Poor Motivation for Big Mega Stars! – A Critical Review

WrestleMania marks the culmination of a year’s worth of storytelling. As WWE’s most pivotal event, it showcases blockbuster matches and championship victories that pave the way for upcoming storylines. These matches engage audiences, offering a glimpse into the journeys of new champions, former champions, and megastars. Among WWE’s annual shows, the Raw episode following WrestleMania … Read more Poor Motivation for Big Mega Stars! – A Critical Review

The Best of NXT in 2018

This review of NXT from 2018 comes from more of a fangirl perspective than an academic one, and it is meant to reflect only my own preferences for the best part of the WWE Universe. I would love to hear any other NXT fan’s reactions to this past year, and for a second opinion, and … Read more The Best of NXT in 2018

Review – All In

For those unaware, All In, which took place at the Sears Centre Arena just outside Chicago, IL on September 1, 2018, came about because of a tweet posted on May 16, 2017 by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer. In the tweet, Meltzer denied that an independent wrestling promotion like Ring of Honor (ROH) could … Read more Review – All In

Summer Slam 2018: Coronations and Contracts

Well, the “biggest event of the summer” has arrived, and WWE has taken over Brooklyn for the fourth consecutive year. WWE’s SummerSlam is one of the WWE’s “Big Four” (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Survivor Series) pay-per-views, and each year it’s being hyped as bigger and bigger, which is made evident as the show gets longer and … Read more Summer Slam 2018: Coronations and Contracts

The Surreal Reality of Professional Wrestling: A Wrestlemania Reflection

Any WrestleMania weekend experience is going to be marked by surreal moments. From the shear spectacle of the WWE’s collection of events and activities, to the overwhelming amount of professional wrestling occurring over seven days, and to the breathtaking risks and frequently draw-dropping storytelling of the performers on cards all across the weekend’s host city, … Read more The Surreal Reality of Professional Wrestling: A Wrestlemania Reflection

WrestleMania 34 Rhetorical Recap: Golden Spotlights, Crimson Masks, and the (Unconscious) Race Politics of Smarks

Throughout the year, the Professional Wrestling Studies Association has offered a range of event coverage for WWE Pay Per Views as well as a host of vintage and indie shows and performers. Our goal is to cultivate an exclusive space for creative and scholarly writing, from close readings and fan perspectives. WrestleMania 34 offers the … Read more WrestleMania 34 Rhetorical Recap: Golden Spotlights, Crimson Masks, and the (Unconscious) Race Politics of Smarks

WrestleMania 34: A Travelogue

In recent years, WrestleMania weekend has become an opportunity for numerous domestic and international wrestling promotions to converge on the host city in order to capitalize on the presence of tens of thousands of wrestling fans from around the world. I have attended three previous WrestleManias (XXV in Houston, 2009, XXVII in Atlanta, 2011, and … Read more WrestleMania 34: A Travelogue

Review – NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

This past weekend, New Orleans, Louisiana played host to several different professional wrestling promotions, all of which offered an abundance of pro graps to wrestling fans of all persuasions. For instance, AAW, Fight Club: Pro, and The Wrestling Revolver co-sponsored the Pancakes and Piledrivers show, which took place at WrestleCon and caused some controversy when … Read more Review – NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

Rhetorical Recap: WWE’s Royal Rumble and the Statistical Significance of Spectacle

In an age of bottom lines, stakeholder interests, global market competitiveness, spreadable media strategies, Internet social media and sports infotainment coverage, and political correctness, and of course, strategically placed press releases and media events in between the NFL’s championship and Super Bowl weekends, how could the company not book the Women’s Rumble last?

Taking Back Today: Reconciling Subversiveness with Status Quo in Women’s Royal Rumble

It began as anyone may have expected it would, with two solid workers from WWE’s women’s division, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, getting the crowd hot for the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble. Both competitors are two of the most memorable women to ever step foot in a ring, with Banks as the biracial, purple-haired cousin … Read more Taking Back Today: Reconciling Subversiveness with Status Quo in Women’s Royal Rumble