Professional Wrestling Studies Association
Studying the Past, Present, and Future of Professional Wrestling
We are on the road to WWE’s Survivor Series and AEW’s Full Gear, which means that 2020 is nearly drawing to a close. With Hell in a Cell now in the rearview, I’ll be taking a look at the epic meeting between forever rivals Bayley and Sasha Banks, as well as where the rest of … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Poetry in Motion (October 28, 2020)
Fall is finally here, friends! And with the withering of the leaves outside also comes the winding down of the wrestling calendar year of 2020. I can’t believe we’re entering the final quarter of this black hole of a year. Are we heading toward going out with a bang, or a quiet sizzle for the … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Wild Women (September 30, 2020)
The summer is drawing to a close in this marathon of a year. And as far as wrestling is concerned, there’s been plenty of heat in and out of the ring in both WWE and AEW. For the women, there have been some definite highs, but mentally I’m drawn more to the bad stuff, unfortunately. … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Discombobulated (September 16, 2020)
Oh don’t worry, we’ll get to that finish from Extreme Rules in due time… Returning for another edition of Nylons, we have some good and horrific things to talk about in the wake of The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. But, we also have a few topics to visit outside of that show, and also … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Ring the Freakin’ Bell! (July 22, 2020)
Much of the same mix of hope and anxiety have continued for me since the last edition of Nylons. And what’s worse is that I (spoiler) have many negative feelings toward wrestling at the moment, for the various news that have come out in the last couple of weeks. From WWE allegedly forbidding Performance Center … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Deliver Us From Charlotte (June 24, 2020)
Disheartened, exhausted, hopeful. These are just a handful of the emotions that I’ve felt in the last three weeks of American life. I, like Black folks everywhere in this nation, had to search deep in my well of stamina to both process the violence hurled at Us and protesters, as well as find resilience to … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Meritocracy Is A Lie (June 10, 2020)
The oddest WrestleMania in history has come and gone, folks. And well, with all due respect to AEW, I think the historic nature of WrestleMania this year requires me to focus on it exclusively this week. Still, I will give some general thoughts on AEW at the end of this post. All in all, I … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: The Business of Wrestling (WrestleMania Review, 2020)
In the words of the great feminist writer Roxane Gay, every day is a month in this new world of social distancing. As a fan of wrestling, I am glad to still have this form of entertainment during this tumultuous time. However, it comes with a twinge of concern for the people I see on … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Near? Far? Wherever You Are… (March 25, 2020)
Although many associate the cliched film line “there’s a storm coming” as a bad omen, in the context of the wrestling world at the moment, the storm in question could be stirring positive changes for women’s competition. The women’s matches at Clash of Champions were for the most part good, and NXT made its debut … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: There’s a Storm Coming (September 24, 2019)
Well, well, well. The more some things change, the more they stay the same. The Four Horsewomen are finally clashing all at once on WWE TV, and I, like many fans, feel like a kid in a candy store. The four most beloved and polarizing women in the company will be facing off in pairs … Read more Nylons and Midriffs: Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse (September 9, 2019)