What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wrestling
'A brilliant oral history of the golden age of British wrestling and magnificent wider social history.' Richard Osman
The classic account of the men and women who used to fight each other for pride and money. Simon Garfield brings them to life in one last glorious bout of jealousy, myth, revenge, passion and deep devotion.
When British wrestling was dropped from the ITV schedules in the mid-80s it left the giants of the ring - Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki - bereft. This is the true story of the circuit, the big names and their rivalries, told with humour, warmth and affection. This edition features a new afterword by the author.
The classic account of the men and women who used to fight each other for pride and money. Simon Garfield brings them to life in one last glorious bout of jealousy, myth, revenge, passion and deep devotion.
When British wrestling was dropped from the ITV schedules in the mid-80s it left the giants of the ring - Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki - bereft. This is the true story of the circuit, the big names and their rivalries, told with humour, warmth and affection. This edition features a new afterword by the author.
- GenresNonfictionSportsHistory
Paperback
First published November 4, 1996
22 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
About the author
Simon Garfield
36 books333 followersSimon Garfield is a British journalist and non-fiction author. He was educated at the independent University College School in Hampstead, London, and the London School of Economics, where he was the Executive Editor of The Beaver. He also regularly writes for The Observer newspaper.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 28, 2019
The 1970s was the golden age of British wrestling; every Saturday afternoon at about 4pm, ITV's World of Sport devoted the best part of an hour to the (frankly peculiar, looking back at it now) 'sport' of all-in wrestling. As a young boy, I lapped it up; the larger than life characters, the easy to grasp goodies v baddies storytelling, the whole grubby, seamy spectacle of it provided a weekly treat. Simon Garfield grew up with the same love of television wrestling that I did, and in this inspired oral history of the grapple game, he captures the voices of those involved: the wrestlers, the promoters, the fans, and the broadcasters. In doing so, he uncovers a fascinating story of hard grind, heels and blue-eyes, glory days, hubris and decline.
September 4, 2017
Saturday afternoon wrestling was a staple of British weekend TV until - amazingly - the late 1980s. Many of the wrestlers were huge stars (far more famous than the footballers of the time) but were paid peanuts. This oral history from 1996 interviews many of the stars, including Big Daddy, Kendo Nagasaki, Mick McManus & Giant Haystacks, and tells their stories, with classic anecdotes on most pages. Like Carry On films, 50-something men in leotards wrestling on TV seems both very British, and rooted in a different time.
July 28, 2017
Fantastic, hilarious, nostalgic. If you grew up in the 70s like me, this book will take you straight back to World of Sport and Dickie Davies and those wet weekend afternoons. Joyous. Although tainted by an historically necessary but stomach-churning appearance by one James Savile. Read it and smile :)
February 10, 2016
Garfield gets worked by almost everyone.
December 5, 2022
Readers outside the UK, and those below a certain age, may not be aware of the kind of wrestling that was on British TV in the 1960s and '70s. Not the glitzy theatresports of WWF with athletic, gym-toned actors and polished fight narratives, but a seedy end-of-pier version in which fat unlovely men in their fifties grunted and slapped their way through shabby mock-battles.
This book lets the wrestlers and managers speak for themselves, and it's telling that in the afterword the author mentions that he's persona non grata with them for having criticized a now-dead colleague -- because, of course, it was their own accounts that painted that unflattering portrait.
The "sport" seems to have been rife with homophobia, racism, and the kind of embittered pride you associate with those left-behind regions of the country that voted for Brexit. The wrestlers cannot understand why the TV companies deserted them for the more impressive American-style shows, but the real mystery was why anyone ever put up with such a spectacle in the first place.
Don't get me wrong -- the book itself is terrific, giving the participants all the rope they need. But it still paints a rather depressing picture (all the more depressing because it rings true) of a dismal fun-rationed era of British television that as well as overweight old wrestlers included singers in blackface, cheap-as-fairground game shows, very creepy children's TV hosts, and xenophobic and homophobic sitcoms. Audiences should never have accepted any of that as good enough.
This book lets the wrestlers and managers speak for themselves, and it's telling that in the afterword the author mentions that he's persona non grata with them for having criticized a now-dead colleague -- because, of course, it was their own accounts that painted that unflattering portrait.
The "sport" seems to have been rife with homophobia, racism, and the kind of embittered pride you associate with those left-behind regions of the country that voted for Brexit. The wrestlers cannot understand why the TV companies deserted them for the more impressive American-style shows, but the real mystery was why anyone ever put up with such a spectacle in the first place.
Don't get me wrong -- the book itself is terrific, giving the participants all the rope they need. But it still paints a rather depressing picture (all the more depressing because it rings true) of a dismal fun-rationed era of British television that as well as overweight old wrestlers included singers in blackface, cheap-as-fairground game shows, very creepy children's TV hosts, and xenophobic and homophobic sitcoms. Audiences should never have accepted any of that as good enough.
December 28, 2024
Become an absolute top read of the year - and I didn’t think I’d be closing out 2024 with a book published in 1996. Couldn’t put it down. A real insight into the history of British Wrestling but also a snapshot in time of working class Britain, and the wonderful, tragic and carny nature of pro wrestling. Some things have changed a lot, and much has stayed the same. Whether you’re a wrestling fan or not, I highly recommend this addictive read.
February 25, 2023
With hindsight this book had a massive impact on me when I read it back in 1996. Not that it rekindled any childhood desire to take up the grapple game - I may be a big lad but I wince at combing out a knot in my hair, so I'm happy to leave these stories of dislocated shoulders, crushed spines and huge buttock abscesses on the page. It didn't awake a love of wrestling in me either - the sport existed in a vague twilight off to one side of my interests as a kid, and the more theatrical American version never even had the dubious appeal of Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks. Nothing Simon Garfield wrote changed that.
What the book did was open my eyes to a way of telling a story. Even this turned into a dead end of sorts - I was crap at interviews when I worked as a music writer, so oral history was never for me. And of the dozens I've read, the only one near to The Wrestling in quality is Garfield's superb retelling of the Banister era at Radio 1, The Nation's Favourite.
Even so, what Garfield does here is fantastic - it has the same combination of theatre and spontaneity, braggadocio and blood, as the great matches he describes. Voices weave in and out, sometimes given space to tell stories their way, sometimes left to undercut or contradict each other. Digressions, figures of speech, grudges, industry myths - all left in with minimal commentary, giving the impression of immense pride taken in grinding, dangerous, skilful work but also a sport in which almost everyone is working an angle, in-ring or out of it.
The amity of the opening chapter, at a wrestlers' reunion, hides a web of tensions which Garfield teases out - at the time he wrote it, British wrestling was in steep decline after its TV-driven heyday of the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Everyone knows that the sudden loss of TV exposure killed the sport, but there are plenty of fingers to point around what caused ITV to pull the plug on a one-time cash cow. Is Jackie Pallo to blame, for writing a bestseller exposing some of the open secrets around the theatre of wrestling? Is Big Daddy's outsize success the tipping point, shredding the final sporting elements? Is the problem a lack of charismatic performers to follow the generation of Mick McManus and Kendo Nagasaki? Is it a bit of everything? Throughout the book there's a sense of a business that bumped along never having a real plan: lots of svengalis but no visionaries. Near the end one promoter's big plan for the revival of UK wrestling is a tag team inspired by the Power Rangers, and inspired by here means 'flagrantly copying': it never seems to occur to him what the inevitable legal end of this wheeze is going to be.
I feel like a lot of The Wrestling wouldn't be written in the same way today. Garfield's interviewees are using him to settle scores; he's using them to tell a garish story. There's little probing - as there surely would be now - of the prejudices in the business. There's enough on the treatment of Black and women wrestlers, and on the industry's queasy relationship with homosexuality, to make you realise there's a whole lot more to tell, but Garfield mostly sidesteps those areas. Similarly, the book's seamy enough to cover the fact that Garfield isn't digging deeply into the sleazier elements - bribery, corruption, exploitation, groupies. At the end there are interviews with a 15-year-old rising star who breezily tells us his Mum is a bit worried. No shit!
And of course there's at least one genuine monster lurking in the line-up of pantomime villains. The first photo you see in The Wrestling is of Jimmy Savile, with the caption "I was very bad". Too right. The double-take a reader does at this is hardly Garfield's fault - even the revised edition came out a few years before Savile was exposed as Britain's most ferocious celebrity child abuser. It's a reminder that - as another interviewee says - all wrestlers are liars. Some lies are worse than others, but Garfield creates an overall impression of dishonesty and tall tales which means he never has to tug too hard at any single thread.
Even so, I loved the book - and still love it, even now I'm more aware the works behind it and the places it doesn't venture. There's enough truth, enough charisma, enough enthusiasm among these people, given the chance to tell their stories in their own words, that it's hard not to agree with Garfield that this stuff mattered: it's a story worth the telling. And it's wonderfully told.
What the book did was open my eyes to a way of telling a story. Even this turned into a dead end of sorts - I was crap at interviews when I worked as a music writer, so oral history was never for me. And of the dozens I've read, the only one near to The Wrestling in quality is Garfield's superb retelling of the Banister era at Radio 1, The Nation's Favourite.
Even so, what Garfield does here is fantastic - it has the same combination of theatre and spontaneity, braggadocio and blood, as the great matches he describes. Voices weave in and out, sometimes given space to tell stories their way, sometimes left to undercut or contradict each other. Digressions, figures of speech, grudges, industry myths - all left in with minimal commentary, giving the impression of immense pride taken in grinding, dangerous, skilful work but also a sport in which almost everyone is working an angle, in-ring or out of it.
The amity of the opening chapter, at a wrestlers' reunion, hides a web of tensions which Garfield teases out - at the time he wrote it, British wrestling was in steep decline after its TV-driven heyday of the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Everyone knows that the sudden loss of TV exposure killed the sport, but there are plenty of fingers to point around what caused ITV to pull the plug on a one-time cash cow. Is Jackie Pallo to blame, for writing a bestseller exposing some of the open secrets around the theatre of wrestling? Is Big Daddy's outsize success the tipping point, shredding the final sporting elements? Is the problem a lack of charismatic performers to follow the generation of Mick McManus and Kendo Nagasaki? Is it a bit of everything? Throughout the book there's a sense of a business that bumped along never having a real plan: lots of svengalis but no visionaries. Near the end one promoter's big plan for the revival of UK wrestling is a tag team inspired by the Power Rangers, and inspired by here means 'flagrantly copying': it never seems to occur to him what the inevitable legal end of this wheeze is going to be.
I feel like a lot of The Wrestling wouldn't be written in the same way today. Garfield's interviewees are using him to settle scores; he's using them to tell a garish story. There's little probing - as there surely would be now - of the prejudices in the business. There's enough on the treatment of Black and women wrestlers, and on the industry's queasy relationship with homosexuality, to make you realise there's a whole lot more to tell, but Garfield mostly sidesteps those areas. Similarly, the book's seamy enough to cover the fact that Garfield isn't digging deeply into the sleazier elements - bribery, corruption, exploitation, groupies. At the end there are interviews with a 15-year-old rising star who breezily tells us his Mum is a bit worried. No shit!
And of course there's at least one genuine monster lurking in the line-up of pantomime villains. The first photo you see in The Wrestling is of Jimmy Savile, with the caption "I was very bad". Too right. The double-take a reader does at this is hardly Garfield's fault - even the revised edition came out a few years before Savile was exposed as Britain's most ferocious celebrity child abuser. It's a reminder that - as another interviewee says - all wrestlers are liars. Some lies are worse than others, but Garfield creates an overall impression of dishonesty and tall tales which means he never has to tug too hard at any single thread.
Even so, I loved the book - and still love it, even now I'm more aware the works behind it and the places it doesn't venture. There's enough truth, enough charisma, enough enthusiasm among these people, given the chance to tell their stories in their own words, that it's hard not to agree with Garfield that this stuff mattered: it's a story worth the telling. And it's wonderfully told.
April 21, 2024
Whilst I remember the World of Sport Saturday afternoon footage of wrestling, I don’t consider myself a fan. But after hearing Richard Osman mention this book on The Rest is Entertainment podcast, I thought it a worthy read.
The Wrestling by Simon Garfield is a captivating journey into the golden age of British wrestling, offering readers a vivid oral history of a sport that once captivated the nation. Garfield’s book is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, particularly for those who remember the larger-than-life characters and the spectacle of Saturday afternoon wrestling on ITV.
If (like me) you have had questions over panto theatrics of the sport or staged performances, this warts and all book highlights the full gamut of larger than life characters, shoddy equipment, appalling earnings and creative management, resulting in brutal prolonged careers entertaining punters.
The book delves into the lives and rivalries of iconic figures such as Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, and Kendo Nagasaki, bringing them back to life through a narrative filled with humour, warmth, and affection. It’s a story of pride, money, jealousy, myth, revenge, passion, and deep devotion, painting a picture of a bygone era when these wrestlers were household names.
Garfield’s writing style is engaging, and he does an excellent job of capturing the voices of those involved in the wrestling scene—wrestlers, promoters, fans, and broadcasters. Through their stories, the reader gains insight into the hard grind, the glory days, and the eventual decline of British wrestling.
The book is not just about the sport but also serves as a wider social history, reflecting on how wrestling’s popularity and the culture surrounding it have evolved over time. It’s informative and provides great insight, yet it doesn’t shy away from the more tragic aspects of the wrestlers’ lives, offering a balanced perspective.
The Wrestling by Simon Garfield is a captivating journey into the golden age of British wrestling, offering readers a vivid oral history of a sport that once captivated the nation. Garfield’s book is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, particularly for those who remember the larger-than-life characters and the spectacle of Saturday afternoon wrestling on ITV.
If (like me) you have had questions over panto theatrics of the sport or staged performances, this warts and all book highlights the full gamut of larger than life characters, shoddy equipment, appalling earnings and creative management, resulting in brutal prolonged careers entertaining punters.
The book delves into the lives and rivalries of iconic figures such as Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, and Kendo Nagasaki, bringing them back to life through a narrative filled with humour, warmth, and affection. It’s a story of pride, money, jealousy, myth, revenge, passion, and deep devotion, painting a picture of a bygone era when these wrestlers were household names.
Garfield’s writing style is engaging, and he does an excellent job of capturing the voices of those involved in the wrestling scene—wrestlers, promoters, fans, and broadcasters. Through their stories, the reader gains insight into the hard grind, the glory days, and the eventual decline of British wrestling.
The book is not just about the sport but also serves as a wider social history, reflecting on how wrestling’s popularity and the culture surrounding it have evolved over time. It’s informative and provides great insight, yet it doesn’t shy away from the more tragic aspects of the wrestlers’ lives, offering a balanced perspective.
May 9, 2025
I loved this, I can't believe I hadn't heard about it sooner considering it was published nearly 30 years ago! (and it's aged brilliantly - still has a contemporary feel to it). I'm not sure too many people outside of the UK will know who most (if not all) of these people are, nor do I think the dry (and very funny) sense of humour will translate around the world, but to those who know the names, personalities and cultural impact that British wrestling used to have, this is a great account of those times, even if little is done to introduce newcomers to that scene. I was intrigued by the angle which was taken here, it seems to strike a very delicate balance of acknowledging that wrestling is scripted but also detailing it as if it isn't - as in - ex wrestlers will describe winning fights against each other without outright acknowledging that the promoters determine winners and losers beforehand. Sometimes this works perfectly, other times I wish a lane had been picked and the whole thing be described as a soap opera OR an authentic insight into how the outcomes are arranged and the matches rehearsed/plotted in advance. Nevertheless this is a must read for wrestling fans, but especially wrestling fans in the UK
November 22, 2018
A fascinating look at the history of British pro wrestling told by the wrestlers themselves. Garfield is clearly a lover of the game and wanted to know the story behind his childhood watching pro wrestling. I had very little knowledge of the Euro side of things and enjoyed this greatly. If you're learning about pro wrestling, wrestlers, and why any of it has such a draw for people, this is a good read for it.
May 29, 2021
Welcome grapple fans to a gritty look at a piece of nostalgia.
I was a big fan of of theses guys, even went to see them at my local town hall
and Belle View arena.
The good old days of big fat sweaty blokes who quietened the country at 4 o'clock Saturday afternoons
This was before the advent of the Adonis American wrestler types invasion.
Also, after all this time I found out Kendo Nagasaki's secret identity!
Great stuff
I was a big fan of of theses guys, even went to see them at my local town hall
and Belle View arena.
The good old days of big fat sweaty blokes who quietened the country at 4 o'clock Saturday afternoons
This was before the advent of the Adonis American wrestler types invasion.
Also, after all this time I found out Kendo Nagasaki's secret identity!
Great stuff
January 3, 2025
A wonderful trip down memory lane, both uplifting and devastating for those that lived through the dying days of the UK wrestling scene. Uplifting due to the knowledge of where Robbie Brookside especially has ended up considering he was holding on to hope the scene would return. I do wish we'd gotten that interview with Les Kellett though. A strange man.
November 21, 2020
Just to hear Jackie Pallo beat the tar out of Jimmy Savile justifies the read and purchase.
Also interesting to hear the struggles of the (then) young workers - Robbie Brookside & James Mason, trying to make it in the wrestling business, and how different it is compared to the 'States.
Also interesting to hear the struggles of the (then) young workers - Robbie Brookside & James Mason, trying to make it in the wrestling business, and how different it is compared to the 'States.
November 2, 2025
Growing up in the 90’s and watching WCW and WWF I was unaware of the British wrestling scene from years past so a good read about the popularity especially the pull it had with well known celebrities at the time.
June 9, 2019
Fantastic oral history of (mainly) British wrestling. Grapple fans will love it.
Currently reading
October 9, 2019Not bad.
Could've been more in depth with the latter years, and ITV 's decision to pull wrestling. A nice read, but the ending seemed rushed.
Could've been more in depth with the latter years, and ITV 's decision to pull wrestling. A nice read, but the ending seemed rushed.
December 31, 2021
I genuinely enjoyed this. A lot more that I expected to. The section regarding the wrestling at Brent Town Hall made me chuckle to be fair. Also Kendo Nagasaki was by far the coolest wrestler.
January 3, 2023
Interesting peek at the history of the heyday of British Professional Wrestling and the lives of the wrestlers. The "sport's" relationship with working class English culture was a common recurring thread throughout.
Like other reviewers, I wish there had been more context provided, rather than just straight interviews, especially for those like me who aren't familiar with the British scene (aside from a few names).
Overall, an excellent starting point and opportunity to explore rabbit holes like Kendo Nagasaki, Les Kellett, Big Daddy, and Giant Haystacks.
Like other reviewers, I wish there had been more context provided, rather than just straight interviews, especially for those like me who aren't familiar with the British scene (aside from a few names).
Overall, an excellent starting point and opportunity to explore rabbit holes like Kendo Nagasaki, Les Kellett, Big Daddy, and Giant Haystacks.
November 7, 2023
A fantastic collection of interviews covering highlights and hardships of the British scene before the turn of the millennium. Contains some dated views but that's history.
March 29, 2025
Loved it. Flowed really well and a good snapshot of 70s Britain
April 30, 2016
The book’s style is actually conducive to bringing out the personalities of the character of British wrestling – makes it easy to read and unedited quotes help brush away any sort of bias from the writer to pick and choose what quotes he feels fits. British Wrestling was before my time and my eyes were familiar with the WWE/American wrestling but had heard of the characters of wrestlers from here or how the set-up worked compared to American wrestling. But the larger than life characters were always mainstream even if you might not watch it. There’s a nice mix of characters talked to from the old to the young to the egotistic (Pallo). It has a good segment on American wrestling, specifically WWE with kayfabe (in-character) interview with Shawn Michaels and Triple H whilst noting the success of a Brit abroad, Davey Boy Smith. Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy are naturally discussed at length but the intriguing point of the book was the story of Kendo Nagasaki, portrayed by Peter Thornley. His mystique, his origin and ending are captured nicely in the words of those around him. The stories and the lives the wrestlers lead, which is counter-productive to leading a normal life, is similar to the business of wrestling in the US.
February 5, 2015
There is a rare type of writer that can take a subject, even one picked out of a hat, and make it sing. John McPhee is one. Simon Garfield is another.
This is a fascinating oral biography of British wrestling. As an 80s kid, I grew up cheering for the WWF wrestlers - Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The Rockers and, naturally, Davey Boy Smith. I knew our version of wrestling had been taken off the air when I was six, but I never knew - could not have known - the sheer wealth of tales behind it. Reading this is like taking a head on dive into history.
It covers all the names - Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki, Mick McManus, Big Daddy - and some others you might not have known. (I never knew Brian Glover had started out as a grappler before playing the archetypal PE teacher in Kes.)
Sifting through the collection of voices, you find yourself reading between the lines, getting a feel for where the truth actually lay. British wrestling may not have been particularly glamorous or lucrative, but it's certainly never been dull.
This is a fascinating oral biography of British wrestling. As an 80s kid, I grew up cheering for the WWF wrestlers - Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The Rockers and, naturally, Davey Boy Smith. I knew our version of wrestling had been taken off the air when I was six, but I never knew - could not have known - the sheer wealth of tales behind it. Reading this is like taking a head on dive into history.
It covers all the names - Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki, Mick McManus, Big Daddy - and some others you might not have known. (I never knew Brian Glover had started out as a grappler before playing the archetypal PE teacher in Kes.)
Sifting through the collection of voices, you find yourself reading between the lines, getting a feel for where the truth actually lay. British wrestling may not have been particularly glamorous or lucrative, but it's certainly never been dull.
July 10, 2011
A tremendous oral history of the heyday of British wrestling. Partly due to the subject matter (we're talking about a "sport" where the top two "athletes" were obese middle-aged men who ran at each other and bumped bellies, after all) and partly due to Simon Garfield's skill as an interviewer, The Wrestling--the use of the definite article is no accident here--is on a par with Loose Balls, Terry Pluto's excellent (and unfortunately-titled) story of the short happy life of the ABA. It's also quite accessible and easy to follow even for readers who are approaching this topic with little knowledge of ITV, Joint Promotions, and the inimitable Big Daddy (who can be seen in action here: http://tinyurl.com/56pcs7). After reading this great book, you'll find yourself wasting countless hours watching old footage of these legendary competitors on YouTube.
December 3, 2022
This is a really interesting series of interviews that are mixed together to showcase the characters, story, rise and fall of British wrestling from the 60s to 80s. The first 2/3 of the book really engaged me and I found myself watching interviews with the characters on Youtube etc. The final section, wrongly IMO focuses on the American scene with a chapter dedicated to the WWF.
I thought this was out of kilter with the tone of the rest of the book. Nonetheless, this was a really smashing read and I wasn't sure what to expect. I grew up in the 80s and therefore missed the ITV period when Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks lit up the screen. I was unaware of how rich the British wrestling scene was.
Cool. V - cool
I thought this was out of kilter with the tone of the rest of the book. Nonetheless, this was a really smashing read and I wasn't sure what to expect. I grew up in the 80s and therefore missed the ITV period when Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks lit up the screen. I was unaware of how rich the British wrestling scene was.
Cool. V - cool
January 17, 2013
I don't know. I just think I expected more from it. In places, it was a really good read and a great anthology of a bygone age. In others, it was dull banter from both sides of an economic divide. I saw a Big Daddy v Giant Haystacks "fight" on Cleethorpes Pier in 1980 and it generated more noise, hot air and excitement then I've seldom ever witnessed at any major sporting event. This book just doesn't do it justice.
March 4, 2024
The history of British wrestling from those who lived it. Simon does a great job of weaving these stories into a solid narrative of the rise and fall of pro wrestling in the UK. Given that many of these stars were interviewed in the 90s about times in the 60s-80s it’s not aged particularly well. The odd homophobic and misogynistic remark is sprinkled throughout the book which makes it hard to truly like anyone being interviewed and the interview with Jimmy Saville especially doesn’t age well.
January 26, 2011
The story of professional wrestling in the UK - a mostly vanished sub-culture - told through extremely funny interviews with some of the main protagonists. Will strike a chord with anyone who watched the "sport" in its TV heyday in the 1960s and 70s, though anyone who assumed that Les Kellett was a nice guy may be disillusioned.
June 25, 2013
I like the style in which this book is written (quote after quote). People forget how popular TV wresting was in the Sixties and Seventies (shopkeepers complained that their stores were empty between 4 and 5 p.m.). The American or modern British stuff was less interesting for me, but that's just personal taste.
July 23, 2013
An excellent book. Read this a number of times now. An excellent look at British wrestling from it's heyday in the 60's and 70's through to it's [virtual] death in the 90's, told through a series of interviews with the people who were there. Not only an excellent book on British sporting history, but a slice of British history in general.
April 10, 2015
An interesting history of the rise and fall of British wrestling, told through interviews with its key figures.
Most of the names were new to me, aside from Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks and Kendo Nagasaki, but I enjoyed hearing about how the business changed from sport to sports entertainment, and why British wrestling ultimately died when the WWF became a global phenomenon.
Most of the names were new to me, aside from Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks and Kendo Nagasaki, but I enjoyed hearing about how the business changed from sport to sports entertainment, and why British wrestling ultimately died when the WWF became a global phenomenon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews