Posts tagged the undertaker
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.

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WrestleMania 33 Review

Another WrestleMania has come and gone, and now we pro-wrestling believers are sorting through its remains. Despite a grueling seven-hour runtime that fundamentally contradicts the WWE's mission of providing consumer-friendly, Disney-wrestling, this year's WrestleMania was mostly successful. Between the return of the Hardy Boyz, the unexpectedly superb match between AJ Styles and Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho's athleticism, Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg's animalistic war, and the haunting, visually beautiful Undertaker-farewell, this was a show that will be fondly remembered in time, if not, by some, in the present.

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THE RAW REVIEW

We’ve been here before…

A WWE pay-per-view that is met with resounding disdain is immediately followed by an episode of Monday Night Raw that elicits unanimous praise. As genuinely disheartened as I was by the Fastlane pay-per-view, as soon as I heard “Here comes the monaaaaaaaay!” and saw Shane O’Mac hit the RAW stage with his reliably fancy footwork, all wasn’t forgiven, but all was certainly forgotten.

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THE RAW REVIEW (12/8/14)

I typically approach viewing "special" episodes of RAW like a Slammy Awards Show with dread. In the past I've found such episodes hard to stomach.

So I decided to experiment with the way I watched RAW. I decided that I would go into it with a positive attitude, that I wouldn't be overly critical, that I would judge it based on exactly what it was, and just find joy in whatever was enjoyable. I wouldn't question why the WWE didn't create an entirely separate Slammy Awards special for the WWE Network. I would instead just "go along with it", all the while ensuring my brain was still engaged.

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