Pro Wrestling Illustrated May 2023

IF RECENT HISTORY has taught me nothing, it is the fragile nature of our existence and to not take the ones we love for granted. In my April 2021 column, I wrote about my wife Megan’s ongoing battle with cancer. To this day, that difficult battle continues. There are ups and downs, as anyone with chronic illness will attest, and I am continually amazed by her strength and courage as she takes on this awful disease. Mere months after I told readers about Megan’s fight, my mother passed away quite suddenly due to an undiagnosed heart condition. Though she wasn’t in perfect health, the abrupt loss was difficult for me, even at age 36, to process. Grief is a terrible, though unavoidable part of life. And, despite my own experiences mentioned above,…

MEDIA REVIEWS WOOOOOO! BECOMING RIC FLAIR The process of public rehabilitation was, at one time, an arduous journey that could easily span many years. Richard Nixon authored some books and helped out his successors behind the scenes to evolve from a disgraced ex-president into an “elder statesman.” In the former Soviet Union, people regained their reputations and livelihoods through acts of government, sometimes posthumously. As for Ric Flair, who is coming off an unflattering few years in the limelight, he’s likely banking that Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair may turn the tide of public opinion. A Peacock original documentary, Woooooo! Is carefully cultivated and well-produced, presenting the pivotal moments of Flair’s career. Fox Sports reporter Tom Rinaldi serves as both interviewer and narrator, his tone and delivery reminiscent of the ominous voiceovers from VH1’s…

JAY BRISCOE, amid his 13th Ring of Honor tag team title reign with brother Mark Briscoe, died in a horrendous auto accident on January 17. Jay was driving in his 2019 Chevrolet Silverado with his two daughters, Gracie Pugh and Jayleigh Pugh, when another truck swerved into his lane and hit his vehicle head-on. Jayleigh incurred injuries, but was stable as of press time, while Gracie suffered very serious back and leg injuries. The tragic irony is that Briscoe, who had traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to wrestling venues over the past two decades, would be involved in a fatal car crash in his small hometown of Laurel, Delaware, with his family in the vehicle. Briscoe and the driver of the other truck were pronounced dead on the scene. “We need…

LAST YEAR, TWO of the biggest events on the pop culture calendar—the Academy Awards and WrestleMania—were separated by just one week. And you’d be forgiven for confusing which was which. Looking to promote their movie, the cast of Jackass Forever appeared not in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, but in a match involving Sami Zayn. And the most talked about cheap shot of the year was dealt not by Kevin Owens or Roman Reigns, but by Oscar winner Will Smith. Go figure. As unpredictable as awards season may be, there’s one thing you can count on each year: my Oscar-themed edition of “Quick Count.” The envelope, please … THE WHALE Like Ahab hunting Moby Dick, WWE matchmakers have long had their eyes locked on the biggest, most elusive prize in all of wrestling: one more WrestleMania…

WITH WRESTLEMANIA LOOMING, many people seem to assume that Roman Reigns’ epic two-plus-year run as WWE Universal champion may at last be nearing its end. While that may be conventional wisdom, it’s quite far from a foregone conclusion. Be that as it may, the approach of Roman Reigns’ third consecutive WrestleMania as top dog in WWE seems as apropos a time as any to evaluate and recognize the incredible accomplishment that Reigns has pulled off this decade. It’s something that will be looked back on by historians in years to come as one of the truly great wrestling stories of our era—and the emergence of one of the sport’s iconic figures. With years of dominance now under his belt, it’s easy to forget that there was once a time when Roman…

MY CHILDHOOD AND teenage years were fortunate because I had never dealt with heavy personal losses. All of my grandparents were still alive, so dealing with grief was something I had yet to experience. So, I’m cruising along in my senior year of college in early-1993, and I read in the newspaper (yes, the newspaper!) that Andre The Giant had died of a heart attack in Paris, shortly after attending his father’s funeral on January 28. He was 46. It had taken two days for the news to be reported in the United States. I didn’t cry, but this was my first experience losing someone who had been in my thoughts from a very young age. Frankly, on the 30th anniversary of his death, I’m still thinking about him. Less than three…