Oliver Bateman Does the WorkVerified account

When people say they were fond of some variant of 80s wrestling, chances are they were watching it. When they express fondness for the "attitude era," a lot of times they're expressing fondness for the "dirt sheet gossip": swerves, backstage scandals, etc.

they may have been sorta watching the matches -- the workrate marks are an exception, they were grading matches -- but most were tracking the gossip, deaths, etc. That stuff still draws a number: obits are my bread and butter. That VICE "dark side" series covers well trod ground

This is why I won't touch wrestling and politics takes, among many other reasons (some I've already published). I see a lot of people who cover other stuff, usually politics, talking wrestling through this lens plus skimming the current product. That commentary is so cheesy