Sawyer Paul's Blog, page 198
May 13, 2011
WWE.com's Top 25 Dirty Deeds
A primer on bad guy schenanigans.
May 12, 2011
Impact Wrestling
The Good: TNA Wrestling was always, always a terrible name. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was clunky and felt hyperbolic, while "TNA" felt sophomoric and one dimensional. Impact Wrestling states two things, and states them very well. Not only is there zero "spin" on the idea of wrestling, the word "Impact" is the best branding decision they ever made.
The Bad: A new name doesn't mean a new company. The same people who have written TNA stories are still writing IW stories (also, if there's ever a "community" portion of the website, you realize they're going to call it the "IWC," right?). Even the name change of the company had to be wrapped in ludicrous melodrama of a nonexistent "network." It's only a matter of time before Spike gets pissed about that.
The Ugly: Chyna. The worst female wrestler in the world is a thing the IWC gets to write about again. Whoopie.
So could there be a wrestling podcast that's theoretically good enough that you'd want to hear it live?
I think doing that lends to being too proximal to timely events, thereby giving your product a built-in expiry date. There are lots of radio shows and podcasts that a) do well at this, and b) make money at this, so it's certainly a venture that could work, but it's never really been my bag to create a thing that has almost no value a week later.
May 11, 2011
Fair to Flair: Quarterly Cut-off Friday morning
We've given a couple extensions to people who have expressed interest in including their work in the first issue of the quarterly. I just wanted to send out a final notice to everyone that as of Friday, anything you send to us will not make it into the first issue. That includes all art, articles, or anything else you'd like to send us. We more than welcome continual submissions, as we will be announcing the second issue soon, but if you're looking to get into the first one, get it to us (editor at fair to flair dot com) or me (ksawyerpaul at gmail dot com) by Friday morning.
My best Fair to Flair essays
In case you missed them, I've compiled my best work from Fair to Flair since we began. I'm really proud of what I've put down there, of what the guys there have put down, and I can't wait for everyone to see the Quarterly.
Topical Essays
CM Punk and the self-imposed Off-Season - April 28, 2011
Taking a bow - April 14, 2011
This is what Happened (Wrestlemania XXVII) - April 6, 2011
Longform Essays
Agitation Propaganda - May 10, 2011
Media attention, from the Iron Sheik to Chris Benoit - April 13, 2011
Two guys rolling around in their underwear by any other name - March 22, 2011
The profession of professional wrestler - March 10, 2011
How I learned to stop worrying and love the (power)bomb - February 21, 2011
A Treatise on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Come See the Broken Man: Kurt Angle, the noir hero of TNA Wrestling - March 4, 2011
Reaction was the true alternative - March 13, 2011
The Curse of the TNA Heavyweight Title - March 18, 2011
An animated Google Doodle on the search giant's homepage...
An animated Google Doodle on the search giant's homepage today celebrates what would have been the 117th birthday of dancer and choreographer Martha Graham.The animation begins with a dancer on the far right of the homepage performing one of Graham's signature works. She morphs into another dancer and then another, until there are five figures spelling out the Google logo with their movement.
Graham was born in 1894 and is known for creating a completely new style of dance in the 1920s and 1930s. She started her own dance company in 1926 and created 181 dances throughout her life, until she passed away in 1991. Some of her most well-known works are charted in today's Google Doodle.
From, of all places, PC Magazine
(via florid)
May 10, 2011
The Kills - Satellite
Operator, operator, dial her...
The Kills - Satellite
Operator, operator, dial her back
Operator, operator, don't take her too
I love her too her long, don't love her too, don't love her too
Christian
Christian's World Title reign lasted five days in canon, three days in real life, and nowhere near long enough for any fan's satisfaction. All week I've read opinion pieces on the story, and just about everyone agrees on these three items:
Nobody expected Christian's reign to last very long,
The match with Orton was very good,
The title change does not appear to be a part of any story, though we all may be wrong about this come next week.
I'm a quality man. I don't need to see hours and hours of wrestling in a week. I like to see the good stuff. And the Orton VS Christian match was very good. It came out of nowhere, of course, and made no sense in the lexicon of WWE (a face challenging and then beating another face? What?), but it made loads of sense in the lexicon of WWE politics (Orton is a better "draw" than Christian, and they still generally put titles on their stars). But, given the circumstance, I'd like to point out that Christian may be the only guy on the WWE roster that's had 100% quality matches as a world champion. It's a salty compliment, but it's true.
I've never been one to place too much emphasis on titles, instead preferring quality stories with or without trophies. But this wasn't a good story, either, and I believe it is this reason that most wrestling fans are upset. Of course, we wanted Christian to be World Champion for a little longer, but we're seethed that he was dumped so quickly, that he was never given a chance to perform in that position. I'm speaking for many people when I say that Christian is one of the best performers this art form has. That he's always been kept in the middle of the pack is a disservice to his craft. WWE's photography work catches Christian (almost all my favourite photos from their crew involve him in some way) in pain, weak, struggling, fighting. Rarely winning. Always trying to claw forward.
WWE has certainly cut short championships for political and timely reasons. But there was something about how long they held on Christian at the end of the match, how the camera stuck around to watch the look on his face. How he got up slowly, not because he was in pain, but because he was emptier. It was painful to watch because I back the guy, but mostly because he captured the feeling of an unfair, human loss, and we all felt it.
That they showcased this is proof that WWE sees this in Christian, too. It is perhaps his forte as a performer to embody the painstaken and beleagured—in that sense, all professional wrestlers are given this task, but few strike the perfect balance. And WWE is very guilty of typecasting a man to death. With the case of Christian, because he is so good at losing, it's unfortunate that we may never see him really win.
