Professional Wrestling Studies Association
Studying the Past, Present, and Future of Professional Wrestling
prowrestlingstudies_21lb3c This comic biography of Hacksaw Jim Duggan begins “in medias res” — “into the middle of things,” in a Royal Rumble. Like many mythical births, Hacksaw Jim Duggan was born special. Consider the baby years of Paul Bunyan: Now I hear tell that Paul Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine. It took five giant storks … Read more Hacksaw Jim Duggan Comic Biography
We should perhaps reconfigure [nostalgia] in terms of a distinction between the desire to return to an earlier state or idealized past, and the desire not to return but to recognize aspects of the past as the basis for renewal and satisfaction in the future. Nostalgia can then be seen as not only a search … Read more Nostalgia and the Wrestling Fan
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
The first stop on the Road to WrestleMania is behind us, and as expected, we’re left with more questions than answers leading up to the show of shows. In this post, I will revisit how the women’s division has developed thus far this year, as well as run down the hills and valleys of last … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Between a Chamber and a Hard Place (February 18, 2019)
February 18, 2019 For More Information, please contact: Jack Karlis, jackkarlis@gmail.com The Professional Wrestling Studies Association announces its inaugural Executive Committee and Editorial Board The Professional Wrestling Studies Association [PWSA] announces its inaugural Executive Committee, under the leadership of President CarrieLynn D. Reinhard. The PWSA also announces its inaugural Editorial Board for its blog and … Read more 2019 Inaugural Election Results
The story of Lanny Poffo, as told in the recent biography by Squared Circle Press, is a story of family. Poffo’s first wrestling opponent, in this biography, was his father. But the story starts earlier, with his father’s record for situps, recorded in a single-panel newspaper cartoon. Poffo also wrestled with his brother, Randy Savage. The … Read more Wrestlers in Comics: Leaping Lanny, the Genius
Squared Circle comics continues its wrestling biography series with a look at Bruno Sammartino. The story begins in Italy, and the bulk of the first issue of the series is set in Italy and then Pittsburgh. Taken together with the biography of Nicolai Volkoff, the first thing that this series of comic biographies teaches me … Read more Comic Biography of Bruno Sammartino
Welcome back to Nylons and Midriffs, good wrestling fans! I hope 2019 is treating you all well so far. I am ecstatic to rehash what went down at this year’s Royal Rumble for you all, as I feel it encompasses all that is going on in the women’s division as a whole — good, bad, … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: All the Small Things (Royal Rumble Review, January 30, 2019)
It says something about the theater of professional wrestling that I did not know that Nikolai Volkov was not Russian. Volkoff was born Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018). He was born in Croatia, and from childhood, envisioned an escape to the West. The first issue of this new … Read more A Comic Biography of Nikolai Volkov
While it’s a bit corny to say, there really isn’t a better time to be a fan of women’s wrestling in WWE. Through the ups and the downs, this year was truly unforgettable for the division and fans who have been clamoring for women’s progressivism since the Attitude Era. Sure, there are some kinks to … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: The Year of the Woman (Year In Review, 2018)