aptaube

That, too. I feel that sometimes the theory is somewhat applicable and other times he is working backward and trying to push a square peg into a round hole. I also feel it doesn't accurately take into account all the winking at the camera that was being done during the Monday Night Wars era. I empathize with him, though. I imagine writing regularly about wrestling is hard because sometimes a given show has no deeper meaning or broader cultural statement and it is just a pro wrestling show.

I just wish he'd be more forthcoming about the fact that he wasn't watching a ton of wrestling until he started doing "Dead Wrestler of the Week." I think his writing is solid from a liberal arts/drama criticism perspective, but it was super frustrating listening to him mansplain to Peter Rosenberg about Mike Quackenbush's time as a lovable underdog in ECW on their Cheap Heat podcast. Like, I'd never judge him for not having watched Chikara, but he looks silly talking about it like it's his jam when he's been thinking Mike Quackenbush and Mikey Whipwreck are the same person. Alas, his is one of a very few thoughtful, well-written wrestling columns on the web — at least that I'm aware of — so I read basically everything he writes.