This is a cash-in booklet from the 1940s-50s era when Lane was the announcer on the televised Olympic Auditorium shows during the initial “golden age” when many homes could get wrestling in prime time almost every night of the week. It’s a mere 32 pages, most of which is made up of capsule profiles and pictures of wrestlers of the day. There’s also a short section covering seven of the most popular moves of the day and relatively credible explanations of how they work. It finishes off with a Q&A section with highlights including the revelation that a wrestler can ordinarily hold a tight lock with his fingers at full grip for four to five minutes and that it’s not as important to be as finely conditioned in wrestling as in boxing because “a little girth is necessary to help cushion against the shock of falls and pressure.” The booklet has a surprising number of typos, including references to Jim London and Vern Gagne. It’s a fun little booklet but there’s not a great deal to read, so it’s only worth tracking down as a collector’s piece.
This is another on my list of undersung wrestling books. It’s big strength is the sheer diversity of Dillon’s career and thus the wide range of topics for which he offers an insider perspective. Though best known as the manager of the Four Horsemen, that only covered a couple of years of his career. He also worked as a WWWF referee; spent more than a decade on the territory circuit including Mid Atlantic, Florida and Amarillo; toured Japan; spent time as a booker; was one of Vince McMahon’s right-hand men for several years; and worked in WCW during the Monday Night Wars era. All of this is well covered in the 350 page book which, as is typical with those ghost-written by Scott Teal through his Crowbar Press publishing, manages to tell a coherent, flowing story while still staying true to the voice of the subject. Whatever your particular interest in wrestling, you’ll find something of interest here, whether it’s the process of breaking in and being gradually smartened up, or the lavish lifestyle that came from the Horsemen living their gimmick. For me, who became a fan through late 80s and early 90s WWF, the section on the creative process during this…
This is definitely one to collect rather than read, but given its age it’s surprisingly attainable (in the US at least.) Showing the prestige and perception of pro wrestling at the time of its 1913 publication, this is part of a series of sports and fitness books published by Richard K Fox of the National Police Gazette which, despite its title, was the original boxing and sports magazine of its day. The book starts with a brief bio of Gotch, though oddly it only covers the first Hackenschmidt bout and not the 1911 rematch. There’s then a look at wrestling, bemoaning the fact that some matches appear to be little more than exhibitions, and some training tips. The rest of the book is made up of 29 photographs showing different holds, posed by Gotch himself and Oscar Samuelson, a name I couldn’t trace other than in references to this book. The selected holds certainly give the impression Gotch’s bouts would have more closely resembled an amateur contest than the slam-bang style of even the 1930s.
Some valid and important points in this book are let down by some fundamental limitations. Muchnick is a professional news writer who has made his name over the years by writing mainstream outlet articles on the darker side of the wrestling business, covering topics often ignored by “real” media on the irrelevant grounds of wrestling being “fake.” There’s absolutely no debating that Muchnick — the nephew of legendary St Louis president and NWA chief Sam Muchnick — has put in the hours to research both documentation and first-hand accounts of matters those in wrestling management and even law enforcement and government would prefer to be kept quiet. Unfortunately that work is not shown to its best in this format, a collection of his articles published between 1988 and 2004. One problem is the length. It’s only 152 pages and once you take out the introductions and an appendix listing premature wrestling deaths, it’s closer to 120. No subject is addressed in real depth and it often feels like there wasn’t quite enough here for a full book. Another limitation is that the nature of Muchnick’s writing doesn’t necessarily lend itself to an anthology. Virtually every piece he writes is in…
Every wrestling fan should read at least one of Larry Matysik’s books about St Louis wrestling. If you’re only going to read one, this is probably the best bet. As well as books on the 50 greatest wrestlers of all time (with a definite St Louis flavour) and Bruiser Brody, Matysik has written three books specifically on St Louis. At one extreme is From the Golden Era: The St Louis Wrestling Record Book, an e-book which is no longer available to buy but occasionally shows up through less official distribution channels. It’s literally a list of full show reports and crowd figures, with a running commentary by Matysik on what did and didn’t work at the box office. At the other extreme is Drawing Heat the Hardway: How Wrestling Really Works, which is much more of a general look at the distinct St Louis booking philosophy and how it contrasted with the WWF approach. Wrestling at the Chase falls between the two. It’s a historical account of St Louis during the Sam Muchnick era, but jumps about thematically rather than being a strict chronology. Rather than try to document every event, Matysik uses them as examples to illustrate wider points…
Published at the tail of the first national TV wrestling boom, this is an excellent memento of the period and is a genuinely informative read rather than just a collectible historical item. The heart of the book is a series of profiles of around 250 wrestlers, ranging from full-page pieces on the top stars to capsule bios. Naturally it’s entirely in kayfabe, but there’s a fair bit of detail on backgrounds and career histories, most of which appears historically accurate. Other sections of the book include pieces on women and midget wrestlers, promoter profiles, details of overseas grapplers, and a piece on boxer vs wrestler matches in history. It also has a piece on wrestling rules and how to apply holds. Perhaps the most striking note is an estimate that 24 million tickets were sold for wrestling shows in the US over the course of the year. To put that into perspective, the respective figure for dominant powerhouse WWE in 2013 was just under two million. It’s a book worth tracking down if you have cash to spare and fortunately it is relatively readily available on auction sites and through used book sellers. It’s available in both the original 1952…
Don’t buy this. When it arrives sight unseen from an online auction site you’ll discover it’s not by 60s pro wrestler Art Thomas but rather a high school amateur wrestling coach of the same name. You’ll also discover it’s a children’s book, heavily illustrated with pictures of very young kids in singlets locking up and looking inexplicably happy. You’ll also discover that even in the context of having a wrestling book collection, it’s the second worst book a woman visiting your house for the first time can pick off the shelf and idly flick through. Second to Exquisite Mayhem that is. Buy on Amazon
A reprint of a book now in the public domain, this is a nice novelty but doesn’t really have any collector value. Despite the name given to this release, it’s actually part 7 of 8 of a series originally published as “The Sandow-Lewis Kinetic Stress System of Physical Training.” With earlier volumes covering the basics of bodybuilding and self defense, this is the second of three parts dealing with wrestling itself. That most likely suggests this was originally a mail order course sent out over multiple weeks. The 60 or so pages include large photographs and instructions for all manner of holds, including Lewis’s infamous headlock. While they are written for the supposed rules of pro wrestling (such as chokeholds being barred but sleeperholds legal), what’s described appear to be legitimate combat moves that could work in a genuine if performed as described. In particular there’s a lot of detail of correct positioning such as wrist control. It’s tough to recommend this given the nature of the reprint however. A single volume complete print of the full series at a reasonable price would be worth considering, but combining the various instalments would add up to well over $100, which is…
Any list-based book stands and falls on two point: the credibility of the list and the quality and information of the write-ups. Unfortunately this falls short of top-notch in both areas. The big problem with the list is that although the book’s editor Dave Meltzer notes in the forward that choosing criteria for ranking wrestlers — who perform in a sport without objective wins and losses — is difficult, there’s no clear explanation of what Molinaro actually went with. It seems to be some combination of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame’s recipe of in-ring ability, drawing power and historical importance, but how they are applied isn’t obvious. From a historical perspective, there’s little to take issue with at the top of the rankings. My personal off-the-top-of-my-head pick for the ten biggest names ever would be (in alphabetical order) Andre the Giant, Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Frank Gotch, Hulk Hogan, Jim Londos, Rikidozan, Lou Thesz, Antonio Inoki, El Santo and these make up ten of the top 12 names in this list. The middle sections are more disputable and show the difficulty with applying a variety of criteria. It seems strange for example that Jushin Liger is above the…
These are two examples of how printed reference works have been superceded by the Internet, but without the research that went into them, said online reference sources would be far poorer. The Wrestling Title Histories book covers more than 2,000 different wrestling titles, with as complete records as possible until the end of the 20th century. Much of the information gathered by Will and Duncan here served as the basis of sites such as wrestling-titles.com and in turn listings on sites such as Wikipedia. Indeed, it’s worth noting that Wrestling-titles.com’s owner Hisa wrote: I started my “Puroresu Dojo” which included the title history section. The book became the main source for the section, thanks to the permission from Gary himself to use the contents, and the section grew so big that I started another website: Wrestling-Titles.com. Regardless, this book had a lot more championship lineages that this website ever will. Real Names and Aliases is simply a list of around 3,000 wrestlers with their real name, date of birth, debut date and all ring names they have used in various promotions, plus details of any wrestling relatives. While the names book is now only really useful for more obscure wrestlers, I still refer…