BOOK REVIEW: “Follow the Buzzards: Pro Wrestling in the Age of COVID-19”
Following the success of his book, Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution, author Keith Elliot Greenberg already had a sequel in mind. Having covered the movement that had set the table for Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling in his last book, Greenberg wanted to write about what was to be one of the most transformative years for the wrestling industry in decades in 2020.
Like many others, what he didn’t expect was the arrival of a global pandemic that would all but halt the entertainment world. Would there even be a wrestling industry to cover? Surely, a form of entertainment that required athletes to breathe, sweat and roll around in close proximity would be off the table? Looking back, at the time, nothing could stop Vince McMahon, so it’s not surprising that WWE continued producing new content. For a young, upstart company in AEW, it’s unlikely they could have survived had they not pushed forward. So on they went with programming and the fulfillment of lucrative television contracts.
It would be almost impossible to cover wrestling in 2020 without also covering everything else that went down that year. Greenberg recounts the political turmoil that gripped the United States as well as the rise of social justice movements like Black Lives Matter; instances that had a direct impact on the industry. Whether it be polarizing opinions on the murder of George Floyd or controversial beliefs surrounding COVID vaccines, all aspects of 2020 would find their way into the industry.
Before Greenberg gets on the road traveling to indie shows again in the summer of 2020, he writes about the difficulties WWE had in creating an enjoyable atmosphere for their television audience. With the company’s flagship show WrestleMania restricted to essential personnel only, the viewer had to get over the deafening silence that plagued the action in the ring. In an attempt to fix that, they tried a distanced and masked audience but were unable to control outbreaks. On the other channel, AEW filled its stands with wrestlers who helped to create a more lively atmosphere. With WWE eventually settling on an environment full of virtual fans on video boards complete with piped-in audio, was AEW’s direction the right way to go? It’s hard to say, but I personally feel the minimal live crowd was the more palatable experience.
I found the most interesting parts of the book dealt with Greenberg’s travels to indie promotions that tried to run shows in a pandemic world. They didn’t have the huge budgets that the bigger companies carried which allowed for increased testing and therefore had to look at other options. One of the first out of the gate was GCW, who staged outdoor performances with strict distancing and masked requirements. Greenberg also traveled to Illinois to take in a show by Warrior Wrestling, another outdoor venture.
Putting aside the fan experience for a moment, Greenberg also looked at the wrestler’s job. How do you adjust from performing a purely spectator sport with no spectators? You’re trained to feed off the crowd and the energy in the building. In speaking with Trey Miguel, Greenberg noted that Trey had to “retrain himself”. Miguel noted that the performers had to give each other pep talks and “feeding to the camera like you’d feed to the crowd.”
Likely the lasting legacy of the pandemic will be the advent of the “cinematic match”. Having more in common with a Hollywood fight scene than a wrestling match itself, performers would be filmed fighting in a variety of locations such as old warehouses, empty football stadiums, graveyards, swamps, and even wrestling rings. While some were more creative than others (the Firefly Funhouse match comes to mind), there are others that were downright confusing and sloppy. In a match that took place inside WWE headquarters, one wrestler would seemingly murder his opponents by throwing them off the seven-story office building. Greenberg notes that concerned fans had called the police believing they had just seen two men die.
You’re also asking these performers – human beings – to go out there and put themselves in harm’s way. Greenberg notes a specific instance where WWE performer Kevin Owens took a sabbatical following the death of his wife’s grandfather from Covid. He did not want to put his family further at risk. When Vince McMahon was trying to figure out a way to curb outbreaks, it was Owens who would give Vince the idea to mandate masks with those who did not follow the mandate receiving a hefty fine.
To be honest, when I first heard that this book was being released, I thought that maybe it was too soon. Although we’ve taken steps as a society to try and live with the disease, we’re still very much within the pandemic. Having just recovered from it myself, it is no joke. But having read the book, there is so much I didn’t know despite the constant deluge of news that seemed to flow out of the wrestling world during this period. Like Greenberg’s 2020 release, TOO SWEET, he has produced another fascinating look at a business that has had to adapt over and over again over the years, with 2020 being no exception. Greenberg notes, “on this, most industry observers agree: 2020 was supposed to be the best year to be a wrestling fan in a very long time. To be honest, I’m still not sure it wasn’t.”
Follow the Buzzards: Pro Wrestling in the Age of COVID-19 is available now through ECW Press
