"This book is a wonderful ride through the bumpy, often murky world of professional wrestling. Scott Beekman has diligently researched the subject in order to take his readers on a tour of this much misunderstood form of sports entertainment. Though I have spent over 30 years studying the history of professional wrestling, I learned a great deal from this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who has any interest at all in the subject." -- Mike Chapman, Executive Director, International Wrestling Institute and Museum, Newton, Iowa
CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSIntroduction vii1.Origins 12.Barnstormers 133.Catch-As-Catch-Can 354.The Art of Deception 515.Gimmicks and Television 736.Holding the Line 957.The Rise of Vince McMahon 117Epilogue 141Notes 147Bibliography 173Index 185Photo essay appears following page72
Scott M. Beekman is Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Ohio University. He is the author of William Dudley Pelley: A Life in Right-Wing Extremism and the Occult (2005).
Beekman has written an excellent account of the history of
professional wrestling from its origins in ancient civilizations to
its current status as entertainment in the US. His meticulous
research is evident in the copious documentation. He includes an
insightful discussion of the business practices wrestlers and
promoters have engaged in to preserve this pseudo-sport and make it
one of the US's leading entertainment industries. Like Elliot
Gorn's The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America,
Beekman's historical view of the rise of professional wrestling
looks at how the sport mirrors blue-collar society. Readers may
have difficulty--as this reviewer did--keeping track of the names
of individuals, organizations, and cartels that pepper this
history. The book includes a notes section and a lengthy
bibliography. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above;
general readers.
*Choice*
Beekman sets out to generate some respect for professional
wrestling by fully examining the history of the sport in the US. He
untangles the myths and legends of professional wrestling without
skimping on the entertaining stories and the larger-than-life
personalities. He provides a brief account of wrestling's global
history before investigating the sport as a specifically American
institution, focusing on the business of wrestling as well as the
performers and their antics.
*Reference & Research Book News*
The book's author--a history professor and not a slavish fan of the
sport--begins at the beginning, with a discussion of wrestling's
worldwide history and appeal. Then he zeroes in on the U.S., with
which pro wrestling has become inextricably linked. It's a story of
sportsmanship, ego, celebrity, greed, and rivalry. It's just like
any other sports story, in other words, and that's the book's
central theme: for all its image problems, pro wrestling is, when
you come right down to it, a sport like any other. An eye-opening
reappraisal of a much-maligned sport, and (for wrestling fans)
perhaps a much-needed vindication.
*Booklist*
Beekman's book is thick with historical detail and archival
evidence, which makes it a real resource for research into
professional wrestling's enduring allure.
*TDR: The Drama Review*
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