In the world of pro wrestling, there are “casual fans” and there are “know-it-all IWC smarks.”

Which are you?

Test your wrestling knowledge with this devilishly difficult quiz! If you get a perfect score, congratulations: you’re a super-fan!

 

1. Name the phenomenon that swept the world during Hulk Hogan’s meteoric rise in popularity:

a) Hulkamania

b) Hulkasanity

c) Hulkavirus

d) Lupus

 

2. Fill in the blank of wrestling catch-phrase: “______ 3:16”

a) Hogan

b) Austin

c) The current time is

d) Mordecai

 

3. Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson was once known in WWE by what name?

a) Saba Simba

b) High Chief Peter Maivia

c) Wendy Richter

d) The Rock

 

4. Though he is best known as a commentator during the 1980s and 1990s, which of these men is actually owner and Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment?

a) Michael Cole

b) Mike Adamle

c) Lord Alfred Hayes

d) Jonathan Coachman

d) None of the above

 

5. Hulk Hogan battled which “giant” at WrestleMania 3?

a) Giant Gonzales

b) Giant Baba

c) Andre the Giant

d) The Jolly Green Giant

e) All of the above

 

6. World Wrestling Entertainment was once known by what name?

a) McMahon & Son Grappling Co.

b) Des Moines Championship Wrestling

c) World Wrestling Federation

d) World Wildlife Fund

e) Microsoft

 

7. Which annual event is WWE’s equivalent of the Super Bowl?

a) Fast Lane

b) WrestleMania

c) The third Smackdown of November

d) Bound for Glory

e) Total Divas

 

8. Which of the following wrestlers was nicknamed “The Macho Man”?

a) Adrian Adonis

b) Gorgeous George

c) Fandango

d) Lanny Poffo’s brother

e) Chuck Palumbo

 

9. WWE was once engaged in a “ratings war” with which competitor?

a) G.L.O.W. The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

b) The Moscow Ballet Company

c) Ted Turner’s Hee-Haw Hoedown Country Rasslin’ Hootenanny

d) XFL

e) PBS Pledge Drive 1998

 

10. The French philosopher and semiotician Roland Barthes wrote in his 1957 book, Mythologies: “Wrestling holds the power of transmutation which is common to the Spectacle and to Religious Worship. In the ring, and even in the depths of their voluntary ignominy, wrestlers remain gods because they are, for a few moments, the key which opens Nature, the pure gesture which separates Good from Evil, and unveils the form of a Justice which is at last intelligible.”

In no less than 1,000 words, provide a postfoundationalist deconstruction of how Barthes’ critique fits within a Neo-Gramscian framework, vis-a-vis a Marxist interpretation of critical theory (include full footnotes and bibliography).  

 

 

Click for the answers!