So, this article has been inspired by a note I saw on this platform last week that gained a little traction. In this note, the author expressed disappointment that there wasn’t much in the way of pro-wrestling literary criticism out there, a sentiment then backed up in the comments. Well, this could not be further from the truth. (Honestly, I’m not calling out the person in question, but before throwing comments out there, it’s a good idea to do a little quick research to check whether you’re actually right, and not glossing over many excellent people’s work.) It may or may not surprise you that pro-wrestling is a thriving area of academic research. As well as literary criticism, this research considers wrestling’s links to politics, neoliberalism, theatre, mythology, and more. If you’re interested in thinking about pro-wrestling in this way, it’s worth checking out the Pro Wrestling Studies Association. You can find all presentations from previous years’ Wrestleposiums on their YouTube channel.
But what I thought I’d do in this article is share the wrestling sources from my own academic annotated bibliography (mostly written in 2022/23). This will give you a wide range of reading material, divided into the following categories:
- Wrestling theory
- Kayfabe
- Economics of the WWE
- Wrestling in fiction
Each source has my rough notes below it. Bear in mind, firstly, I come to postgraduate research from a creative writing background so this may not be the most professional annotated bibliography ever seen. Secondly, though my notes should provide a helpful general overview of the source, they are slanted towards my own research goals. In that sense, you’ll also get a little glimpse into my research process. Oh, and you may see a familiar name on there (hey, The Work Of Wrestling, how you doing). I’m always open to giving recommendations – as you’ll see, I’ve had to do A LOT of reading in this area. I appreciate this might be a lot of information, but hopefully you find something useful/stimulating in there. Enjoy!
- Wrestling theory
Barthes, Roland, ‘The World of Wrestling’, Mythologies (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972)
Comment: Starting point for most wrestling scholars. ‘Public abandons itself to primary virtue of the spectacle’ – spectacle of excess – modern definition of kayfabe goes somewhat against this, as public abandons while at the same time obsessing over boundaries of work/shoot. Agree: what public wants is image of passion – key to reading kayfabe. Reading of wrestling as moral universe fails to consider neoliberal perspective.
Beard, David and Heppen, John, ‘The Wrestling Ring as Stage for the Most Popular Form of American Theater’ in Iconic Sports Venues, eds Danielle Johannesen & Mark E. Hugden (New York: Peter Lang, 2017), 177-190
Comment: Why ‘space’ of wrestling matters – this reading can help to analyse matches in performance context. Like idea of ring as mirror of local community, though this doesn’t take into account wider societal influences, and status of WWE as powerful, multinational brand. ‘No homefield advantage’ – though a big part of a wrestler’s identity is their hometown, which can then be used to incite face or heel reactions. Consider the impact of wrestling’s homeless, carnival-inspired nature, on performers’ bodies. Possible optimism angle – community of entertainment.
Beekman, S, Ringside : a history of professional wrestling in America (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2006)
Comment: Comprehensive history of professional wrestling.
Brown, Wes. Breaking Kayfabe: Pro Wrestling, Masculine Performativity and the Narrativized Self. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, 2022, University of Kent.
Comment: Important in explaining kayfabe as ‘pact’ of disbelief between audience and performer. Also offers first-hand – through dad – of traditional notion of kayfabe. Links confessional to wrestling, through his own autofiction. Can use for reading of Foucault. However, as thesis sits solely in relation to creative project, does not delve into pro wrestling scholarship very deeply.
Chow, Broderick et al, ‘Introduction: Hamlet doesn’t blade: Professional wrestling, theatre, and performance’ in Performance and Professional Wrestling (Oxon: Routledge, 2017), 1-6
Comment: Positioning professional wrestling in field of performance studies.
Chow, B, ‘Work and Shoot: Professional Wrestling and Embodied Politics’, TDR : Drama Review, 58(2), 2014, 72–86
Comment: Optimistic outlook in that emphasises values of cooperation, care, openness through collaborative physical practice, and community through shared language – can relate to DFW & Bryan Gardner book. But where can model of resistance come from, especially in WWE monopoly era?
Edwards, Douglas. Philosophy Smackdown. Polity, 7 May 2020.
Comment: Pop philosophy, not academic, so shouldn’t overuse on that basis. However, some good basic uses – Aristotle virtues i/r/t pro wrestling; pro wrestling potential as more progressive storytelling force.
Ezell, Jon, ‘The dissipation of “heat”: Changing role(s) of audience in professional wrestling in the United States’ in Performance and Professional Wrestling (Oxon: Routledge, 2017), pp 9-16
Comment: Impact of mediatisation on wrestling industry – important for Marxist read on kayfabe. How has TV, and the scripting that’s come along with it, affected kayfabe, narrative structure of feuds, and therefore, finally, performers’ relationship with identity and character. Agree with performers lacking autonomy, but not positioning as ‘post-kayfabe’.
Foy, Matt, ‘The Ballad of the Real American: A Call for Cultural Critique of Pro-Wrestling Storylines’, The Popular Culture Studies Journal, vol. 6, no. 1, 2018, pp. 173-88
Comment: Centred on ethical, moral issues – used to show pro wrestling’s importance and danger of lack of progressive attitude in industry. Important in that I answer Foy’s (and Kennedy’s) call for scholarship at storyline level. Too simplistic view of feud-based structure, kayfabe.
Grubisic, Brett Josef. “Testing Mettle: Goldust and the Spectacle of Masculinity in the World of Wrestling”. Popular Culture Review, 10(1), 1999, pp.139 –156.
Comment: Aging article but used to define sexual issues invoked by character Goldust. Better to use Janine Bradbury in Performance and Pro Wrestling.
Haynes, Neil, ‘Cheering the Collective Lucha: Populist Discourse in Bolivian Politics and Wrestling’ in Professional Wrestling: Politics and Populism eds. Sharon Mazer, Heather Levi,
Eero Laine, Nell Haynes (London: Seagull Books, 2020), p.171-192
Comment: Wrestling’s connection to social justice, capacity to represent the marginalised struggle. Need to use i/r/t creative work.
Kennedy, Eric, ‘“What’s Best for Business”: Pro Wrestling and Capitalist Appropriation’ in Professional Wrestling: Politics and Populism eds. Sharon Mazer, Heather Levi, Eero Laine, Nell Haynes (London: Seagull Books, 2020), p.68-87
Comment: Positioning WWE as ‘micro-capitalist structure’, giving audience illusion of control, appropriating fan revolts i/r/t narrative process – ‘Spectators pay to feel radical’. Aligned with Kennedy (and Matt Foy’s) approach to investigating WWE at storyline level; however, I will aim to go further by examining work/shoots appropriating and thus commodifying personal trauma.
Kail, Tim. “Pro-Wrestling Is An Art… But It’s Better When Wrestlers Don’t Know That”. The Work of Wrestling, 20 July 2017.
Comment: Really good work on defining wrestling as ‘fourth wall’ theatre, and explaining how it differs from film and TV. Need to read much more of his work.
Litherland, B, Phillips, T, & Warden, C, ‘Scholarly Grappling: Collaborative ‘Work’ in the Study of Professional Wrestling’, Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 36(1), 2021, 213–228
Comment: Emphasising importance of performance studies in wrestling scholarship. Also, danger that wrestling evades theoretical framework, leading to bitty approach. Positive arguments on care and collaboration in wrestling as metaphor for life, and importance of fandom when studying subject (acafan – academic fan).
Mazer, Sharon. “Donald Trump Shoots the Match”. TDR : Drama Review, 62(2), 2018, pp.175–200.
Comment: Example of wrestling scholar using kayfabe as lens to examine third thing. However, as per JT feedback, might want to remove my argument against this.
Mazer, Sharon, Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle (2nd ed.) (Mississippi: University of Mississippi Press, 2020 (1st ed. 1998))
Comment: Early wrestling scholar – important in positioning wrestling in popular culture/performance theory/participatory audience behaviour. Mazer steps away from Barthes idea of wrestling as morality play, and suggests injustice is key, allowing fans to read life through wrestling. Opportunity to build on ideas around this, plus fan appeal i/r/t ‘modern-day’ understanding of kayfabe, through a Marxist perspective.
Mazer, Sharon, ‘The game of life’ in Performance and Professional Wrestling (Oxon: Routledge, 2017), pp 196-206
Comment: Highlighting lack of spontaneity in WWE performance, mediatised, ‘sealed against protest’. Also, introducing Baudrillard – ‘shared governance become more show than reality’.
MacFarlane, Kit, ‘A Sport, A Tradition, A Religion, A Joke: The Need for a Poetics of In-ring Storytelling and a Reclamation of Professional Wrestling as a Global Art’, Asiatic, vol. 6, no. 2, 2012, pp.136-155
Comment: Wrestling as language in its own right to suppress cultural boundaries – international and inter-cultural language. Important in context of novel.
Morales, G, and Mario A. Dozal, ‘“I Learned Most of My Anatomy from WWE”: A Health Communication Argument for Health-Related Studies of Professional Wrestling, Popular Culture Studies Journal 6, no 1, 2018, pp. 155-172
Patterson, Eleanor. “Tape Trading: Professional Wrestling and the History of TV Distribution”. Flow Journal, 4 December 2020
Comment: Tapes ‘facilitated fan performance of knowledge and ability to legitimate their arguments and position about wrestling in debates within the fandom’ – vital to formation of IWC and wider influence of wrestling as art form distributed more widely. Contrast with WWE Network.
Reinhard, C. D., & Olson, Christopher John, Convergent wrestling : participatory culture, transmedia storytelling, and intertextuality in the squared circle (London; New York : Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2019)
Comment: Wrestling as prime example of convergent media (form of entertainment blurring identities, genres, practices and realities). Convergence of reality and fiction of main importance. To be continued…
Phillips, T, ‘Wrestling with grief: fan negotiation of professional/private personas in responses to the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide’, Celebrity Studies, 6(1), 2014, 69–84
Comment: Example of how WWE tries to control memorialisation narratives, and indeed, potentially, how they control all narratives around performers, though complicated by concept of kayfabe. Disclaimer before Benoit matches on Network: WWE characters are fictitious and do not reflect the personal lives of the actors portraying them. WWE seeking to re-separate character from real-life. Consider i/r/t Jeff Hardy and how this affects workers’ rights, status. Also, very briefly argued that depiction on-screen shapes private persona and thus affects circumstances of tragedy – need to build on this.
Roddy, F, ‘Wrestling with the Controller: Why professional wrestling’s relationship with realism and narrative has hindered its remediation into computer game form’, The Computer Games Journal, 3(2), 2014, 83–99
Comment: Argues WWE monopoly era meant company didn’t need to push boundaries in nature of weekly programme. Disagree in that kayfabe evolved, and also from a performer’s perspective: bodies of performers pushed harder, work/shoot involves more emotional labor.
Sammond, Nicholas. “Introduction: A Brief and Unnecessary Defense of Pro Wrestling” in Steel Chair to the Head eds. Sammond, N., Barthes, R., Jenkins III, H., Mazer, S., & Monsivais. Duke University Press, 2005, pp.1-21.
Comment: Really good for establishing dynamics for pro wrestler’s wellbeing exploitation. 2 ways – overvaluing of opportunity, inability to control passion; and exploitation by management – contracts. Volume also includes Barthes.
Sciarretta, E, ‘The use of social media as part of a transmedia storytelling strategy in WWE’s professional wrestling’, In: Meiselwitz, G. (ed.) HCII 2019. LNCS, vol. 11578, pp. 556–570
Comment: Social media offers performers capability to reshape kayfabe from within. Not that simple, see Zack Ryder example, though still cause for optimism. Can social media combined with cooperative culture of performers and role of audience create more moments where the promoter is ‘missed out’? – compare to Chow & Laine article ‘Audience Affirmation’.
Shoemaker, D. The squared circle : life, death and professional wrestling. Gotham Books, 2016.
Comment: As per Beekman, great for contextualising. Offers a solid history of development of WWE.
Smith, R. T., ‘Passion Work: The Joint Production of Emotional Labor in Professional Wrestling’, Social Psychology Quarterly, 71(2), 2008, 157–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250807100205
Comment: Reading of wrestling through Hochschild. ‘Passion work is jointly performed emotional labor designed to elicit passionate response’ – link to Chow & Laine ‘Between antagonism…’ and Matt Hardy vs Edge feud. By separating indies from WWE for purposes of study, doesn’t adequately consider top-down structure of industry – most indy wrestlers trained by ex-TV star – and repetition of creative structures/tropes. Definition and use of term ‘kayfabe’ feels antiquated – prefer Fontaine – and doesn’t adequately consider ‘story’ element, ie promos, acting outside of the ring. Interesting reading on physical performance (in-ring) but even this can be argued against in context of CM Punk ‘pipebomb’.
Souther, Ashley, ‘Professional Wrestling as Conflict Transformation’, Peace Review, 19:2, 2007, 269-275
Comment: Wrestling as positive outlet for anger, and purging of shame – interesting posit of Lucha Libre as positive example. Argument relies heavily on wrestling as morality play – which I would argue against considering structures/economic forces surrounding US wrestling.
Tamborini R et al, ‘Talking Smack: Verbal Aggression in Professional Wrestling’, Communication Studies, 59:3, 2008, 242-258
Comment: Arguing for link between verbal aggression in professional wrestling and aggressive behaviour in wider society.
Warden, Clare, ‘Pops and promos: Speech and silence in professional wrestling’ in Performance and Professional Wrestling (Oxon: Routledge, 2017), 17-25
Comment: Reattaching physical and linguistic – scripted pieces seen as physical acts. Think about language in pro wrestling – how can it be repressive to performers themselves? Important article for creative piece – linguistic/poetic devices employed by commentators and performers. Disagree with final portrayal of ‘post-kayfabe, post-truth’ world.
Warden, Clare et al, ‘Working Loose: A Response to “Donald Trump Shoots the Match” by Sharon Mazer’, TDR: The Drama Review, 62:2, 2018, 201-215
Comment: Arguing against cynical read of pro-wrestling comparison with Trump politics, by, in part, eschewing diversification and women’s movement in wrestling. This limited by stalling of women’s movement, Speaking Out movement, and VKM allegations then return to power.
- Kayfabe
Breihan, Tom ‘The GQ&A: C.M. Punk’, GQ.com, 13 July 2011. https://www.gq.com/story/cm-punk-wwe-wrestling-interview
Comment: Post-’pipebomb’ Punk continues to position himself as always speaking truth/shoot. Working-class hero, but contradiction of commoditisation of this as gimmick.
Chow, B., & Laine, E, ‘Between antagonism and eros: the feud as couple form and Netflix’s GLOW’, Women & Performance, 29(3), 2019, 218–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/0740770X.2019.1671103
Comment: Feud as narrative structure considered through capitalist lens, i.e. conflict as profit. Article highlights cooperative nature of feud in wrestling to pose threat to capitalist and offer power to workers, though I would argue against this in WWE monopoly era (see Matt Hardy vs Edge).
Fontaine, Jessica, ‘Headlocks in lockdown: working the at-home crowd’, Popular Communication, 20:4, 2002, pp.292-304
Comment: Neoliberal/Marxist reading – argues how wrestlers took on more ‘emotional labor’ (Hochschild) in lockdown setting. I can argue that modern kayfabe has long forced wrestlers to take on greater emotional labour. Think about socio cultural hierarchy in wrestling – which wrestlers (position on the card, gender, race) are asked to use real-life in storyline?
Fontaine, Jessica et al, ‘Toward a Work-Shoot Approach to Kayfabe in Professional Wrestling’, Professional Wrestling Studies Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2022, pp. 1-15.
Comment: Kayfabe comprised of both work and shoot, physical and narrative, involving cooperation of performer and audience, and ‘turns our attention to movement and tension between and within authenticity claims’. Like this definition of kayfabe, want to position it as key to project, as its ability to rethink and reframe past and future events means Matt Hardy vs Edge, Jeff Hardy vs CM Punk and CM Punk vs WWE feuds can be linked. Opportunity to untangle from a neoliberal perspective how work and shoot are ‘deeply intermixed’. Kayfabe as tool to examine third (outside) thing, i.e. autofiction.
Ford, Sam, ‘Storytelling Lessons from World Wrestling Entertainment’, Harvard Business Review, 4 February 2014. https://hbr.org/2014/02/storytelling-lessons-from-world-wrestling
Comment: Neoliberal framing of kayfabe issues from 2014 to push viewers to newly established WWE Network at key point for business. Unique aspect of WWE (kayfabe) makes it unclear whether they are listening to, or playing, fans.
Gordon, Jeremy, ‘Is Everything Wrestling?’, NY Times, 27 May 2016.
Comment: Highlights how WWE controls narrative in general, unchallenged – Chyna, Benoit – in almost totalitarian fashion. ‘When everything is a story, truth is diminished’.
Heyman Hustle, ‘Here’s the Entire Transcript of CM Punk’s Promo on WWE Monday Night Raw’. https://web.archive.org/web/20110702055709/http://www.heymanhustle.com/articles/news/23-news/167221-cm-punk-promo
Comment: ‘Pipebomb’ promo transcript.
Jansen, B, ‘Yes! No! … Maybe?”: Reading the Real in Professional Wrestling’s Unreality’, Journal of Popular Culture, 51(3), 2018, 635–656
Comment: Positioning kayfabe theory, particularly i/r/t Baudrillard. Resists idea of Baudrillard as fatalistic. Possible ways to find optimism in ‘wrestling is everything’ argument: audience community (lower classes demand more for their money), focus on workers – bodily labour is ‘real’ (Chow & Laine – 2 article: cooperative GLOW & ’Legitimacy & kayfabe’).
Jones, Lisa. “All caught up in the kayfabe: understanding and appreciating pro-wrestling”. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 46(2), pp.276–291.
Comment: Decent explanation of the unique role of the audience in pro wrestling.
Key, Adam, ‘“The Only Thing That’s Real Is Me”: CM Punk and the Rhetorical Framework of the American Dream’, Communication Studies, 71:4, 2020, pp. 601-611
Comment: CM Punk through lens of mythological criticism. American Dream – babyface values of hard work, perseverance, egalitarian cooperation. Argue against Punk supporting existence of ‘American Dream’ myth – he is cooperating with his bosses – making of doc etc, using real-life (straight-edge) in story – and has thus achieved main event status and fame. Article agrees with Punk interpretation as ‘voice of voiceless’ but argue it’s more complex due to the above, plus the notoriety, fame and career opportunities Punk received as indirect consequence of this promo.
Laine, Eero, ‘Kayfabe: Optimism, Cynicism, Critique’ in Professional Wrestling: Politics and Populism eds. Sharon Mazer, Heather Levi, Eero Laine, Nell Haynes (London: Seagull Books, 2020), p.192-206
Comment: Case for kayfabe as tool to examine daily life. Argument for optimism: fakery recognised and understood. Cynicism: recognised but powerless to prevent. Places physical labour into focus i/r/t kayfabe. But perhaps fails to consider workers are also public – not as same level as promoters.
Laine, Eero, ‘Professional Wrestling Scholarship: Legitimacy and Kayfabe’, The Popular Culture Studies Journal 6 (1), 2018, pp. 82–99
Comment: Positions wrestling fans as highly skilled consumers. Argues to see the world through kayfabe is a cynical read, as supposes con, fix, everyone working for own benefit. However, I would partly argue against this, in sense kayfabe can be used (Fontaine) to reframe past and future. Also, see Wrenn – hope/thrill of breaking kayfabe.
Comment: Meaning of kayfabe shifts over time – consider promotional styles and genres. Important in sense of WWE – contractual terms of performers, shift to WWE Network, move from regional into global territories, lack of competition. Emphasises importance of culture of celebrity – I would argue Marxist/neoliberal reading more important in context of WWE, agency is not with performer.
Comment: VKM impact on kayfabe by bringing WWE to TV industry. Build on this by suggesting how this has impacted feudal narratives, scripting, promos, creative freedom.
Litherland, Benjamin, ‘Breaking kayfabe is easy, cheap and never entertaining: Twitter rivalries in professional wrestling’, Celebrity Studies, 5(4), 2014, 531–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2014.981047
Comment: Context is celebrity, though comedy performers as laid out in MA Diss seem best-served grounds for comparison. Article doesn’t consider creative, narrative structures of WWE and how they have changed.
McCarthy, Alex, ‘Jeff Hardy was happy with his “junkie” storyline opposite Sheamus and says he had creative input with WWE for bar fight’, 28 August, 2020. https://talksport.com/sport/wrestling/752156/jeff-hardy-junkie-sheamus-wwe/
Comment: JH doesn’t feel exploited by WWE. Positioning himself as inspiring/doing good, despite consistent relapses. Consider i/r/t Hochschild – he is fully engrained in company messaging, so identity has shifted in line with WWE?
McQuarrie, Fiona A. E. “Breaking kayfabe: ‘The history of a history’ of World Wrestling Entertainment”. Management & Organizational History, M&OH, 1(3), 2006, pp.227–250.
Comment: ‘Business’ perspective of WWE – so may be necessary to re-examine this later. Good for measuring scope of company at start of new Millennium.
Comment: External environment key to defining kayfabe, kayfabe admitted initially for financial reasons, i.e. avoid paying tax – important for arguing neoliberal reading. Is kayfabe unique to wrestling? Does it matter?
Moon, D. S., ‘Kayfabe, Smartdom and Marking Out: Can Pro-Wrestling Help Us Understand Donald Trump?’, Political Studies Review, 20(1), 2022, 47–61
Comment: Example of using wrestling studies as framework to analyse ‘third thing’ (Fontaine et al). Using kayfabe in this way can imply a cynical outlook – Warden et al offer riposte, highlighting diversification in wrestling. Yet, can this really be backed up? Where is positivity in using kayfabe as metaphor?
NBC Washington, ‘WWE Report: Jeff Hardy Fine, Wrestling Fans Pleasantly Shocked’, 23 November 2008. https://www.nbcwashington.com/local/fanho-wwe-report-jeff-hardy-fine-wrestling-fans-pleasantly-shocked/1844604/
Comment: Headline implies audience expects JH to relapse, and still accept him.
Oliva, C., Calleja, G., ‘Fake rules, real fiction: professional wrestling and videogames’, In: Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory, vol. 5, Brunel University, 2009
Comment: Introduces alterbiography concept, particularly interesting i/r/t physical performance, plus role of fans.
Reinhard, CarrieLynn D. et al, ‘Defining Kayfabe: A Dialogue Among Pro-Wrestling Professionals and Academics’, Professional Wrestling Studies Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2022, pp. 145-166
Comment: Both audience and performers complicit in kayfabe. Hyperreality – construction of reality, try to portray it’s real, but we know it’s fictional. Consider i/r/t Baudrillard. Plus, how has improv aspect been damaged in monopoly era? Why and to what end?
Reuter, Sean, ‘Matt Hardy has “concerns” about Jeff’s angle with Sheamus’, 13 July 2020.
Comment: MH expressing view that using real-life issues in story puts ‘unneeded pressure’ on JH.
Warden, C, ‘“Might All Be a Work”: Professional Wrestling at Butlins Holiday Camps’, Journal of Popular Culture, 51(4), 2018, 863–877
Comment: Heavily reliant on Baudrillard. An early ‘it might all be a work’ article – been built on since. Important influences for creative project – setting of Skegness, Butlins ideal for Cissy? Model for commentary.
Wilson Koh ‘“It’s What’s Best for Business”—“Worked Shoots” and the
Commodified Authentic in Postmillennial Professional Wrestling’, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 34:5, 2017, pp. 459-479
Comment: Key article for neoliberal reading. Spells out Punk and Bryan as working-class heroes to neoliberal ends. Brecht – epic theatre. Commodified authentic – promised consumers that consumption “would restore, through the work of art, a lost sense of ‘the real thing’.” – very much applies to Punk. Consider role of WWE-leaked news to the Observer or Torch.
Comment: Another useful definition of kayfabe. Kayfabe as metaphor for self, subjectivity and identity. Consider this i/r/t performance theory, and possibly Stanislavski. ‘Ensuring audiences are engaged by deep fascination of belief and doubt’ – to what end? Marxist/neoliberal reading needed.
WWE, ‘Jeff Hardy found unconscious’, wwe.com, 21 November 2008. https://www.wwe.com/shows/survivorseries/2008/exclusives/8720674
Comment: ‘Worked shoot’ article using JH’s real-life issues for storyline, initially picked up as ‘true’ by mainstream media.
- Economics of WWE
Baran, P. A., Sweezy, Paul Marlor, & Leftwich, Adrian, Monopoly capital: an essay on the American economic and social order (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968)
Comment: Context for WWE’s rise to monopoly.
Carter, K, ‘The effect of superstar gig workers on shareholder value: evidence from professional wrestling’, Managerial Finance, 47(2), 2021, 227–243
Comment: Economics-based study suggesting positive effect of sudden death of gig workers on shareholder value. Two explanations: behavioural – sentimentality for deceased worker, resulting in increased product sales (including WWE Network); rational – ease of substituting workers. Consider in ‘monopoly era’ – low bargaining power of workers.
Chow, Broderick and Eero Laine, ‘Audience Affirmation and the Labour of
Professional Wrestling’, Performance Research, 19:2, 2014, pp. 44-53
Comment: Important article as Marxist reading of WWE performance – bodily enactment of labour/spectacle of suffering, outlining wrestling’s open acknowledgement of its economics (in neoliberal terminology). Argues that when excess labour performed (action beyond scripting) the promoter is missed out and performer communicates directly with audience – can this be related to kayfabe, especially in monopoly era of overscripting? No emphasis on emotional labour, gendered aspects of performance – examples focus solely on men.
Cowley, David. “Employees vs. Independent Contractors and Professional Wrestling: How the WWE is Taking a Folding-Chair to the Basic Tenets of Employment Law.” University of Louisville Law Review, 53, 2014, pp.143–71.
Comment: Study of performers’ status as independent contractors, concluding that there’s no legal justification for this. Also, good source for stats on wrestler deaths.
Jansen, B, ‘“‘It’s still real to Me”: Contemporary professional wrestling, neo-liberalism, and the problems of performed/real violence’, Canadian Review of American Studies, 50(2), 2020, 302–330. https://doi.org/10.3138/cras.2018.024
Comment: VITAL ARTICLE. Neo-liberal reading of WWE, and how in difficulties of disentangling performed and real violence, conditions of neoliberalism reflected back at audience, who are complicit. Includes base-level look at contractual conditions of performers. Highlights ability of WWE (capital in general) to ‘metabolize anti-corporate rhetoric’. Argues WWE manipulation of dirtsheets etc, may lead to performers going to greater extremes to suspend audience disbelief – relate to Jeff Hardy’s style of wrestling. However, disagree that this is due to social media, as dirtsheets going for a long time – see MH vs E storyline in 2005. Will respond to Jansen’s claim that physical performance often left out by wrestling scholars, by showing how ‘work, shoot confessional’ encourages different type of physical, in-ring labour.
Smith, Chris, ‘Breaking Down How WWE Contracts Work’, Forbes, 28 March 2015.
Comment: Info taken from contracts disclosed in lawsuits. Unsurprisingly, contracts heavily weighted towards promoter. Key issues: Wrestlers responsible for cost of training, food, travel; wrestler has no right to sue WWE in event of injury; WWE can terminate contract in event of injury lasting longer than 6 weeks. Jesse Ventura: ‘They can totally control your life, and yet they’ll call you an independent contractor.’
Smith, Chris, ‘How Much Do WWE Wrestlers Get Paid?’, Forbes, 28 March 2015.
Comment: Average wrestler on main roster makes $500,000/yr. Key point: in the event of injury, after 6 weeks salary drops 0.5% for every house show missed. Unclear how WWE Network and subscription model has affected contracts.
- Wrestling in fiction
Dobyns, Stephen. The wrestler’s cruel study. W.W. Norton, 1995.
Comment: Using the idea of kayfabe in sophisticated, complex way. Also, some very quotable observations on pro wrestling as a whole. Combines wrestling with philosophy, in particular Nietzsche. However, a bit much at some points, hard to follow and chaotic. Plus, emphasis on philosophy sacrifices character development – feeling of intimacy not developed with characters.
GLOW, directed by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (Netflix, 2017–2019)
Comment: All female wrestling company. Highlights gender issues in industry, commoditisation of bodies, negative tropes. Also, collaborative and care aspects of performance emphasised – see Chow & Laine.
Howard, Tini, GLOW: The Star Primas (San Diego: IDW Publishing, 2018), graphic novel
Comment: Narrative tension found in cooperation of creative process. Heavy reference to economics of wrestling industry – inescapable. Graphic novel form glorifies/celebrates bodily labour of performers.
Kwak, Gene, Go Home, Ricky! (New York: The Overlook Press, 2021), novel
Comment: Injured wrestler is forced to reassess priorities. Think about impact injured body has on worker whose body is commoditised. Narrative voice great and convincing BUT wrestler doesn’t use any wrestling lingo in everyday life. Good use of wrestling-related memories, and how love for the sport developed.
Man on the Moon, directed by Milos Forman (Universal Pictures, 1999), film
Comment: Andy Kaufman biopic – feud with Jerry Lawler. Feud represented in both work and shoot form. Friendship with Lawler depicted. Note: layers of simulation, Lawler plays himself as do cast of Taxi (sitcom).
The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky (Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2008), film
Comment: Fictional model of beat-up, ageing wrestler trying to maintain fame – issues of addiction to painkillers and audience reaction, pain, ageing performing bodies all relevant to novel. Lacking female wrestling perspective though Marissa Tomei’s character (Cassidy) does have parallels with Randy – body not sufficient for commoditised use any more.
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