Professional Wrestling and Politics

Can professional wrestling help us to understand contemporary politics? That was the question that launched my recent research agenda, turning to the professional wrestling studies literature as a potential source for political studies scholars.

This has led to a number of peer-reviewed academic articles (listed below), and the honour of being shortlisted by Political Studies Review for The Best Paper Award 2022.

I have also discussed this research on podcasts, interviews and radio.

Publications

  • Moon, D.S. (2022) Kayfabe, Smartdom & Marking Out: Can Pro-Wrestling Help Us Understand Donald Trump? Political Studies Review. 20(1): 47-61. Online.

  • Moon, D.S. (2022) Work, Kayfabe and the Development of Proletarian Culture: Professional Wrestling as Potential Proletkult. Professional Wrestling Studies Review Journal. 3(1): 17-37. Online.

  • Moon, D.S. (2020) The role of cultural production in celebrity politics: Comparing the campaigns of Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura (1999) and Donald Trump (2016). Politics. 40(2): 139-153. Online.

I have also discussed the politics behind the Welsh Government’s decision to fund WWE Clash at the Castle 2022. For more, click below.