2020 has been an interesting year to say the least. We started off with Edge returning at the Royal Rumble after a decade of retirement, watched as WrestleMania and Double or Nothing had to be closed to fans, slogged through learning about the horrifying amount of abuse in the wrestling industry, and have been experiencing many other ups and downs (and sideways and loop-de-loops) along the way. This year has been a wild ride, but here are the ten wrestling things that got me through it!
Writing for Pro Wrestling Journal
I’ve been writing for Pro Wrestling Journal for just over two years and while I have always enjoyed writing as a creative outlet, it has been a major factor in dealing with all of the stress of the year. I started off doing reviews for Smackdown and NXT, but it was difficult to keep up with wrestling as intensely as I had been in the past due to the aforementioned stress as well as starting graduate school. Instead I have switched to doing opinion pieces and articles and it has been so much fun. I love writing silly listicles (like this one) as well as examining some of the hard truths of the business.
Virtual Meet and Greets
As many of you know, I was supposed to go to WrestleMania and Money in the Bank this year. One of the things I was most looking forward to was meeting Charlotte Flair and Edge. Obviously those things didn’t happen as we were at the apex of the first set of lockdowns in the United States. Over the last few months, there have been virtual meet and greets with different wrestlers. I have been taking advantage of the ones that I could (I met Bayley on my lunch break!) and it has been wonderful. I almost prefer them to traditional meet and greets because it’s private between just you and the wrestler.
Wrestling Twitter
I have talked a lot about social media being a shitshow for wrestling sometimes but most of the time, I enjoy my time on Wrestling Twitter. I have made some good friends, found new wrestlers and promotions to follow, and been part of awesome discussions and creative adventures. Everyone’s been going through it this year and it’s nice to have this little community to turn to when things feel just a bit too rough. Plus, I have seen some of the funniest memes during this pandemic come out of Wrestling Twitter!
The Summer of Baysha
I finally got what I wanted for years: Sasha Banks and Bayley having all the women’s titles. I would’ve even liked them to have the NXT and NXT UK women’s titles just for the hell of it. Everything about this arc was done so perfectly and to be honest, Baysha carried the summer and have been carrying the women’s division throughout this whole pandemic. We even got a satisfying payoff to their feud, which many of us have been hoping for ever since Bayley got called up. Bayley and Sasha play off of each other so well, it’s just perfect.
Babies!
So many wrestlers and their partners have been expanding their families this year! Early on, we learned that Roman Reigns’ wife had recently given birth to another set of twins. His former stable mates Seth Rollins and Jon Moxley have also recently become dads (and all their firstborns are girls!). The Bella Twins introduced us to the Bella Boys. And we have also been able to see some wrestlers’ home lives with their kids as the pandemic has kept everyone under their own roof for the most part.
Socially Distanced Watch Parties
I was really sad about missing WrestleMania in-person but I had a blast doing a Zoom watch party. Seeing each other’s faces and hearing each other’s commentary really helped during the most restrictive part of the quarantine. I’ve still got some fantastic screenshots of my friends reacting to matches. I’ve done a few more, including a recent one for War Games. Also on an unrelated note, can we continue to have two-night events?
Cinematic Matches
I have watched both the Boneyard Match and the Stadium Stampede over a dozen times. They are absolute masterpieces. From the cinematography to the special effects to the actual match, they were simply amazing. I don’t know how or if they could have ever pulled those matches off in front of a live crowd. Truly one of the hidden gems of the Pandemic Era has been the birth of the cinematic match. It also gives the wrestlers a chance to fix things as well and make sure the product is perfect before they put it out to the public. And we can’t forget those memes of AJ Styles and the Undertaker.
Supporting the Indies
Unfortunately with the cancellation of live events for the majority of the year, the indie scene suffered a lot. Many wrestlers were unable to get regular work during the apex of the lockdown. I was able to donate some money as well as snag merch to help out some of the indie wrestlers affected by the pandemic. I was especially happy to be able to support a few of my local wrestlers (and good friends) by getting a few items.
Podcasts
I struggled getting into podcasts for a long time. I had a hard time sitting still and listening to them. But I recently started listening to them while I was at the gym doing machine work or cardio and I can see the hype. Wrestling podcasts have been a godsend because I love learning more behind the scenes stuff and learning about wrestlers’ lives outside of the ring. I’ve also been listening to mostly women and poc-hosted podcasts because I feel like they understand nuance better and I can identify with them. My favorites have been The Bellas, AEW Unrestricted, Those Wrestling Girls, Black Guys Wrestling Podcast, and Wrestling Winedown.
Streaming Services
As I mentioned before, it was very difficult to intently keep up with wrestling for parts of the year. I had a severe breakdown during the summer months that made it difficult to care about anything at all. Thankfully we have streaming services and I was able to get back on track fairly quickly. I’ve even watched old favorite pay-per-views. I still remember watching some of those OMG Moments in real time. When you’re having a hard time staying up to date, streaming services are your best friend!
