These are two examples of how printed reference works have been superceded by the Internet, but without the research that went into them, said online reference sources would be far poorer.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 to the title histories book when dealing with historical periods and where I know specifically which title or promotion I am looking for.

Both books are long since out of print. I can’t really recommend paying over the odds for the names book, but the title history book is worth tracking down if you are a completist collector and spot it at an affordable price, and it’s something any historian would ideally have to hand. Ultimately, however, I list them here mainly to recognise the incredible work put into creating them, and the legacy they’ve left even in today’s era of instant communication and updates.

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