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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

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Defector

The Defector Crewneck Sweatshirt Is Back In Stock

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Merch v3

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Lauren Theisen

View of a wrestling ring during a tag team match at White Eagle Hall

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Pro Wrestling

Deadlock Pro-Wrestling Is As Fun As It Is Fragile

Wide view of Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd during AEW Dynamite

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AEW Can Be Too Much

Bryan Danielson, bloody and pointing in the ring

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Bryan Danielson Makes Every Last Match Count

Mistico makes his entrance at Forbidden Door

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Go See Your Guys Live

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AEW Still Isn’t Over CM Punk

Sting puts the scorpion death lock on Matthew Jackson in his last match

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Sting Went Out Crazier Than He Came In

New Japan Pro-Wrestling – Wrestle Kingdom 18 in Tokyo Dome

Kazuchika Okada’s Exit Is A Warning Siren For The Rest Of Japan

Joshua Needelman is a freelance writer living in Astoria who spends way too much time thinking about professional wrestling. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and more.

Joshua Needelman

Eddie Kingston, with his eyes closed, in the ring.

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How New York’s Eddie Kingston Became Pro Wrestling’s “King of the Bums”

Tetsuya Naito flying in with a knee on Keiji Muto

Pro-Wrestling NOAH – KEIJI MUTO GRAND FINAL

Year In Review

Some Wrestling Matches I Liked In 2023

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Luis Paez-Pumar

Kazuchika Okada enters the ring during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Korakuen Hall on October 01, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Even At Half Speed, Kazuchika Okada Is The Main Event

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Bryan Danielson Saved The Day

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The Biggest Wrestling Show Ever Was About Friendship (And One Little Backstage Fight)

Wembley Stadium was designed by architects HOK Sport and Foster & Partners with Engineers Mott Macdonald and was built by Multiplex.  The signature feature is the circular section lattice arch which is 133 metres tall and sits above the northern half of

AEW Is Bringing 80,000 People To Wembley Stadium At The Weirdest Possible Time

Sean T. Collins has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Decider, Pitchfork, and many others. He lives with his family on Long Island.

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Sean T. Collins

Jon Moxley delivers a move to Anthony Bowens during the AEW Dynamite - Beach Break taping on January 26, 2022, at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH.

WRESTLING: JAN 26 AEW Dynamite

How Queer Pro Wrestlers Are Handling America’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Heel Turn

A bloodied Eddie Kingston with a can of gasoline

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Some Wrestling Matches I Liked In 2022

Visual Editor. Runs <a href="http://defectorstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defectorstore.com</a>. Philadelphia-based, if you couldn’t tell.

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Dan McQuade

Claudio Castagnoli swings Chris Jericho on AEW Dynamite. Ref Aubrey Edwards is behind him.

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Wrestling Fans Will Never Learn To Count

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Saraya Is AEW’s Best Chance To Fix Its Women’s Division

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Jon Moxley Vs. CM Punk Was False Advertising And It Ruled

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David Roth

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Podcasts

In Search Of The Impossible Trade, With Kazeem Famuyide