J.J. McGee
@mithgifs.bsky.social
Zayn/Owens historian and author of "Fight Forever: The Ballad of Kevin and Sami." Over-analyzer of professional wrestling. I gif what makes me happy to look at. Any pronouns are fine with me.
Are you ready for a deep dive into the decades-long and very weird beef between Kevin Owens and CM Punk that also involves t-shirts, pizza parties, and both the founding and near-destruction of WWE’s biggest competitor? WELL YOU’RE GETTING IT ANYWAY. substack.com/@mithgifs/note…
substack.com
Oh no, Solo has become something I can never resist in a wrestler: a goofball who is clearly having a great time gassing up his teammates.
Sami, Punk, and a Saturday night main event of not-strictly-necessary kicks.
👀👀👀On LFG, Kevin comes quite close to taking a bump while coaching, and is clearly itching to get back into action in the ring.
The final agonizing payoff for the months and months of Sami's over-the-top raging backstage: when he loses the title and you expect him to flip out... and instead he quietly crumples inward into heartbroken sobs.
I can't even begin to tell you how hard that "until the day I die and beyond" hit me after all these years of rooting for him. The weight of it. Or the way his voice cracks on the "Grand Slam champion." It means the world.
Sami and Cody lowkey react to the cheers for Cody developing an undercurrent of boos as his music ends.
I'm so delighted by Byron Saxton here--first his knowing smile at Sami saying he's never at a loss for words, then that real joyous smile hearing the audience cheer for the new champion.
After Sami Zayn won the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens reposted a fan-made video. Set to The Smashing Pumpkins “1979,” it’s a retrospective of Sami’s career: El Generico doing impossible flips, Sami winning the NXT title, his debut match against Cena, the Bloodline story. x.com/7700saint/st...
Whatever the future holds-- FOREVER: Sami Zayn, WWE Champion.
Check out this consummate professional troll on Smackdown, being so overdramatically certain of his fated win that he faked me into thinking he must be whistling in the dark. 🫡
I really get the feeling Gunther has been enjoying putting the guy who beat him at WrestleMania through the wringer...
On today's NEW #WorkOfWrestling #podcast I provide commentary to one of modern wrestling's best matches...Sami Zayn vs Johnny Knoxville at #WrestleMania 38. Sync up the audio and enjoy! cc @mithgifs.bsky.social - I think you'll get a kick out of this one 😀 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Sami Zayn vs Johnny Knoxville Match Commentary
Podcast Episode · The Work Of Wrestling · June 15 · 41m
podcasts.apple.com
LFG continuing the motif of "Booker T won't make Matt Bloom happy by doing a team hand touch" is a delight to me. (Also, Kevin's wearing a Bray Wyatt t-shirt this episode... 😭)
It's like you can hear the gears in Sami's head grinding to a stop.
Great camera angle here, and Sami takes the dive like he's being obliterated.
Things I learned from the most recent LFG: 1. Matt Bloom remains adorable. 2. Kevin Owens has soft, warm hands. 3. Kevin is also very emphatic about team hand-touching!
One of the things I love about wrestling is watching coward heels in the middle of a face turn (it seems) realizing that they can be brave!
The El Grande showdown was amazing, but I especially appreciated Chad's daughter's face--(😯😬)--after her gore-soaked father gives her a high-five.
Tim having a Substack is great news for wrestling analysis! Now I'm thinking about what my absolute favorite moves would be... gotta have an Asai moonsault, a Northern Lights suplex, probably the RKO, the power slam...
Tim Kail@workofwrestling.bsky.social · 2mo agoNEW free article on my TOP FIVE FAVORITE WRESTLING MOVES is available on my #Substack right now, #WrestleSky. cc @mithgifs.bsky.social who also understands the particular challenge of describing wrestling moves in writing: workofwrestling.substack.com/p/my-top-fiv...
A moment I loved on LFG: Matt Bloom reviewing a match and stopping *immediately*--in the middle of a sentence, even!--when he sees Serina Linton tearing up, to check and make sure she's okay.
Talla Tonga going through a lot of different emotions behind Solo Sikoa without saying a word.
You can see the instant the pantomime of urgency shifts into real urgency as the stairs get overbalanced and careen toward the fans. (I note Jason Jordan, specifically, wedging his body between the stairs and the barricade to try and block its motion).
Johnny's eyes at the very last second! I would love if Sami, while mostly giving himself a pep talk with Johnny a secondary audience, still managed to snap him out of his depression.
LFG wrestler Tate Wilder asks Kevin Owens for some gear advice, and Kevin is forced to admit it's the one area he can't give good counsel. 🤣
A very nice, very evil moonsault from Danhausen's tag team partner! (The way Miz, Danhausen and the ref all simultaneously accent the impact is also awesome).
A defeated Sami is either helping the crew clean up or deciding to get a spring bonus and you know what? I support him in either case.
Je'Von Evans getting so much air that he almost goes out of frame!