Professional Wrestling Studies Association
Studying the Past, Present, and Future of Professional Wrestling
“A cross between Little Richard and Muhammad Ali” is how Marc Mero, better known as Johnny B. Badd, described himself in 1992 when I talked to him. The description was quite apt for the muscular, tanned wrestler who wore lipstick, rouge, and skimpy wrestling tights. Mero was a newcomer to wrestling in 1992 but off … Read more Before Shoot Interviews: Marc Mero
It’s Time! It’s WrestlePosium Time! The President of the PWSA invites submissions for the association’s WrestlePosium IV. This virtual symposium will happen online on Saturday, April 1st, 2023. We are having the symposium with the WrestleMania festivities to be a part of the general festivities. For more on the WrestlePosium series, see https://www.prowrestlingstudies.org/home-2/wrestleposium-the-online-symposium/ The PWSA seeks … Read more Call for WrestlePosium IV Presentations, Papers, Panels
CALL FOR PAPERS, ABSTRACTS, AND PANEL PROPOSALS Wrestling Studies Area Co-Chairs CarrieLynn D. Reinhard (creinhard@dom.edu) and Christopher J. Olson (olson429@uwm.edu) Midwest Popular Culture Association / Midwest American Culture Association Annual Conference Friday-Sunday, 2-4 October 2020 Minneapolis, Minnesota Westin Minneapolis Minnesota is famous for its impact on professional wrestling. Minnesota has produced many classic superstars like … Read more Call for MPCA/ACA 2020 Wrestling Studies
Working the Circuit: Cultural Studies of Florida Guest Editors: Aisha Durham, Wesley Johnson, and Sasha Sanders, University of South Florida Florida figures prominently in the US American imaginary. It is a spectacular state of escape for spring breaking coeds, disneyfied kids, and sun-seeking “snowbirds” who flock south among resettled retirees, new migrants, longtime locals, and … Read more Call for Papers: Special Issue on Cultural Studies of Florida
From Paul Heyman to Mike Quackenbush, Philadelphia has given birth to some pretty amazing professional wrestling promotions. In the late 1990s, ECW brought a hardcore, grunge aesthetic to sports entertainment. Since 2002, CHIKARA has been bringing more focus to storylines, characters, and amazing matches. Because the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association is holding the annual … Read more Call for Proposals: PCA 2020 in Philly
The President of the PWSA invites submissions for the association’s inaugural PWSA Symposium: WrestlePosium I. This virtual symposium will happen online on Saturday, April 4th, to coincide with WrestleMania. That week has become a touchstone for all of professional wrestling, not just the World Wrestling Entertainment’s signature show. As such, the PWSA seeks to bring … Read more Call for PWSA’s Inaugural Symposium
The Professional Wresting Studies Association invites submissions for the inaugural issue of the Professional Wrestling Studies Journal, an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal. We welcome scholarly work from any theoretical and methodological lens that is rigorous, insightful, and expands our audience’s understanding of professional wrestling past or present as a cultural, social, political, and/or economic institution. … Read more CFP: Professional Wrestling Studies Journal
By Claire Warden In 1957 Roland Barthes famously said, “The virtue of all-in wrestling is that it is the spectacle of excess. Here we find a grandiloquence which must have been that of ancient theatres”. In fact the histories of professional wrestling and theatre are deeply intertwined, from the music hall where wrestling pioneers such … Read more “Our Uncle Vanya”: Red Ladder’s production of ‘Glory” (April 2019)
Calls for MPCA/ACA 2019: Wrestling Studies Division. Deadline: May 15, 2019 With so much to talk about in professional wrestling right now, we’re looking forward to papers that cover a range of topics: from women’s wrestling in WWE to All Elite Wrestling to Southern style wrasslin’, we welcome any submission on any topic. In particular, … Read more Call for Presentations
One night while working on the Ciampa/Gargano slash project i.e. reading fanfic and luvin it), I realized how all these fanfics are not attempts to recode the Ciampa/Gargano (CG) NXT story (e.g. characters, plot points, facts) but to recode the emotions of the stories as those emotions play a role in how fans decode the stories. … Read more The Emotionality Behind Ciampa/Gargano: Part 1 Pre-Tag Team Titles