also argue that “backstage segments”, “contract signings”, “closing promo segments”, etc. are all “just pro-wrestling!”
Maybe.
Or maybe pro-wrestling is an art and arts are malleable, reflecting the needs of the audience and the depth of the artists serving them. Maybe pro-wrestling has been so dominated by one mind for so long that it’s hard for others to see beyond it. Maybe the poor taste and bad decision-making of that one mind has created others who inadvertently share his taste and decision-making style...despite their best intentions.
Wrestling fans didn’t turn to AEW to watch a less scripted version of Vince McMahon’s idea of wrestling.
Wrestling fans turn to other promotions to cleanse their souls, to see what Vince McMahon has ignored, discarded, or overlooked.
That’s the appeal of performers like Riho, Darby Allin, Jon Moxley, and Orange Cassidy. Fans know such characters can't exist in WWE, because Vince McMahon won't allow it. Fans also immediately recognize the talent of these performers (otherwise they wouldn't cheer with such passion) and they want to watch a promotion that shares their intuition, foresight, and enthusiasm.
The process by which we’ve fallen in love with AEW's greatest prospects is different than enjoying a less-scripted version of RAW.
It’s a process of true discovery wherein the show isn't just, "As good as you knew it could be". Instead it's, "Better than you ever imagined."
Rather than rely upon Sports Entertainment’s proven formulas, AEW could rely on the enduring power of discovery.
Instead of asking, “What if Vince McMahon gave us what we actually wanted?” AEW could ask, “What does professional wrestling want to become?”
I promise you...the answer to the latter question is more interesting, and it will give AEW the foundation it needs.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
The Dark Order Of AEW
"We're going to offer a sports-centric product that focuses on the athletes and work."
With this statement, in May of 2019, Tony Khan set my expectations of All Elite Wrestling.
I wish I had interpreted that statement as broadly as possible rather than immediately invest in the deeper implications of "sports-centric".
It set an impossible-to-meet expectation, ensuring dissatisfaction. So frustrated with WWE and so excited by the prospect of a new promotion destined to be its antidote, it wasn't hard to imagine Dynamite would be everything I ever wanted it to be.
All I heard was "sports-centric" and my eager imagination filled in the blanks.
That was my mistake, not Khan's nor AEW's.
To be fair to frustrated WWE-fans, though, the phrase "sports-centric" is a dog whistle that roughly translates, "Gone are the days of Sports Entertainment bullocks! No hokey crap! AEW is going be serious and respect pro-wrestling!"
I'm not suggesting Tony Khan didn't mean what he said. Nor do I think his promotion should be forever judged according to what it isn't. I simply recognize, especially after watching the latest Dark Order YouTube video, that I have a very different understanding of “sports-centric".
It turns out AEW is a lot like all other pro-wrestling (which is by no means the end of the world and, in hindsight, unsurprising). It has strengths, it has weaknesses, sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s bad…and sometimes you hope no one knows you watch it.
The Dark Order falls into the latter category for me.
It's a little bit Right To Censor, a little bit Straight Edge Society, a little bit Wyatt Family, and a lot of what professional wrestling doesn't need anymore. They’re a dated, cheesy, black-leather-clad collection of heels who, while not supernatural, move to the lame rhythm of supernatural-wrestling.
They’re not helped by the existence of The Butcher, The Bunny, & The Blade and The Nightmare Collective (Brandi, Awesome Kong, a mysterious bald man, et al), two other AEW factions who fit the same description: they wear black, they threaten people but it's not clear why, cut off hair, climb out of "hell" (the center of the ring), and their aesthetic is stuck somewhere between early aughts softcore porn and goth Attitude Era.
While The Dark Order's soft reboot as a cult of jobber-incels was inspired, it continues to manifest as goofy skits, cheap-looking costumes, and creative paradoxes (things that should matter on weekly prime-time television).
Ignoring aesthetics, and considering only Dark Order's narrative trajectory, we're meant to trust AEW's creative process. We’re not supposed to feel "been there, done that". We're meant to be sincerely teased by The Dark Order, and curious about their true intentions. We're not supposed to watch it ironically, and yet I fear that's going to become the only way fans end up enjoying it (a cynical process AEW must avoid). Not only is it difficult to be teased and curious about something painfully familiar, it's difficult to place once’s faith in a process that, in Dark Order’s case, hasn’t yielded positive results.
AEW's unwillingness to give up on The Dark Order is certainly admirable. The attempt to ground them in reality and flesh out their identity via vignettes offered a brief glimmer of hope. Then, on December 18th, they came out from behind the comfort of their vignettes to close an episode of Dynamite.
Seeing and hearing them, in the flesh, was a blistering reminder of how inherently antiquated their gimmick is.
The promotion's heart may be in the right place, but the promotion's head is making all the same bad sports-entertainment decisions.
And that’s where my real concern lies.
Before long, the company’s admirable unwillingness to give up on The Dark Order will read as stubbornness.
You will like this whether you like it or not, pal!
Pro-wrestling fans have had enough of that. If a promotion (especially one that regards itself as "The Alternative") doesn't sincerely consider audience reactions or, worse yet, doesn't comprehend why fans reject an act and then, worse still, quadruples-down on a creative gambit purely out of spite, it's not delivering on a promise for which there is no room for interpretation: to be entertaining.
Modern wrestling fans don’t need Dynamite to be everything they specifically want it to be. Not even me, a regular live Dynamite-viewer who has enjoyed more episodes than he hasn’t.
Modern wrestling fans just need wrestling to be good.
The same way other television is good.
What does that mean?
It means not grading wrestling on its cooky curve, allowing for cheap nonsense as a result of lowered expectations. It means gradually removing those parts of pro-wrestling that embarrass us: gimmicks, angles, aesthetics, tones, philosophies, policies, and concepts best left to the past.
When I see an act like The Dark Order, in 2020, it confounds me. I know the minds who created it have seen the same wrestling I have. And yet, because the act persists, it doesn't seem like those minds also know where it's all going.
Short of taking their story in an increasingly meta-direction that gets out ahead of their demise, wherein the Dark Order is revealed to be an example of "terrible-creative" perpetrated on wrestling fans by a rouge EVP, Dark Order will not exist in another year.
They're an experiment fans will one day reminisce about with wry “What were they thinking?” grins on their faces.
And that's okay.
The Dark Order is one iteration of a particular group of performers who will eventually find their way.
I’m not suggesting AEW immediately erase The Dark Order and pretend the group never existed.
I’m only suggesting AEW accept it and move on when The Dark Order fails.
If the promotion truly wants to be an alternative it will embrace the audience's unmitigated rejection of an angle, a gimmick, a policy, or a business decision.
And it will do so as quickly as it embraces praise for unscripted promos, win/loss records, and two-hour run-times.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling starts The New Year with New Japan!
In part two of the 5th anniversary episode of WOW, host Tim Kail critiques the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
Topics include:
- Jushin Thunder Liger and the bond all wrestling fans share
- A plot hole in a tag match featuring "illegal cups"
- New Japan's camera work
- The tangly genius of Zach Saber Jr. and Sanada
- The unexpected outcome of Juice Robinson vs John Moxley for the IWGP United States Championship
- What was missing from Kenta vs Goto (if anything)
- The brilliance of Kota Ibushi's performance
- The ever-reliable vile charm of Chris Jericho
- Yet another epic main event between Naito and Okada to crown the first ever double-champion
The night one review is available now, as well!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Join Tim next week for an all new episode!
Work Of Wrestling starts The New Year with New Japan!
In this 5th anniversary episode of WOW, host Tim Kail critiques the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
Topics include:
- How helpful New Japan's commentary is, particularly with regard to the history of Jushin Thunder Liger
- Kenta being the strongest member of Bullet Club
- The likability of Juice Robinson
- The joy of New Japan Moxley (and why Tim is just going to have to accept Moxley's attire choices)
- The athletic majesty of Will Osprey
- How a fan's metric for judging "best wrestler in the world" is informed by what style is presently popular
- The clearly defined characters of Naito and White
- The way Okada and Ibushi told a story almost entirely through facial expressions
And much more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling.
The #NJWK14 Night Two review is available now!
And join Tim next week for another new episode!
Work Of Wrestling returns for a Holiday Special review of TLC!
First, host Tim Kail shares his thoughts on pro-wrestling in 2019, from AEW to WWE to New Japan.
Then, he dissects every match on the main TLC ppv card.
Topics include:
- The joy of watching wrestlers you can trust to deliver
- A detailed analysis of Alestair Black vs Buddy Murphy, and why it was the match of the night
- Why does the WWE not want a finish between The Viking Raiders and The O.C. especially when it clearly doesn't care about either team?
- Why Baron Corbin going the in-ring route of Randy Orton is not a good idea.
- The days when good-guys were bound by a common morality, and interceded on the behalf of the innocent.
- A detailed analysis of Firefly Funhouse Bray Wyatt and the good & bad of his match with Miz
- Asking: "Who is this Rusev/Lashley match even for?"
- The hits & misses of the main event, something feeling "off", and how a bunch of wrestlers fighting in a pile doesn't do much for The Royal Rumble.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Read Tim's latest article and find out why he's embraced "watching wrestling as a critic": http://workofwrestling.com/how-to-watch-wrestling-in-2019
Enjoy the rest of your year, one & all! Catch you in 2020!
Rusev, Lana, and Bobby Lashley on Monday Night Raw
Since the middle of October, I’ve been watching wrestling as a fan.
Not a critic.
No podcasts, Facebook posts, or articles on the subject. Just occasional Tweets, some of which get deleted as quickly as they’re unleashed because the old adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” plays in my mind afterward.
And while I do have some nice things to say, they’re so few and lacking in passion that I’m not inclined to say them. What I’ve discovered in watching WWE and AEW “as a fan” the past few months (the way wrestling’s staunchest defenders would have me watch), is that wrestling television just isn’t very…good.
Not “good” in the way I’d judge any other weekly television show, at least.
Jon Moxley in AEW
This will come as no shock to most longtime WWE fans.
AEW fans are likelier to bristle at this idea because Dynamite is more watchable, fun, good-spirited, and consistently entertaining than RAW or SmackDown.
But, after the initial glow of the first few weeks faded, I started watching Dynamite as yet another wrestling show plagued with its own set of nonsensical problems. Because I so desperately want to love every episode, when Dynamite fails, it stings tenfold. I’ve certainly not given up hope. It's so new and I'm happy to give it time to iron out some of its kinks...I just wish those kinks were new.
As a wrestling fan, I just never know if I’m going to get an amazing tag match between The Young Bucks and The Lucha Brothers or an overlong, goofy skit that I struggle to literally hear. The end result is a dissatisfying experience, which is no different than what I get when I watch “that other place”.
Speaking of “that other place”, I always know exactly what I’m getting on RAW & SmackDown: the same creative stagnation and systemic failures, interrupted by brief flashes of hope that are just as quickly extinguished by yet another terrible booking decision.
The Fiend in WWE
So, after watching wrestling like a fan for a few months, I’ve come away asking, “How is this any better?” If anything, it's been worse.
And this is coming from someone who WWE & AEW actually caters to - not someone who they claim to cater to and don’t.
Perhaps this is just wrestling, I often wonder.
Perhaps wrestling inherently doesn’t lend itself to the kind of consistent quality I can easily find on HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime and, most recently, Disney Plus.
Perhaps due to wrestling’s hodgepodge construction - a blend of improve, skit, theater, and athletics - it will inevitably be hit & miss within the confines of any television presentation, be it one or five hours long. Perhaps the only way wrestling can ever be “actually good” is when viewed in its natural habitat: live at the theater, gymnasium, studio, or arena.
Clever as that explanation seems, I’m inclined to think it’s an excuse born out of years of unnecessarily terrible television. We want to like wrestling, after all. It makes sense that we would stretch our brains into a pretzel to make it "okay" to like it.
The idea that in order to fully enjoy wrestling we have to fundamentally redefine our evaluation of “good” and grade wrestling on its very own little curve is, itself, disrespectful to the art.
It’s true that we evaluate artistic mediums according to their particular set of principles and established structures, in addition to a broader understanding of “quality”. For example, you don’t judge a Taylor Swift song according to what makes for a good episode of Law & Order. Music and television are different mediums and present different aesthetic considerations. But both may achieve their desired emotional responses using the tools of their respective mediums, and so both may be judged as “good” or “effective”.
But does that mean I’m supposed to judge pro-wrestling with an understanding that hokey shit is a part of pro-wrestling?
That’s the implication of grading weekly wrestling shows on their very own little curves.
The Librarians in AEW
It’s okay if it’s sometimes stupid and bad because wrestling is inherently sometimes stupid and bad.
While some reading this may respond with an enthusiastic, “Yes!”, I’m still not there, even after years of watching as both fan and critic. A part of me still believes wrestling can be good in the same way other shows are good.
I can’t think my way to a state of mind where the illogic, self-congratulatory idiocy, and sexism of the Lana/Rusev/Lashley angle isn’t profoundly unwatchable television. This is what accounts for my persistent hesitation in admitting I’m a wrestling fan to anyone (notice I used the word “admit”). When I see Lashley and Lana locking lips on stage or Kenny Omega lifting tiny weights or I hear Lawler’s problematic cracks on commentary or I can’t even hear Chris Jericho or I’m told to follow a wrestler on Twitter to really get a sense of their gimmick, I’m just embarrassed.
I’m embarrassed by wrestling’s low opinion of itself and, by extension, wrestling’s low opinion of me.
I don’t believe I should have to make peace with the fact that WWE and AEW are allowed to be objectively poor from time to time, so that I’m then able to have a subjectively pleasant experience. This is not the same realistic philosophy as, “Everyone has a bad week from time to time”. This is the unrealistic philosophy that wrestling somehow exists outside every logical metric for evaluating art.
I also wonder, why is this such a widespread view?
Vince McMahon of WWE
Wrestling is erroneously slotted into the “it’s so bad it’s good” sub-genre of entertainment. This is one of the many reasons it doesn't evolve.
I’d be more inclined to accept the idea that wrestling is “so bad it’s good” if it was actually good at being “so bad it’s good”.
But, more often than not, weekly wrestling shows are just plain bad - as in fundamentally not entertaining in any capacity.
Further preventing wrestling’s ability to successfully attain the status of “so bad it’s good”, is how often it's “so good it’s good!”
Wrestling fans are forced to frame each moment of a wrestling show in their mind according to a set of values that justifies its existence. If a segment is stupid...well that's just the stupid segment tonight. If a segment is great...that's the make-good for that stupid segment earlier. While wrestling fans are more than capable of navigating this ever-winding quality-dynamic, I contend it puts undue strain on their fandom.
There is no: I'm sitting down to watch wrestling because it's good and I like it and this is going to satisfy me from start to finish.
The medium, as reflected by those in charge of it, very much wants to have its trashy cake and its gourmet cake and eat them simultaneously. And it expects fans to just be okay with that - to allow for it and even defend it.
This is reflected in every weekly show’s inability to strike a consistent tone or level of quality. This is also reflected in a fanbase of diverging perspectives: some of whom genuinely enjoy the hokey bullocks and believe its intrinsic to the art, some of whom suffer through the hokey bullocks so as to get to the goods, and some of whom represent a mix of the two.
Then there are all those people (the majority of wrestling fans) who just aren’t watching because they’re tired of being embarrassed.
Cody "smashes" a throne with a sledge hammer in AEW
This is what I’ve learned over the past few months of watching wrestling "the way I’m meant to”:
it’s actually less fun.
Watching as a fan, at thirty-three, makes it even more difficult to justify watching when wrestling so rarely respects my intelligence and my emotional investments.
So, for me, in 2019 and presumably beyond, the only way to consistently watch weekly wrestling television…is as a critic.
Watching as a critic allows us to supplement the lack of weekly wrestling’s creativity with our own. It allows us to engage our mind on any level, in a way the shows naturally do not (or can’t for longer than a few weeks). We’re free to fantasy book, deconstruct angles, and offer our takes with a wider community. This allows us to connect with…anything.
Ideally, it wouldn’t be this way, but wrestling has created these circumstances by failing to deliver what fans need.
Consider the end of the quality-spectrum that successfully slots into the “so bad it’s good” sub-genre (E! celebrity docu-series, reality TV competitions, Bravo franchises, CW teen-melodramas, etc). All of these shows actually deliver their promised experiences. Even if such shows are graded on their own curve, they consistently offer a unified fanbase exactly what that fanbase seeks.
Wrestling does not do this.
Real Housewives fans don't threaten to #CancelTheNetwork when an episode doesn't deliver. They just discuss what happened on the episode...because it did deliver. When TV gives the audience what they want, it doesn't leave room for doubt. It doesn't result in social media campaigns or outrage - it just inspires fun dialogue and good ratings.
SmackDown's new set after transitioning to Fox
The wrestling medium has not considered the affect of its “sometimes wrestling is just stupid” ethos.
It’s considered even less how that concept is at odds with its other deeply held belief, “Don’t disrespect wrestling by calling it fake.”
Wrestling has failed to reconcile these contradictory philosophies, all the while failing to realize which perspective is more beneficial to its longterm health.
The idea that “sometimes wrestling is just stupid” is rooted in the past.
It’s rooted in wrestling’s insecurity, a holdover from a bygone era when wrestlers had to ("for a shoot") beat up a fan who challenged the legitimacy of their “sport”. It’s a perspective that’s completely out of step with an entertainment landscape offering instantly accessible excellence and highly personalized experiences that satisfy diverse audiences.
"Sometimes wrestling is just stupid" also assumes that wrestling fans believe in kayfabe.
We don’t.
So when wrestling is just stupid, it’s not as though we think it's an accident.
Pro-wrestling would be wise to consider that, to question the value of “popping the boys”.
If it doesn’t, it risks playing to a house of empty seats.
The 2019 season of Work Of Wrestling podcast comes to a close in fitting fashion, with host Tim Kail examining this fascinating year of wrestling, and then taking a deep dive into SmackDown's move to Fox and AEW's second episode of Dynamite.
Topics include:
- Being alienated by WWE
- Why Vince McMahon is a Dungeon Master who has forsaken his nerd-friends in favor of the "cool kids" at Fox
- RAW's "micro-Heyman-era"
- Watching AEW without Twitter open
- Becoming an AEW fan through the lens of loving AEW, not hating WWE
- Re-learning the entire point of Work Of Wrestling podcast during the course of this season
And much more!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Thank you so much for listening! See you next year!
In this epic Work Of Wrestling podcast, host Tim Kail reviews the premiere episode of AEW Dynamite!
He begins at the end, sharing his thoughts on the "surprise" appearance of Jack Hager, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega crashing through a glass table, and the three basic reactions he imagines a fan could have after watching the entire show.
Other topics include:
- The signature at the start of the show, along with its generic "Dynamite" theme song - how to make an intro video that's modern and inviting
- How the addition of Tony Shivani gave commentary greater focus and purpose throughout the night
- The subliminal implications of Cody diving into Brandi
- The decision-making behind the reveal of the tag division
- The positive function of familiarity
- How Riho & Nyla Rose delivered the match of the night
- Why AEW needs to be more aware of the optics of some of their choices (i.e. why was Kenny Omega involved in the post-match beatdown of the first ever women's championship match?
And much more, along with a closing monologue that represents the culmination of years-worth of podcasting and pro-wrestling analysis - where Tim arrives at a deeper understanding of and appreciation for professional wrestling.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his old friend John Macy to discuss the forthcoming exciting week in professional wrestling!
Topics include:
- The significance of SmackDown moving to Fox and what it might mean for RAW's status as "The A Show"
- What WWE can learn from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Jon Moxley and CM Punk being two sides of the same coin, with Moxley's contributions to pro-wrestling being judged more favorably by history
- Women's Wrestling, and how to ensure WWE doesn't use the main event of WrestleMania 35 as window dressing
- What John's looking for from AEW as he heads into Dynamite with a clean slate and a pure point of view
- Why The Fiend may turn out to be WWE's greatest card to play in this game of wrestling with AEW
And much more!
Music by Ben Holland whose album "In Use Day And Night" is available on iTunes. Visit http://ben-holland.co.uk for more details and follow Ben on Twitter @BenBenHolland.
Follow WorkOfWrestling on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his friend Rob Bennett to discuss all things modern pro-wrestling.
Topics include:
- Rob & Tim's WrestleMania adventure in April - how they prepared and their advice for fellow fans
- Jon Moxley's podcast with Chris Jericho
- Moxley's performance in New Japan
- AEW's connections to WCW
- The impending "Wednesday Night Wars"
- NXT's bright future
- The Fiend and "The New Kayfabe"
- How to write The Universal Title off television
- Is it possible to create something genuinely new?
And much more!
Music by Ben Holland whose album "In Use Day And Night" is available on iTunes. Visit http://ben-holland.co.uk for more details and follow Ben on Twitter @BenBenHolland.
Follow WorkOfWrestling on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews Clash of Champions!
Topics include:
- Why it was a mistake to move the King of the Ring finale to RAW
- What made the Braullins team-up unique and contrived at the same time
- Why Bayley running for her life was perfect
- How The Revival finally got to be The Revival on the main roster
- The problematic potpourri that is Sonya & Mandy vs Alexa and Nikki
- Miz & Shinsuke putting on a better match than they ever needed to
- Sasha Banks oddly earning sympathy
- WWE's mixed messages
- Why Kofi vs Orton must never happen again
- Roman Reigns' perfect power bomb sell
- Why Strowman needs to be preserved
- How the main event's finish made both wrestlers look weak
- Why Tim still doesn't have faith in WWE's booking of The Fiend, even though he's starting to have faith in the character.
Music by Ben Holland whose album "In Use Day And Night" is available on iTunes. Visit http://ben-holland.co.uk for more details and follow Ben on Twitter @BenBenHolland.
Follow WorkOfWrestling on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail interviews Al Monelli about the past ten years of trials, tribulations, artistic discoveries, and wrestling revelations.
Tim & Al reminisce about the good ole days in college when they watched Monday Night Raw on a weekly basis, and talk loving John Cena (long before it was cool to love John Cena), the best & worst of WWE from 2005-2009, post-collegiate life, part-time jobs, financial strain, cognitive reframing & maintaining a positive attitude, accomplishing one's goals even as those goals change, and finding your niche and perfecting your craft.
And, lastly, Al tells us about his next great project!
Visit www.monellifilms.com to keep up to date on Al's work. Follow him on social media @MonelliFilms.
Music by Ben Holland whose album "In Use Day And Night" is available on iTunes. Visit http://ben-holland.co.uk for more details and follow Ben on Twitter @BenBenHolland.
Follow WorkOfWrestling on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews AEW's All Out, the blossoming wrestling promotion's final pay-per-view before the premiere of their weekly show on TNT.
Horses and dogs and librarians, oh my!
Tim covers all of All Out's five hours, which is the first constructive criticism he offers.
From there, he talks #WomensWrestling in AEW and why it should be miles ahead of where it is, indy-wrestling's tendancy for its reach to exceed its grasp (sometimes literally), why A Boy and His Dinosaur has quickly become one of the best parts of the promotion, how commentary negatively affected PAC vs Omega (and the entire show for that matter), the incredibly fun Cracker Barrel match, the sincerity and humor of The Best Friends, why the overplayed David vs Goliath story reduces Tim's excitement for the women's title story, using sentient beings as entrance props, the gloriousness of Lucha Brothers vs. The Young Bucks and why AEW will be the definitive destination for tag team wrestling, and why the main event exceeded expectations and resulted in the right inaugural champ.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Music by Ben Holland whose album "In Use Day And Night" is available on iTunes. Visit http://ben-holland.co.uk for more details and follow Ben on Twitter @BenBenHolland.
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail takes a trip down recent memory lane to revisit the stellar New Japan match Ospreay vs Ricochet. Only this time he's bringing along Granny Franny for a fresh, upbeat perspective.
Tim & his mom discuss what's so special about the match, why it's so entertaining & effective, and why it's every bit as worthy of praise as any hyper-realistic portrayal of pro-wrestling.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail interviews wrestling fan-artist and social media guru Justine Colla (in person this time!).
Topics include:
- meeting PAC and giving him fan-art
- moving to and adjusting to life in the UK
- finding the right therapist and how much it can improve one's life
- PAC vs Cara Noir and the beauty of Riptide Wrestling
- Whether or not it's okay for a man to identify as feminist
- How to navigate the rocky emotional terrain of being a WWE fan while simultaneously disagreeing with the company's political, social, and business practices
And much more!
Follow Justin on social media @PastaSauca!
Follow Tim on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
WWE just released the brackets for the forthcoming King of the Ring Tournament and it has Tim hyped!
In a bonus, surprise episode he previews the brackets, picks his winners, fantasy-books angles, and makes a new star, all within WWE's already established narrative framework.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Tim and Al join forces once again to review WWE's annual Summer Slam event!
Follow Al @Monellifilms and visit www.monellifilms.com
Follow Tim @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Subscribe, rate, and review in Apple Podcast and leave a suggestion for a match or promo you'd like Tim to cover on Work Of Wrestling Podcast!
It's Summer Slam weekend! But before we get to Summer Slam, let's talk NXT Take Over Toronto!
Tim goes into detail about every match and segment, starting with a quick explanation of why the opening vignette for this Take Over was a cut above the rest.
Then he talks Street Profits vs Undisputed Era, why the Profits (unlike most NXT Talent) actually have a shot of "getting over" on the main roster.
Then it's time to breakdown that breakneck-pace of the excellent Candice LaRae vs Io Sharai - a hard-hitting, nonstop bout that shows the NXT Women's Division is in safe-keeping.
Then The Ultimate Bro crashes the party with a flurry of knees, fists, and finishers to Killian Dane and a collection of security guards.
In the penultimate match for the NXT Women's Championship, things don't quite click. Why is that? Tim endeavors to find an answer, while still praising the finish of the match.
And, last but certainly not least, Tim goes over a remarkable main event in Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole in a two out of three falls match for the NXT Championship.
Note: If you're wondering where the Summer Slam review is...don't worry! It's coming later today!
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
This week host Tim Kail is joined by his mother a.k.a. Granny Franny to discuss the New Japan Pro-Wrestling match Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii!
First, Tim & Granny Franny catch up since this is their first podcast in two years!
Then, Granny Franny goes into detail about the differences between New Japan & WWE, why she found New Japan's atmosphere to be more intimate & engaging, Tim shares his thoughts on the quality of New Japan's camera-work and figures out, in real-time, the specific illusion it recreates, they react to the amazing table-spot where Ishii "cut Moxley in half", Granny Franny explains why she found Ishii to be the more sympathetic of the two, and then they discuss whether or not they'll watch more New Japan together!
It's a fun episode filled with laughter and insight that longtime listeners are sure to enjoy.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Tim Kail returns to cover a number of topics, starting with current pro-wrestling news and then moving into more conceptual & philosophical ideas about art.
He shares his thoughts on Colt Cabana ending Art Of Wrestling and his invaluable contributions to pro-wrestling and podcasting, why Twitter can be so harmful and why the user must take responsibility for how they engage with others, whether or not CM Punk should return, Heyman & Bischoff taking over Raw & Smackdown and whether or not Summer Slam needs a bigger main event than Rollins vs Lesnar, and Jon Moxley's brilliant performances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's epic G1 Climax.
Then Tim shifts to AEW's corporate-family approach to narrative structure (that is not too dissimilar from another promotion that needn't be named), and he ends with an explanation of why pro-wrestling is bigger and better than any one promotion - what that means with regard to art, and why it gives him solace.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Tim Kail returns to tell a story about failure, more specifically what he regards as his biggest failure with The Work Of Wrestling podcast (with an intermission featuring insightful comments from writer Barry Hess).
Tim opens up about some of the mistakes he's made on the show, what he's learned, the struggle to stay motivated after achieving a dream, and how those lessons will inform the way he produces the podcast in the future.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and Facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling to stay up to date on the latest articles and podcast episodes.
Why are wrestling fans so cavalier and mean when discussing age? Are wrestlers unfairly judged by their age even if they're still contributing?
Work Of Wrestling host Tim Kail tries to figure this out and encourages fellow fans (and his future self) to discuss age in a more constructive way.
Tim also explains how Jon Moxley reignited his excitement for wrestling, and why he's embracing the enthusiasm for AEW.
Follow on Twitter @WorkOfWrestling and Facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Tim Kail answers your questions this week about WWE reacting to AEW, the lessons WWE can learn from talents willingly leaving the main roster, whether or not WWE will ever create "new stars", his thoughts on the 24/7 title, who his favorite Batman is, who are the most underrated/overrated wrestlers, and what he suspects may be a "work".
Read Tim's latest article WWE Is The Big Leagues But That Doesn't Matter Anymore here:http://workofwrestling.com/wwe-is-the-big-leagues-but-that-doesnt-matter-anymore
Follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling and Twitter @WorkOfWrestling.
During my formative years, I never watched WCW. Today, that's something I regret. It represents a blind spot in my pro-wrestling fandom. The main reason I didn't watch WCW was because it just didn't seem to be as good as WWE. Not necessarily in terms of wrestling - unfortunately, I never gave it enough of a chance to judge its wrestling. But, when it came to production value and tone, it seemed obvious it wasn't on WWE's level. That perception was reinforced, for better or worse, by the WWE and its top superstars. For years, the company hammered home the point that even if it didn't always win the ratings war, it always won the quality war. That sense of higher production value, greater depth of characterization, and "legitimacy" gave WWE a cachet WCW lacked. Even during the company's dark times, it was viewed as The Big Leagues, according to legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart. That idea, in part, helped sustain WWE, drawing some of the art's greatest talents and inspiring some of the company's greatest angles. While there was another promotion for wrestlers should they get fired or frustrated, leaving WWE was tantamount to punching a one-way ticket to mediocrity. Even throughout my twenties, during some of the WWE's most creatively bankrupt periods, I still maintained this belief. Then, into my thirties, even with the increased popularization and accessibility of indy promotions like New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Lucha Underground, I remained steadfast in my conviction that WWE was, overall, the superior product. And just so the point is clear; by "superior product" I do not mean the booking or writing was better in WWE than those other promotions. I mean that WWE exuded a vibe of superiority that, on the surface, was easy to believe. The company's status as The Big Leagues Of Sports Entertainment successfully conveyed the idea that such status contains inherent value. As a wrestling fan indoctrinated into the medium by WWE, it's difficult to renounce that belief-system. While it's difficult to renounce, it's never been easier to question. With the recent departure of Dean Ambrose, the insight he's provided into WWE's creative process, and the rise of AEW, it's become hard to maintain my faith in WWE's inherent superiority. The cachet just isn't there anymore. Why? The company remains atop its throne in Stamford, dictating the direction of mass-produced pro-wrestling, but the consistently poor quality of its product undermines its Big League status. The significance of being "The Best", despite some shortcomings (like low ratings) is only effective if it's actually true. While it's true WWE is still "the biggest", that's simply not more important than producing the best television in an entertainment era of endless streaming options, let alone an era of instantly accessible indy wrestling promotions. When I turn on RAW and SmackDown, or I watch one of the company's many pay-per-views, I see nothing that indicates superiority (save individual wrestlers who break their bodies for little in return). What I see is stagnation. And when I look online to check the pulse of the audience, I see utter resignation, total frustration, or determined delusion. It's even worse for the live crowd, whose responses are tepid. I know this firsthand, because I sat among them in the rafters of MetLife Stadium for WrestleMania. While we cheered and sang and found joy in each other (and a couple matches), by the end we were left depleted, wondering what we'd seen and whether or not it was worth it. Some of us didn't even make it home because WWE broke the New Jersey transit system (how's that for putting smiles on faces?). The practical experience of being a WWE-fan, diehard and casual alike, is harder than ever. The fans I saw, in person, and the reactions I read, online, are not of the "obnoxious, perpetually dissatisfied smart mark" variety. These are human beings who are tired. Their frustration is rooted in the fact that they want to love WWE, and they know WWE could be great. These are wrestling fans who've seen enough six-man tag matches and fifteen minute promos to last a lifetime. These are fans who have cracked WWE's code just by watching the show every week. The code is: Don't get too excited about anything, because it will be ruined. While nothing Dean Ambrose, now Jon Moxley, said in his interviews with Chris Jericho and Wade Keller came as a surprise, it was a necessary reminder that there's a tangible reason fans are so dissatisfied. Listening to Moxley carefully describe WWE's creative process (especially with Jericho), as we see that creative process manifest on weekly WWE television, makes it even harder to believe in WWE's Big League superiority. Even if WWE is "more important" than other promotions, that doesn't make it good. What use is "being important" if it doesn't result in something of value? And that question points to why a talent like Jon Moxley is happy to leave WWE. Moxley's testimony is so useful because he's not bitter. CM Punk's comparable testimony on The Art of Wrestling podcast in 2013 was an effective first step in dispelling WWE's Big League allure. It was just as insightful as Moxley's, but it was delivered through the prism of an individual's anger and resentment. That anger and resentment was earned (given his experience) but anger and resentment are less convincing than clarity and hope. Punk could be dismissed by detractors as a bitter wrestler grinding his axe. Moxley, who calmly worked through the remainder of his contract without causing trouble, explained his reasons for leaving through the prism of gratitude and excitement. That's why it's such a compelling story that can't be as easily dismissed. Moxley's story, paired with the rise of AEW, represents a turning point in professional wrestling. These stories are two necessary sides of the same coin (one dark, one light) working in concert to dismantle what has become a destructive mythology. WWE is not the shining city on the hill. It is no longer the place that promises superior creative and superior production despite low ratings. Instead, it promises low ratings, scripted promos, brass rings, and, worst of all...pooper scoopers. Given those circumstances, what value does Big League status hold? It has become a Big League, literally, of its own, with increasingly empty seats and fewer reasons to watch. If a wrestler values creative freedom, the right to self-determine, and a more humane travel-schedule, why would they even consider going to WWE? If a fan values their intelligence, their need to be entertained, and their time, why would they keep watching WWE television? The answers have already been given. Wrestlers are looking elsewhere and they are finding success. Fans are looking elsewhere and they are finding entertainment. Soon, with the launch of AEW on TNT this Fall, more and more wrestlers & fans will have even more incentive to jump WWE's ship. Those who already have may find new, dry land. A few years ago, I would have ended this article with: "If WWE isn't careful they're at risk of losing their cachet, that much-needed sense of Big League superiority they've worked so hard to build". Today, I can't write that because they weren't careful, and they've already lost it. Regardless of whatever AEW or indy-wrestling becomes, WWE will remain the land of fifteen minute scripted promos, awkward backstage segments, dubious political affiliations, questionable business practices, fifty-fifty booking, interchangeable gimmicks, frustrated fans, and creative stagnation. That is, of course, unless it decides to change. For now, the company's reality has replaced its old mythology, and the only viable solution for a disillusioned wrestling fan is to believe in something new.
Like The Work of Wrestling Facebook and Follow on Twitter
Tim Kail fires up the mics for the first time since Mania to sit down with you and discuss the post-Mania season, the need to respect other people's interests, how awesome the Jon Moxley/Jericho interview was, why he has no hope for WWE but is totally at peace with that, why a leaner roster would benefit WWE (and the whole of wrestling), the value of good constructive criticism, Cody Rhodes smashing a Triple H throne, and what he'd like to see from AEW in the future.
It's a fun, lighthearted episode that becomes increasingly passionate as it progresses.
Follow on facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling and visit www.workofwrestling.com
Thanks for listening!
- INTRODUCTION -
Pattern recognition goes hand-in-hand with being a WWE fan. After years of consistent viewing, it’s easy to spot the various formulas, cliches, tropes, and unwritten “rules” of any WWE broadcast.
One of the more obvious formulas plays out in "opening segments": a character enters, cuts a promo, and then another character interrupts to cut their own promo, and then another character interrupts to cut yet another promo, and on and on it goes until, finally, an authority figure books a match.
The dialogue and interuptions are often transparently manufactured, stilted, and unnatural, each performer attempting to hit their marks, convey their identities, connect with the crowd, and lay the path for the show’s main narratives.
The audience's pops during such segments have become increasingly muted in recent weeks.
The interruptions are meant to be a surprise, but they’re not because fans know the interruptions are inevitable.
Also, it’s not difficult to anticipate who may interrupt given there are a limited number of recurring fueds. The element of surprise, which is partially the intent, is entirely absent. If the interruptions were completely random (which they sometimes are) the surprise wouldn’t read as excitement. It would read as confusion (as it often does).
"Why would they come out now?" is not a good feeling. Neither is, “Ugh, c’mon, let’s get this fifteen minute promo over with”.
Yet these are the two most consistent emotional responses to such segments.
While this formula certainly isn’t the primary cause of RAW & SmackDown’s low ratings, it’s worth examining whether or not it’s an effective formula, and how it might negatively affect the entire broadcasts.
- WRESTLER INTERRUPTED -
First, let's consider the believability of an opening segment's structure.
The conceit of such scenes suggests RAW, a three-hour, choreographed, heavily edited television show on a major network goes to air at 8:00 pm without its card already booked (and I'm not talking about the real-life “last minute adjustments" McMahon is known for; I'm saying we're supposed to believe it's possible RAW doesn't have a first and last match booked…at all…that the show starts and Vince McMahon and the USA Network really don’t know what’s going to happen).
We're not supposed to think about this paradox.
And yes, many of us don't, either due to conditioning or indifference, but that doesn’t mean the illogic of these scenes doesn't affect our viewing experience.
A ridiculous fallacy sets the tone for the night.
How does that not have negative, often unforeseeable consequences on the quality of the overall show?
This structure leads to a sense of randomness that contributes to confusion, not the playful sense that "anything can happen".
The intent is to capitalize on the idea of "being live" and imbue the broadcast with intensity and intrigue. One of the many reasons such scenes fail to achieve that end is because so many other segments and matches are transparently "booked" (i.e. other portions of Vince McMahon's show have been meticulously planned out...so why wouldn't his first and last match?). The sense of liveliness is interrupted not only by the contradiction of scripted backstage segments that come later, it’s interrupted by the stiff delivery of superstars in the moment.
We watch wrestlers challenge and insult each other, and then Vince McMahon books the show "on the spot", but it's written and performed in such a predetermined fashion that it's impossible for it to feel spontaneous.
Such scenes serve as a roadblock between the audience and the ultimate purpose of the show. We know where it’s going (a match), and yet we’re forced to watch this obligatory promo-interruption loop, the wrestlers seemingly incapable of injecting any personality into the scene for fear of being reprimanded if they go off-script.
It’s like listening to a song that doesn’t have a melody - it’s just a series of notes in isolation.
Then, later in the night, other scenes, like Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse, operate according to an entirely different set of conceptual rules.
All of these competing ideas and forms manifest as a disjointed experience, with a wildly fluctuating level of taste, quality, and focus throughout.
There is no single, unifying understanding of what RAW or SmackDown actually...are.
Is it a sports broadcast?
A variety show?
A scripted drama?
An improvisational comedy?
I know the WWE's answer to that question is an enthusiastic, "All of the above!"
”All of the above”, in terms of an audience’s lived experience, equates to none of the above.
By being so many different things simultaneously, without any easily comprehended narrative foundation holding it all together, WWE often fails to execute even one of its genres effectively.
And why would it be otherwise?
A movie can't be a song, a song can't be a play, and a play can't be a video game. They’re just fundamentally different mediums. They interact with and inform each other. One can adapt the other, but that requires a radical reinterpretation of the source material, which is different than simply shoving two different mediums together. If film, music, theatre, and video games were Frankensteined into a single medium, it would be overwhelming and unintelligible.
And that’s exactly what the WWE often is today; overwhelming and unintelligible.
- WRESTLING, LIKE LIFE, FINDS A WAY -
The company's reach so far exceeds its grasp that it places undue burden on itself and its talent.
In attempting to consolidate disparate forms into this new medium dubbed "Sports Entertainment", not only does WWE struggle to define itself, it allows itself to reside in the limbo of mediocrity, incapable of doing a single thing well on a consistent basis. The company's creative equity is stretched thin, across contradictory concepts and misinterpretations of pro-wrestling's value, hence why the vast majority of its programming is unenjoyable for the majority of the year.
Yes, WWE makes gobs of money.
Yes, WWE produces great, memorable moments.
But those truths are not evidence to the contrary of this critique.
Those truths do not prove Vince McMahon is a genius.
Those truths are evidence of how good professional wrestling is as a medium.
Even when bad acting and bad writing and bad taste are tacked onto the pro-wrestling medium like rotting appendages, it still finds a way to succeed.
It’s a testament to the medium’s inherent goodness that it’s managed to succeed despite the low expectations that have historically informed its mass production.
The typical school of thought is that pro-wrestling isn't worthy of deep consideration, that it's okay for it to be scattershot, conceptually inconsistent, and kind of stupid. That thinking, which informs the way RAW & SDLive are booked, has its source in human insecurity, not within the soul of pro-wrestling as a form.
Pro-wrestling is good and worthy. It will find its way to success despite whoever disrespects it (even if the person disrespecting it runs the show). It can overcome the dullness of an opening segment, but it shouldn’t have to endure that hurdle in the first place.
Having identified some of the problems with opening segments, let's now think through a solution.
- THE McMAHON PROBLEM -
Let's start by asking, is there any value left in attempting to make RAW & SDLive appear as though they are booked on the spot?
Does that story still resonate with an audience in 2019?
An argument could be made that if WWE simply had a few genuinely popular superstars (as in superstars who are also significant outside the wrestling community bubble) this familiar format would succeed despite its logical inconsistencies. Also, familiarity tends to be a good thing on weekly television produced for a mass audience. And, keep in mind, the talent roster has been trained to think and perform in this way, and making an adjustment, at this point, might be a learning curve too steep and costly.
The most convincing argument in favor of the formula is the simplest: it's not like wrestlers are actually trying to defeat each other - it's all not real, so what's the big deal with Vince McMahon pretending he's booking the show as it's happening? Isn't he just participating in the same theatrics as everyone else?
These arguments ultimately amount to, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Whether or not it's broken is a matter of opinion, but all-time low ratings (especially on the verge of SDLive's transition to FOX), constant fan frustration, and muted audience responses do not lend themselves to positive interpretations.
Fans are too hip to the repetitive construct, and the dialogue is too bad and too difficult for wrestlers to remember for these opening segments to ever be effective.
Like so many aspects of WWE television, opening segments are a relic of a bygone era that thrived pre-social media, pre-internet, during a time when improvisation and experimentation were encouraged. It worked for a simpler audience in a simpler time, where the boundary between wrestling and reality was more convincingly upheld.
These scenes only serve to shine a massive spotlight on all of the company's creative weaknesses, and increase the boredom and cynicism of the community.
And that's why the best solution is to remove them altogether.
Much like backstage segments (which are also conceptual paradoxes) opening segments just don't help the WWE tell its stories.
They no longer inspire the excitement they're meant to, they no longer effectively lay an episode's narrative foundation (as evidenced most recently by Mr. McMahon’s confounding, quickly broken “Wild Card” rule), and they no longer spotlight the uniqueness of a superstar's personality (since everyone is saying and doing the same thing in the same way thanks to their script).
But the ineffectiveness of opening segments is a relatively small part of the problem.
The larger problem is the perspective that informs them.
That perspective maintains a distinction between a real-world WWE and a fictional WWE.
The real-world WWE is represented by the real-world McMahon Family (father Vince, son Shane, daughter Stephanie, son-in-law Triple H), and the fictional WWE is represented by exaggerated versions of that same family.
That basic concept, which has always been inherently odd, just doesn't work in today's world, especially when fans have so often seen these people as their real-world selves in kayfabe-breaking interviews. The distinction between the real people and their characters has become entirely arbitrary, an obligatory acknowledgment of "the way we've always done things".
Does it really makes sense, in 2019, for Vince McMahon to continue having fake, on-screen bookers (GMs, Commissioners, etc) who serve as his proxy? From a philanthropic perspective, why would any of these people ever want to play an evil version of themselves, even if it's transparent they're playing a character?
And before you remind me that Vince McMahon is doing his own on-screen booking these days, I’m including the Mr. McMahon character as one of Vince McMahon's needless proxies.
Fans don't need to see a fake version of the show getting made…on the show, as they're watching it.
It's literally a waste of time.
That process just delays any possible gratification.
Why isn’t the show just ready-made the moment we tune-in?
While RAW and SmackDown officially start at 8:00, they don’t actually start until around 8:30. That thirty minute prologue, a cartoonish simulation of match-booking, serves only to eat up time (and maybe that’s the only practical purpose such segments serve anymore).
- ANOTHER WAY a.k.a. THE NEW KAYFABE -
A show that gets to the goods right away doesn’t rely on wrestlers to do a job they're incapable of doing.
Commentary is WWE's pre-installed mechanism for conveying information about the evening's match card.
Kicking the show off like any other sports broadcast with a straightforward, "Here's what you can expect tonight, folks!", assisted by graphics, stats, and "Superstar Strengths & Weaknesses", would go a long way in making television viewers feel comfortable and intrigued.
Such an introduction also alleviates wrestlers of the burden of condensing their value into catchphrases and ill-fitting dialogue in overlong, bad theatre. The mythology of a wrestler would be built by what they did in the ring, what they occasionally said (naturally) on the mic, and what commentary told us about them.
Beginning a show with a match, a brawl, or a shocking revelation would go a long way in engaging the live crowd immediately. And engaging the live crowd is paramount in making the show appear exciting and important for television viewers. You cannot have one without the other.
To add variety, and avoid the broadcast becoming nothing but a series of matches, interviewers could track down superstars before and after their matches at various locations throughout the arena, including ring-side and the entrance ramp.
The questions asked could be simple and direct, and the answers could be simple and direct.
The dreaded third hour of RAW could be broken into a half-hour pre-show and a half-hour post-show.
This would drastically cut down on the need to script dialogue, thus saving time and resources. These pre and post shows could broadcast live, in-studio, out of Stamford, CT, (adding a sense of scope and greater variety to the experience) and feature beloved veteran wrestlers as pundits. These sports-like pre/post-shows could spotlight the most interesting match-ups and rivalries, and provide deeper context for stories without needing to rely on television writers who don’t have a background in sports or pro-wrestling.
Never, at any point, would McMahon even need to step out onstage in the world I've described. But, whenever he did, it would be special.
The world I’ve described is one that speaks for itself, and offers its own natural, reliable, familiar structure, promising never-ending stories. It’s straightforward, realistic, bealivable, PG without lacking depth, and relevant to a wider audience. What I’ve described represents the logical next step pro-wrestling wants to take; in fact, it wanted to take that step a decade ago.
Playing pretend just isn't working anymore.
What will work is the the removal of the last vestige of The Old Kayfabe in favor of creating The New Kayfabe, a form of fiction that’s convincing because it eliminates as many perceptible contrivances as possible (that includes the McMahon family as "bad guys on TV").
The world I’ve described isn’t devoid of fun or entertainment simply because it’s authentic and takes itself seriously; it’s a concrete sports-perspective built around the inherent craziness of wrestlers.
Pro-wrestling, done this way, is able to explore the kind of chaos and enthusiasm that’s frowned upon in legitimate sport. That’s how it sets itself apart. It can do what other sports can’t. Imagine watching a press conference or interview that is indistinguishable from anything you’ve seen on ESPN, but (because it’s wrestling) it explodes into an over-the-top brawl.
Rather than mine the pits of sitcom and sketch, WWE should examine the myriad ways legitimate sports create drama and engage modern audiences.
What is wrestling’s version of “bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth” or a “relief pitcher” or a “bench-clearing brawl” or a “bad call” that results in an argument between a manager and an umpire?
These scenarios are all incredibly dramatic, and they come from one sport (please do not read the above metaphor, take it literally, and turn it into a baseball gimmick). Consider all the other dramatic scenarios inherent in every other sport, informed by that sport’s unique conceit, rule-set, and athletic demands.
Pro-wrestling already captures some of the drama in amateur wrestling, boxing, and gymnastics. It does this rather easily because, like those sports, it’s a physical activity that operates under comperable conditions. This is why a good wrestling match is the best pro-wrestling can do; it's within reach by nature of what it is.
If the medium is interested in incorporating more genres into its DNA, it would have more success reinterpreting the drama of other sports than reimagining pro-wrestling as a variety show. Straining to be a scripted-drama-sketch-comedy-improvisation-athletic-movie-extravaganza has run its course, and it's time to get back to basics, back to what pro-wrestling really is.
The drama, structure, and seriousness of legitimate sport can serve as WWE's guide into the future.
Why?
Pro-wrestling is closer to Baseball, Football, Soccer et.al. than it is to Saturday Night Live.
Vince McMahon, it would seem, strongly disagrees with that notion.
He’s safe in disagreeing because there is abundant evidence that his perspective is successful.
Thing is...it’s easier to be successful when yours is the only perspective.
If anything needs to change, that's where pro-wrestling should start.
In the four years I’ve been writing articles and producing podcasts for The Work Of Wrestling, I’ve written and talked a lot about “entitled”, “rude”, “obnoxious” pro-wrestling fans. From Full Sail disrupting NXT promos and matches to the infamous “Raw After Mania” crowds that appear more interested in beach balls than actual wrestling, I've lamented and chastised these antics.
Despite my larger love of wrestling and its ability to unify people in a common experience of joy, I’ve had something of a contentious relationship with fans who (as insiders describe it) “go into business for themselves”. My main criticism has always been that such antics are disrespectful to fellow audience members and wrestlers who put their bodies on the line for our entertainment.
This past weekend, I attended WrestleMania 35 at MetLife Stadium.
From the time I arrived at Secaucus Junction in New Jersey at 2:15 pm before the event, to the time I arrived at Penn Station at 2:00 am after the event, I lived, often shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, and back to back, with fellow wrestling fans.
I cheered with them, chanted with them, sang with them, gasped with them, groaned with them, rolled my eyes with them, and laughed with them.
That experience has fundamentally changed me.
It’s not as though I no longer believe it’s possible for fans to disrespect each other and wrestlers at live shows. Of course they can, and will, unfortunately. Like any human beings participating in any live event, there will always be rude outliers who disrupt the happy norm. Also, this piece is focused solely on the live audience and not wrestling’s online community, where negativity, hatred, divisiveness, and obnoxiousness appear to be our default mode. The community has a long way to go, but my perspective on live crowds has changed.
This piece is about what it was like to literally sit, in the real world, with real people who love wrestling.
I lucked out, in that I found my section, way up in the rafters, engaged, positive, and respectful. Even the group of guys behind me who mocked several parts of the show (particularly Triple H vs Batista), and chastised my row for booing Daniel Bryan, didn’t bother me in the slightest. Everything they said was in good fun, often inspiring genuine laughs. Also, when a wave started during Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre, the majority of the fans in my section refused to participate. We stopped the wave from progressing beyond our section which was, itself, entertaining.
In this moment, it became clear to me that it’s possible for the audience to police itself, and that the vast majority of wrestling fans do want to watch wrestling more than they want to sing, chant, and punt beach balls. How then, if most of us want to watch wrestling, can entire arenas turn on shows?
The reason does not merit a lofty philosophical discussion about the decay of modern society. The answer is much simpler than all that, and speaks to a core problem with present-day WWE. To find that answer, one must sit amongst the people, and juxtapose matches that hold their interest and matches that don't.
During the Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan match for the WWE Championship, I felt, tangibly, 80,000 human beings paying attention.
We weren’t intentionally spinning clever chants, thinking about starting waves, or checking our phones. We were, all of us, focused intently on the action and reacting, honestly, after every move. We fed off each others' focus. All of our reactions were inspired by what we were seeing - the bond forged between the wrestlers and the audience almost literal, as if 80,000 marionette strings extended out of Bryan & Kofi’s fingertips, moving us to an experience of communal ecstasy that can only be described as magical.
The wrestling match itself entertained and interested us, and so there was no need to “go into business for ourselves”. It wasn’t even an option. The fan’s natural impulse was to engage with the medium in the exact way they’re supposed to, because the medium was delivering in the exact way it’s supposed to.
The same could not be said for several other matches and segments. Just as fans feed off each other’s enthusiasm, they feed off each other’s disinterest.
For example, from my vantage, the Randy Orton vs AJ Styles match failed to connect.
I found myself unconsciouslly reaching for my phone to text my friend and take pictures of the arena. Suddenly, it struck me that I wasn’t paying attention. Why? For a moment, I was angry with myself for becoming what I, for so many years, had railed against. Then it occured to me that I had reached for my phone on instinct. Some part of me recognized that the arena itself, the spectacle of being surrounded by my fellow fans, the conversations I could have with them and the silly or funny chants we could create, were all more interesting than what was happening in the ring.
Is that my fault?
As fans, we’ve been trained to think we are responsible for “everything” in the WWE.
That puts an undue amount of responsibility on us when a match or show doesn’t deliver, regardless of our participation. Over the years, fans have been labelled disrespectful and obnoxious for turning on shows, without much consideration for the circumstances that led to such situations, nor for the fundamental way art works.
The audience is just an audience.
They are not artists. Not even in WWE where fans are empowered think otherwise.
Fans go to the event wanting to participate in the experience, and a part of that experience is communing with fellow fans. But that’s secondary; the noise a crowd makes is meant to be the result, not the cause, of joy.
The fans attend, first and foremost, to see good wrestling matches and good segments.
When that doesn’t happen, what are they supposed to do? Should they sit “Respectfully” and patiently until a stale match or awkwardly scripted promo is over?
That’s just not the way human impulses work (especially after paying hundreds of dollars).
When we feel the WWE isn’t delivering on its promise of “entertainment”, we instinctively search for the nearest secondary source of entertainment.
That source becomes each other.
Having sat through a match that did effectively capture my imagination, and several that didn’t, during a show that lasted seven hours, I can no longer blame fans for “going into business for themselves”.
What they’re doing shouldn’t be labelled “hijacking”.
It should be called what it actually is - supplementing WWE’s ineffective content with something more entertaining.
There are definitely disrespectful ways to participate in that process, but the angry finger-wagging “smart crowds” routinely receive for derailing WWE’s product (something I’ve certainly done in the past), misses the deeper, simpler point. Blaming the fans is an all-too easy way to deflect responsibility for producing a sup-par experience.
The creator or the director is the one who is supposed to create the art, and direct the audience’s responses. That makes the creator, not the audience, responsible for the outcome.
While the creator’s desires and the fans’ desires won’t always align, they start in alignment before the show begins and only fall out of alignment during a show when the creator (not a fan) makes a mistake.
Another example of a Mania-misalighnment occured during the overlong Triple H vs Batista match. Throughout that laborious affair, it was simply more entertaining to crack jokes and shout jeers than it was to watch the match.
Was our inattention disrespectful to Triple H and Batista, or was it the natural result of bad art?
Do wrestlers and WWE-segments inherently deserve approval and attention, in the moment they're happening, regardless of their quality, just because the art demands risk?
In mediums like film or theatre, a fan can just walk out if it's bad, guilt-free. There aren't many incentives to stay, and there aren't many secondary sources of entertainment during the experience.
But, in wrestling, your fellow fans are always there, offering you something to fall back on when the real reason you're there doesn’t do its job.
And let's consider the setting of the wrestling medium. It's not a museum or a sacred theatre where shushing and decorum are encouraged, and it's certainly not easy to get out of.
You're meant to get riled up with fellow fans, but that emotional explosion, under the right conditions, is supposed to remain oriented around the wrestling ring. When the conditions aren't right, the wrestling fan isn't going to ignore their environment and stop trying to be entertained.
This is even more true when an entire show doesn’t work. This year’s Raw After Mania is a perfect example of a a whole show coming up short. There were no significant surprises, a disheartening bait and switch of a main event that advanced no narrative, and no effective, joyous acknowledgement of the post-Mania atmosphere.
It was a standard RAW, which is the exact opposite of what that crowd paid to see.
Having experienced several disappointing hours of live WWE-wrestling, where expectations weren’t met and the impetus for paying hundreds of dollars seemed entirely disregarded, I now understand how a beach ball can become more entertaining than a wrestling match. It's not about the ball; it's about the emotional connection. It's about fun.
I never thought I’d write that, but my WrestleMania experience has enlightened me. Being with my fellow wrestling fans, singing and screaming during entrances and exits, was the primary source of joy and entertainment I had access to (apart from one match). That remains true regardless of our original intent.
This revealed to me that while there certainly are contingents of any audience that are self-interested and rude, no matter how good the actual show is, blame (if blame must be assigned) falls more on the WWE than its fans when it comes to entire arenas being “hijacked”. The hijacking just won’t happen if the show is good (see any NXT TakeOver). It's not as though a few rogue fans decide to be assholes and then thousands of people join in to also be assholes. It's that everyone vaguely starts to feel the same dissatisfaction with the show, and so they turn to their only entertainment-recourse.
It’s important to reassign this blame not to spitefully finger-wag at WWE, but to accurately reframe our understanding of this contentious issue.
We must remember who really has the power to fix the problem. It’s the WWE’s job, not the fans, to make WWE television more entertaining than what’s happening in the bleachers.
There are many ways to fix this, but the primary one remains producing good wrestling matches in an easy-to-consume way that spotlight well-defined, larger than life personalities.
Even matches that weren’t necessarily “good”, but that featured fun and interesting characters, managed to arrest our attention and inspire genuine emotional responses.
Also, WWE would be wise to consider what it takes, practically, to experience a live show.
Having sat through all of WrestleMania’s seven hours, in a tiny chair, listening to the same theme song blasting in my skull, it feels like no one behind the scenes is genuinely concerned about what that minute-to-minute (let alone hour-to-hour) experience actually feels like. It gets miserable past a certain point (and I don’t use the word “miserable” lightly), and you need to fight that misery with your unabashed love and hope and positivity.
Fans, because they love WWE, will just accept that uphill emotional battle as normal. But it’s not normal. The true story about attending WrestleMania that nobody tells is that it’s not just seven hours of sitting in a tiny chair trying not to spill your beer.
For me, WrestleMania was actually seventeen hours, most of it spent on buses and trains and in log-jammed crowds. I willingly (happily) participated in that process. I’ll always remember it and I’m mostly grateful to the WWE for the show it put on. This isn't a "woe is me, I went to WrestleMania" story.
I’m merely describing the more grueling aspects of the experience to illuminate exactly why a frustrated crowd might be inclined to turn on a lackluster show.
You go through so much just to be there that you're determined to be entertained, no matter what (even if you have to entertain yourself).
A more streamlined live experience that comprehends the natural rhythms of people’s attention spans, their exhaustion levels, and their reason for paying, would go a long way in stemming the tide of waves, beach balls, and “boring!” chants.
Our enjoyment also translates on television, and affects the television-viewer’s perception of the show’s quality. If we are satisfied, the rest will fall into place. Often, it felt like we were an afterthought, and the television audience was the company's priority.
Rather than talk so much about "putting smiles on faces", WWE may want to reevaluate the structure, flow, and focus of its live-events (nothing longer than five hours, no pre-shows, an earlier start-time, fewer matches, better characters).
Despite the contentious way this conversation about disrespectful live crowds has played out over the years, the fix is quite simple.
Wrestling fans, believe it or not, just want to watch good wrestling.
When they don’t get good wrestling, they will reach out to each other, and find joy in their shared language of song and humor.
Tim and Al join forces once again to review WrestleMania 35!
And this year is a little different - Tim actually attended the event at MetLife Stadium!
He shares his experience with Al, as they trade perspectives and describe the juxtaposition of live-TV viewing vs live-event viewing.
They focus on the main matches, name their top two moments, lament the lack of great heels for our newly crowned heroes, and then they fantasy book the future.
Follow Al on Twitter @Monellifilms and visit www.monellifilms.com.
Follow Tim on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling and visit www.workofwrestling.com.
Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think in the comments of the Facebook post for this episode.
Note: This article was originally published in January 8th, 2015.
Where the WWE main stage frequently reserves Divas segments and Divas matches as time to advertise the more popular, more successful Total Divas on E!, NXT presents a world of legitimate female athletes; complex characters who have aspirations, histories, and unbridled athletic talent. The focus, in NXT, is on the womens' abilities in the ring and on the microphone.
As a result of this more respectful, traditional pro-wrestling perspective, the characters are well-defined and alluring. They are convincing heels and convincing babyfaces, each imbuing the good/evil dynamic with personality and relevance.
For example, Bayley is the purest of babyfaces, without lacking the spirit of competitiveness. Her entrance features "Whacky Inflattible Flailing Arm Tube Men" and upbeat music, tapping directly into the manic-pixy public consciousness of our time, a youth-culture that revolves around the virtue of the childhood imagination, a positive mental attitude, and, of course, hugs.
Her video package before her match against Charlotte at NXT Take Over: Fatal 4 Way perfectly encapsulates the strength of her character. Her legitimate tears, her speech about accomplishing her dream of becoming a professional wrestler, made the viewers care about her every move in that match, and we suffered along with her, in defeat.
Bayley clearly believes in what she's doing when she enters a wrestling ring. Her sincere emotional investment becomes our sincere emotional investment. Her heartbreak becomes our heartbreak. But, even after defeat, Bayley keeps returning each and every week, handing out headbands and wrist-bands to the same children whose hearts were broken, reminding them of the importance of determination and strength.
She is the perfect role model for young people, as well as any teenaged or twenty-something who might feel a little too goofy for the "cool kids".
And this brings us to Bayley's foil; The ultra cool Legit Boss, Sasha Banks.
Sasha Banks is the best heel in the WWE today.
There is not a man or woman on the main roster who can hold a candle to her. Her confident villainy, her relentless swagger and vicious charm, are only eclipsed by her talent in the ring.
Her finisher, a backstab into a modified cross-face called "The Bank Statement" is one of the most visually devastating moves in the company, and it's hard not to cringe in genuine sympathy-pain when she does it.
Whether feuding with Bayley or NXT Women's Champion Charlotte, Sasha portrays the self-important popular girl to perfection, eliciting heat with every gesture. And she continues to navigate that fine line between being an excellent performer in the ring while ensuring the crowd boos when they're supposed to.
Recently, Sasha turned Becky Lynch into her henchwoman.
Becky began as a stereotypical nationality gimmick, working Irish dances into her matches, and then suddenly transformed into a babyface rocker-chick with awesome ring attire and a badass attitude. Watching her slowly settle into herself has been a rewarding process, and she's found a fun place at Sasha's side.
What makes her more than your average sidekick, is that it seems as though there is still good in her. She doesn't seem like a truly villainous person, and the crowd doesn't want to hate her. That works to her benefit. We're watching a good kid fall in with the bad crowd. There's tragedy in that process that could eventually lead to triumph when she becomes a hero again.
Alexa Bliss is another babyface character who receives a little less screen-time. She takes manic-pixie to a near-literal extreme, blowing glitter on the fans and skipping around in a cheerleader outfit. Her upbeat nature and uber goodness does inspire sympathy - especially during a match when Sasha Banks nearly broke her nose. It would be interesting to see how Alexa works as a villain, though, given the excessiveness of her positivity and her glowing look.
Each of these characters, despite whatever similarities they share, finds a way to differentiate themselves and convince you they're athletes fighting to win a match.
And no one is better at convincing you she's the best athlete, the most deserving champion, than Charlotte.
Where Sasha, Bayley, Becky, and Alexa tap into an emotional side of your mind, a visceral, gut-reaction one way or the other, Charlotte captivates you with her strong sense of self-worth as a competitor. The attraction is less emotional and more the result of getting swept up in the allure of a powerful person.
Even her entrance is meant to demonstrate athletic prowess. She performs a forward, standing somersault, climbs up to the apron, does a split, slides backward into a rising back flip, and then stops in a standing position. She then gives a "Wooo" homage to her dad (Ric Flair), and casually spreads her hands as if to say, "The Queen has arrived."
All of these actions sell you on the truth - that you are watching a legitimate athlete arrive for an athletic competition.
Charlotte also isn't afraid to put the audience in its place (an attribute many of her peers lack in the era of putting smiles on faces).
A disrespectful NXT crowd once refused to listen to a segment between Bayley and Charlotte. The crowd just kept interrupting with "What?!" chants and aggressively inserting themselves into a narratively significant moment.
Charlotte directly addressed the audience and argued on Bayley's behalf, saying, "Are you going to let Bayley talk! Shut up!" And then she shushed them. She angrily, genuinely pleaded with them to be a better audience.
Bayley deserves credit as well for playing off of Charlotte's anger, redirecting her back into the scene by saying, "Charlotte, I'm right here", eliciting an "Ohhhhh!" from the audience.
In the end, Charlotte managed to command their attention. This kind of energy permeates every NXT broadcast. Shows are fun, exciting, and intense, and this is due mostly to the female roster.
On the last episode of NXT, a jobber by the ironic name of Blue Pants rolled up Carmella (a new NXT women's wrestler being trained by Enzo and Cass) for the victory. The crowd caught on, and, for their own snarky amusement, started chanting "Blue Pants!" throughout the show.
Later, Charlotte arrived to cut a promo, and when asked by the ring-announcer who her next opponent would be, the crowd cut Charlotte off and started chanting "Blue Pants!"
Unlike so many of her peers, both on the main stage and in NXT, Charlotte did not mindlessly plod through her next scripted point. She played with the audience. Like any good performer, she listens to the audience and reacts.
"There will be no chanting for Blue Pants while the NXT Women's Champion is in the ring," she proclaimed.
The audience went silent, obeying her command.
That's power. That's an athlete. That's a performer. That's the confidence we need to see in our professional wrestlers, whether they're heel or face, man or woman.
And we see it every week in the women warriors of NXT.
If you think female wrestling is synonymous with a bathroom break, or you think women are only worth the sum of their body parts, treat yourself to an enlightening and entertaining experience.
Turn on NXT, and watch these women go to work.
Tim Kail returns with a surprise episode!
WOW returns to the original three-part format with a Lock-Up dedicated to The New Daniel Bryan, Vince McMahon thinking fans are smart enough to distinguish between gimmicks and people playing those gimmicks, and how he'd like to see Charlotte do something a little unexpected as we continue on the road to WrestleMania.
For the High Spot, Tim examines the role insecurity plays in an artist's life, and how focusing on craft and knowing you're not alone can help your idea from conception to fruition.
For The Finish, Tim opens up about his own insecurities, and how pro-wrestling analysis has helped him face them.
Visit www.workofwrestling.com and facebook.com/theworkofwrestling for all the latest articles and podcast episodes!
Note: This article was originally published on January 24th, 2016. It is being reposted following www.workofwrestling.com 's migration from Squarespace to Libsyn.
The Attitude Era wasn't great because it was raunchy, sleazy, blood-soaked, extreme, and testosterone-fueled. In fact, all those segments, matches, and angles from The Attitude Era that weren't good were the ones that could be easily reduced to a set of trendy adjectives.
The assertion many modern professional wrestling fans make is that The Attitude Era was "so much better" than today's TV-PG Era, without offering a worthwhile explanation related to the who, what, where, when, and why of the time.
This noisy group of armchair critics likes to cite "Better promos", "getting color", "more interesting characters", "cooler stables", and "better angles" as adequate precedent. Working alongside that lack of an explanation is the unavoidably revisionist history that comes with nostalgia. Moments of time that were distinct, perhaps entirely unrelated, get lumped together and cataloged as the same event; Shawn Michaels chopping his crotch, Triple H sitting on a cannon, Chyna giving low blows, The Rock raising an eyebrow, Steve Austin stunning Vince McMahon, and Mick Foley falling off a cell.
Newer wrestling fans must rely upon increasingly vague, second-hand interpretations of what made these moments great.
Greatness without context (or greatness with revised context) does a disservice to greatness. To allow The Attitude Era to transform entirely into a destructive shadow from which no one escapes is to invalidate the excellence and the sacrifices of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and even Vince McMahon (as well as those wrestlers currently striving for their own greatness in a variety of beloved wrestling promotions).
No Attitude Era montage and no gushing Attitude Era fan can do justice to the excellence of Monday Night Raw in 1997 & 1998. It's necessary to go back in time and watch these segments, matches, and promos firsthand, in their entirety, to comprehend why they represent more than "WWE's Greatest Hits”.
A TV-14 rating is not magic.
It doesn't make the content of a two hour wrestling show inherently better than the content of one rated TV-PG.
The Moment of Pop is magic, however, and the architects of The Attitude Era (the wrestlers, the bookers, the camera-people, the editors, the commentary, and many more) were all obviously dead-set on moving audiences to incredibly intense Moments of Pop through good storytelling.
One such Moment takes place at the 1998 pay-per-view Over The Edge in a match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dude Love. Late in the match, after having been busted open and beaten with a chair, Stone Cold is forced down into the mat and straddled by Dude. Steve's neck is pulled back, and blood pours down his face as McMahon (the dirty referee) screams "Give up! Give up, damnit!"
Despite the insurmountable odds, despite the intensity of the pain, despite the corrupt system (embodied in Vince McMahon), Steve Austin refuses to give up. He bridges, roaring and pushing out from under Dude. As Austin rises, wounded but determined to pay the pain forward, an engaged viewer experiences an indescribable euphoria. Austin's will becomes the viewer's will. Austin's tenacity, blood, sacrifice, and vengeance becomes the viewer's.
If Austin is able to climb out of this hell and raise his arm in victory, then you can too. So you cheer. You scratch and you claw along with Austin. You lean forward in your seat and you scream at Vince McMahon and you fervently cry out in ecstasy when Austin finally hits a Stone Cold Stunner. And everyone involved in the construction of this scene wants you to feel that way. Everyone who built this match, from Vince McMahon to Steve Austin to Mick Foley to Jim Ross to Jerry Lawler, to the director in the back, wants you to believe, with the utmost conviction, that this is the most important moment of your life. And it works. All disbelief is suspended, and your only concern is the survival and the triumph of the valiant WWF Champion.
But how did they get there? How did they make you believe in professional wrestling at that exact moment?
The answer to that question begins several weeks before Over The Edge on the April 6th, 1998 episode of Monday Night Raw (two weeks after WrestleMania 14). If watching this episode on the WWE Network, at 31:25 Mick Foley opens up about his frustrations with wrestling fans and the WWF as only he can. No one, save perhaps CM Punk, has ever been able to deconstruct the hypocrisy of pro-wrestling audiences in such a captivating, convincing fashion as Mick. There is a tinge of Foley's former ECW-angst in this melancholy monologue.
“When I came here two years ago and I was Mankind, there were always people saying y’know why don’t you just be Cactus Jack. And I came out in tie dye and some white boots, and they said y’know why don’t you just be Cactus Jack.”
This is the moment Foley turns, the transformation evident in his eyes.
“Well I gave you Cactus Jack, I gave you every Goddamn bit of energy I had, and when I was lying there, helpless, you chanted someone else’s name!”
Foley is referring to a match he had a week prior. Cactus Jack teamed with Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) against The New Age Outlaws in a cage match. DX, in the form of Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac, interfered in the match and dismantled Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack in brutal fashion. This is how The New Age Outlaws became a part of Triple H’s reformed, militaristic DX-stable following Shawn Michaels’ departure after ‘Mania 14.
Instead of cheering for Mick & Terry, the audience cheered for Austin to come to their aid. Mick continues in his promo, “This is not a knock on Stone Cold Steve Austin, I’m happy he’s champion. He may not admit it, but we’ve known each other a long time and he’s been my friend. But what you (the audience) did to me and Terry Funk laying in the middle of this ring was not only distasteful and disrespectful, it was Goddamn disgusting, and I’m gonna give you a chance to make it up to me…because I’m gonna accept a group apology right now.”
Mick waits for the audience to apologize. The camera pulls out to reveal him standing in the middle of the ring, pitifully alone (Mick consistently demonstrates his mastery for milking moments of tragedy for all their worth) . After the crowd does not apologize, the camera moves in for an extreme close-up, and a small, ironic smile breaks on Mick’s tortured face.
“Well I can finally say for the first time after thirteen years of blood, sweat, and tears, that it’s not worth it anymore. It’s gonna be a long time before you see Cactus Jack in the ring again.”
Mick Foley is a broken man at this point in the story, struggling to find his place in The World Wrestling Federation. If Mick fights for the love of wrestling fans, but he’s unable to earn their love even after he’s given them “every goddamn bit of energy” he has, what’s left for him to do? That question sets Mick on a collision course with The Rattlesnake.
Act One of Austin vs Dude Love has begun.
Running in parallel with the dissolution of Cactus and Chainsaw Charlie's team is the ascent of Stone Cold Steve Austin. After finishing his feud with The Rock for The Intercontinental Championship and winning The 1998 Royal Rumble, Steve Austin was clearly positioned to usurp Shawn Michaels as the WWF Champion. During that build, the seeds for Austin’s rivalry with McMahon were planted.
At this time in the WWF, Vince McMahon was not yet the high-stepping, cartoonish Mr. McMahon character everyone knows today. He wasn’t evil simply to be evil, and his feud with Steve Austin didn’t start overnight after just one Stunner. It took time to develop and it became more and more intense week after week.
McMahon was much subtler in his performance back then. He was simply a promoter trying to secure deals and position talent in a way that aligned with his corporate manifesto. The character’s goal was to make viewers believe everything he did was fueled by good business sense rather than personal grievances or personal gain.
Steve Austin saw through that charade.
Steve was certain that Vince McMahon didn’t want him to become WWF Champion at WrestleMania 14, that McMahon was purposefully stacking the deck in Shawn Michaels’ favor (hence why Vince was so desperate to secure Mike Tyson’s involvement - it wasn’t just about having another big name on the marquee, it was about preventing Austin's victory). These events aren’t too far removed from “The Montreal Screwjob" where Vince McMahon legitimately conspired against Bret Hart to ensure Bret didn’t leave Survivor Series ’97 for WCW with the WWF Championship belt. That real-world collusion gradually became integrated into Mr. McMahon’s gimmick leading into ‘Mania 14. That added an extra layer of subtle intrigue to the match, and later blossomed into the beloved Austin/McMahon feud.
Today’s wrestling fans will see Austin’s acts of defiance stitched together in fun montages, but they’ll miss out on the nuances of their rivalry, and the true mastery of Austin and McMahon’s performances. Their exchanges are bitterly visceral. Both are justified in their hatred of the other. The essence of Steve Austin’s feud with Mr. McMahon is much deeper than “a blue collar worker kicking his boss’s ass”. Steve’s war with Vince is ideological. Mr. McMahon desperately wants to control his World Wrestling Federation. He believes he has the right to snuff out a talent’s natural personality and manipulate that talent to think, feel, and behave in a manner that he deems proper. He is a dictator, a master manipulator, who pinpoints emotional weaknesses and then pounces.
Steve Austin, therefore, is Mr. McMahon’s worst nightmare.
But not just because Steve's cussing, drinking, and "sign language" makes his company look bad. He’s Stone Cold (the name derived from Richard Kuklinski). He’s not a sensitive creature like Mick Foley, so Austin is not susceptible to Vince’s powers of persuasion (the power Vince relies upon to get what he wants). Stone Cold is only susceptible to physical peril, but even that doesn’t frighten him.
Steve absolutely refuses to be molded in any way whatsoever. The character is an anarchist. The moment “the glass breaks”, everyone is fair game. He is an entity of pure, unadulterated chaos driven by the personal mantra “Raise hell”. He’ll slap cameramen, attack ringside announcers, and threaten commentary because he trusts absolutely no one.
He is certain that the entire world is conspiring against him.
It just so happens that he’s proven right every single week. In any other environment, Stone Cold Steve Austin would be a monster, a paranoid madman to avoid at all costs. But, in the World Wrestling Federation, Steve Austin is the most logical son of bitch on the planet. That is the nuance of the Stone Cold character that gets lost in translation through montages and documentaries. Much like The Attitude Era itself, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Vince McMahon are more than a collection of fun clips easily described as "a different time". These characters never did anything without good reason. And all of the performers inhabit their characters so absolutely that one feels the television pulse with life the moment any of them step on-screen.
While these episodes of RAW certainly have their terrible, downright regrettable segments rife with all make and manner of stereotype and prejudice, the primary stories that represent the thrust of these RAW episodes cannot and should not be lumped in with the "Jerry Springer wrestling show" description often leveled at Attitude Era RAW (at least in '98).
In 1998, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Vince McMahon were telling Shakespeare through the lens of pro-wrestling.
If Stone Cold's story is about the success that comes with a refusal to conform, then Mick's story, told separately but simultaneously during Austin’s ascent, represents the flip side of that coin. In trying so desperately to conform to the fan’s wishes (by giving them Cactus Jack) Foley finds himself lost and alone. That brilliant parallelism makes Austin & Foley perfect opponents coming out of WrestleMania season, and the depth of their rivalry is only possible thanks to the fact that both are fully formed characters when they finally clash. Mick’s mid-card tag feud against The New Age Outlaws in the months leading into WrestleMania wasn’t treated as an isolated incident. Mick’s friendship with Terry, the pain he endured fed directly into his main event matches with Austin in the subsequent months. The transition is so fluid that Foley and Austin both gain momentum as they move beyond WrestleMania and into the next pay-per-views.
On the April 13th, 1998 episode of Monday Night Raw, Steve Austin finally challenges Vince McMahon to a match. Vince McMahon agrees, but before the match even starts, Dude Love interrupts, supposedly in an attempt to “preserve the peace” and “spread the love”. The segment ends with Dude Love attacking Austin, putting him in The Mandible Claw. Although McMahon pretends to be angry that Dude interfered, in the next episodes it becomes clear that Dude Love is secretly doing the bidding of Mr. McMahon.
We see Foley on the next RAW, as Dude, cutting a promo in a Love Shack segment (a psychedelic, purposefully cheesy version of Piper’s Pit) designed to get under the skin of Austin-chanting wrestling fans. It’s important to remember that Mick initially sought the love of wrestling fans. From Mick’s perspective, they rejected their favorite persona of his (Cactus Jack). So, in the months after WrestleMania 14, Foley instead seeks the love of Mr. McMahon. Foley does what Austin absolutely refuses to do. He conforms and gives McMahon Dude Love. Also, beneath Foley’s desire to be loved by the fans and Mr. McMahon, remains his desire to be WWF Champion. He’s willing to sacrifice his integrity, his identity, and even his friendships if it means becoming the Champion.
That’s the power of the WWF Championship in 1997 & 1998. The belt is the nucleus of the World Wrestling Federation. Everything orbits the championship, the pull of the title drawing in various wrestlers at various times for various reasons. The Championship is so powerful that even McMahon covets it. That significance provides the basic narrative foundation needed when attempting to craft compelling drama, and it also embodies the power of a performer who has truly gotten over with the crowd. It’s not until you’ve heard a 1998 audience pop at the sound of Steve Austin’s entrance music that you really know what "over" means in professional wrestling.
Steve and Dude’s first title match at Unforgiven serves as Act Two of their story.
The match ends with Austin whacking Vince McMahon in the head with a chair, giving Dude a stunner, and then counting himself to victory because the referee was knocked out in the fray. The next night on RAW, McMahon orders Steve to defend his title against Golddust, a decision that won’t sit well with Mick Foley who continues to believe he’s the rightful number one contender.
Tensions escalate between Foley and McMahon a week later on the May 4th, 1998 episode of RAW. The through-line of this particular episode represents some of the best pro-wrestling storytelling ever committed to tape. The show starts with Foley emerging from behind the curtain for another “Love Shack” segment only he’s not wearing Dude Love attire and he immediately demands that the music be cut off because it makes him sick.
“Does anybody here know my name, because to tell you the truth, I don’t know who the hell I am anymore…you see, I don’t have all the answers, but I do know a few things. Number one, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna throw away thirteen years of hard work by sucking up to a lowlife like Vince McMahon. Number Two, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let my wife and kids see me bumping and grinding with a couple of second rate strippers on national television. And number three, I’ll be damned if I perform in this stuff ever again,” Mick raises the Dude Love attire in disgust.
He has been booked to face his best friend and former tag partner Terry Funk in a No Holds Barred match that night. Fed up with trying to appease Vince McMahon, Foley sees this match as another form of Vince’s cruel punishment and disrespect. After joining Foley onstage, Vince reveals his powers of manipulation in what is essentially a talent negotiation scene.
McMahon explains that booking Mick against Terry wasn’t a punishment, but rather an "opportunity" (keep in mind it’s long been established that everything McMahon says is a bold-faced lie).
“If you seize this moment, if you take your best friend out to this ring tonight and you not only beat him, but you beat him within an inch of his life, if you tear him limb from limb, if you reach into his chest and pull out his heart and hold it up and the blood drips down all over you, then you would have made the kind of sacrifice that’s necessary to be the number one contender, the kind of sacrifice that’s necessary to beat Stone Cold Steve Austin, the kind of sacrifice that’s necessary to be the WWF Heavyweight Champion. I’ve got faith in you. I’ve got confidence in you, because I believe, deep down in that demented cranium, you can do it, you can seize this opportunity, and once again become the number one contender for the World Wrestling Federation Championship”.
The previously determined and fiery Foley succumbs to the charms of Mr. McMahon.
“When I came out here,” McMahon continues, “you threw Dude Love in my face. How does it feel for me to throw the truth into yours?” And then McMahon slaps Foley, and Foley smiles. This is the epitome of an abusive relationship. The abuser recognizes their target's desire to be loved, and then twists that desire into something painful so that the abused cannot distinguish right from wrong, pain from pleasure.
Suddenly, Austin’s music hits and The Rattlesnake literally destroys the scene simply because he can. Austin doesn’t attack Mick Foley. He focuses his rage on The Love Shack set, the embodiment of Vince McMahon’s warped perception of entertainment, a symbol of pure oppression. Austin smashes lava lamps, yanks the set down with a grappling hook, and stomps it into shards of splintered wood.
Jim Ross and Michael Cole are on commentary and their word choice perfectly fleshes out the depth of this moment, and the motivations of the characters.
“Well Mr. McMahon was convincing,” says Jim Ross, “but Stone Cold is even more convincing with his convictions.”
Cole chimes in, “Stone Cold is wrecking…wrecking everything that Mr. McMahon has tried to create!”
Once he’s finished destroying The Love Shack, Austin charges forward down the ramp, flipping McMahon double-middle-fingers, the veins on his neck popping and his eyes ablaze. He rips his shirt to pieces and climbs atop the turnbuckle, glaring down at the pitiful promoter.
Moments such as these demonstrate the power of Stone Cold Steve Austin as WWF Champion, and exactly why Vince McMahon is so afraid of him. McMahon might be a master manipulator. He might be a great salesmen. But no amount of manipulation or salesmanship can contend with a human wrecking ball like Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Stone Cold is hellbent on literally tearing down, brick by brick, Vince McMahon’s image of professional wrestling or what he calls "Sports Entertainment". This undercurrent of chaos defines RAW in 1997 and 1998, and it helps flesh out the fictional world depicted by the WWF.
Well-timed, purposeful glimpses behind the RAW curtain reveal a deeper pro-wrestling kayfabe that suggests characters like Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Paul Bearer, The Undertaker, Kane all have lives beyond the reach of RAW’s cameras. It’s as though Monday Night Raw is the weigh station of these wrestling-personalities, as though Vince McMahon is trying to corral them into one spot, for two hours at a time every single Monday, so that he can document their antics in as controlled an environment as possible and then profit from it.
RAW IS WAR’s opening vignette reveals this to be the case. A scene is shown before every episode.
We see chain-link fences and barking dogs, random explosions, clips from old RAWs projected on brick walls, and a wrestling ring surrounded by fire. It’s eerily reminiscent of apocalyptic visions from the Terminator films. Austin emerges from the dark, entering this bleak madhouse, ready to go to war. While this opening scene is fondly remembered as a mechanism for getting viewers hyped, it’s actually an incredibly effective way to flesh out the world these characters inhabit when RAW isn’t chronicling their exploits. It's as though this is Steve Austin's natural habit the moment he leaves a WWF arena.
After Mick Foley wins a brutal classic against his friend Terry Funk on this May 4th RAW episode, McMahon appears on the entrance ramp holding Dude Love’s attire, surrounded by dancing sirens. The imagery is appropriately sleazy.
Foley is embraced by McMahon and the “second rate strippers”.
The story has revealed, without much dialogue, exactly how the pursuit of love can lead good people astray. Mick's tragedy demonstrates that given the right set of circumstances almost anyone is susceptible to temptation.
The scene disgusts Stone Cold Steve Austin.
As unfeeling as Stone Cold is, he continually expresses his respect for Terry Funk and Mick Foley throughout the match. Steve is legitimately happy to defend his title against a competitor who earns a rightful shot. He only hates dishonesty and weakness. He understands what Vince has done to the impressionable Mick Foley/Dude Love, and he finds it utterly revolting.
After watching this story unfold over the course of several binge-watching sessions, I couldn't help but wonder why this kind of article hadn't been written before (because if it has, I haven't been able to find it).
Where is the DVD about Steve Austin and Dude Love?
Immediately following this two-month program with Steve Austin, Mick Foley segued into his battle with The Undertaker at King of the Ring; the same King of the Ring where Foley was thrown from the top of the cell.
Why is it that Mick's terrifying fall isn't presented today within the context of the deeply emotional story that preceded it? The two most famous bumps in professional wrestling history (truly life-threatening falls) came immediately after a story that examined how Mick Foley, above all else, craved the love of professional wrestling fans and the love of Mr. McMahon.
This context has forever transformed the way I see Mick Foley's collapse through the announcer's table at King of the Ring. Before, I saw it as a blend of bravery and madness, a willingness to do whatever it took to put the WWF over WCW. Now, I struggle to watch it.
It's not about "spectacle" or "the pursuit of higher ratings". It's not about Mick being indestructible. Quite the opposite.
It's about the quest for love. Mankind falls because he wants to be loved.
That's tragically beautiful. That sacrifice deserves the narrative context.
Now Austin and Dude Love move into the third and final act of their story.
In the episodes of RAW leading into Over The Edge, the deck is once against stacked against Steve Austin due to McMahon’s growing disdain for The Rattlesnake. McMahon names himself the special guest referee and his two cronies, Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson, are named the guest time-keeper and the guest ring announcer respectively. The only assistance Austin gets is in the form of The Undertaker as a ringside enforcer.
The match starts in deliberately slow fashion; side headlock take-downs, a few punches, several covers, a brief exchange on the outside.
After getting tossed into the steel steps, Austin gets a few clotheselines in but, for the most part, he’s on the receiving end of the punishment. As the action spills out to the Spanish Announcer’s Table, the entire dynamic of the match changes as Pat Patterson (at Vince’s command) “reminds” everyone that this is a no disqualification match. The situation appears even more desperate and impossible for Austin now that Vince McMahon has revealed he can change the rules of the match at any moment.
That's when Austin comes back unexpectedly. McMahon assumes adding the no disqualification stipulation will work in his favor, but it backfires as Austin becomes enraged and bashes Dude over the guardrail into the concrete. This is one of the more vicious spots of the match.
“Good God almighty what a clothesline!” Jim Ross roars.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, folks!” Jerry says.
Not long after his comeback, Austin makes a mistake in the ring and Dude capitalizes. Momentum shifts back to Dude. You pop at the explosiveness of an unexpected Austin-clothesline, and each comeback lasts a little bit longer, but just when you start to believe Austin is about to win, Dude or McMahon finds a way to cut him off.
For example, as Dude gets Austin down on the entryway, McMahon rushes over to Pat and commands him to “remind” the audience that the match is actually “Falls Count Anywhere”.
Jim Ross is absolutely disgusted when he hears this, “Since when?! Since when?! That ain’t right!” Jim Ross becomes the voice of the audience, screaming from the gut about the corruption of the WWF. His passionate accompaniment fleshes out the situation for the viewer, making it that much clearer how desperate the situation is for the Rattlesnake. Every fist Austin throws, every time Austin kicks out, Ross erupts in ecstasy, preaching about Austin’s tenacity and Austin's will to survive. The more McMahon tries to screw Austin out of the title, the more intense the audience will pop when Austin finally wins.
After fighting through the set dressing on the stage, bashing in windshields and leaping off car-hoods, the fight returns to the ring with Dude Love firmly in control. Austin is bleeding by now, and Ross says “Austin may be marked for life from this match.”
“There’s nothing like the scar that losing the WWF Title will leave on you,” Jerry replies.
This brings us back to The Moment of Pop described at the very beginning of this retrospective.
Dude Love mounts Steve Austin’s back and wrenches his neck. The image evokes memories to Austin’s masterwork with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. His refusal to quit, him passing out out in a pool of his own blood in that past match, informs the intensity of this moment at Over The Edge. Trapped in a similar situation, he now has to contend with Vince McMahon screaming in his face, "Give it up!"
It's haunting.
Steve is bleeding, vulnerable, and yet he still refuses to quit. It is as if the WWF Championship gives him a previously untapped power. He rises to his feet and delivers several right hands to Dude’s face. Jim Ross explodes, the audience roars to life, and for just a few moments, they believe in professional wrestling.
Every episode of RAW after WreslteMania 14 contributed to this single moment.
Every word spoken by Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler over the past two months contributed to this moment.
Every one of Vince McMahon’s facial expressions, every pre-match vignette, every promo, every decision in the ring (when to counter, when to cover, when to move to the corner, when to move to the outside), and every vicious bump led to this one Moment of Pop. Any time a handful of masters work together toward a common goal, good things happen. That is the essence of great moment or a great angle from The Attitude Era’s.
Performers like Steve Austin and Mick Foley are masters of their art, who happened to be working in the same place, at the same time, for the same purpose. Whatever their differences, the clarity of their focus is evident in the success of these shows and the power of these stories. All of them were utterly fearless in their performances, and they had the freedom to explore the depths of their imaginations.
That tireless effort and that degree of skill must not be reduced to a handful of high-spot-montages that lack the story which made them meaningful in the first place. We must not allow their work to be summed up with, “WWE was so much better back then”.
The greatness contained in The Attitude Era must be a source of inspiration, not insecurity, and the best of that Era would agree.
When looking back at episodes of RAW in 1997 and 1998, the defining trait of “mastery” gradually becomes clear. A master believes in their art.
When I hear Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler speak, I hear men who believe in professional wrestling.
When I look into Steve Austin and Mick Foley’s eyes, I see people who believe in professional wrestling.
And that’s why we believe in them.
Follow on social media @WorkOfWrestling on Twitter & Facebook
Submit your pro-wrestling stories to #WOWStories!
Tim Kail and Al Monelli triumphantly return to review the 2019 Royal Rumble!
What did they think of Nia Jax entering the men's Rumble?
Why do they love Ronda Rousey so much?
Why do they see cracks in the Becky Lynch persona despite their love of Becky Lynch? Why do they foresee her losing steam and how can the WWE ensure that doesn't happen?
Why is The Rock such a great example of "getting lost in your character"?
Why should you not make hyper specific references to millennials in your promo?
What is the difference between "performing" and "being".
Why do both Al & Tim struggle to connect with AJ Styles?
What is at the conceptual core of indy vs mainstream, and how do these concepts inform our experience of art?
What's happened to Dean Ambrose?
And why does WWE need to bring its narrative priorities into agreement with the priorities of the fans?
All these questions, and more, will be answered! Lastly, Tim gives thanks to the longtime listeners.
Follow Al on the social media gimmicks @Monellifilms and visit www.monellifilms.com.
Follow Work of Wrestling on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling and read Tim Kail's wrestling analysis at www.workofwrestling.com.
Give the podcast a five star rating and review in Apple Podcasts!
I skimmed this week's Raw, and came away feeling...weird.
This was, at the very least, a new emotional response.
I felt less like I was watching WWE's flagship series and more like I was watching a parallel universe's vague facsimile. It’s not that I think the booking decisions were bad or that the performances were totally bad. I'm especially encouraged by the introduction of the Women's Tag Team Championships and The Universal Title match shake-up that pits Finn Balor against Brock Lesnar.
It's that ever since Raw acknowledged, in-narrative, its failings a few weeks back, the show has veered into an even more creatively convoluted universe where common fan-criticisms both are and aren’t addressed.
For example, fan favorite wrestlers may get better match-opportunities and more interesting promo settings (in-ring, in-gorilla, direct address), but those matches are still announced after an overlong opening segment and those promos are still heavily scripted and awkwardly delivered.
Topics like Seth Rollins “carrying Raw” and Vince McMahon never believing in wrestlers like Finn Balor are routinely discussed by WWE fans online. While it’s interesting such topics are now discussed on the show that inspired them, by the characters who inspired them, it remains to be seen whether or not the cause of those discussions is genuinely considered.
Raw openly acknowledges WWE’s problems (or, better put, Raw openly acknowledges the fan’s negative perception of various aspects of the real-world company), but Raw doesn’t actually do anything to fix those problems.
While it’s true, in life, the first step towards fixing a problem is acknowledging it, in terms of a television show like Raw, simply acquiescing to the fact that “Raw sucks” doesn’t actually contain any intrinsic value.
That acknowledgement may provide a brief, visceral satisfaction for disenfranchised fans, but it doesn’t increase the watchability of the show. It's still three hours. It's still overwritten. It still has a late-90s aesthetic. It still lacks authenticity and visual competency.
WWE's creative team has the power to address these problems however they see fit. The McMahon family didn't need to appear on Raw as a "united front" and frame the show's failings as "absentee management" in order to improve it. In the real world, behind the scenes, they needed to just make tangible decisions that addressed valid criticisms, and then allowed fans to naturally experience the fruits of that labor.
To have the show’s low ratings, disgruntled employees, and frustrated fans woven so deeply into the fabric of its overall fictional universe (and not merely contained within a single angle) creates a sense that every on-screen performer is doing their best to answer a nagging demand destined to go unfulfilled.
There was a claustrophobic degree of self-consciousness in this week's episode, resulting in odd timing and stilted interactions between characters. It's as if the normal cadence of “being human” has been totally forgotten.
That’s why I felt as though I was staring into a funhouse-mirror universe - everything was slightly...off.
There is a remedy to this problem: wrestling.
Wrestling must be wrestling for it to work - not a symbolic representation of a particular family’s fake-business, nor the means by which a specific subset of fans experience emotional validation.
This latest (incredibly slight) creative pivot from the company does nothing but extract the value of wrestling from wrestling.
It continues the unfortunate trend of making "WWE THE COMPANY" the main character of Raw. This is to the detriment of a highly talented roster who, as an ensemble, could forge a more entertaining identity for the brand. This is also to the detriment of the art of wrestling itself, for it continues to position wrestling as "lesser than", an obligatory pretense in reaction to something larger, rather than the primary reason fans watch at all.
Ironically, this fan-obsessed approach (both the kayfabe & shoot versions of that obsession) works more like a burden than a relief. It's alienating. It trains audiences to place far too much stock in their own emotions, distracting them from the simple pleasures of watching graceful athletes tell resonant stories.
The fanbase becomes as self-conscious as Raw's characters, and the experience of being a WWE-fan mutates into a self-obsessed feedback loop.
Because the company refuses to make any substantive changes to its format (e.g. no more backstage segments, no more 15-minute opening promos, no more GMs nor commissioners, no more McMahon Family Drama), all “change” reads as disingenuous.
We end up watching the same old thing, while being told it’s okay to feel angry about watching the same old thing.
That is a new, and decidedly weird way to watch wrestling.
Note: This article was originally published in march of 2018.
Part I:
Everything I Ever Wanted
The opening segment of the March 12th, 2018 episode of Monday Night Raw is like a beacon guiding us into the future, illuminating what the WWE could (and hopefully will) become one day.
In it, Roman Reigns, yet again irate at the absence of his WrestleMania opponent, Brock Lesnar, took to the microphone to air his grievances.
Brock, in Roman's words, "Didn't show up to work".
This has been the essence of his problem with Lesnar, and the basis of their WrestleMania rematch. Roman, regardless of the crowd's relentlessly mixed-to-negative reaction to him, always shows up to work. He "busts his ass" for the business that's "in his blood", and, just like the fans, he's sick and tired of Brock Lesnar only showing up to work "when the money is right or the city is right". He believes The Universal Champion should be a full-time member of the WWE roster; an unconditional leader of the locker-room and the company.
This wisely (and finally) brings the Roman Reigns character into agreement with WWE fans whether they like it or not. Roman's motivation is relatable, noble, and potentially heroic (depending on how he seizes the title). And, most importantly, there isn't a discernible difference between the character and the man. Gone are the "sufferin' succotash" promos, the B-movie one-liners like "assess and attack", and the vague sense of preordained success.
Here, in 2018-Roman, we have a man on a mission with the right blend of humility, pride, and anger.
His authenticity on the microphone during these segments demonstrates that he's comfortable with the subject matter. That comfort demonstrates that he actually believes what he's saying; especially the bit about busting his ass for the company and missing time with his family.
The knowledge of the modern wrestling fan is incorporated into the story rather than ignored. Roman is saying things that can be found on any message board and Twitter timeline and heard on any pro-wrestling podcast. These scenes are staged and executed in a way that suggests reality is disrupting WWE's orderly fantasy. It's a style of storytelling that suits pro-wrestling; a form of cultivated chaos.
Lines like "they're not gonna like me saying this" create a sense of legitimacy and unpredictability, and the "smartness" of the fans is not a problem to be solved but a tool to be used for dramatic purposes. It makes for interesting television, and what happened this Monday was the most interesting turn in the story yet.
Roman didn't chastise General Manager Kurt Angle, he didn't chastise Lesnar's "advocate" Paul Heyman, and he didn't even really chastise Brock Lesnar.
His ultimate grievance, we would learn, was with his boss, Vince McMahon.
Vince, in Roman's estimation, was coddling Lesnar. If anyone else on the roster, including Reigns, didn't "show up to work" they would be suspended "at best" or, more likely, fired. Reigns, who was legitimately suspended in 2016 for violating the WWE's wellness policy, finds this situation unfair and untenable, calling Lesnar "Vince's Boy" (a clever means of inverting the commonly held belief that Roman is "Vince's Boy"). Roman alluded to the fact that he had literally just "walked past" Vince on his way to the entrance ramp. In Roman's mind, Vince didn't "respect" him enough to say Brock wasn't going to show up.
He let Roman find out "on live TV" like a chump.
We then followed Roman back up the entrance ramp, through the curtain, and into the director's booth where he confronted McMahon.
Vince, flanked by unnerved crew-members, wasn't the red-faced, barking Mr. McMahon character I was expecting to see.
He was a shrewd business-man, a manager of people's emotions, supremely confident, and accustomed to this sort of thing.
He calmly asked Roman to talk with him in private.
"Let's talk about it," Vince ushered Roman away.
"Yeah, let's talk about it!" Roman snarkily agreed.
"Go to commercial," Vince commanded. "Go to commercial!" he said again, before getting caught in some headset wires. He tossed the wires out of his way in irritation as the image faded to black.
The scene was naturalistic, and a compelling piece of orchestrated improvisation.
It was everything I've ever wanted WWE to be.
Part II:
What The Screwjob Teaches Us
In wrestling, it's often said that the Mr. McMahon character was born the moment he emerged from behind the commentator's desk at the 1997 Survivor Series.
This would be The Montreal Screwjob.
If we agree, then we must acknowledge that The Montreal Screwjob also represents the birth of an entirely new creative direction for the WWE. That new direction, made in Mr. McMahon's own image, was a grim, nihilistic power-fantasy. It would later be dubbed The Attitude Era. It had been gestating for months prior to the Screwjob in the form of Shawn Micheals' anarchistic antics, Bret Hart's "heel in America, hero to the world" gimmick, and Stone Cold Steve Austin's gradual transformation from vicious heel to beloved anti-hero.
But it was the Screwjob itself, and the requisite fall-out, that represented The Attitude Era being born in a single moment. Fantasy and reality collapsed, and out came something wholly new and unsettling.
The Screwjob was a raw, visceral explosion of emotion, will, and pent up frustration.
It was the event that foretold the company's future, and set the tone for what wrestling would be in the late 90s and early Aughts. Suddenly, after years of having struggled in the ratings in a post-Hulkamania world, the WWE had once again found a tangible identity that resonated with viewers.
Roman's Walk obviously isn't comparable to the actual act of The Montreal Screwjob, and it likely won't ascend to a legendary status (please do not mistake my argument for one that puts this RAW-segment on equal footing with The Screwjob because that's not what I'm suggesting).
But, if the WWE wanted, Roman's Walk could similarly represent the birth of a new Mr. McMahon-character and, by extension, the birth of an exciting new creative direction for the company.
Part III:
The Bad Magician
The new creative direction born out of Roman's Walk is one where the already-transparent pretenses of predictable WWE-television are dropped.
No more "angles".
No more "scripted, fifteen-minute opening segments".
No more matches "right now!"
No more "authority figures".
The company that exists behind the camera and the company that exists before the camera would be virtually indistinguishable.
What exactly does that mean?
Even to this day, there remains a barrier between the truth of the WWE and the fiction of the WWE. That barrier is incredibly thin, but it persists. It represents the tenacious remains of the original kayfabe; pro-wrestling's word for "being in character" or, simply, fiction.
Present WWE-kayfabe comes in many forms, but none are as immediately apparent as WWE's Commissioner & General Manager authority-characters.
Commissioners and General Managers (currently Shane & Stephanie McMahon, Daniel Bryan & Kurt Angle) are playing pretend.
They're actors.
They don't actually book matches.
They don't have authority over anything in the way their televised segments suggest.
So, when Kurt Angle (or any GM) emerges from behind the curtain each night to "spontaneously" book a match between wrestlers who are already in the ring arguing, it's pure pretense.
Or, to pointedly use pro-wrestling's dirtiest of words, it's fake.
I'll forgo deconstructing the logical fallacy of booking a live sporting event's match-card as that live sporting event is happening, and instead focus on the simple fact that WWE-fans know GMs and Commissioners don't actually book matches.
The fans know it's fake, and not in the same way they know a wrestling match is fake.
You see, even though a wrestling match isn't "real" in the exact way it suggests, there's still a lot of truth in it.
Men and women do fall on their backs, slam into ropes, chop each other's chests, bend each other's limbs, and, sometimes, suffer real injuries for their art. The very nature of a professional wrestling match, especially when performed by talented wrestlers, facilitates the suspension of disbelief.
Watch any good match long enough and you will forget that you know it's theatre.
You'll find yourself rooting for one participant and condemning the other. The emotions this simulation of combat inspires are synonymous with (if not more intense than) the emotions legitimate combat inspires.
The same cannot be said for WWE's ancillary "authority" characters.
Nothing about their scripted performances, their nondescript offices, or their roles in framing the direction of rivalries feels real. It's just not believable that they play any part in booking the show for one very simple reason:
we all know Vince McMahon is behind it.
We know that Vince McMahon is the WWE chairman, CEO, and ultimate decider of all things WWE.
Only a truly great performance by a Commissioner or GM can justify its presence. But, even then, the viewer would only be appreciating the quality of a performance in isolation, not a through-line of a believable story and a character that's actually necessary to the plot.
Put another way, Stephanie McMahon cuts a great promo, but she's not actually booking matches. That hurts the believability of any story where she (or any Commissioner or GM) books matches. It becomes increasingly difficult to justify the very presence of these authority characters when they're so transparently being characters.
It's like a magician who begins his act by saying, "Magic is fake, but please enjoy watching me perform this illusion."
So long as we know Vince McMahon is really the one pulling the strings, any story that appears to contradict that reality is inconsequential.
Part IV:
When I Know You Know I Know
It's important to remember that fans know authority characters are inconsequential not because we read dirtsheets. This is not some expertly guarded secret.
We know Vince is in charge because WWE tells us Vince is in charge.
Repeatedly. Openly. In myriad ways. For decades!
One doesn't even need to be a WWE Network subscriber to know that Vince McMahon is the one actually calling the shots, and that most of what we see on weekly WWE television is an obligatory pretense.
But, if one does happen to be a Network subscriber, they will be treated to any number of kayfabe-destroying docu-dramas that demonstrate, in delightfully interesting detail, precisely how in-control of everything Vince McMahon really is.
And yet, despite how much they've exposed themselves and the business over the years, WWE continues to cling to that little bit of curtain once the main roster cameras start rolling; that little bit of kayfabe that suggests Kurt Angle thinks he's actually booking matches, that John Cena actually worried he didn't have "a path" to WrestleMania, and that AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura could have actually been Shinsuke Nakamura vs Baron Corbin.
That little bit of curtain has transformed "WrestleMania builds" into a concerted effort to outsmart fans by delaying the gratification of a solidly booked card (and a coherently told story) until only a few weeks before the actual event.
The WWE fan is required to house multiple perspectives in their mind simultaneously as they experience the WWE-product.
We're supposed to enjoy the behind-the-curtain quality of Kurt Angle's WWE 24 special on the Network that explains how he's just playing a character, but then switch mental gears during RAW to start believing in his decision-making ability. It's not like Kurt Angle has different names identifying when he's the performer and when he's the actor, and it's not like other elements of RAW's production are consistent enough to create a completely immersive world. This is just one small example of the swampy conceptual space WWE perpetuates, seemingly without any concern for how that swamp negatively affects viewer-immersion.
If I know what I'm watching is fake, and the company knows that I know what I'm watching is fake, and I know that the company knows that I know what I'm watching is fake, who's really being fooled here?
Put another way, what's the point?
Myths are only effective when the people telling them, and the people hearing them, all agree to believe in them. If there are no rules and the forth wall is more like a frayed, rubber band, the story, and any potential for emotional resonance, vanishes into the ether.
Roman's Walk may signal that the company is finally ready to let go of that last, inhibiting bit of curtain, and create a modern WWE-mythology we can all believe in.
Part V:
The New Kayfabe
The company has been laying the foundation for this new WWE-mythology for years. It is defined by "unmitigated access" (albeit a carefully designed sense of "unmitigated access").
Once appropriately labelled "The Reality Era", this is a creative direction that readily embraces the fan's awareness of Vince McMahon's power as Chairman, promoter, and booker. He's not a "character". He's not a villain. He's a man running a company.
It is a creative direction that accepts RAW is a television show built around the athletic competition of professional wrestling, and that this television show is operated by Vince McMahon and his immediate family.
We have seen hints of this more interesting, more inviting, more believable WWE in feuds typically involving Brock Lesnar.
Brock's feuds with Cena, Samoa Joe, and now, Roman Reigns, don't bother with symbolic stand-ins and painfully transparent "angles". No one is searching for their long lost family member, no one has mysterious legal leverage over their rival, and no one is "a little crazy". Everyone is a competitor who believes they are in a fight, and it's the how and why they fight that makes them unique and interesting.
This is because Brock's entire gimmick is that he is a legitimate fighter - which he is, so it's easy to believe. These realism-based rivalries are rooted in the thrill of competition, and they have the tendency to radically transform the overall quality of the show (for the better) and positively affect anyone participating in them.
Examples include the promos of Paul Heyman, the recent forth-wall nudging feud between Roman Reigns & John Cena, the evolution of Braun Strowman from Wyatt Monster to brute force, the transformation of women's wrestling via NXT, the presentation of tournament-style specials on the Network like the Mae Young Classic and The Cruiserweight Classic, the far too short-lived Talking Smack, The Miz's promos and his obsession with the IC-title, and now, a literal glimpse at Vince McMahon behind his curtain, seated at his table of ultimate power.
These examples are all bricks in what makes a solid, new creative foundation for the company.
But, again, only if the WWE actually wants to see it that way.
It's very possible this superb segment, and the mythology it creates, will exist as yet another isolated incident of excellence; a painful reminder of what could be rather than a tangible, flesh-and-bone new creative direction.
If the WWE was brave enough to tear down the last of The Old Kayfabe in the interest of building The New Kayfabe, many questions would need to be asked of its world. Those questions would form the basis of the show's structure and style of presentation.
What does it mean for Commissioners and General Managers when their legitimate irrelevance is acknowledged on-screen?
How do they react? What do they become? Do we discover that they're actually mentors and managers to the younger wrestlers behind the scenes, and is that how we see them from now on?
Who is Stephanie McMahon when she's not playing a "TV villain", as her Twitter bio openly acknowledges?
What decisions does Triple H get to make and how does he feel about the direction of the company?
What does Shane McMahon actually...do?
What purpose, if any, does The Royal Rumble serve if we know Vince McMahon hand-picks his WrestleMania main event based upon who he regards as the biggest draw?
What other aspects of WWE's legitimate behind-the-scenes world could be integrated into the world viewers regularly watch on RAW & SmackDown?
What's it like to get ready for a match? What's it like to eat in catering? What do wrestlers think about each other? What relationships and friendships do they have?
What's it like to walk through those halls and engage with that fascinating, complex world of sport and entertainment populated by fascinating, complex people who love and believe in professional wrestling?
I have more hope than usual that I might finally get some answers to these questions on weekly WWE television.
My cause for hope is in the sight of Vince McMahon behind that desk.
His approval of this radical creative overhaul has always seemed to be the missing ingredient. In this scene, and in his subsequent interview with Renee Young, Vince McMahon seemed to be a fan of this style of production. He seemed new. He seemed interested in what he was doing. He knew it was good television. And he did all of it with a calm, self-assured authority that required no proxy.
The aforementioned nagging and unnecessary barrier between reality and fiction was gone, and I was free to be captivated by a new kind of fiction.
That is a WWE I'd gladly watch every week.
That is the beauty of professional wrestling.
It makes a believer out of you when it believes in itself.
What is the purpose of an opinion?
I can honestly tell you, dear reader, I've never actually asked that question before. I've always just had opinions in the same way I've had blood and bones and organs. They're just in there, somewhere, doing their job, without me ever really needing to ask, "What is their job?"
This question wasn't the result of a divinely delivered insight. I arrived at this question after a year of deep consideration - a year of doubting the long-term merit of social media (Twitter, in particular) where Opinion operates as a kind of currency.
In fan-communities, such as pro-wrestling's, Opinion fuels the market, and everyone tries to buy (or be) a promising stock.
I've had plenty of opinions on hot-topics in recent pro-wrestling (often immediate, strong opinions), and yet I stopped myself from expressing them.
I "kept my opinions to myself", locking them in a safe housed in the recesses of my mind, opened only for close friends and loved ones who exist in my immediate, real world.
I did this not for fear of how my opinions would be received.
I did this because the act of "expressing my opinion" online has started to feel arbitrary. The actual value of "having an opinion", in today's age, has felt tangibly diminished to me.
It's as if social media crashed the intellectual market. There's just so many of them (and so many of them are interchangeable) that I struggle to justify adding another (even my own), especially if I'm not certain of its true purpose.
Even though I've begun watching and commenting on pro-wrestling again, I'm still compelled to maintain some distance.
I keep this distance, in part, because I've become deeply skeptical of the system that perpetuates the "modern wrestling fan". I want to ensure that my priorities, my thoughts, and my beliefs are actually my own, and not the result of social media's sly, feel-good, fan-empowering, fame-promising, reassurance-seeking echo chamber.
This system nudges us, little by little, to think less and react more - to regard our automatic emotional responses as not only our best option, but our only option, and inherently worthy of a platform.
Having been removed from that system for several months, I’ve experienced an overall improvement in my health and happiness. The lesson, therefore, is simple and convincing; persistent exposure to social media, and modern fandoms, is not healthy (despite the upsides).
This revelation, which may seem reductive at a glance, has led me to question my own automatic emotional responses - especially to “hot button issues”. I now run my thoughts through a few self-imposed filters before "putting them out there” or making a firm decision with my feelings. This is not a form of willful subjugation - it’s a form of genuine consideration (something social media, due to its very nature, does not inspire).
I question my automatic emotional responses, “hot takes”, and “ideas for angles” (which previously took the form of Tweets and posts), because I suspect they have their origins not in my own soul, but in the manipulative code of The Internet Wrestling Community.
So I'm dumping as much bad stock as I can before it's too late.
I'm doing this so that I might develop (or return to) a more human, honest, and original system of introspection and expression.
And that's what has led me to the question: what is the purpose of an opinion?
If I’m going to find a healthier, more honest way of articulating my views, then I should know the actual reason those views exist in the first place. Otherwise they’re not worth expressing. If I don’t know why I have opinions and I don’t know why they’re worth expressing, then I’m just going to rehash social media's mistake of assuming Opinion contains intrinsic value.
Through the prism of the internet, opinions are boom sticks and spiked bats. They are our weapons in an apocalyptic zombie-brawl. Even the most open-minded, thoughtful, and "progressive" among us participates in this solipsistic battle royal - usually in the form of a MEGA THREAD. And it’s always tinted with hues of snarky self-assurance, an implicit boast of “look at how much better I am than you”. It’s an inescapable dynamic, because even if someone points out the destructive nature of that dynamic, via social media, they’re perpetuating the problem by similarly anointing themselves an “ultimate truth teller”.
This social media approach to opinion is a destructive, fundamentally inaccurate reading of opinion’s value.
Social media gets it wrong because it frames humans as machines with two, simple modes: right/wrong, happy/sad, despairing/hopeful, good/evil etc.
Human beings, in the real world, are not binary.
We are, each of us, nuanced, flawed, and difficult. That understanding of humanity answers my original question.
Removed from social media’s low expectations, humans do not have opinions so that we might bludgeon each other into submission. Even if our immediate goal is to win an argument, beneath that goal, cradling our consciousness, is an innocent urge for something deeper.
We have opinions so that we might connect to one another.
Connection is the true human currency, and it never loses value. If we have an opinion and we share it with another person, it’s because, in our gut, we yearn to be heard, felt, and understood. Even if the other person disagrees with us, we crave basic acknowledgement. Beyond that, we want to feel like we’re not alone, that the person across from us feels some of what we feel, and thinks some of what we think.
Opinions provide for that opportunity. Our ability to find common ground and defer to goodwill rather than descend into chaos is a uniquely benevolent human trait. We have the capacity to choose how we see each other and how we treat each other, even when faced with profound disagreement.
That quality should be remembered and encouraged, especially within a fan community that relies so heavily upon social media (like pro-wrestling’s). Social media conditions us to disregard our capacity to choose, and instead perform default, divisive behaviors.
In the real world, opinions can be effective human bridges if formed with consideration and expressed with respect. Under those conditions, they can inform, inspire, and enlighten.
When formed impatiently and expressed disrespectfully, as is the norm on social media, Opinion negates its true purpose and ceases to have any real-world value.
It divides in an effort to conquer.
And that’s why it always fails - Opinion is strategically stupid.
When entering an idealogical debate, do we actually want to convince other people we’re right? If so, what's the best way to do that? Is it to shame and belittle others whilst asserting our own moral and intellectual superiority?
That’s the great irony of social media. It professes to help people “express” and “find” themselves. It promises to "bring us together" by giving everyone a “platform". That’s impossible if opinions exist only to serve the interests of their owners, and the priorities of a system that commodifies debate and zombifies humanity. If we really want something more, something that lasts, something that's convincing and useful, we have to look elsewhere.
To learn about one another (the good, the bad, and the in-between), is the true value and purpose of opinion. If we frame our views in that context (the need to connect), and if approach debate not as a battle to be won, but an opportunity for growth, then we will get better.
We will become a real wrestling community.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Work Of Wrestling Podcast in Apple Podcast CLICK HERE to like The Facebook Page
In recent years, the WWE has welcomed pro-wrestling podcasters to sit on pay-per-view pre-show panels.
These podcasters who, in real-life, dissect pro-wrestling for the entertainment it is, provide faux-analysis throughout the pre-show: match-outcome predictions and quick examinations of rivalries.
In short, they pretend, like everyone else on the panel, that pro-wrestling is real.
It seems they’re meant to bring a sense of “legitimacy” to the pay-per-view. Their publicly known analytical powers, merged with the fiction of wrestling, posits that pro-wrestling is a form of media that inspires and attracts actual journalists.
Their integration into WWE-programming also offers a “synergized fan experience” - the podcasting personality brings their fans with them to the pay-per-views, and the podcaster gets more listeners thanks to the exposure.
In theory, it’s a win-win.
In reality, it represents a terrible metaphysical paradox that is unique to pro-wrestling.
The podcasters have their podcasts in real-life where they openly discuss the unreality of wrestling, but then, when they appear on the wrestling show they critique, they transform into people who believe wrestling is real.
Why?
How?
Imagine the hosts of The Talking Dead becoming character-versions of themselves in The Walking Dead - they have the same names and the same appearances, they just happen to be integrated into the fictional show they typically critique. Then, whilst inside The Walking Dead, they believe zombies are real and they think all the other characters are real people.
That situation is nonsense, right?
Well that’s exactly what the WWE does when it invites podcasters onto its panels.
The company allows for a conceptually wonky premise that dismantles the most basic conceit of professional wrestling.
To articulate this problem in a simpler fashion using the language of wrestling: pro-wrestling podcasters on pre-show panels shatters kayfabe (the basic, necessary conceit that wrestling is real).
For the most part the WWE doesn’t bother walking the tightrope of wrestling reality and wrestling fiction anymore. In fact, they cut the rope a long time ago and have taken their own, twisty, turny path to success.
WWE is primarily responsible for “opening up” the wrestling business, exposing the truth of the stage-craft. But it still maintains the medium’s most basic fiction; that wrestling matches are real. When the company starts welcoming real-world entities that directly contradict that fundamental conceit into its own fiction, it does a disservice to the art of wrestling.
The conceptual problem at root in the presence of wrestling podcasters on WWE television is not the same as when celebrity guests like Jon Stewart or Grumpy Cat appear. Celebrities aren’t pro-wrestling analysts in real-life who dissect the medium of wrestling for their audience. The celebrity’s identity is not intimately contained within their real-world critiques of wrestling. A pro-wrestling analyst, on the other hand, is defined by the fact that they know pro-wrestling isn't real.
The legitimacy, if any, a podcaster earns in the wrestling community is through their specific process of critiquing wrestling as a performance. These podcasters earn an audience precisely because they know wrestling isn't real.
So when that podcasting personality arrives on the fake show they typically analyze, they bring with them the essence of what initially gave them legitimacy in the first place.
So we must ask, again, what initially gave them legitimacy?
Their knowledge of pro-wrestling being staged, of course.
That means the legitimacy podcasters bring to pre-shows is the open acknowledgement that wrestling isn't legitimate.
In short, pro-wrestling podcasters and pro-wrestling shows cannot logically coexist in the same place at the same time.
If, on their podcasts, hosts talked about wrestling as if it was real, then that would be a very different story. If their public personae was consistent with the characters we see on pre-shows, then they would shore up the fiction of wrestling and justify their presence. But that’s not the case. Their presence contradicts the wrestling narrative.
Furthermore, how many “natural views” do these podcasters actually bring with them?
In reality, the people who listen to these podcasters are already going to watch the pay-per-views anyway. There’s no significant viewership benefit for the WWE. The audience is the same for both entities, and so the potential for “sharing fans” is ineffective.
It certainly sounds good, but it’s founded on the erroneous notion that the podcaster brings fresh eyes to the WWE-product. The only meaningful effect the presence of these podcasters has is by providing fans a knowing wink and smile - a reassuring nod that the real-world culture of the internet wrestling community is valued by the company.
That’s all it is. It’s not about preserving the fiction of wrestling and it’s not about breaking the fiction of wrestling. It’s a marketing tactic that forgoes logic in favor of providing diehard fans a coddling emotional service; an emotional service the company believes will ultimately result in more revenue.
Perhaps that’s true, but there's no escaping the fact that this flawed, kayfabe-ignoring decision-making inevitably makes professional wrestling a more insular experience.
Literally, the number of people who see, understand, and appreciate what’s happening becomes smaller. It represents a closed feedback loop that undermines any legitimacy professional wrestling could possibly have. WWE fans watch the pay-per-view, then they listen to the interview the podcaster gets with a particular superstar afterward, and then round and round it goes, never stopping, keeping the fan immersed in the WWE product 24/7.
The presence of these podcasters certainly doesn't hurt anybody, but it doesn't help either. It just exists as yet another example of the WWE’s awkward relationship with the internet, and the company's disinterest in thinking through logical fallacies in its presentation.
Ironically, a panel made up exclusively of WWE announcers and veteran wrestlers would be far more "legitimate" than one that includes a real world wrestling commentator.
The presence of these podcasters says, “Yup - wrestling isn’t real, but we enjoy pretending it’s real down’t we?! Let’s have fun!”
The only effective way to tell pro-wrestling stories is to do so with the confidant proclamation, “This is real!”, and to not undermine that respectful perspective with unnecessary, forth-wall shattering ploys.
Note: The following is a guest post by Daniel Lee. You can follow Daniel on Twitter @Lee_Daniel721.
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 medium's depiction of ethnic minorities as heels (villains) opposite "All-American", White, 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.
I was 10-years-old when Yokozuna (a Samoan-American portraying a Japanese sumo-wrestler) defeated Bret Hart at WrestleMania 9 to win the WWF Championship. Yokozuna was the unstoppable foreign monster, a 500-pound behemoth who crushed his foes with the deadly Banzai Drop.
Bret Hart was my favorite wrestler as a child, so I cheered when he used his guile and technical precision to lock Yokozuna in his Sharpshooter submission.
Mr. Fuji, a heel manager who’s aesthetic evolved from "Bond villain" to kimono-wearing-Japanese-flag-waving zealot, threw salt in Hart’s eyes. For a few short minutes, Yokozuna, an Asian character, was WWF Champion.
It could have been a moment that instilled pride in me, but I was overcome with shame.
Not only did he defeat my childhood hero, Bret Hart, but he did so by cheating.
So when Hulk Hogan came out for an impromptu match and proceeded to quickly dethrone Yokozuna, I didn’t have the “smart fan” reaction. I didn't see it as Hogan burying a younger talent. My 10-year-old self was relieved; filled with a sense that all was right with the world again.
Over in WCW, another Asian character was wreaking havoc on another one of my heroes. The Great Muta, a Japanese wrestler with ghoulish face paint and an exotic red veil, was the adversary of Sting, WCW’s All-American hero with blonde, spiked hair, tanned & toned physique, and red, white, and blue face paint.
I was too young to appreciate Muta’s “strong style”, the full contact martial arts strikes and the sharp snap in his movements, because his completely painted face and stoic expressions made him mysterious and unrelatable.
In the WCW/NJPW SuperShow 1991, Sting was attempting his signature Stinger Splash when Muta utilized the “Asian Mist”, spitting green liquid in Sting’s eyes to blind him and secure the win by nefarious means.
It was another reminder that Asians were regarded as devious and undeserving of sympathy. The deviation from that norm and, seemingly, the answer to my desire for Asian acceptance was Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.
Steamboat was the prototypical babyface: a handsome, dynamic athlete whose ability to “sell” pain and “fire up” for heroic comebacks was nothing short of Shakespearian. His Intercontinental match with “Macho Man” Randy Savage at WrestleMania 3 is widely considered a masterpiece and one of the greatest matches WWF has ever produced. In addition, Steamboat had similar success in WCW, producing a brilliant trilogy of matches with Ric Flair for the NWA World Championship. This rivalry would set a standard for all wrestling feuds that followed.
What set Steamboat apart from other Asian performers was that he was allowed to be a hero.
During the “Golden Age” of WWF (1985-1992), Steamboat was only behind Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in popularity as enduring babyfaces (characters who don’t switch back and forth from hero to villain). So why was Steamboat allowed to play the hero while performers like Yokozuna and Great Muta were villains?
The secret to Steamboat was that he was an Asian not defined by his Asianness.
Despite the Keikogi martial arts uniform as part of his ring attire, and his use of knife-edged chops, he wasn’t another foreigner with a thick accent. His success in WWF and WCW echoed the childhood lessons I had received from my parents; that the key to acceptance was assimilation into mainstream morality and esthetic, that I should drop my accent and sound White.
The Attitude Era (1997-2002), widely regarded as the commercial and artistic peak of pro-wrestling, was simultaneously the low-point for Asian American characters.
Kai En Tai was a stable of Japanese wrestlers who debuted in WWF in 1998. They were immediately relegated to the lower-card, their most infamous feud being with Val Venis, a pornstar character who slept with the onscreen “wife” of manager Yamaguchi. This led to a TV segment where Yamaguchi brought out a salami and screamed “I choppy choppy your pee pee!”, a line that still haunts me to this day.
The line blatantly stereotypes Asian men as sexually inferior and deviant.
The story culminated with the members of Kai En Tai dragging Venis backstage where Yamaguchi attempted to chop off his penis with a samurai sword, only to be thwarted by John Wayne Bobbit.
After the Attitude Era, Asian representation continued to languish in ugly stereotypes.
Michinoku and Funaki wrestled in WWE as enhancement talent under the stereotype of dubbed English voices with badly lip-synced catchphrases.
Tajiri, a talented Cruiserweight, brought the same “strong style” strikes and Asian Mist that Great Muta had popularized.
However, Tajiri sexually intimidated by All-American beauty Torrie Wilson, demeaned and subjugated her into wearing a geisha outfit.
Gail Kim, a Canadian-American of Korean descent, had everything to become the next Ricky Steamboat: a beautiful, fluent English-speaker who possessed an athletic, technical ring-style that outclassed most of her male peers.
However, she had the misfortune of being ahead of her time, a legitimate wrestler in a pre-“Women’s Revolution” WWE, where the company was more interested in sexualizing their female performers in bra & panties matches than in showcasing athletic prowess.
Kim moved on to TNA as the foundational performer of their Knockouts Division, becoming one of the biggest stars in the promotion’s history.
In 2014, there seemed to be a renewed interest in Asian performers when WWE signed Japanese star Kenta, repackaging him as Hideo Itami. He was soon followed by superstars Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura.
While I was initially excited that WWE was recruiting these global stars, my old fears took hold.
Would they be presented as racial stereotypes? Would they be accepted by the fans or would language barriers get in the way? Would they ascend to the top of the card or would they descend into Asian-minstrel gimmickry? Would anyone “get over” and find acceptance from an American audience?
From my own childhood, Asians were perceived as a homogeneous group: straight-A students, martial artists, asexual, and bad drivers.
When my peers discovered my interests ranged from hip-hop to creative writing, I was a cultural anomaly because I was breaking stereotype. Therefore, I was relieved that each performer was allowed to be themselves and embrace their Asianness.
Itami debuted in a yellow Keikogi uniform suggesting his martial arts background while his plain black tights signified that once the bell rang he would be a no nonsense badass. He was quickly positioned as a contender for the NXT Championship until a string of injuries derailed his momentum. Now that he has moved on from his injuries, Itami has been given new life on 205 Live.
Asuka’s presentation couldn’t have been any better, communicating everything about her character from the outset.
Her various Noh masks signify her transformation from woman into a world-class fighter, “becoming” the mask just as a superhero would. Her multi-colored hair, vibrant kimono robes and ring gear are an allusion to Kabuki theatre.
Her exaggerated movements, vicious strikes, and submission holds instantly resonated with fans as they chanted “Asuka’s Gonna Kill You” at her opponents. She immediately emerged as a world-beater, becoming the longest reigning NXT Women’s Champion for 510 days. Asuka’s dominance and undefeated streak has only continued on RAW. It seems that WWE recognizes they have a once-in-a-generation talent in her.
As for Nakamura - he is one of the most unique showmen in all of professional wrestling.
Nakamura has transformed “strong style” into an artform, employing devastating knee-strikes, forearms, and kicks while simultaneously possessing the grace & fluidity of a ballet dancer. He has embraced the theatricality of pro-wrestling, channeling the showmanship of Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury while he works.
He was booked like a special attraction in his NXT TakeOver: Dallas debut when the crowd sang along to his “The Rising Sun” theme song. That pop from the crowd during his dazzling entrance conveyed how “over” (popular with fans) Nakamura was before he even locked-up for the first time in a WWE ring.
Nakamura was the first two-time NXT Champion, and when he got drafted to SmackDown Live, emerged as a championship-contender within a few short months.
Regardless of wins and losses, I’ve been encouraged that Nakamura has remained near the top of the card.
The successes of Asuka and Nakamura paved the way for TJ Perkins (Filipino American) and Akira Tozawa (Japanese), two wrestlers who debuted in the Cruiserweight Classic, and later became fixtures on 205 Live. They have both held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship since their debuts.
Jinder Mahal, an Indo-Canadian wrestler who spent most of his WWE career in the undercard, took full advantage of a main event promotion in 2017, proving himself a worthy WWE Champion and deserved of future opportunities.
Kairi Sane (Japanese), the winner of the Mae Young Classic and new NXT star, has similarly benefited from this better representation.
So what are some of the reasons for the success of this recent group of Asian wrestlers?
Wrestling has never been more accessible, for one.
With sites like YouTube, NJPW World, ROH, etc. wrestlers can build a resumé and generate buzz before they enter the WWE.
WWE has also chosen to maintain, rather than erase, the histories of these performers, acknowledging in vignettes and on commentary most of their major accomplishments in other promotions. Debuting wrestlers are no longer unknown quantities.
Language has also not served as a significant barrier in their careers.
I was taught from an early age that the key to assimilation in America was English fluency. Especially for those performers from Japan, I feared that their accents would prevent fans from embracing them.
"Asuka needs an English mouthpiece!", and "Make Nakamura a Paul Heyman guy!", was the refrain of the pro-wrestling community.
These were the fears I had internalized. But I appreciate how the WWE has given these performers the opportunity to sink or swim on their own. They are allowed to cut promos on their own, even if the majority of their monologues are limited to a few short lines and familiar catchphrases.
Assimilation can operate as a two-way street: while the wrestlers work to improve their English, fans are tasked to become familiar with different dialects.
And, above all, Asia has become the new racial fetish in the pro-wrestling industry.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling is arguably the hottest promotion in pro-wrestling among diehard wrestling fans, and critically lauded by various wrestling journalists. Japanese wrestlers like Okada and Naito or the Bullet Club (a popular NJPW wrestling stable comprised of foreigners) represents "the exotic", a hip alternative to the Disney-wrestling offered by WWE.
In this sense, the Asianness of Asuka and Nakamura have worked in their favor.
They are the alternative to the more prototypical stars WWE has produced for years like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar.
Is Asianness in pro-wrestling a temporary fad?
Will there be backlash when fans grow tired of Asuka’s dominance and Nakamura’s theatrics?
Probably so, because the nature of fandom is fickle. Moods change and what is en vogue today will be passé tomorrow. The pushes we see for Nakamura and Asuka may never come again. And that is why this moment in wrestling history is so important.
After the conclusion of the 2018 Royal Rumble, I'm even more excited to be attending WrestleMania 34. This will be the year two Asian wrestlers compete for WWE Championships in main event matches.
For me, that night will be deliver a deeply personal moment of pop because Asianness will have officially gained acceptance.
Follow the author of this article, Daniel Lee, on Twitter @Lee_Daniel721.
(Note: This article was originally published on December 19th, 2017. Since then, www.workofwrestling.com has transferred web hosts, and so it needed to be republished today).
Last night's Raw ended with Stephanie McMahon announcing the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble match at the forthcoming annual pay-per-view.
This is a welcome announcement that instantly makes next year’s Rumble more interesting and essential-viewing. Over the next few weeks, fans will watch this match take shape, and discuss who it should bolster, how it will be structured, and what surprises may be in store. This is all good, and it’s reassuring to see the WWE do the obviously right thing.
Fans should definitely be happy, but fans should also be asking, “What happens after?”
The WWE has always been very good at promoting “firsts”, but continues to struggle with that far more important word, “next”.
This is particularly true with regard to its female talent.
It just so happens, (thanks to systemic sexism within its own organization, aided by the fact that we all live in a patriarchal society), current female talent offer WWE an easy way of booking and promoting “first time ever!” style events.
“The first ever Women’s Hell In A Cell!”, “The first ever Women’s Money In The Bank!”, and now “The first ever Women’s Royal Rumble!”
These events get the pro-wrestling community talking, they attract media attention from outlets that typically ignore WWE, and they genuinely inspire people. It’s all good and fun, and indicative of how the WWE is far more adaptive than many other American institutions.
But fans should keep in mind that the company has cleverly positioned itself as a harbinger of change without ever needing to take responsibility for creating an environment where change was necessary.
There should be an asterisk next to every “First ever Women’s…” announcement, and that asterisk should point toward a bold reminder of reality:
WWE is also the reason this hasn’t happened before.
Fans must function as that asterisk.
The WWE continues to present its own history of misogyny as if it's something that happened to them rather than something they willfully created. It's like fans are supposed to regard the WWE as the victim of some old crime, and cheer the company for seeking justice.
Stephanie McMahon can literally cut straight through a scripted segment featuring women whenever she wants, launch into an empowering speech, book a first-ever-women’s-anything, and make people happy, effectively erasing every bra & panties match or similarly degrading segment from WWE-history and the collective fan consciousness.
It’s an odd, paradoxical state of affairs because what Stephanie says is true and good, and the result is legitimately beneficial to society, but it still remains a smokescreen obscuring the lack of meaningful progress in the company’s booking-patterns.
It might be easier to forgive the company's past if that past didn't still directly inform its present. While Vince McMahon may not be ordering women wrestlers to disrobe onscreen anymore, the mentality that allowed such a segment to ever exist remains in power.
The excitement resultant from a “first ever” women’s match of any kind is short-lived because the WWE’s creative investment in women doesn’t appear to extend far beyond these “first ever” watershed moments.
How do I know that?
Women still represent a minuscule fraction of WWE-programming, and women still do not receive the kind of promotion and depth of characterization offered (by default) to their male peers. Yes, these “firsts” are necessary steps in a better direction, but it also doesn’t take much effort or creativity to take them.
How many complex women-centered stories has the WWE actually told since embarking upon its "Women's Evolution"?
Booking these firsts simply requires a decision to do the exact opposite of everything they've always done for a few important pay-per-views each year. While the word-choice and presentation of women has improved, the thinking behind the way they're promoted continues to frame them as "special attractions". That perspective (and style of promotion) does not represent the kind of long-term creative investment women's wrestling needs if anything is going to get significantly better.
WWE is eventually going to run out of gender-firsts, and what happens then?
The company has consistently demonstrated an inability to do anything meaningful with its main roster women when these firsts aren't involved. So will the female gender have lost all creative worth in the eyes of the Raw & SmackDown booking committees once these firsts have been exhausted?
I certainly hope not, but if the company’s recent history is any indication, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. This is a problem the company, and its fans, should be thinking about now so that it is not a problem in the near future. And we should not just assume that everything will be okay when Triple H inherits the earth. Nothing is guaranteed, and thinking there's "one man" for the job is a part of the problem.
There are any number of preemptive measures that could help ensure the longterm development of the women’s division, but none of them are more important than fundamentally altering the culture of the WWE organization itself.
If women aren’t valued as much as men on-screen (which they clearly aren’t), it’s indicative of how women aren’t valued as much as men off-screen in the company’s creative offices. More specifically, it means that women's creative opinions are not as valued or women's creative opinions aren't even present behind closed doors.
Fans might point to Stephanie McMahon as indicative of how much the company values women, but they’d be forgetting that she plays a character, is the daughter of Vince McMahon and wife of COO Triple H, and that we’ve never heard of any other prominent female writer, producer, booker, or agent behind the scenes of Raw & SmackDown who shapes narratives and helps dictate creative.
Sara Del Rey, Assistant Head Coach and producer for WWE's developmental show, NXT, represents an outlier to WWE's male-dominated norm.
This is not to take anything away from Stephanie's on-screen performance and philanthropy - she is a great talent and outshines any other heel in the company today - but it's all too easy to see through the way the WWE enlists her off-screen presence as a shield against claims of a boys' club culture.
Men, their priorities, their experiences, and their ways of thinking continue to shape the wrestling business - even the way they endeavor to incorporate “empowerment” into their booking.
As I wrote before, it’s easy to book a “first ever” style women’s match.
Any guy (literally) can do that, and it seems like any guy (literally) is. This represents a closed creative loop.
For WWE-programing to really evolve, that is what needs to change.
Some of you might be wondering:
So why exactly is it important for the WWE hire more women writers? Can’t a man write a woman well? Shouldn’t WWE just hire better writers overall, whoever they are? Isn't a focused effort to hire more women reverse-sexism?
Firstly, hiring more women is not reverse-sexism because reverse-sexism does not exist. Reverse-sexism is a logical fallacy. Reverse-anything (be it reverse-sexism, reverse-racism, etc.) just sounds good to people who hate the idea that their very existence, and their ignorance, contributes to systematic oppression.
Secondly, yes, a man can definitely write a female character well. Writing well is not the same as writing authentically, though.
No matter how skilled or empathetic a writer may be, nothing aids in the development of authenticity more than experience.
By “experience”, I do not mean a knowledge of pro-wrestling’s tropes or an awareness of what “gets over” in pro-wrestling. I mean the lived, everyday experiences of individual human lives. And good writers need that experience even if they're writing in unrealistic genres like science fiction, fantasy, or pro-wrestling.
Men, therefore, are not able to articulate the experience of women as authentically as women because men are not women.
This simple reality is often met with great resistance, particularly by male writers who fear the collapse of their creative monopoly. But it's not something to fear; it's something to accept if only for the way space, time, bodies, consciousness, and good writing works, if not for the moral necessity of equal representation.
The push for better representation in the arts is not about "taking away" voices and replacing them with less talented ones; it's about creating a fair playing field where all talented artists have a chance to tell their stories. In the best of all possible worlds, this pursuit would actually make art better, not worse.
This is why WWE doesn't only need to hire women writers, it needs to hire more women at all levels of the company.
Monday Night Raw & Smack Down Live need women producers, women ring-crew, women commentators, women technicians, women camera operators, women directors, women referees, women time-keepers, etc.
The idea of women in WWE must not continue relegating them to outliers to the norm. That, itself, is a male idea. The idea of women should be that they are the norm - that they are people who do all sorts of regular-people things, some grande and history-making, some unseen yet no less significant.
The idea of women in the WWE should be decided by women.
Women, their ideas, their experiences, their values, their philosophies, their priorities, their lives need to be woven into the fabric of WWE’s corporate and creative structure. That would represent evolution.
So, WWE, if you genuinely care about any of this, hire more women.
Don't hire any more white, heterosexual men like me. You already have a lot of us. We're everywhere. I know how we think. I know what we create.
One of the things we create is a main roster Women's Division that exists solely to "break glass ceilings" so long as WWE never runs out of glass.
Certainly, the booking of the first ever Women's Royal Rumble seems great now (and it is), but it could easily become yet another momentary embrace designed to lure fans (and even WWE Superstars) into a state of passivity.
Now, more than ever, talent and fans must double-down on their pursuit of substantial change, and let the WWE know that booking this match is still not enough.
Because it isn't.
The Work Of Wrestling podcast will return for a review of the upcoming pay-per-view Extreme Rules. The Work Of Wrestling podcast will also return for a review of WWE's second biggest event of the year, SummerSlam. In the past, such reviews were released the day after the event aired (i.e. the following Monday). In the future, these pay-per-view reviews, as well as all future episodes of The Work Of Wrestling podcast will be released on Thursdays at 12:00 AM EST. This means that The Work Of Wrestling podcast review of WWE's Extreme Rules will be available online, and for download, starting Thursday, July 19th at Midnight EST. There are no plans to release any episodes of the podcast other than the upcoming reviews of Extreme Rules and SummerSlam in the immediate future. Stay tuned to the Facebook page, or www.workofwrestling.com, for any further announcements regarding the future of The Work Of Wrestling.
If last week's backstage-segments were an example of Raw's unique badness, then this week's main event was an example of Raw's unique goodness. That's not to say this episode didn't feature backstage segments with the same marionette-acting and the same trite dialogue (admittedly, I fast-forwarded through most of the Hulu version to get right to the goods). It's to suggest that the strength of professional wrestling (even WWE's "Sports Entertainment" version) is, unsurprisingly, professional wrestling. The main event Intercontinental Championship match between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler exemplifies pro-wrestling's ability to successfully deliver pure fun and dramatic spectacle to any audience. Where last week, I felt that any non-wrestling fan who happened to channel-surf their way to a Raw backstage segment would be embarrassed by what they saw, this week I felt that any non-wrestling fan who saw Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler go to work would become completely immersed in the action. You don't have to be a diehard wrestling fan to understand what's good about a good wrestling match. Even the most cynical "It's fake" truther feels their disbelief bend to the will of a good hold and an unexpected kick-out. You do need to be a diehard wrestling fan to stomach backstage segments, though. Without a foreknowledge of the nuances of the company, its characters, and its creative rhythms, backstage segments watch like weird teleplay non sequiturs. They just don't fit with pro-wrestling, and yet they've become deeply ingrained in the visual, thematic, and structural essence of wrestling. The unavoidably bad acting, the hamfisted dialogue, and the broken conceptual premise behind the amateurish way they're filmed (i.e. the characters act as if cameras aren't filming them, suggesting cameras aren't in the backstage reality, which begs the question, "how are we, the audience, seeing any of it?") can only be "appreciated" by wrestling fans inured to WWE's unchanging style of presentation. Backstage segments, therefore, represent an obvious creative weakness on Raw's part. They alienate prospective viewers, if not directly during a channel-surf, indirectly by reinforcing the idea that "it's okay for pro-wrestling to be kind of bad". Backstage segments are also meant to advance a story, and yet they make stories less accessible because of how they look, sound, and feel. There are too many opportunities for badness (either in the writing, the acting, or the filming) to overshadow any validity a story may have when that story ventures backstage. Good wrestling, on the other hand, and the story that can be told between the ropes, is instantly accessible. Dialogue isn't even necessary. With the likes of Rollins and Ziggler, the sheer athleticism on display immediately arrests the viewer's attention, and then the nuances of their impeccable timing and expressiveness draws the viewer into a deeper human theater. The rhythms of a pro-wrestling match naturally mirror the rhythms of any sport, and so the audience doesn't have to strain to appreciate the drama. There is a blend of grace, determination, improvisation, and pain, all operating within the conceit of a fight. The joy comes in watching that fight unfold, building, every-so-carefully (as this match did) toward The Finish; that moment when a winner (and loser) is determined, and the audience experiences Pop (catharsis). If our hypothetical channel-surfer happened upon Ziggler and Rollins' stellar match, and somehow didn't quite know how to feel about it, well they'd be in luck; a massive, ecstatic crowd tells them how to feel. There were multiple times during the Ziggler/Rollins match where the crowd, rapt by the action, burst into natural exclamations of shock and joy, rising into a collective "Yes!" chant. The crowd even stood to offer the rare, dignified clap, a smattering of applause that served as a simple, communal "Thank you" to Rollins and Ziggler for putting on such a great show. Something a wrestling match always has that a backstage segment never has is that participatory audience. Sure, we sometimes hear the cheers and boos from the arena-audience reacting to backstage segments. But they are abstracted from the content, often sounding muted, bored, or confused (which is no surprise given the arena-audio sometimes cuts out). Consider that during backstage segments, live attendees are forced to crank their necks upward to stare at a big TV that hovers over the wrestling ring. Did they come to watch TV, or did they come to watch live wrestling? If backstage segments feel incongruous to television viewers because of their inherently poor quality, backstage segments feel incongruous to live attendees because they are the exact opposite of the reason they're in attendance. For both television viewer and attendee, wrestling's the thing! Wrestling is that which catches an audiences' attention, not the ancillary, cheap-looking melodramas sutured onto it like so many needless appendages. Standard WWE backstage segments, therefore, have not merely outlived their usefulness, they were never useful to begin with. When good wrestlers get to do their job, we all get swept up in the positive energy of that process, and we lose ourselves to the wonder of simulated conflict. That process is fun. It is one of discovery and pure, raw emotion. Even if your brain thinks pro-wrestling is stupid, your soul understands why it isn't. Nothing obscures what makes pro-wrestling good when it's presented as it was in Monday's main event. Ziggler vs Rollins represents a pro-wrestling that isn't trying to be something it isn't. It's a wrestling that respects the real value of the art. It doesn't self-conscientiously concede that "wrestling is kind of stupid". It instead earnestly posits that wrestling is good, and that you should take it seriously because it's good. Put another way, Ziggler vs Rollins demands the viewer's respect because, in this match, they clearly respect themselves and their art. They created something to be proud of, a fantastic story that demonstrates their individual, and collective abilities. The booking, directing, editing, and commentary all worked in concert with their strengths. The presentation serviced the wrestlers, the wrestlers were not struggling to service the presentation. It had the distinct feel of a night when both performers were told, simply, "Go out there and do your thing". They did their thing, and the audience was all the better for it. Their "thing" (again, unsurprisingly) is wrestling, the simulation of combat to provide audiences a theatrical experience. Had I seen that, and only that, I would have thought Raw was good television. This is not to suggest that Raw should be nothing but a series of matches (although, why not try it for a night?). The show can certainly flesh out its narratives and it can even use the backstage area as a setting if it wants. But it should always do so within the context of what makes wrestling good. That means re-imagining the way non-match-time functions and looks on Raw, and how rivalries are expanded beyond what we see in-ring. It means real-sports-like pre and post-match interviews, press conferences, and candid glimpses into production booths, locker-rooms, hallways, and catering areas - all looking and feeling the way they actually look and feel for the wrestlers in real life. It means creating scenes that are natural extensions of the ring-world, rather than scenes that feel like they belong in a lesser, alternate universe. The WWE has even offered this more mature and naturalistic style I advocate for in recent years to great dramatic effect (most recently during the build to WrestleMania 34), but such scenes remain outliers to the company's mediocre norm. When Raw finally escapes that norm, maybe I won't have to fast-forward to get to the goods. In the meantime, I'll continue needing to craft my own experience of the WWE-product, all the while appreciating superb matches like the one that closed this show. CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Work Of Wrestling Podcast in Apple Podcast CLICK HERE to like The Facebook Page
For the first time in several months I endeavored to watch a (partially) complete episode of Monday Night Raw via Hulu. What began as a curiosity inspired by Ronda Rousey, quickly transformed into a curiosity inspired by what I can only describe as uniquely bad television. I marveled, mouth agape, eyes ever-widening, at the sheer magnitude of the badness. The writing. The directing. The cinematography. The blocking. The motivations of the characters. The commentary. And, especially, the acting in backstage segments. All so stunningly bad. The only thing that wasn't bad about the show was the actual wrestling (and the aforementioned Ronda Rousey). The wrestling is always good because good wrestlers tend to be good at wrestling. No surprise there. It's everything else about Raw that represents the unique badness. You should know, up front, that I do not write this to hurt Raw, to hurt the WWE, to hurt its staff, to hurt its wrestlers, or to even hurt its legion of beleaguered writers. I also don't write this to vent any of my own frustrations because I'm not invested enough in the current product to be frustrated. I derive no pleasure from this show being bad nor from stating that it is bad. I write this because I believe there is actual value in accurately identifying terrible art as terrible art when that terrible art has fundamentally re-wired an audience's expectations of what qualifies as "a thing worthy of an audience". It's nothing new to claim "Raw is terrible", but not enough time is spent considering the harm the show does to the minds of its viewers and, more importantly, the harm the show does to the medium of pro-wrestling itself. Raw is more than just "bad television". Raw (at least the episode I watched this week) does not qualify as "a thing worthy of an audience", and yet it serves as the ultimate, mainstream ambassador of all things wrestling. That's not good for wrestling, nor wrestling fans. The only way for Raw to qualify as "something worth watching" is for me to accept the WWE's warped standard of worthiness. That standard starts and stops with the fact that Raw merely exists. I am supposed to place my faith in the inherent value of longevity, and then derive satisfaction from Raw's persistence more than I'm supposed to care about whether or not it's actually any good. It's like a bad, tenured professor. He doesn't really show up to teach, but he's a fixture of the institution because of some important paper he wrote decades ago. I signed up for his class because of all the good stuff I heard, and that one lecture I liked, but now I'm just here, in this rapidly emptying classroom, wondering what I'm doing with my life. As a result, I believe Raw is doing a disservice to our actual brains, effectively lowering even our lowest standards of quality without us fully realizing it. It brainwashes us into listlessly watching and accepting scenes that are so poorly written and poorly performed they'd leave any average person feeling a little embarrassed. That's ultimately how I felt after watching Bayley try to chase down Sasha Banks in the backstage area after their "blow up" in the ring. Bayley kept pleading with Sasha, pawing at her arms like a weak child as Sasha kept refusing, ultimately driving off in a car to leave Bayley staring awkwardly into the distance. This tangential drama began in the locker-room where Bayley consoled Sasha after her loss at Money in the Bank (while simultaneously reminding viewers they could watch Money in the Bank on their phones). From then on, I just felt bad for everyone involved because there was no way for any of it to be good television. It was the kind of earnest, yet irredeemably bad acting common in high school plays and freshman year student films. The basic concept of why the characters were struggling was never clear. The motivations of the characters were never clear, and so these characters did not possess any discernible identity. The filming techniques and the scripting were equally amateurish, making it that much harder for a good performance to even be possible. They were like colorful marionettes moving their eyes and mouths and limbs in vague impersonations of humanity, as corresponding sounds emanated from their bodies. It had the same tone of unintentionally terrible movies, but it had none of the joy that defines the appeal of such movies. The only way to explain why any of this happened between Sasha and Bayley (and I know some readers are just itching to do so) is to be so accustomed with the motions of Raw that you're able to accurately interpret the intent of those vague bursts of sound and color. Basically, wrestling fans have seen wrestling simulate this kind of "friendship falling out" scenario so many times that they don't really need to see or hear much detail to get all they need. And wrestling fans are so accustomed to this bullet-point style of storytelling that they're unaware of how ineffective it is for anyone not already indoctrinated into the fandom. I suppose any average viewer with a modicum of observational ability could assume Sasha is "the mean one" and Bayley is "the nice one", but that's not a safe assumption given it's impossible to know anything about their history if one watches this scene in isolation. And neither of them seems especially mean or especially nice. Bayley, "the nice one", attacks Sasha the instant she doesn't get a response she likes, after all. It just doesn't make sense outside of pro-wrestling's low threshold for "making sense". The same could be written for every scene involving Kurt Angle, and the convener belt of identityless superstars who wandered in and out of his static, waist high GM-camera angle. Each of these performers offered their own strained attempt at articulating their portion of the script, doing their best with what they had been given, all while appearing to have forgotten how to be. Kurt's story centered on the fact that he couldn't "get control of the show". His commitment to conveying that idea was obvious and even somewhat amusing, but it's impossible for that idea to be fully realized when all of his scenes take place in locations that have been lit and blocked in Raw's precise backstage-segment aesthetic (which is not so much an aesthetic as it is bad filmmaking). The emotional turmoil he's experiencing is not reflected in the visuals, and so his emotional turmoil rings hollow. Often on Raw words like "chaos" and "mayhem" will be used to describe events that lack any semblance of either. Commentary and characters just repeat such words in an effort to convince the audience of what they say. Finn Balor, an excellent wrestler and interesting person, smiles with an unnerving commitment to the expression. It's as though the company thinks the audience would forget he's "the good guy" if he didn't smile. He looks like he's in pain. He's not alone either. Each performer appears to be trying to hit a very specific yet completely elusive target, their stiff movements, gestures, statements, and expressions all informed by a sad sense of desperation. All of these characters could have literally grunted and cooed like Sims, and the end-result (in the viewer's mind) would have been exactly the same. I don't fault the wrestlers for this (although I struggle, at times, to understand why they would continue participating in such terrible art). They're wrestlers, not actors. Grunting and screaming and simulating big emotions works great in a wrestling ring. Given the persistence of this badness, it's a wonder anyone still watches this television show, right? Well, not really. Raw still provides good wrestling, and it still provides the vague trappings of a thing wrestling fans think they want from the WWE. The badness becomes a reluctant yet necessary concession for the fan, an element of WWE-viewership that people either learn to tolerate or ignore. Or the badness drives viewers away completely. There are really only two ways to justify watching Raw despite how objectively terrible the show remains. The first is simple, and it's something I understand wholeheartedly: the ritual of watching itself is entertaining, often far more entertaining than whatever is watched, and the act of participating in that ritual provides a reason to keep coming back. The second way (which is rarer) is to mount an earnest defense of the show, even if one knows it's bad, and rationalize why it's somehow "okay" for it to be the way it is. I contend that such a defense is only possible if one is seeing the show through Raw-goggles; a kind of drunkness that permits oneself to participate in the active lowering of their own taste-level and standards. And I don't write that in the snobby, "Can you imagine the level of mind that watches wrestling" sort of way. I love wrestling, and Raw does do good things (it even did some good things in this episode). I mean that all of us, whether we subsist on a diet of mental junkfood or feast on psychological ambrosia, have a kind of internal barometer, an innate ability to distinguish between good and bad. We develop our individual value system based upon that gut-mechanism, and that value system becomes the foundation for our thoughts, opinions, and tastes. I believe Raw's unique badness reaches directly into our souls, and breaks that mechanism. It ruins our ability to distinguish between "great", "good", "bad", and "downright unworthy of our time". The show does wrong by our minds, no matter who we are, and it convinces us that it's okay for something so bad to exist. Or (and this is a clever little trick) the WWE tickles our exposed wrestling-fan nerves by making us feel as though it's us against the world. Our loyalty to the art and the joy it provides are weaponized against us. The idea of our fandom becomes more important to us than whether or not our time is being wasted by a television show we should just turn off. "Yeah, it's bad sometimes, but I'm having a great time with my wrestling friends because I love wrestling and I get it, and screw you, world! When it's good, it's really good! Wrestling isn't fake!" That's the same point of view I remember Don Draper, a great character from a great show, rejecting when research suggested "living dangerously" could be an effective marketing strategy for selling cigarettes. The WWE takes your pure, basic desire to watch good wrestling, and injects into it something corrosive; a willingness to regard substandard television as normal. Why is this kind of badness, even if we're being nice and call it "kitsch", so normal in pro-wrestling? We don't tolerate it in other forms of entertainment. When shows get bad we turn them off. When movies get bad we forget them or walk out of the theater. But, with wrestling, we stick around. Why? We just shrug if we notice something is terrible and chalk it up to "wrestling being wrestling", or we don't even notice it because we are in it with our drunk-wrestling-goggles firmly in place. You might think that wrestling has just "always been this way", but that's not entirely true. Yes, the carnivalesque nature of the business has always been there, but strains of seriousness and self-respect have informed professional wrestling at various times in various ways. And let's ask ourselves, honestly, when is pro-wrestling really at its best? Just think of the greatest matches ever - are they objectively terrible and silly and not taking themselves seriously? Why is it that the goodness of wrestling is doled out piecemeal where the badness is never in short supply? The vision of Raw's showrunner, and the dominant force in wrestling, is squarely to blame. If he thought wrestling needed to be better...it simply would be. It may sound reductive to pin all this badness on the taste of one flawed genius, but consider the influence that one person has had on an entire medium the past four decades. I don't believe it's a conscious effort on Vince McMahon's part to "make wrestling bad". I just think his particular taste-level, his particular value-system (and the values of the people he surrounds himself with) inevitably becomes our value system. Why? Simple - we've been absorbing his version of wrestling for the majority of our lives. What he thinks it should be becomes what we expect it to be. And it's not as though the larger "general public" who doesn't watch wrestling thinks wrestling is any good. They think it's pretty dumb, and when they turn on Raw, and it's terrible television, their preconceived notion is confirmed and so wrestling remains "a dumb, fake soap opera for men". McMahon's vision becomes inescapable because there hasn't been a competing vision of wrestling since the 80s. Literally my entire life, all I've known is Vince McMahon's version of wrestling as the medium's default mode. Even his stiffest competition in the 90s existed in the shadow of his pyro-filled melodramatic take on the medium. That process has had a negative effect on the audience's ability to judge and appreciate wrestling, and it has kept wrestling buried in the discount DVD-bin of the pop culture consciousness regardless of whatever mainstream success it has ever enjoyed. And before any readers rush forth in the name of Lucha Underground, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, or any other promotion that purports to respect its audience, it's not like those promotions are bastions of consistent, unabashed quality either. No promotion escapes the disease of wrestling's low self esteem, and no promotion is popular enough to challenge the WWE's stranglehold on public consciousness. We've been conditioned, many of us for our entire lives, to regard wrestling as a sometimes great, sometimes abysmal, often silly soap opera for men. It shouldn't even bother trying to be better than that because it's too busy being "sports entertainment". In fact, if it tried to be better, it wouldn't be itself anymore. We internalize that way of thinking so thoroughly that it becomes the way we discuss, evaluate, understand, and create wrestling. That limiting and disrespectful perspective frames pro-wrestling as "something inherently lesser", and when that perspective becomes normal so too does this unique badness become normal. I could only appreciate how abnormally bad this latest episode of Raw was after having spent the past four months watching film & television and playing video games (of various genres and styles) that were of a certain objective quality. Even the film, television, and videogames I experienced that weren't very good all possessed a basic degree of creative competence. Raw lacks even that basic competence. That sad reality is confirmed not only by other media, but by many of the WWE's own products. I turned on NXT: Take Over Chicago the same night I watched this awful Raw, and I marveled, mouth agape, eyes ever-widening...but for all the right reasons. Excellence defined everything I saw at Take Over, and there was no self-conscious chip on its shoulder preventing it from ascending to a place of unapologetic goodness. That demonstrates to me that goodness still resides within the soul of professional wrestling. It's buried, but it's there, and all it needs is a little push. CLICK HERE to subscribe to The Work Of Wrestling Podcast in Apple Podcast CLICK HERE to like The Facebook Page
Tim Kail and Al Monelli return to review WWE's annual extravaganza, WrestleMania!
Tim & Al dissect each match (with one exception), bouncing around the card as the conversation flows naturally, ultimately regarding the event as a mixed-bag with the first half being great and the second half being...well...not so great.
Tim delivers an impassioned diatribe about the nuances of Game of Thrones references and how they don't fit Seth Rollins at all.
Al breaks down why Asuka vs Charlotte was the best match of the night.
Tim laughs to the point of crying at one point (keep your ear out for Al's description of Kurt Angles knees).
Al & Tim also cover the Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles match, which turned out to be, literally, a dream match...
And they consider whether or not, despite the fact that they like Roman Reigns, it's time for some meaningful changes to his character so that "The Roman Situation" doesn't continue to hang over WrestleMania proceedings in such a negative way.
Before signing off with some poignant final words, Al & Tim make WrestleMania predictions for next year.
Visit www.monellifilms.com and www.workofwrestling.com. Like the facebook page www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling
Stay subscribed! We plan on coming back next year for reviews of the Rumble & Mania (at the very least). Continue to review and recommend the show. The archive is extensive and it will always be there for new & regular listeners alike.
Thank you for your listenership and readership. May the force be with you. Live long and prosper. Winter is coming. Believe in The Moment of Pop! Have a nice day!
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. Tim & Al dissect the quality of Bret's writing, the one-of-a-kind nature of his story, his unparalleled devotion to the idea of being a Champion, his relentless commitment to the craft of wrestling, the true cause of the Montreal Screwjob, and the oddly life-affirming theme of the book despite the presence of immense & consistent tragedy in Bret's life.
Visit Al's website www.monellifilms.com and follow his latest documentary, At The Drive In on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AtTheDrivein/
Send questions to Tim via email to wrestlingworks@gmail.com. Like the WOW Facebook page www.facebook.com/theworkofwrestling. Visit www.workofwrestling.com to read Tim's review of the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble.
Give the podcast a 5-star rating & review in Apple Podcasts and support the show by visiting the Support The Work page on the website.
CLICK HERE to buy Bret's book. You don't want to miss it!
WWE fan-artist, podcaster, and Advocate for Neville, Justine Colla (@PastaSauca as you may know her) stops by The Work of Wrestling podcast to answer Tim Kail's questions about art, wrestling, and life. Justine recorded her answers in Melborne Australia, and Tim has cut them together (with his responses to a few) for your listening pleasure.
What's it like being an Australian WWE-fan when the WWE decides to be uber-American? How is the WWE alienating its female fanbase? What are the consequences of massive backstage brawls like Braun Strowman tipping over and ambulance; do other wrestlers get stuck in the garage?
Justine answers all of these questions and more, offering insight into how she became a wrestling fan, what she'd like to see change about the pro-wrestling community and the WWE. This is a fun, unique listening experience today's wrestling fan is sure to enjoy.
Follow Justine on Twitter @PastaSauca and read her curated list of 205 Live must-see matches & promos.
Follow Tim @TimKailWrites and visit www.workofwrestling.com.
Have a nice day!
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax tournament is underway, and Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail joins the fray!
Tim gives his impressions of New Japan, summing up the first five tag matches in broad terms, and then moves into the four singles matches, paying particular attention to Kenny Omega, Juice Robinson, and IWGP Champion Okada.
This is a great entry for new fans or those curious about New Japan (but Tim isn't trying to get you to watch it if you don't want to!) Tim also shares some pertinent commentary on the state of the pro-wrestling community and the relentless, tired conflicts between WWE-fans and indy-fans.
Follow on Twitter @TimKailWrites. Visit www.workofwrestling.com.
Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by Al Monelli to discuss WrestleMania 33.
They break down every match from the surprisingly excellent AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon to the somber, haunting farewell of The Undertaker.
Rate & Review the podcast in iTunes. Follow on Twitter @TimKailWrites & @Monellfilms. Visit www.workofwrestling.com and www.monellifilms.com.
Thank you for listening and have a nice day!
Tim Kail returns to Work of Wrestling with another special real-time commentary of a forgotten gem of a match, CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at the 2012 pay-per-view "Over The Limit". While the pay-per-view itself is forgettable, this match between Punk & Bryan is anything but. Their focus on realism, their believable selling, their consistent perspectives, and their innovative styles epitomize excellence in pro-wrestling artistry. Join Tim in watching this match as he pops like crazy, loses his breath, and offers his insights on performance from start to finish.
Tim also shares his thoughts on the current WWE product in the close, how SmackDown Live is, indeed, better than RAW and why the women should main event WrestleMania 34. Thanks for listening. Visit www.workofwrestling.com. Follow on Twitter @TimKailWrites. And never give up.
In part 2 of the Season Finale, Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail continues his investigation into why he, and so many others, feel perpetually dissatisfied by professional wrestling and often give up watching on a consistent basis. Rather than focus on all the repetitive criticisms that the pro-wrestling community consistently level at the WWE (Vince McMahon is out of touch, the writers are terrible, no one is "over"), Tim takes a deeper look at a potential flaw in the professional wrestling medium itself, specifically the way the WWE has structured its idea of pro-wrestling. This is the final episode before the hiatus, and it offers an unexpected resolution to a collection of issues Tim has faced for many years throughout his WWE-fandom. Follow on Twitter @TimKailWrites and visit www.workofwrestling.com.
In part 1 of the 2-part Season Finale of The Work of Wrestling, host Tim Kail tries to answer a simple question that's been haunting him for years: is there a specific moment, match, promo, angle, or event where he realized that his fandom of the WWE was permanently damaged? Why is it that after about four years, he almost always needs to take a break from wrestling? Is it something about him, is it something about WWE, or is it a little of both? Join him as he investigates the peak of his fandom by retracing the events of 2014. The answer may surprise you. Follow on Twitter @TimKailWrites and visit www.workofwrestling.com.
This is the first ever trans-Atlantic episode of The Work of Wrestling podcast! Kyle and Oliver of the UK visit the podcast to discuss their YouTube videos and song parodies known as "Pro-Wrestling Goes Acoustic". Tim has played K&O's music on the show before, but this time we actually get to hear from Kyle & Oliver themselves. They sat down to record their answers to a series of questions about everything ranging from the production of a single song-parody to whether or not they'd rather have a working lightsaber that's always on or suddenly wake up a Wookie. It's a fun, insightful episode that's equal parts glimpse into a delightful friendship and examination of the creative process. Follow Kyle and Oliver on Twitter @KyleandOliver and subscribe to their YouTube Channel "Kyle and Oliver".
Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by his friend and fellow pro-wrestling fan Al Monelli to discuss the classic battle between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. A continuation from last week's examination, Al offers up some insights by way of Bret's autobiography, he explains why Bret Hart & John Cena are his favorite wrestlers (and how they connect to Hilary Clinton!), and Al also delivers some useful constructive criticism for Monday Night Raw that could serve as a great model for future shows. Visit Al's site www.monellifilms.com to watch his documentaries. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimKailWrites and visit www.workofwrestling.com for the latest article on the art of professional wrestling. Send any stories to wrestlingworks@gmail.com.
The General Manager of Monday Night Raw, Mick Foley, joins Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail for an EXCLUSIVE interview about #WomensWrestling, his goals and function as RAW GM, his upcoming WWE Network Reality TV Show "Holey Foley", and much more! Mick gives listeners a peak behind the curtain on the night when Sasha Banks became the NEW WWE Women's Champion and also gives Tim some marriage advice! Follow Mick on Twitter @RealMickFoley and visit his website www.realmickfoley.com for details about his schedule. Visit www.workofwrestling.com for the latest articles by Tim Kail and follow Tim on Twitter @TimKailWrites. Subscribe, rate, and review The Work of Wrestling Podcast in iTunes and Stitcher.
Ricochet and Will Ospreay set the internet on fire last week with a match in New Japan Pro-Wrestling that sparked a contentious debate among fans and analysts. The match was so acrobatic (with many moves executed in a synchronized fashion) that veteran wrestlers and analysts contested that it wasn't actually wrestling, that the acrobatics negated the basic conceit of competition in pro-wrestling performance. Tim Kail, host of The Work of Wrestling podcast, firm believer in the importance of keeping pro-wrestling grounded in athletic believability, weighs in on the debate, offering his own definitive answer to the question, "Is this wrestling?"
It's WrestleMania! Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail is joined by Al Monelli to review the WWE's biggest show of the year WrestleMania. In addition to discussing what they liked and didn't like, Tim & Al break down the nuances of Charlotte's excellent performance, the significance of the newly rebranded Women's Championship belt, Triple H's badassery, and where the WWE can go from here. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and Al on Twitter @Monellifilms. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorial on the art of professional wrestling.
This week on The Work Of Wrestling podcast Tim Kail is once again joined by Al Monelli to discuss how a heel Shawn Michaels went out in a blaze of glory headed into WrestleMania 14. Tim & Al discuss everything from the differences between today's main roster and the wrestlers of 1997 (from clothing choice to promo delivery), as well as the sudden shift in DX from a violent, nihilistic stable under Shawn's leadership into a pandering, militaristic group at war with WCW. Tim & Al also cover the importance of the RAW IS WAR intro, and the inspiring nature of Shawn Michaels WreslteMania 14 entrance. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Follow Al @MonelliFilms. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorial on the art of professional wrestling. Also be sure to enter Mick Foley's WrestleMania Dream Vacation at www.wrestlemaniadreamvacation.org to support RAINN!
Was DX originally a couple of fun-loving pranksters who turned pro-wrestling into the Jerry Springer show, or were they a symbol of unfettered chaos, a testament to Shawn Michaels' mad genius? This week on The Work of Wrestling podcast host Tim Kail and special guest Al Monelli explore that question, offering a definitive answer that you won't get in Attitude Era or DX montages. This is an exploration of of DX's true nature under the leadership of Shawn Michaels, and how vicious and violent and unsettling DX-segments really were. Also, why do promos sound so different today? What was Shawn doing back then that few have been able to achieve since? It's not because promos are "scripted" today. Al & Tim offer a different explanation that further exemplifies Shawn's brilliance as a heel in 1997. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and follow Al @MonelliFilms. Send your thoughts, questions, and stories to wrestlingworks@gmail.com and go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorial on the art of professional wrestling.
This week a cold-ridden Tim Kail hosts a traditional three-part episode of The Work of Wrestling podcast. For The Lock-Up Tim Kail does a real-time tasting & review of Steve Austin and El Segundo Brewing Company's Broken Skull IPA. For The High Spot Tim questions how we deal with falling out of love with a particular art form or artist, opening up about his increasing disinterest in videogames (a form that was once incredibly precious to him). Then, in The Finish, Tim tells a story about how he's recently fallen back in love with something he once believed had lost all of its magic. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler! Email your stories to wrestlingworks@gmail.com. Have a nice day!
This week on The Work of Wrestling podcast, for The Lock-Up (9:40) host Tim Kail examines Grado vs Chris Renfrew at Insane Championship Wrestling's "Square Go" event. Tim breaks down Grado & Renfrew's promos, the essence of their conflict, and the brilliance of Grado's transformation. For The High Spot (35:40) Tim examines how an "awareness of mortality" can be an asset to one's creative life. In The Finish (51:08) Tim reads a story submission from @JohnDouglasFoto on Twitter, where John recounts his experience at the SECC to see ICW's Fear And Loathing VIII. Remember to rate and review this podcast in iTunes and follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Have a nice day!
The time has come to talk about the infamous "Shoot Heard Round the World" by CM Punk. Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail explicates Punk's improvised masterpiece, breaking down the significance of the promo line by line; how this promo gave birth to a new generation of pro-wrestling fans, how this promo wrote the distinction between "pro-wrestler" and "sports entertainer" into the fabric of the WWE's fiction, how this promo enlightened viewers about indy wrestler, pro-wrestling podcasting, and much more. This is a record, paying tribute to the mark Punk left both on the art of pro-wrestling and on Tim's life. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorial on the art of professional wrestling. Thanks for listening and have a nice day!
This week on The Work Of Wrestling podcast, for the Lock-Up Tim Kail reviews the NXT Take Over Brooklyn special with particular attention paid to #WomensWrestling and the Sasha Banks/Bayley show-stealer. For The High Spot Tim shares his thoughts on people who talk, inappropriately, during interactive artistic experiences - sharing Kevin Owens brilliant promo about the hypocritical NXT Full Sail audience. Keep an ear out for a song from YouTubers Kyle & Oliver ("Kevin Owens vs The world"). In The Finish Mick Foley answers a pro-wrestling version of The Bernard Pivot Questionnaire. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and have a nice day!
Your ears do not decieve you. Mick Foley (aka Cactus Jack, aka Dude Love, aka Mankind, aka Santa-Ambassador, aka no.1 contender for the Nicest Guy on Earth Award) joins Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail to talk pro-wrestling. Starting at 7:55 Mick & Tim tell the story of how they first began communicating and how they forged a bond over I Am Santa Claus. Their conversation continues from there, covering Mick's time as The Commissioner, Sami Zayn appreciating one of Tim's articles, the difference between being a cynic and being a good critic, Stephanie & Triple H's evolving role as Authority figures (and why no one really wants to boo them anymore), SummerSlam, the women's wrestling/Diva revolution and when Mick thinks we might see the ladies main event Monday Night Raw. Follow Mick Foley on Twitter @realmickfoley and visit his website www.realmickfoley.com/events for a detailed list of his appearances and shows. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorial on the art of professional wrestling. Thanks for listening, and have a nice day!
Join The Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail and his brother on a roadtrip to Pittsburgh! The two brothers discuss 1980s pro-wrestling, The Attitude Era, the art of Baseball, being a paper-boy, and the value of fearlessness and curiosity. Follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorial on the art of pro-wrestling. Thanks for listening! Have a nice day!
The Beast is in The East, ladies and gentleman! And that means Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail (despite not being a morning person) has woken up at 5:30am EST to record a real-time review for you of the WWE Network's live from Tokyo Japan ppv "Beast in the East". Tim covers every match (save a rather odd main event tag match between John Cena/Dolph Ziggler and Kane/Wade Barrett). It's a bit rambly and ranty, but hopefully you'll find Tim's half-asleep wrestling ravings an enjoyable divation from the norm. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and editorials on the art of professional wrestling.
What does it mean to be a WWE fan? That's the theme of the third and final part of Tim Kail's conversation with Alexander Monelli on The Work of Wrestling podcast. These two friends and passionate pro-wrestling fans devle into why they stick with WWE through all the ups and downs, regardless of how dissapointing Monday Night Raw can be. At 18:25 Al goes into detail about why he doesn't seek out Lucha Underground, NJPW, or other promotions despite his continued frustration with Monday Night Raw. At 23:00 the converstion transforms into how RAW would benefit from experimention - Al offering an intersting idea as to how the WWE can push their creative abilities, citing RAW Snow Day as a good example what what they're capable of. At 42:20 Tim asks Al (and himself) "Are you a WWE fan or are you a professional wrestling fan?" and what follows is a conversation that concludes this three-week dialogue - with Al & Tim arriving at a deeper understanding of their pro-wrestling fandom. Follow Al on Twitter @Monellifilms and follow Tim @MaximusWrestler. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for Tim's weekly reviews of Monday Night Raw & NXT. Submit your recommendations, stories, and thoughts to wrestlingworks@gmail.com.
It's part two of the epic Al & Tim pro-wrestling conversation! Last week Al compared and contrasted his experience of watching Mad Men with his experience of watching RAW, explaining how he's finding it increasingly difficult to stomach the WWE's flagship series. This week Al & Tim go into detail about things the WWE can specifically change about RAW. In The Lock-Up at 8:00 minutes Al talks about "all the things he could think of to improve Monday Night Raw", from Dean Ambrose's entrance music to new commentators. In The High Spot at 17:34 Al explains why pro-wrestling fans alienate him, and Tim goes into detail about his disdain for internet gut-reactions. Then, in The Finish at 35:00 minutes Al shares his ethos with the listener, eloquently differentiating between false-positivity, arrogance, and confidence. See the videos Al talks about at www.monellifilms.com. Follow Al on Twitter @Monellifilms and Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. For the latest RAW REVIEW and NXT Report go to www.workofwrestling.com. To share your thoughts, recommendations, or stories related to pro-wrestling email wrestlingworks@gmail.com
Have you ever questioned why you devote so much time to professional wrestling if it so often leaves you dissatisfied? That is the theme of this week's Work of Wrestling podcast as frequent guest and lifelong pro-wrestling fan, Al Monelli, joins host Tim Kail to explain why his interest in the WWE is steadily dwindling. Al contrasts his experience of watching the consistently excellent AMC drama Mad Men with his experience of watching the schizophrenic Monday Night Raw, and how these disparate experiences have lead to a significant realization. With age comes an increased awareness of the preciousness of time. So, when RAW inspires dejection and apathy in a viewer, does that viewer continue to watch simply because it's what they've always done or does the viewer search for a better use of their time? Join Al & Tim as they explore these questions and much more on The Work of Wrestling podcast. Follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and Al @MonelliFilms, and go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and NXT REPORT. Have a nice day!
Purposefully recorded the day before WrestleMania 31, this episde of The Work of Wrestling podcast hosted by Tim Kail creates a unique post-Mania experience for listeners. Instead of your typical Mania results/reaction show, Tim Kail is joined by Al Monelli to discuss what they think should and what they think will happen at Mania 31 and the listener, already knowing the results, will discover, over the course of the episode, whether or not Al & Tim's dreams were dashed or realized. Follow Al on Twitter @Monellifilms and follow Tim @MaximusWrestler. Be sure to visit www.workofwrestling.com for all the latest Raw Reviews, NXT Reports, and editorials on the art of professional wrestling!
The Work of Wrestling podcast host, Tim Kail, launches right into "The Lock-Up" this week (00:50) examining why Kevin Owens is such a captivating NXT Champion, from the subtleties of Owens' in-ring performance to the larger implications of the character's complexity as a heel with a family. He compares and contrasts Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens as modern faces and modern heels, sharing his hope to see thes two master-craftsman headline WrestleMania one day. On The High Spot (15:36) Tim shares the work of Kyle & Oliver, the creators of the YouTube music video series "Pro-Wrestling Goes Acoustic". Their song "Yes Movement" is an inspirational parody that sums up exactly what pro-wrestling fans are feeling about the WWE, why pro-wrestling fans love Daniel Bryan, and why it is that pro-wrestling fans need to band together and keep chanting "YES!" Tim also explains why the work of Kyle & Oliver is a good model for creating an cohesive social media artistic endeavor. Subscribe to their YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/kyleandoliver)! Lastly, in "The Finish" (23:38), fellow pro-wrestling analyst Andrea Gregovich shares a story about the first time she experienced pro-wrestling as a symbolic narrative, a deep, literary, theatrical experience. Her awakening is a testament to the artistic worth and power of the professional wrestling medium. Read her blog www.thespectacleofexcess.wordpress.com. There will be a new RAW REVIEW and a new NXT REPORT on www.workofwrestling.com this upcomming TUES and SAT respectively. You can follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and be sure to subscribe to The Work Of Wrestling podcast in iTunes. Give the show a rating and a review and have a very nice day!
This week on The Work of Wrestling podcast host Tim Kail is joined by his friend and fellow pro-wrestling fan Al Monelli to discuss the state of the WWE - what the company is doing right, what the company is doing wrong, and how the company might evolve. Hilariaty, coarse language, and philosophizing ensues. The typical 3-part format of the show is absorbed by the conversation, Tim & Al fluctuating between personal stories, thoughts on society & modern culture (with particular attention paid to Facebook & Twitter), and how the WWE is scrambling and fumbling towards The WrestleMania finish-line. Al & Tim offer honest, constructive criticism on how the WWE can get better, and share where they already see signs for positive change in the company. This is a frank discussion between two old friends who are passaionate about pro-wrestling, who are knowledgeable about pro-wrestling, and who very much want what's actually "best for business" for the WWE. You can follow Al on Twitter @MonelliFilms and you can follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Subscribe to the show in iTunes, give a rating, and a review, and remember to go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW and NXT REPORT. Thank you for listening! Have a nice day!
This episode is all about the art of the promo! In "The Lock-Up" (8:23) Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail reviews Paul Heyman's latest Monday Night Raw promo from the March 2nd episode. Heyman's mic cut out and, somehow, this made him an even better orator. In "The High Spot" (19:20) Tim brings the millenials along for a trip down memory lane where he analyzes, with the utmost sincerity and respect, Christian Bale's Terminator Salvation set freak-out. Be prepared for a wide-assortment of colorful metaphors, ladies & gents. And then, in The Finish (38:53), Tim Kail tells a personal story about his social media interactions with Paul Heyman, revealing how his writing on www.workofwrestling.com mighthave helped shape a very specific aspect of the Brock Lesnar character...forever...Tim knows it's a bold claim...just give the story a listen. Follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and like The Work of Wrestling Facebook page so you never miss an update! Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe in iTunes! Have a nice day!
What's your first memory of professional wrestling? That's the impetus for this week's story, and it evolves into a conversation between host Tim Kail and his brother Ben Kail about art, pro-wrestling, and the lasting impression Rocky III left on their lives.
In part one, The Lockup (11:33), Tim Kail reviews the latest episode of NXT and discusses the uncertain state of the WWE's best product. He poses a question to you, the listener, about whether or not his NXT anxieties and his fears about Vince McMahon's wrath are irrational. In part two, The High Spot (18:15), Ben & Tim discuss the effect "quasi-reality" has had on the culture of entertainment, and how "kids today" might be missing out (through no fault of their own) on the power of kayfabe. In part three, The Finish (37:42), Ben shares a story about how professional wrestling, specifically Hulk Hogan as "Thunderlips" in Rocky III, left an unexpected, lasting impression on his life. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Follow Ben on Twitter @BenKail. And remember to go to www.workofwrestling.com for all the latest wrestling reviews and editorials. If you would like to have your story in the finish of this podcast send an email to wrestlingworks@gmail.com. Have a very nice day!
Host Tim Kail's mother drops by to live-commentate the January 1st 2015 episode of WWE's NXT. What begins as an analysis of the Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens' rivalry gradually transforms into a soul-bearing discussion about loss, loneliness, and how human beings can find relief in art (pro-wrestling). The flow of the conversation naturally follows the three-act structure of The Work of Wrestling podcast; a review, an artistic analysis, and then a personal story. The Lock-Up (10:00) offers Tim & his mother's immediate reactions to various NXT performers & stories, The High Spot (20:40) is an examination of our need to believe in fictions, our desire to place faith in the idea of good triumphing over evil (including a snippet of Tim Kail's call-in conversation with Steve Austin on The Steve Austin Show), and then, in The Finish (24:46) Tim's mom shares her story, detailing what life is like for a widow, and she offers some words of wisdom for all those who are searching for a purpose. And, true to the form of the show, Tim ties it all back in with professional wrestling. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. Go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest Raw Reviews, NXT Reports, and Editorials. If you would like to have your story on the show submit to wrestlingworks@gmail.com. Thank you for listening! Have a nice day!
This week on The Work of Wrestling podcast Tim Kail gets Inspired by Colt Cabana's latest discussion with indy wrestler Cody Deaner. "The Lock-Up" and "The High Spot" are merged into one stretch of analysis, and Tim goes into detail about the way pro-wrestling and podcasting have inspired him in his life and in his creative efforts, and he offers some advice to those eager to make the leap into the self-promotional, internet-branding "content-creation" game (Starting at 12:00). Then in "The Finish" (26:44) Tim is joined by friend and fellow prowrestling fan Al Monelli (@Monellifilms on Twitter) to discuss whether or not celebrating pro-wrestling contributes to human beings purposefully destroying their bodies, and Al shares what it was like to meet his favorite wrestler, Bret The Hitman Hart, for the first time. If you would like to have your story on the show submit an email to wrestlingworks@gmail.com. Be sure to go to www.workofwrestling.com for the latest RAW REVIEW, NXT REPORT, and editorial about the art of professional wrestling. Thank you for listening. Follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and subscribe in iTunes so you never miss a new episode! And have a very nice day!
Pro-wrestling poetry, Monday Night Raw as "entertainment-mush", The Reality Era, and much more this week on The Work of Wrestling podcast! In Part 1 "The Lockup" (3:10) Tim reacts to Triple H's interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin, dissecting the significance of the final ten minutes of their conversation where Triple H acknolwedged a three-hour Monday Night Raw is far too long. In Part 2 "The High Spot" (18:25) Tim answers a question Triple H could not: "What does the Reality Era mean?". And then in "The Finish" (32:30) Tim reads an email submitted by listener Andrew about how Triple H vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania X-7 left a lasting impression on his appreciation for professional wrestling. If you would like to have your story on the show submit to wrestlingworks@gmail.com. You can also follow Tim on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and visit www.workowrestling.com for all the latest Raw Reviews, NXT Reports, and editorials on the craft of professional wrestling. Have a nice day!
Triple H is set to make a big announcement tonight on the 2/2/15 episode of RAW, so it's only fitting that today's episode of Work of Wrestling revolve around him. In part one, The Lockup (3:30), host Tim Kail reviews Triple H's latest SmackDown and WWE.com promos, explaning why a more likable, relatable Triple H character is "best for business". Why is it important to consider pro-wrestling an art form? In part two, The High Spot (11:30), Tim answers that question and more, delving into what art actually is and how art is at its best and most effective when it's not allienating anyone, when it is for everyone and not distinguishing itself from "entertainment". Then, in part three, The Finish (18:35) Tim tells the story of his first live pro-wrestling event experience, what it was like to see a face-Triple H give The Pedigree and the NWO to push their way through a hot crowd. If you would like to have your story on the show email to wrestlingworks@gmail.com or submit through The Work of Wrestling Submissions Page.
Rate and review the show in iTunes! Follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler. And be sure to go to www.workofwrestling.com for all the latest RAW REVIEWS, NXT Reports, and editorials. Have a nice day!
What was it like to live in a world pre-Roman Reigns Royal Rumble victory? What did a hopeful, perhaps naive Tim Kail have to say about the WWE's overall improvement since 2011? In this episode, recorded prior to The 2015 Royal Rumble, host Tim Kail reminisces about CM Punk in the Lockup (11:35), what he did for the WWE and how, since his departure, the booking actually improved in 2014. In Part 2, The High Spot (19:19), Mr. McMahon's comments about the millennial generation are examined further, how generational-thinking and generational-judgment is, itself, an outdated form of thought antithetical to human progress. And then, in The Finish (25:55), Tim Kail shares a personal story about some words of wisdom the toughest SOB in pro-wrestling, Stone Cold Steve Austin, had to share via email. For THE RAW REVIEW and THE NXT REPORT be sure to visit www.workofwrestling.com. Follow Tim Kail on Twitter @MaximusWrestler and be sure to hit that subscribe gimmick in iTunes and give the show a rating! Have a nice day!
Roman Reigns has won the 2015 Royal Rumble. And he was booed out of the building. How did we get here...again? Host Tim Kail is joined by long-time friend, filmmaker, and pro-wrestling fanatic Alexander Monelli for a special Royal Rumble edition of The Work of Wrestling. Both men share their experiences of the Rumble; the good and the bad, and provide useful, positive feedback for the WWE immediately following the broadcast. Al provides a historical context for the bad-booking that has led to this Royal Rumble fallout, juxtoposing the success and ascent of an injured Stone Cold Steve Austin with the absence of an injured Roman Reigns. Tim details his emotional journey throughout the Rumble event (including his undying hope that CM Punk could return). And then they bring it home discussing their love of the World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat match, and the excellence of "The Right Now" Seth Rollins. Follow Al on Twitter @Monellifilms and go to www.workofwrestling.com.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose seem to make a natural team going against The Authority in the coming weeks. So why doesn't the WWE committ? In part one, The Lock Up (4:45), host Tim Kail reviews the latest Roman & Dean segments on SmackDown and how RAW fails to follow-through and how Roman & Dean represent the team WWE fans need and deserve right now! In part two, The High Spot (15:00) Tim shares an uplifting WWE musical parody performed by YouTubers & musicians Kyle & Oliver. Their NXT-anthem serves as further proof that the millenial generation isn't as passionless and directionless as Vince McMahon and the WWE might think. And then, in The Finish (24:10), pro-wrestling analyst Andrea Gregovich of thespectacleofexcess.wordpress.com shares a childhood story about the first pro-wrestling match she ever saw. Thanks for listening! Go to www.workofwrestling.com for written reviews of RAW & NXT. Subscribe in iTunes! Rate! Review! Repeat! And have a nice day!
In episode 2 of The Work of Wrestling host Tim Kail shares his story about being an amateur wrestler in high school - how the experience affected him and shaped him. Part One "The Lockup" is a review of the 1/5/15 episode of RAW. Part Two "The High Spot" (beginning at 10:20) is an examination of the WWE's misuse of the word "Universe". Part Three "The Finish" (beginning at 14:30) goes into detail about what life can be like as an amateur wrestler in high school; the trials, the tribulations, the struggle and the triumph. For written reviews go to www.workofwrestling.com. If you would like to submit your story for "The Finish" then email wrestlingworks@gmail.com. Thank you for listening! Have a nice!
The very first episode of The Work of Wrestling podcast! In part one, "The Lockup", host Tim Kail reviews the latest episode of NXT, discussing how a Blue Pants roll-up victory and a good Charlotte promo made him pop and why. In Part Two "The High Spot" (10:29), the most basic truth of professional wrestling storytelling is examined - the importance of distinguishing between "pro-wrestling" terminology and "sports entertainment" terminology explained. And lastly, in Part Three "The Finish" (31:25), Tim's old college buddy and fellow wrestling fanatic shares a touching story about how pro-wrestling "shaped his life". Thank you for listening. If you would like to submit your story for The Finish email wrestlingworks@gmail.com or go to www.workofwrestling.com.