football, spies, war and wrestling

[amw]

I get most of my entertainment news through ohnotheydidnt, which i read more for the entertainment of the comments than the actual news. But, you know, at least by browsing that comm every day i knew the name Charlie XCX years before it unexpectedly popped up in the "serious" news, even though i still have no idea what her music sounds like

Comments

[amw]

I know, right? It's so DRAMATIC!

Adam Page has a great storyline. He's a former English teacher in real life, and started out with a character described as an "anxious millennial cowboy", wanting to be the typical "white hat" cowboy hero but also being a bit awkward and self-conscious and woke. Then during the pandemic he leaned into the anxiety and filmed a promo sitting alone on a mountaintop contemplating his future, personifying what we all felt during lockdowns. Later on he had a big feud with the guy who is now AEW champion, and that guy (in storyline) broke into Page's house soon after his (real life) new baby was born, looming over the cradle like a psychopath. But somehow instead of the bad guy being understood as a bad guy, he broke out due to a silly dance routine that one of his minions does on stage, and now that former bad guy is one of the most popular characters in the company, and Page is furious! The best part is that Page has snapped and is now acting evil, but it's coming from a totally understandable place, so one hand you hate him, but on the other hand you kinda want to root for him too! The drama!

Those two guys from ROH (a feeder/development company for AEW), I haven't even seen them in the ring before, I just enjoy their promos. One of the nice things about wrestling today is if you follow it online then people will post entertaining snippets share on YouTube or Insta, and if the character work is good enough, you can instantly understand what the character is trying to do. There is a special payoff for the audience if you follow years-long soap opera storylines like Adam Page's, but the best performers can make you feel something even if you only see them once.

I never used to understand how wrestling worked in the old days, before it was on TV, because how would you know the storyline of the characters if you only see them that one time that they come through town? Well that's the artistry of it, they have to make you feel something maybe just from the way they walk to the ring, or the music they choose to play in the background. Some do it really well. I can get a bit of the effect watching Japanese wrestling because I don't even understand the commentary, so it's entirely on the way the performers carry themselves... and it can still be engaging! So fun.