I used to be a HUGE wrestling fan, nowadays, not so much. A favorite website of mine called Deadspin has a column that they run called "Dead Wrestler Of The Week". It is probably the most well written column I have ever come across, so I decided to get to know the author of the column, David Shoemaker (aka The Masked Man of Grantland and Deadspin).
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| Hulkamania? Yes Please! |
1. I have been a Hogan/Warrior fan since I was a little kid, but I am sure someone way more informed like you must have a nice list of favorite wrestlers, so who is your favorite wrestle of all time and why?
The answer was always Mr. Perfect (for reasons outlined pretty well in my Deadspin piece on him: http://deadspin.com/5467760/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-mr-perfect-curt-hennig ), although when Savage died, in researching him and writing about him, I realized that it’s hard not to have him at the top of the list. He had a sort of psychopath super-stardom that ages really well – he was epic when I was a kid, of course, but he’s even greater in retrospect.
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| The Masked Man's favorite ever.... tough to argue! |
2. What was your favorite Feud of all time? I loved the build up to Micheals and Razor in the first ever ladder match.
This is a tough one. I’m sure I’ll forget something really obvious, but:
Flair vs. Steamboat, maybe? That seemed like the biggest deal of my life when it was happening, and it really holds up to this day.
Nothing from my childhood approaches the Von Erichs versus the Freebirds -- there was something so real and vital about it. Bret vs. Owen is probably the cream of the crop for modern storylines – it lasted a long time (probably out of necessity, since the WWE’s roster was pretty thin then), weaving in and out of other feuds. Maybe it was accidental, but it was really well done.
And I’m tempted to say Austin vs. Bret, but I really only think of the one double-turn match when I think of that feud.
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| The cream of the feud crop.... the guy on the left was not a nugget! |
3. I am sure you have a great story about a wrestler that the world needs to know about, can you share one of those with me?
Maybe this will come as a shock, but I know nothing that’s not already out there. My few unique stories have mostly found their way into the writing I’ve done so far. My writing is largely a product of watching wrestling and reading about wrestling, not conducting interviews or the like. Although, who knows – that could certainly change over time.
4. What do you think about the current state of wrestling as a whole? I was an 80"s / 90's super fan, so I think wrestiling is pretty shitty right now, of course I am right... right?
I think it’s okay. The WWE is really doing some things now that have me hopeful. (It’s lucky that this coincided with my Grantland gig, to be honest.) I don’t know if it’s Triple H’s backstage influence as a lot of folks are saying, but I feel like there’s a lot going in the right direction there all the sudden.
TNA has been sort really up and down, but maybe some of these X-Division guys they’re focusing on now will stick; It’s trite, I know but focusing on those guys may be the only way they’re going to break out. (Although personally, I think it’d help to not ghettoize them, but what do I know?)
ROH has some incredible stuff going on, though when I watch them I’m mostly compelled by the guys who I think could end up in the WWE someday – not out of some WWE fetishization, but probably because WWE and NWA/WCW are so firmly rooted in me as a frame of reference.
So in all those cases there’s a lot of optimism for the future built in. It’s not as great as it has been, but we may be headed for something a whole lot better. We can always hope.
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| Could this guy be the reason for the WWE's resurgence? |
5. Anything else you want to add?
Nah, not really. Thanks for reading though. And for the record, here’s where to find me:
Twitter at @AKATheMaskedMan
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There you go, thanks again to the Masked Man for taking the time to do this! He is awesome.
This weekend's Podcast is going to be HUGE! Be sure to check it out.
http://kyleandgary.podbean.com/
If you want to join the blog party, feel free to do so by clicking on the beautiful piece of Man Meat here:
So, until next week, Trojan Horse says "I miss my little Silky! " Take Care.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There you go, thanks again to the Masked Man for taking the time to do this! He is awesome.
This weekend's Podcast is going to be HUGE! Be sure to check it out.
http://kyleandgary.podbean.com/
If you want to join the blog party, feel free to do so by clicking on the beautiful piece of Man Meat here:
So, until next week, Trojan Horse says "I miss my little Silky! " Take Care.
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