That Wrestling Wench

Re-released episode from about a year ago.

This episode is the second and final episode on Luna Vachon. Discussed are some pivotal career moments, romantic partners, tragedies she endured, the pieces that make a performance, mental illness, and much more. Luna passed away in 2010, but has remained in the minds and hearts of fans for decades, and it is unlikely to change.

This week's episode is a continuation from last week, another re-release from a little over a year ago! All about the early life of Luna Vachon, part two will be released next week!

This is a rerelease of an episode from a year ago, all about sex in wrestling. Sexuality is an interesting sociological tool that reveals not only what we desire but what we are disgusted by. Take a dive with me into the muddy waters of sexuality in professional wrestling.

Today, we embark on the wrestling documentary Gaea Girls. Released in 2000 by British filmmakers Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, the doc follows a wrestling training center and promotion called Gaea Japan. Through the lens, the audience is shown the brutality inflicted upon its students and asks the question if realizing one's dreams is worth being put through Hell.

The doc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QgwFXZdYPY&t=1s

Today, in a continuation of the series on kayfabe, we have a special guest! Kreider Dane is a music producer based out of the greater Los Angeles area and is an avid wrestling fan. We talk all about the Montreal screw job, Vince McMahon's monopoly, Bret Hart's loogie, and much more!

Sources:

Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Montreal Screwjob

https://www.amazon.com/Ringmaster-Vince-McMahon-Unmaking-America/dp/1982169443/ref=asc_df_1982169443/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598275089707&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7163926990150458173&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014369&hvtargid=pla-1677848432876&psc=1

Today's episode continues our series on kayfabe, and discusses one of the biggest kayfabe-breaking moments in wrestling history; the original screwjob.

Sources:

https://www.amazon.com/Ringmaster-Vince-McMahon-Unmaking-America/dp/1982169443/ref=asc_df_1982169443/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598275089707&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2787888112789702699&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014369&hvtargid=pla-1677848432876&psc=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW0FgLGKa4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2687433-how-cyndi-lauper-was-essential-in-the-launch-of-wwe-wrestlemania

https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/the-fabulous-moolah/5c1a9d28be407707c961c83a

https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/vince-mcmahon-fabulous-moolah-wendi-richter-screwjob/

https://www.amazon.com/Cyndi-Lauper-Memoir/dp/1439147892

And more!

In this second part of this series on kayfabe, we go over what it means to watch fantasy dissipate around you. Through a few stories, we question what it means to take part in a world, and how kayfabe's change into the modern day allows us to believe even harder.

Sources:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/986789-wwe-a-look-back-at-the-infamous-curtain-call-the-msg-incident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI4839sOVsw

https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/kayfabe-professional-wrestling/

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1144430/times-wrestlers-got-in-trouble-for-breaking-kayfabe/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00948705.2019.1613410

and more!

In this series on kayfabe, we are going over what it means to build up a reality, and then watch it crash down around you. Professional wrestling blurs the lines between reality and fiction and therefore has the ability to show us what we want to be real. When we take part in the stories professional wrestling tells, we begin to be able to play with our imaginations of who we are, ourselves.

Some sources:

https://whatculture.com/wwe/wrestling-s-first-ever-kayfabe-break

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mgmpRZ1bQY

https://www.thesportster.com/wrestling-moments-made-fans-believe-it-was-real/#the-nwo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZVUnm64NvA

https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Smackdown-Douglas-Edwards/dp/150953766X

From an article Alexa wrote at the Last Word On Sports. This episode points out the through line between pro wrestling and drag performance.

The article:

https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/2023/05/16/drag-and-wrestling-powder-and-paint/

Today's episode covers a strongwoman of the early 1900s, Charmion. Through her gender subversion, acrobatic stunts, and strip tease, this woman made people clutch their pearls. Pieces of her career and the way her narrative was shifted by those around her inspired a further discussion of the parallels to another strongwoman...Chyna.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charmion

https://archive.ph/20061111131335/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/march/presence.php?page=2

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40257964?mag=the-trapeze-disrobing-act&seq=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDJCCr2-Sso

https://daily.jstor.org/the-trapeze-disrobing-act/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40257964?mag=the-trapeze-disrobing-act&seq=2