Features

© AEW

Butterflies & Pink Flowers

In the 3rd of our Tunnel Talk inspired “special little guy” series and ahead of the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Final on May 25th, Emiliana Rico-Toro writes about the impact Hangman Adam Page has had on her fandom as well as the wider impact on her life.

It’s been nearly six years since the Anxious Millennial Cowboy debuted on TNT, and throughout this past half a decade, he’s done more to help people than he will ever know. The world of wrestling used to be where beefy, vascular, terrifyingly monstrous men were the norm and the standard for what a champion looked like for decades, but that is much less the case now. Sure, you still have your Brian Cages and your straight-from-the-eighties Outrunners, but overall there has been a societal shift in audience desire to see less of these larger than life professional wrestlers that exude fake “alpha male” testerone energy.

And while it makes me happy to see men write about how guys like Hangman Adam Page help them connect to their more emotional, perhaps even more feminine side, very rarely do we get to hear exactly how it affects them in their own lives. It feels as if, even as they say these more grounded, honest characters are helping them become honest with themselves, they never actually open up when they write about it. We don’t get to hear about real moments in these male writers’ lives where they decided to tell someone how they felt instead of keeping it in, or how they chose to listen to someone else’s feedback and make a change, or hell, even how they allowed themselves a little grace in their physical appearance…or decided not to bust their buddy’s chops over their own physique. Give me something!

With that in mind, I’m here to confess how a male wrestler helped me become more comfortable being a woman, and more importantly, myself.

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Ever since I was a little girl, I remember being a bit tomboy-ish. I was a bit brash, and bossy, and kind of mean. I had a little brother that I taught how to hit, despite my parents telling me that it was a mistake to do so (they were right). But when I taught him to hit, it wasn’t with the intent of malice; he found it silly, and I wanted to make him laugh. I liked the color blue and I didn’t like dresses, even though I dreamed of being a flower girl. When I was 5 years old, I remember being given the option of a girl’s makeup set or another toy, and I remember thinking that my mother wouldn’t want me to play with makeup, despite kind of feeling like I wanted to.

Every choice I made as a child, I pushed my femininity down. I stopped wearing pink, despite thinking it was a beautiful color that matched the blues I loved. When I was eleven, puberty started kicking in, and I remember my parents remarking on changes they could see in my body and it terrified me. I didn’t want to be a girl with breasts that could be seen, and so I slumped my posture and hid myself away in clothes that didn’t suit me.

Wrestling didn’t truly become a part of my life until I became an adult. My parents didn’t allow me to watch it, and they would turn the tv off after Smallville or Supernatural — which one it was, I can’t remember, but I always caught the promotional ad of whatever WWF show was playing next on the WB. It would end up being a high school best friend (who later became my husband, then ex husband) that shared the world of professional wrestling with me. Here, I learned that fighting could hurt, and sometimes, like a six year old me thought, it could also be silly.

What does Hangman Adam Page have to do with this, you ask?

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I was a very young woman when I got married, and I wasn’t entirely sure of myself as a person. One cause of the marriage eroding is that I had no self esteem, and it made me a weak person in a plethora of ways. I couldn’t communicate my issues, my thoughts, my feelings, I didn’t think I was good enough to pursue my education or my dreams — and to top it all off, I thought I wasn’t pretty enough, I had bad posture (there it is again), and I was fat. All of this would play a part in my marriage exploding, and I would have very little to hold onto.

Except for a sad guy on my television who, like me, thought very little of himself. A guy who had tried and failed over and over, who pushed people away, who struggled to let people in, who wouldn’t voice the things that warred inside him until it was too late to set things right. That guy would win the AEW men’s world championship right around the time my life had fallen apart at the seams.

And, because of him, I would find a reason to dust off all the pieces of myself and sew them together anew. This would in fact become quite literal, as I learned to sew because I wanted to make myself the butterfly jeans Hangman wore the day he saved the Bucks from Undisputed. I also made the flower jeans he wore the pink Dolly Parton shirt with — you know, the outfit that had all the men raging, because how could the paragon of masculinity, the cowboy Hangman Adam Page, wear such girly, feminine clothes? How could this man wear pink?

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I learned how to cut shirts. I learned how to dye shirts just so I could make one of his merch shirts pink and I could wear it, despite my lifelong aversion to the color. I reveled in the joy I felt when I made pretty signs in pastel pinks and blues to take to wrestling shows. I’ve become more comfortable dyeing my own hair, putting makeup on for fun occasions or for no reason at all (but never every day, because I don’t want it to become intrinsic to my identity). I started to take my clothes a bit more seriously, stealing a shirt or two from Hangman’s closet because I always thought that pearl snaps were nice. I tuck my shirt in every day and I wear nice boots and a pretty tooled belt. It is constant vigilance on my end, but I do make an effort to fix my posture and hold my head up high almost every day. I did lose quite a bit of weight due to the stress of divorce, but I got some of it back once I started being happy again. And I’m fine with that! That’s okay.

But more than anything else, I have learned to be honest with those that deserve it – my friends and my family. This, obviously, should not be considered a gendered trait. Everyone should be honest with the people they care about. But I do think it’s an important thing to learn. When I struggle with a problem, it doesn’t take me weeks or months to ask for help anymore. When I’m asked how I’m doing, I don’t keep it in. I try my best every day to be honest and open with the people who support me.

You might be thinking to yourself, “perhaps it was just you finding yourself after your divorce. With or without Hangman, you would have learned all those things,” and you’re probably right. To grow is to know that I did all these things with my own effort, but I can’t just dismiss the impact that Hangman has had on me. Hangman’s reign happened while I was struggling to even get myself out of bed to take walks with my father, when I couldn’t even have one singular thought without barraging myself with what ifs, why didn’ts, and how could yous. I couldn’t sleep without crying myself to sleep and then waking from nightmares or the panic of my own mortality.

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But every Wednesday, all of that went away for a few hours while I watched Hangman hold his own against the likes of Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, CM Punk. Sitting at my computer as I quietly edited a few choice frames of AEW footage to make pretty little GIFs, my mind was occupied enough to make it through those months of torment. And after he lost the world title, it felt like both of us were beginning anew. I started school again to pursue my dreams, I started traveling places I’d never been. Hell, I even started a podcast just so I could talk about wrestling.

This little cowboy on my TV screen, in the midst of all my own chaos, was a beacon of light. And more than anything, he gave me the courage to embrace being myself. I’m still a lot like my six year old self – a little brash, and bossy, and mean, but I’m also intuitive, and silly, and kind, and I’m learning to embrace what I am as I go, whether it’s what’s on the outside or what’s on the inside, whether it’s butterflies and pink flowers, or embers and smoke. It’s all me, baby.

© AEW

“And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And if it does, I came by it honest.” — Hangman Adam Page, Full Gear Scrum, 2021.

By Emiliana Rico-Toro, contributor at pwmusings

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Holding Out For A Hero: The Search For Stardom’s Next Top Babyface

David Hayter discusses the potential candidates to replace Tam Nakano and Mayu Iwatani as Stardom moves into its next era.

Stardom should be riding high, having reached their absolute highest height drawing a record-smashing 7,503 to Yokohama Arena for the critically acclaimed, tear-jerking, show-of-the-year-contending All Star Grand Queendom – but instead they find themselves in a perilous predicament. Within 24 hours of their greatest success story, the promotion waved goodbye to its three top babyfaces. Tam Nakano retired with immaculate style and grace; Mayu Iwatani, the very Icon of Stardom, left to reunite with Rossy Ogawa in Marigold as her contract expired; and, the absolute kicker, Maika announced that after years of working injured, she was going to have Tommy John surgery and would be on the shelf for a “long time”.

In short, Stardom parted ways with its top idol and most consistent draw, arguably the best female professional wrestler since Manami Toyota, and the fans’ most beloved everywoman-come-powerhouse. Maika’s departure was a particularly cruel blow for storyline reasons (which we will discuss below), but also because, while Starlight Kid was often labelled as Stardom’s mascot (largely because she’s small, charismatic, and wears a mask), Maika was the company’s true spirit animal: a booze-drinking, lariat-throwing, boob-grabbing (it’s complicated) sweetheart who seemed to be every wrestler and the fans’ BFF.

Worse still, Mina Shirakawa had only just departed for America, so the company barely had time to come to terms with losing its most charismatic English speaker to AEW. It’s remarkable to think that Stardom even had four babyface stars of this calibre to lose, considering it had only been 12 months since Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, Mirai, and Victoria Yuzuki left to kickstart Marigold, and top gaijin Mariah May set sail for the USA.

The good news, of course, is that Stardom is used to seeing top talent walk out the door, but not since the days of the NOAH/AJPW split has so much incredibly over talent departed in such short order. NJPW has had its fair share of losses, but at least they came in small doses spread out over multiple years. Stardom is being forced to rebook and rebuild on the fly.

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How to solve a problem like Kamitani?

Stardom is not short on talent – in fact, the Wonder of Stardom division (for lack of a better term) is in great shape. Starlight Kid has been elevated to her rightful status as a top babyface champion, and she has a host of natural opponents – from perennial rivals Natsupoi and AZM, to friend-turned-foe Suzu Suzuki, up-and-comers desperate for a second chance at gold like Rina, and long-suffering veteran contenders like Hazuki and Konami. There is no shortage of challengers with strong storyline motivations when it comes to SLK.

The World of Stardom Championship is another kettle of fish entirely. Saya Kamitani, in retiring Tam Nakano, has just established herself as the top heel in Stardom and, given her frequent media appearances and NJPW’s struggles, can reasonably claim to be the top star in all of Japan alongside Goto and Ozawa. The trouble is that she has absolutely no top babyfaces to feud with.

Syuri has just been crowned IWGP Champion, which involves entering the “special attraction” vortex, feuding with high-profile, often outside talents (her next programmes are already set against Alex Windsor and Sareee). Starlight Kid has been teased as an opponent for Kamitani – and that feud will be a licence to print money – but after failed experiments in recent years, it seems unlikely Stardom would consider unifying the top titles. Beyond that, we enter a giant void, an unknown. The White Belt is traditionally used as a way to test out talent and prepare them for a future World Title reign or contender status, but at the moment Stardom doesn’t have that obvious next star waiting in the wings.

So who could be elevated to rival Saya Kamitani? Who is Stardom’s next top babyface? Let’s play Unagi Sayaka and assess the options.

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Stardom’s Imperfect, Unloved Golden Girl: Hanan

You could practically hear the collective groan emanating from Stardom’s English-speaking fanbase when Saya Kamitani was asked to “recommend a babyface wrestler” and she responded with just one name: Hanan. Kamitani would go further, saying, “I think she’s a wrestler who will carry the next generation of Stardom.” On paper, this shouldn’t be controversial; Hanan is the eldest sister of three of Stardom’s top youth prospects (along with twins Hina and Rina), she was crowned Cinderella Tournament winner in 2024 (a sure-fire signal of the company’s approval), and she looks the part with a perfect smile and a tall athletic frame.

Actually, scratch that – she doesn’t look the part, and that’s the problem. No one quite knows who Hanan is. She is generally nice and presents herself as a kind soul, but her aesthetic has always been confused. Hanan has currently settled on a day-glo yellow and green, super trouper outfit with frills and fur and no coherent theme. To make matters worse, she decided to dye her hair urinal-cake yellow, a move that Momo Watanabe once used for heel heat. Sadly, Hanan just isn’t cool or endearingly quirky; while it doesn’t seem that anyone actively dislikes Hanan, she also appears to be nobody’s favourite wrestler.

Speaking of wrestling, it’s rather an important part of the job, and she’s inconsistent; largely okay by Stardom standards, but she doesn’t seem to be at the stage where she can really lead a match. In my personal opinion, she was over-hyped this time last year and now she’s over-hated in 2025. Her tag team run to the Goddesses of Stardom Championship as a member of Wing*Gori has been excellent. She’s flourished, showing real fire, poise, and much-improved selling alongside Saya Iida. Best of all, in her feud with Hazuki, she showed a vicious killer instinct, finally laying in her strikes and nailing her bridging back suplexes (which, when executed properly, are a sumptuous sight to behold).

The trouble is that, while Hanan is good at a lot of things, she doesn’t appear to have that knack for big-match timing or structure. Her matches often drift or plateau, without that spark of physical violence, technical precision, or emotive storytelling that main event careers are built upon. But the tide may be turning. Mayu Iwatani is gone and Hanan is the default leader of Stars, so she can finally shape a faction in her own image. She is having the best matches of her career to date (albeit in a tag team), and Korakuen Hall was proudly chanting her name when FWC announced they were leaving Stars. Her time may be now.

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The Avenging Angels: Natsupoi and Saori Anou

There is, of course, one obvious narrative that could give Stardom clear direction throughout 2025. Given that Saya Kamitani successfully retired Tam Nakano and is fresh from bullying and trying to poison the mind of Tam’s young protégé Sayaka Kurura, it would make all the sense in the world for Cosmic Angels’ veteran members, Natsupoi and Saori, to seek revenge. It also feels timely, as the pair prepare to celebrate their 10th anniversary as pro wrestlers, that they take the final step up to the main event.

Natsupoi is an interesting case. She is a natural Wonder of Stardom title contender given her storied rivalry with Starlight Kid, which included a fantastic and story-rich clash at Dream Queendom 2024. However, perhaps it’s time for a new direction. Natsupoi is a successful idol and proven merchandise mover who routinely tops fan votes for the promotion’s most popular wrestler (with the noted caveat that winning these polls often depends on the wrestler actively campaigning). She also demonstrated against SLK, and particularly Tam Nakano during their gruellingly brilliant trilogy, that she can deliver emotionally gripping narratives that elevate excellent battles into match-of-the-year contenders. She’s small and plucky, while Kamitani is tall and cocky. She’s perhaps the best underdog seller in all of wrestling, exactly what you need against a dominant bully – it seems like a perfect fit. Unfortunately, she’s also injury-prone, has outside interests and is very small – which was always a problem for Rossy Ogawa, but seems less of an issue under Taro Okada’s stewardship.

Saori Anou is an enigma. On her best day she can be the best wrestler in the promotion; throwing the hardest slaps, the most sublime suplexes and, of course, the most pristine bridges imaginable. The trouble is that it’s virtually impossible to tell when Saori Anou will be on form and which opponents she’ll click with. Every so often, Saori will step into a big match situation and it just doesn’t happen – no moves will be botched, but the drama, intensity and rhythm will just fail to materialise. She is, of course, mysterious by design; while she’s a cheerful goof off-camera, in Stardom she’s an android. She’s not exactly stoic and I wouldn’t describe her as an ice queen, but she plays the role of straight man – one who Natsupoi tries her best to crack. This more reserved character can create compelling drama when her anger boils to the surface or sorrow overcomes her reserve, but it would certainly be a risk to make Stardom’s next top babyface a wrestler famed for her indifference.

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Equal Parts Crazy and Credible: Suzu Suzuki

Is there a better storyline in all of combat sports than when the cocky fake tough guy is forced to face a real killer? It practically writes itself: freed from the shackles of the TikTok-trending Neo Genesis, indie freakazoid and stone-cold killer Suzu Suzuki sets her sights on Stardom’s premium poser, Saya Kamitani. Suzu has the experience and tenure; she’s fallen just short of the World of Stardom championship having won the 5 Star Grand Prix in 2023, so her rise to the top of the card would involve only a small step rather than a giant leap. There are some downsides, however. Given that she has just turned on Neo Genesis, brutally bloodying Mei Seira in the process, it would make far more sense for her to run through that unit, leading to a showdown with Starlight Kid for the Wonder of Stardom championship. Equally, Suzu is having issues of her own. She has gained weight as a result of the medication she has been taking and this has led to her having to deal with bullying and fan backlash from Japanese-speaking fans (where idol culture demands an inhumane level of absolute aesthetic consistency). Would pushing Suzu to the very top only inflame these issues that already appear to be affecting Suzu personally? Perhaps, but on merit Suzu is more than ready.

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The Mystery Vortex: Ami Sourei

Magnificent Ami should be a natural replacement for Maika. She’s a powerhouse, who despite the occasional aesthetic misstep, looks a million bucks and has always been strongly pushed beyond her experience level by the promotion. However, she has also been out injured for nearly a year at this point with no firm return date announced. No one actually knows what kind of ring shape she’ll be in when she returns. At the time of her injury, she was facing backlash for being over-pushed, struggling to nail down either a cohesive character or an in-ring style that guaranteed great matches. What no one doubts is that she has tremendous potential both as a wrestler and in terms of star quality. She’s also spent a year at the commentary booth speaking directly to fans and will no doubt receive a warm and sympathetic welcome when she returns. But the truth is, she is more of a wildcard than a sure thing.

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Goto on Steroids: Hazuki

If show business were a meritocracy, Hazuki would already be a champion. She is simply phenomenal in the ring: a rare blend of vicious intensity, understated underdog charm and technical precision. Whenever Hazuki is given even the slightest sliver of an opportunity the Stardom fans latch on and rally behind her. She is the very master of turning a quiet, clap-happy crowd into a rabid, roaring audience living and dying with each nearfall. No one questions her ability in the ring, she is Stardom’s head trainer after all; it’s always been a question of star power. Despite looking the part, outside the squared circle Hazuki has perhaps shied away from the kind of personal promotion and over-the-top storytelling that is necessary to be a top babyface star. In this sense, she is incredibly reminiscent of Hiroki Goto; the consummate professional, beloved by fans, but who is understated to a fault and always loses the big one. There is no doubt the Stardom faithful would rally to Hazuki were she to be pushed to a top title feud, unfortunately it appears her window as a babyface may have closed. Reading the tea leaves, following her split with Hanan and Stars, it feels a heel turn is a more likely occurrence than a title run.

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A Rival From Within: Rina

Saya Kamitani’s charismatic stablemate Rina has already demonstrated, during her excellent Future of Stardom championship run and with her strong performance when challenging Starlight Kid for the Wonder of Stardom championship, that she is destined for the top. There would certainly be natural intrigue in anyone from H.A.T.E. turning on Kamitani to challenge for the World title, but it seems unlikely at this stage. Young Rina is flourishing as a heel, and a run at the Goddesses championship or revisiting a feud with Starlight Kid later in the year appear the sensible next steps for her career.

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Always the Bridesmaid: AZM

Fresh from winning the NJPW Strong Women’s championship (a curious belt that appeared to exist solely for Mercedes Moné’s benefit once she lost the IWGP title), AZM’s eyes appear to be on the English-speaking market. Nevertheless, she has a lot left to accomplish in Stardom. The High Speed Bomb Girl is a sensationally slick and accomplished technical wrestler and, were Stardom to promote on bell-to-bell merit alone, she’d be a sure-fire contender to enter the main event ranks – but she’s in an awkward spot. Her biggest rival, Starlight Kid, is finally her friend and faction mate. She lost her challenge for the Wonder of Stardom championship at All Star Grand Queendom and also lost leadership of Neo Genesis to Starlight Kid in the process. It’s not impossible for an “underling” to win the top championship (see Utami Hayashishita becoming World champion while in Queen’s Quest), but it is hard to get a handle on AZM’s domestic destination. She feels like the perfect plug-and-play contender, who could be slotted into any title feud at any moment; where she actually belongs in the grand scheme of things, however, remains unclear.

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The Real Solution: Maika

Look, it just makes too much sense. Sure, Maika is out with a “season-ending” injury, but wrestling isn’t baseball. Maika isn’t expected to throw thousands of pitches with her recovering arm; she has to throw worked lariats. When faced with the same injury, Dominik Mysterio returned in 3-to-6 months. Granted, Maika has been working injured for years and deserves all the time in the world to fully recover; so there is a realistic possibility she could be out for at least twelve months, but it makes too much narrative sense for her to return to face Saya Kamitani.

Maika is the one with unfinished business. Kamitani turned heel and became the Phenex Queen at Maika’s expense, costing her the World of Stardom championship in the process. Maika got a measure of revenge by defeating Kamitani to win the 5 Star Grand Prix final in 2024, but Maika went on to lose to Tam Nakano, allowing Kamitani to slip in and steal the title at the end of the year. In storyline, Maika has Kamitani’s number and she’s never managed to win back the title that was unfairly stolen from her and that Kamitani now holds.

Perhaps Stardom doesn’t need to force a new talent into the top babyface role. Maybe they just need a few stopgaps to fill time until the Empress is ready to return for an epic showdown with the Phenex Queen at Dream Queendom 2025.

By David Hayter

Why The Rumble Works

A Look At Why The Rumble Is Always A Crossover Success.
By: Micah

Pro Wrestling is famously the sport without seasons. But if you have any friends that are WrestleMania-curious, you might notice that sometime around the end of January, suddenly they have a lot of questions.

In WWE lore, The Royal Rumble is known as the beginning of the Road to WrestleMania. And without fail, it awakens the cryptid known as the wrestling casual. It breaks containment into the mainstream, and it pulls back in people who aren’t really ready to make a year-long commitment.

The world of American sports has several parallels. The Super Bowl, March Madness, The World Series. These once-a-year events change players and teams each year. But the stakes remain the same, as does the structure. People who may not know what inning of the Bloodline saga we’re in this year still know the winner goes to WrestleMania.

© New Japan World

This sort of thing can be done poorly. Hell in a Cell, as a yearly event, routinely mangled the stories around it. But when done well (and sparingly), a big event like the Rumble is an invaluable landmark in storylines year-round. It builds drama, adds tension, and focuses attention in a way that acts as a combustible accelerant for everything else.

Royal Rumble works for many reasons. Wrestling sometimes flounders with narrative stakes, often replacing compelling consequences with pass-around belts that hold no weight. But the winner of the Rumble gets a championship match and the main event of WrestleMania (in most years anyway). They get a spot on the big show, a feature match, and a spot in the legend of the company.

It beautifully works both ways. Characters talking about how they want to win increases the value of winning. Winners going on to achieve their goals makes it easier for people to talk about how they want to win. The chase of the dream makes the dream bigger, which in turn makes the stakes for future chases bigger too. So long as the cycle is successfully executed, each year compounds the interest from the previous.

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This adds prestige to both WrestleMania and the Rumble. If you’re a fan who plans to watch WrestleMania, you might as well catch the show that sets up its main event. Both PLEs are now narratively relevant, and so both command more attention.

Another reason The Rumble connects so well is how sports-like it feels. Wrestling (or Sports Entertainment, as it is known in parts of Connecticut) is a show about athletics and sport. By having a set game, with set rules, and a set goal, along with time limits and random stats about past years, the Rumble feels more like a big sporting event than standard fare grappling exhibition. It offers a bridge to people who expect time-intervals and trivia and that more sports-based presentation.

It has simple rules that can be explained in just a few minutes. Newcomers can show up, grab a beverage, and have the whole thing explained to them before the intro video has ended. Chant the countdowns as they happen. Laugh and cheer as people get eliminated. Find a favorite and hope they win. It is immediately accessible to anyone. That accessibility is one key to the Rumble’s success.

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Other companies have annual events that do similar things. New Japan’s G1 Climax is always a big fight feel sort of experience and it draws in lapsed NJPW fans each year. The winner getting the main event of the big Tokyo Dome show instantly adds gravity to each win and loss. And fans can cheer when their favorite finally earns themselves the spotlight during Wrestle Kingdom.

But where the G1 plays to New Japan’s strengths (blisteringly good matches, wins and losses setting up stories, daily shows in a festival of wrestling love), the Royal Rumble plays to WWE’s strengths. The Rumble format focuses on entrances, surprise returns and debuts, and on big moments. It allows for nostalgia, comedy, flashy athletic bursts, and that sugar-rush countdown whenever it gets dull.

Nobody takes a pin. Every meme or chant gets its moment. And in the end, one person gets to stand tall and point to the sign. 30 times over, the crowd gets to their feet to cheer, sing, and boo. From midcard favorites to hall-of-famers, whomever your favorite is, you’ll likely find someone to cheer. For the gamble-and-watch sort of viewer, there’s plenty of ways to draw random names or numbers, enabling great trash talk if it looks like your pick might just win.

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In better years, WWE wisely builds to the anticipation of the event. They hold matches to determine who comes out last and who comes out first. The drama and stakes build with each declared entrant during the weeks before. Qualifiers make the Rumble feel more prestigious, as every person left out adds shine to those who got in. And in the era of shovel-ready content 7 days a week, this easy narrative backdrop can add texture, excitement, and consequences to what can sometimes be bland, procedural slop.

Of course, it depends on the vitality it is presented with. In lesser years, we’ve certainly seen the life sucked out of it. But when done right, annual events are a great way to give characters motivation and goals, to play around with both victory and heartbreak, to give everyone a rule structure to fantasy book around.

The Rumble, much like other annual events in wrestling (the aforementioned G1, AEW’s Owen Hart Cup and C2, Stardom’s 5* Grand Prix and Cinderella Tournament and countless others), generate hype and attention from outside the standard base. Each year, the Rumble manages to be a lightning rod setting up WWE’s biggest show both in terms of narrative and mainstream interest.

Too many of these can water down the concept. Poor execution can cheapen the stakes. But when done right, the Rumble is an irreplaceable big-party-feel that begs for a large crowd in a small living room, eating pizza and cheering. And for all the talk of appealing to the casuals bantered about the community, that fun party feel does a great job, year after year.

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Every time they market the Rumble as an important milestone, every year the Rumble sets WrestleMania’s narrative stage, and every Rumble that rewards the fans who show up for it, each one of them encourages fans to come back next time and do it all again. The Rumble is one of wrestling’s big events for a reason. And if you want to welcome new fans, there’s a lot to learn from it.

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