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Occupy Raw: Pro Wrestling Fans, Carnivalesque, and the Commercialization of Social Movements
Author(s) -
Canella Gino
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the journal of popular culture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.238
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1540-5931
pISSN - 0022-3840
DOI - 10.1111/jpcu.12492
Subject(s) - commercialization , carnivalesque , citation , computer science , art , library science , literature , political science , law
O N MARCH 10, 2014, DANIEL BRYAN STAGED AN “OCCUPY Raw” protest in the center of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ring. The event was broadcast live and seen by millions of viewers around the world on WWE’s weekly television series Raw. This scripted act of defiance saw fan favorite and underdog wrestler Bryan fill the ring with dozens of fans wearing his signature “Yes” T-shirt. The protest was the culmination of an ongoing feud between Bryan and The Authority, a team of corporate bosses and wrestlers consisting at the time of WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events Triple H, and a rotating crew of villainous wrestlers, including Kane, Seth Rollins, and Randy Orton. This storyline of the Everyman versus his corporate bosses is nothing new for WWE. In the late 1990s, arguably one of the most popular professional wrestlers ever, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, engaged in a feud with The Corporation and the evil Mister McMahon,