“Professional wrestling is a lot of things, but “cool” is rarely one of them. I’m not talking about guilty pleasure cool. Or ironically cool. Or niche cool. Wrestling’s sustained popularity for more than a century is buttressed by those kitschy appeals. I’m talking about actually COOL – like where something that happens in the perpetually cringe-worthy world of professional wrestling somehow elbows its way into the zeitgeist and becomes legitimately “Fonzie”- level cool. President Obama on “Between Two Ferns” cool. DJ Khaled on Snapchat cool. Yeezy Boost cool! In wrestling parlance, I’m talking about Daniel Bryan, “YES Movement” – level cool. 80’s Ric Flair promos cool. Randy Savage cool. The kind of cool that legit crosses over into the mainstream. Where everyone from elementary school kids to their parents and every SportsCenter anchor and Superbowl champion in between not only gets the reference but doesn’t feel like a social outcast (No disrespect to the #SocialOutcasts) when they make it in public.

Moments of crystalized, organic coolness in wrestling like Austin 3:16 or the rise of the NWO are certainly rare… but contrary to popular belief, they do happen with some regularity. The problem is, more often than not, wrestling’s puppet masters fail to recognize these invaluable moments of possible pop culture relevancy until it’s far too late. So late in fact that when the decision is finally made from on-high to acknowledge the lightning strike, unfortunately there’s little left to grab on to because the tree is burnt to a crisp and reduced to a smoldering stump before anybody ever notices the level of electricity that was just created in the moment. I’m looking at you Fandango’s entrance dance.

It’s what I call wrestling’s “pounce” problem. (Apologies to Monty Brown) Wrestling’s failure to recognize, facilitate, and ultimately capitalize upon the fleeting potential of organically produced, cool moments inside and outside of the ring.”