{"title":"Grappling with the Digital: The New Industrial Geographies of Professional Wrestling","authors":"Dewitt King","doi":"10.1353/aq.2023.a905865","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay examines industrial and labor practices in the pro wrestling industry. By analyzing the WWE Network as an \"industrial disruptor,\" this essay suggests that this disruption shifted not only who was considered the prototypical wrestler; it also changed the relations of power within the industry. While the deployment of the streaming service increased the reach of the WWE beyond the national borders of the US, it inadvertently created a pathway for local, regional, and international wrestling companies to also utilize streaming service technology to collectively work together to mitigate some of the industrial hegemony of the WWE. Moreover, the WWE's attempt to create \"digital wrestling territories\" has changed the relationship between the local and the global, which has reformulated digital global intimate industrial relations. Although the WWE is a global company that has retained dominance for almost forty years, the deployment of streaming services has forever changed the business of pro wrestling.","PeriodicalId":51543,"journal":{"name":"AMERICAN QUARTERLY","volume":"75 1","pages":"589 - 608"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AMERICAN QUARTERLY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2023.a905865","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:This essay examines industrial and labor practices in the pro wrestling industry. By analyzing the WWE Network as an "industrial disruptor," this essay suggests that this disruption shifted not only who was considered the prototypical wrestler; it also changed the relations of power within the industry. While the deployment of the streaming service increased the reach of the WWE beyond the national borders of the US, it inadvertently created a pathway for local, regional, and international wrestling companies to also utilize streaming service technology to collectively work together to mitigate some of the industrial hegemony of the WWE. Moreover, the WWE's attempt to create "digital wrestling territories" has changed the relationship between the local and the global, which has reformulated digital global intimate industrial relations. Although the WWE is a global company that has retained dominance for almost forty years, the deployment of streaming services has forever changed the business of pro wrestling.
期刊介绍：
American Quarterly represents innovative interdisciplinary scholarship that engages with key issues in American Studies. The journal publishes essays that examine American societies and cultures, past and present, in global and local contexts. This includes work that contributes to our understanding of the United States in its diversity, its relations with its hemispheric neighbors, and its impact on world politics and culture. Through the publication of reviews of books, exhibitions, and diverse media, the journal seeks to make available the broad range of emergent approaches to American Studies.
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