I’ve recently come out of a depression.

I didn’t even know I was depressed until, around September of last year, I started feeling better about work, life, and art. I experienced the mental equivalent of clouds parting after a storm, and a warm beam of sunlight cutting through the dark. The juxtaposition of mindsets was so palpable that I realized, “Oh, I was depressed!”

That depression lasted for about two years and it manifested as a kind of dull, throbbing ache, a sense that something was about to go wrong at any moment. At my day job I struggled to decide what task to undertake next. I didn’t have a schedule (big mistake when you have bipolar!) and I would wander, aimlessly in my mind from one potential tragedy to the next. At home I was better, but I wasn’t really enjoying my life either.

To enjoy life seemed like a luxury I couldn’t afford.

How did I deal with this depression?

10 Ways Pro-Wrestling Changed My Life

I’m thirty six years old and I’ve been a wrestling fan for about twenty four of them. In that time, pro-wrestling has played a pivotal role in my life, serving as more than mere entertainment. Pro-wrestling has inspired me to be a better writer, a better podcaster, and a better person.

It has enlightened me on the role art plays in our lives, and it’s made me appreciate the craft that goes into constructing a wrestling match. I’ve gained friends and colleagues through pro-wrestling, people I trust and admire. Put simply, I can’t separate my growth as a person from my fandom of pro-wrestling. Realizing that, I decided to create this list, Ten Ways Pro-Wrestling Changed My Life.

Let’s begin…

The Importance Of Poses And Gestures In Professional Wrestling

Much, if not all, of pro-wrestling’s artistry is meant to contribute to a wrestler’s identity. Their entrance music, body language, move-set, catchphrases, and look all coalesce into a character. Neglect one aspect of characterization and the rest may suffer. For a wrestler to really resonate in the minds of the audience, they must have a completely drawn identity that is consistent across every tool in the wrestler’s tool box. Their music, for example, should sound like it comes directly from that wrestling character’s soul. Their attire should reflect the character’s tone. Their phraseology should be consistent with the character’s aesthetic. Their moves should represent a fighting style that character would actually use.

There are other less obvious ways a wrestler tells their story, though.

EDITORIALSTim KailJanuary 7, 2023pose, gesture, wwe, aew, the acclaimed, daddy ass, ass boys, max caster, the rock

Moral Ambiguity In Professional Wrestling

Is amoral art immoral?

That’s the question I keep asking myself as I consider the implications of a professional wrestling that no longer asserts good is good and bad is bad, but rather that we live in a morally ambiguous world where people simply make choices and then live with the consequences. Amorality is being neither moral nor immoral, it is showing no concern in the rightness or wrongness of something. In art, that means the author doesn’t pass judgment on the characters, but merely presents them as they are, allowing the audience to judge. Such is the moral philosophy of many modern dramas and comedies in this Golden Age of Television. From Tony Soprano to Walter White to Don Draper to Daenerys Targaryen to Barry Berkman to Kendall Roy to many more, the amoral perspective these television shows have on their leads sidesteps the traditional moral binary of good versus evil for a more fluid interpretation of the universe.

Three Ways AEW Can Improve In 2023

I’ve been watching AEW Dynamite since it premiered on October 2nd, 2019.

Three years on from that date, I’m happy to report I still love the show. At its best it is genuinely compelling television comparable to anything else in the medium, weaving effortlessly between drama and comedy. The in-ring action has been spectacular, showcasing some of, if not the absolute best talent in all of professional wrestling.

Tony Khan’s wrestling buffet works, the blend of styles and sensibilities complimenting rather than stifling one another. While it’s still a relatively new wrestling show, I feel safe asserting that AEW has produced the most consistently excellent weekly wrestling product I have, personally, ever experienced.

If you find that hyperbolic then I should reiterate consistent is the key word there.

Professional Wrestling Is Good For My Mental Health

For the past few months, I’ve been watching Monday Night Raw, AEW Dynamite, and Friday Night SmackDown every week. It’s been fun, and reminiscent of the early days of my pro-wrestling fandom where I watched totally devoted. Establishing this routine has made it easier to get through the work-week. Each day, I remind myself that wrestling awaits and it helps the next handful of hours pass a little quicker.

My favorite of the bunch is Dynamite. It’s the most inventive and naturalistic, featuring a fantastic cast of colorful characters. There’s the super serious sort like Jon Moxley and Hangman Adam Page and the hilarious sort like Orange Cassidy and The Best Friends. Unlike WWE-television, Dynamite has an actually funny sense of humor - that is to say comedy in AEW is genuinely amusing and not cringe-inducing. Dynamite also features wrestling matches with stories rather than wrestling matches as time-filler.

The Wrestler's Motif

Every wrestler is a motif. The more well-thought out and well-executed the motif, the easier it is for that wrestler to connect with an audience.

(Before going any further, it’s useful for you to know that a motif is a recurring theme in narrative. It’s an idea like “what is justice?” examined by characters in a story or the author of a novel or the director of a film, etc.)

The wrestler has many tools at their disposal for articulating their recurring theme. Let’s focus on six: the wrestler’s name, the wrestler’s attire, the wrestler’s entrance music, the names of their signature and finishing moves, the wrestler’s gestures, and the wrestler’s catchphrases.

There is perhaps no motif more consistent than The Undertaker’s.

Tim KailDecember 12, 2022wwe, motif, the undertaker, wardlow, aew, vince mcmahon, Tony khan, wrestlemania, promo, entrance, catchphrase

The Rock Got Me Through My Teens

The Rock is my favorite wrestler. I’ve come to this conclusion after much deliberation. He’s on a short list alongside CM Punk, Bret Hart, Sami Zayn, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Mick Foley. It’s not hard to figure out why The Rock is my favorite. His ascent to WWF super stardom (and beyond) perfectly coincided with my adolescence. In those precious and impressionable years, he provided a respite from turmoil and angst. I would look forward to Raw and SmackDown every week in intense anticipation of what he might say and on whom he might layeth the smacketh down. Every new catchphrase was a significant event. Every gesture or subtle motion of his body was worthy of imitation.

It's Time, Triple H

It’s been five months since Vince McMahon stepped down from WWE. That seems like a short period of time, but in the world of professional wrestling that’s an eternity. In that time, WWE’s programming has remained largely unchanged with only some minor, occasional adjustments. For example, NXT 2.0 is back to being “black and gold” NXT. RAW has a vignette that plays before the show starts. The opening segment of each production isn’t a guaranteed "promo train” with one superstar interrupting the next until, inevitably, an impromptu match is booked. Sometimes RAW or SmackDown will open to a brawl already in progress or a match about to begin, welcome deviations from the fifteen minute monologue norm.

But nothing substantive, or ideological, has clearly changed.

EDITORIALSTim KailNovember 28, 2022wwe, sami zayn, jey uso, jimmy uso, the usos, triple h, Kevin owens, wrestlemania

Why We Love Professional Wrestling

“You know it’s fake, right?”

Most pro-wrestling fans have heard this question in some form at some point in their lives. They’ve worked up the courage to admit they’re a pro-wrestling fan and then they’re met with peculiar stares, snorts of laughter, or the dreaded f-word, “fake”.

On behalf of all wrestling fans allow me to answer…yes! We know it’s fake!

As I’ve matured as a wrestling fan the less interested I’ve become in “regular people’s” opinions of it (or me). If someone judges me negatively, even slightly, for loving professional wrestling then it is I who feel bad for them - not the other way around. The issue of pro-wrestling’s fakeness is not a problem for professional wrestling fans. We do not attend WrestleMania and feel deceived when we notice a softly delivered punch. We’re not confused when a wrestler climbs to the top rope to spring through the air and come crashing down on their opponent. And we’re not convinced the bad guy is evil and the good guy is good. We understand what we’re watching. We “get it”.

EDITORIALSTim KailNovember 21, 2022wwe, aew, Chris jericho, sami zayn, professional wrestling, professional wrestling blog

Escape Into Professional Wrestling

I have a day job. I work 9-5, Tuesday through Friday. It pays the bills and provides me and my wife with healthcare. My commute is a seven minute walk and my supervisors are kind, thoughtful people. As I age, the more I value these benefits. I see these aspects of my job as rare and precious, but when you’re in the daily grind of human existence it’s easy to lose sight of the good and slip into rumination on the bad. I’m in therapy, I take antidepressants and anti-psychotics, and I practice several cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to cope with the darker corners of my consciousness. Even so, with all these benefits, it’s still not enough to get me through the day.

“Well it pays the bills…” or “You have healthcare…” or “You have a good therapist…” doesn’t answer a particular yearning in the soul. What is that need - that part of you that’s unmoved by the objective positives in your life?

What is it you’re searching for?

His Name Is Bray Wyatt And He's A Hero In The Making

Like many in the pro-wrestling community the first time I ever saw Bray Wyatt was when he debuted on the main roster, Luke Harper and Erik Rowan at his side. I then watched, over the next several months, as this transfixing character grabbed hold of the hearts and minds of the audience. Everything he did intoxicated us. I particularly remember his unnerving renditions of “He’s got the whole world in his hands…” and the crowd singing it back in unison. Bray’s entrance music was distinct and eerie in a mediocre soup of rock riffs. He seemed to glide to the ring as his fireflies - wrestling fans with their cell phone flashlights turned on in the dark - guided him toward the ring. That use of technology, the natural evolution of holding a lighter up, was a literal manifestation of the metaphorical relationship between character and fan.

EDITORIALSTim KailNovember 5, 2022bray wyatt, wwe, extreme rules 2022, John cena, wrestlemania, Raw, smackdown

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