Dan Richards, “The Progressive Liberal,” brings politics to rural wrestling

Pro-wrestling is a business that, for years, has taken a cue from the real world: there’s a good guy, a bad guy, and a battle for the fans’ hearts (and money) and, for years, politics has fed storylines. The Cold War and tussles with other foreign adversaries was a boon for the federations, especially the WWE (then the WWF) with characters like Russian Nikolai Volkoff and Iranian villain The Iron Sheik as baddies from beyond the border.

These feuds, though cringe-worthy in hindsight, tapped the vein of patriotism that ran throughout the Reagan Era and into the first term of George H. W. Bush thanks to the first Gulf War conflict. Read more…

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