Pro Wrestling Illustrated October 2021

I WON’T BORE you with the reasons why, but this issue required a slightly quicker turnaround for us than usual. That’s both a blessing and a curse—a curse because we have a shorter editorial lead time, and it’s tougher meeting our print deadline. But it’s also a good thing, because it means we can react more immediately to what’s going on right now. Because of our print schedule, for instance, we were able to provide in-depth coverage of AEW’s Double or Nothing event, while Al Castle’s “Hotseat” interview with Britt Baker was conducted after her recent world title victory. Even with the shorter lead time, there are bound to be things that happen after press time. Not to peel back the curtain too much, but Harry Burkett’s “Ringside” is typically one of…

THE WRESTLERS’ WRESTLERS Whoever claimed “history is written by the victors” obviously didn’t know much about professional wrestling. Of course, top guys like Bret Hart and Mick Foley enjoy the privilege of some big megaphones when it comes to telling their respective sides of the story. But there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to get in on the action these days, including fans, bloggers, and jobbers. Although platforms now include internet and video forums, the print industry is still alive and kicking. And it remains a preferred format for professional writers and historians, as is the case with the new book The Wrestlers’ Wrestlers: The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling, by Dan Murphy and Brian Young. Murphy, whose work previously and extensively graced the pages of PWI for over…

EVERYTHING THAT SHOULD have happened at AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view… actually did happen. The Inner Circle scored a big five-on-five win over The Pinnacle in their Stadium Stampede match. Kenny Omega retained the AEW World championship in a thrilling three-way over Orange Cassidy and PAC. Dr. Britt Baker parlayed her gutsy loss to Thunder Rosa into a Women’s title victory over Hikaru Shida. Cody Rhodes shut Anthony Ogogo’s big mouth. Most important, there was a capacity crowd of approximately 5,500 real-life wrestling spectators at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. To quote AEW announcer Jim Ross, just after Jungle Boy eliminated Christian Cage to win the Casino Battle Royale, “It’s the greatest thing in the world to be a wrestling fan!” AEW is taking Dynamite on the road in mid-summer, with its…

WITH NEW YORK announcing plans to reopen its Broadway theaters right around the same time that WWE announced its plans to return to live touring, it’s going to be a race to see which will be first to put on a live show in the Big Apple. We’re going Broadway for this musical-inspired edition of “Quick Count.” Break a leg! SPRING AWAKENING The spring equinox ushered in more than just April showers and May flowers this year. It ushered in the return of live pro wrestling in the U.S. After performing in front of largely empty arenas for more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, both WWE and AEW announced a return to live touring starting in the spring. AEW welcomed back capacity crowds with its signature annual show, Double or Nothing,…

IT ISN’T ALWAYS easy being an “old school” wrestling fan. For me, one especially difficult moment took place at WWE’s WrestleMania Backlash, where we witnessed a horde of the undead surrounding the ring for Damian Priest’s lumberjack match with The Miz. The commendable Adnan Virk, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton did their best to sell viewers on the real threat of the unfortunate up-and-coming wrestlers compelled to put on costumes and makeup while growling for the cameras. Meanwhile, Priest and Miz joined forces outside the ring to tangle with the ghouls like a scene out of The Walking Dead. And it culminated with Miz and John Morrison appearing to be “devoured” by the legion of supposed walking corpses. After that, the show went on as usual, as if nothing out…

GOOD VS. EVIL. Back when I was a kid, with no internet and starving for wrestling information, I often revisited my 1979 Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia to find the brief entry for “professional wrestling,” which featured a great black-and-white photo of Bruno Sammartino backdropping Ivan Koloff en route to losing the WWWF title in 1971. But I dreaded reading the actual entry because it went on to describe pro wrestling as “entertainment.” It was unsettling information, to say the least. I chose to believe my own alternative facts. Nevertheless, this authoritative source stated that “one of the contestants” usually assumed a “villainous attitude” while his “opponent wins the sympathy of the spectators by confining himself to orthodox wrestling holds, and in the end he usually triumphs over his tormentor.” There have been…