Pro-Wrestling On My Mind

More fallout from the Royal Rumble.  Not for anyone on any of the WWE rosters, but for me personally. I'm not sure if I believe in Joe Hendry, but I do believe the song is catchy. And I like the guitar solo. So I caved and bought the damn thing on iTunes. Are Joe Hendry and Drew McIntyre the two ends of the Scottish Spectrum? At least I already had a playlist ready to insert it into: Yes, it's really called that, and yes, it's true.

“Never do that again Cole, there’s people listening.” - Wade Barrett during the Women’s Royal Rumble The above quote made me laugh and inspired today's post.  The quality of commentary can have such a major impact on pro-wrestling. It’s not necessary for enjoyment, as attending a live event makes clear, but it can greatly enhance or detract from the experience when watching on TV or streaming. Good commentary can elevate an average match to good and great to legendary. Conversely, bad commentary belittles, if not ruins, a match; it can distract from talent and even harm careers. There have been many times over the years where poor commentary has made me reach for (or want to reach for in instances when it was not me in control of the remote) the mute button. Every time Jerry Lawler so much as mentioned women during the Attitude Era filled me with disgust and my brain tried to transform his voice to sound like a teacher from the “Peanuts” cartoons. Michael Cole’s tenure at attemptin...

A second post today because I watched the Royal Rumble and was inspired.  We need a wrestling database akin to Letterboxd. I have my first category ready: Wrestlers who betrayed their friends because they felt they were being screwed over and/or held back and then made their own merch at home to mock their former friends. But only one of them looks like an extra in a Lady Gaga music video. Now I kinda want to see them as a tag team. And, let's be honest, having them become a tag team because of this makes more sense than a lot of other tag teams WWE has thrown together over the years.* *One of my pet conspiracy theories is that a lot of the seemingly random WWE teams we've seen over the years is the result of shenanigans at company parties, consisting of drunk people putting on blindfolds and throwing darts at a roster list taped to a wall.