Professional Wrestling Studies Association
Studying the Past, Present, and Future of Professional Wrestling
Wade Keller had been editing and publishing the Pro Wrestling Torch from a Minneapolis suburb for four years at the time of this 1991 interview. Keller started his newsletter as a high school student and featured interviews along with news. Although there are a variety of sources for “insider” pro wrestling news today, in the … Read more Before Shoot Interviews: Wade Keller–Part 1
CALL FOR PAPERS: Anthology on Wrestling in the Pandemic Health, Illness, and Injury in Professional Wrestling: A Special Section of a forthcoming issue of Survive and Thrive Professional Wrestling Studies Journal Vol. 4 Wrestling in the Pandemic Editors: Lowery Woodall, Jessica Fontaine, and CarrieLynn D. Reinhard On April 9, 2020, in the early days of … Read more CALLS FOR PAPERS
What is your area of study/research? I’m Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Bath. My study/research agenda is broadly split into two strands that frequently overlap. The first focuses on UK politics, in particularly in Wales and relating to the Labour Party more generally. The second focuses on ideological contestation, hegemonic struggles, and … Read more PWSA Meet and Greet: David S. Moon
The Wrestling Observer newsletter, one of the first, and likely the most influential, professional wrestling newsletters is written and edited by California-based Dave Meltzer. When I was an intern at Marvel Comics in 1990, the editor with whom I worked was a professional wrestling fan and told me about this newsletter, and I have been … Read more Before Shoot Interviews: Dave Meltzer
What is your area of study/research? I am Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, and I am interested in how people make sense of themselves, each other, and the world around them. That means I largely draw on audience studies, reception studies, and fan studies. I also focus … Read more PWSA Meet and Greet: CarrieLynn D. Reinhard
Eddie Sharkey turns his attention to his Pro Wrestling America (PWA) promotion in the second part of this 1991 interview. In addition to describing the dynamics of trying to be an independent promoter at a time when the World Wrestling Federation had driven many other regional wrestling promotions out of business, Mr. Sharkey provides some … Read more Before Shoot Interviews: Eddie Sharkey–Part 2
What is your area of study/research? I’m Associate Professor in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Alabama. My research has focused on religion in America, and I’ve been particularly interested in the ways religion functions a category for the construction and performance of individual and group identity. What led to your interest in … Read more PWSA Meet and Greet: Michael J. Altman
“Just look for the beat-up-looking old wrestler,” Eddie Sharkey advised me over the phone as we set up our 1991 breakfast meeting at a Denny’s restaurant in Minneapolis. As of 1991, Sharkey had just about done it all in professional wrestling: grappling, training, refereeing, and promoting. Sipping cup after cup of coffee, Sharkey’s tall tales … Read more Before Shoot Interviews: Eddie Sharkey–Part 1
What is your area of study/research? I am an interdisciplinary scholar whose major field of study includes Geography, Black Studies, and Cultural Studies. Broadly, I am interested in understanding the way space and place shape knowledge production, the relationship between cultural production and the political economy, and I have a growing interest in the politics … Read more PWSA Meet and Greet: Dewitt King
When I talked to Theodore “Teddy” Long in 1992, he was working as a television commentator for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the second most popular wrestling promotion in America. Mr. Long was able to accomplish much during his several years in WCW, where he served as a referee, wrestling manager, and commentator. LONG: I’m from … Read more Before Shoot Interviews: Teddy Long