Pro Wrestling FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Entertaining Spectacle

by Brian Solomon

Sport? Entertainment? Art form? Perhaps a bit of all three, with a certain intangible extra something thrown in for good measure, making professional wrestling a truly unique entity unto itself. From its origins in carnivals and sideshow attractions of the 19th century, right up to the multimillion-dollar, multimedia industry of the present day, and all the bizarre, wild, and woolly points in between, Pro Wrestling FAQ delves into the entire history and broad scope of one of popular culture's most enduring yet ever-changing spectacles.

With chapters devoted to the many fascinating eras in the history of the business, as well as capsule biographies of some its most memorable and important figures, this book will serve as the ultimate one-volume reference guide for both long-time wrestling nuts and initiates to the grappling phenomenon.

Revisit the legendary 1911 “Match of the Century” pitting World Champion Frank Gotch against archrival George Hackenschmidt, “the Russian Lion”; experience wrestling's TV golden age in the 1950s, a time of such colorful personages as Gorgeous George and Antonino Rocca; relive the glory days of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, when WWF impresario Vince McMahon took the business mainstream; and get the lowdown on recent favorites, such as John Cena, CM Punk, and others who have taken the business boldly into the 21st century.

408 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2015

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is "the" book on the history of professional wrestling. I, with all the integrity I can muster, want to call this a perfect book. It covers professional wrestling, from its 19th century inception to its current state. This book is excellent. A couple of things to note.

This deals with a ton of history but it does not overdo it. If you want an exhaustive history of everything pro wrestling...well, that could be a problem in a number of ways. There is plenty of history here to overwhelm your brain.

This book is U.S.-centric, but by no means U.S. exclusive. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of spaced dedicated to Japan and Mexico. There could have been more, but there is a decent amount.

This book is encyclopedic. It reads, often, like a collection of encyclopedia articles. This can be somewhat off-putting if you are reading it cover-to-cover in a few days. But unless you are uber-wrestling-fan or, like me, putting together a review, then you will probably skip around to a favorite chapter or read it over a bit of time. I can imagine that what felt repetitive in my reading will end up being incredibly helpful when using the book how most will use it.

This is a great, great book. If you are a wrestling fan from any era that cares the least bit about the history of this "sport," you will enjoy this work.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

[K. Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is much better than it needed to be. More than just a timeline of the sport/entertainment, Brian Solomon it's a book about American. Solomon traces what elements influenced particular gimmicks and what different audiences sought from wrestling. The early 20th century part of the book reads like a funhouse mirror of vaudeville's history. Later we see just how dramatically wrestling shaped television. ("Over time pro wrestling had to adapt to TV, and TV adapted to pro wrestling.") Besides the subject matter, I like the way the author tells the story. It's decidedly not foo-foo academia, but it's damn sharp. And even thought the topic is low-brow, he never talks down to the reader. Remarkably this book is going to appeal to die-hard wrestling fans, but it's thoughtful enough to appeal to non-fans as well.

[Kurt Rocourt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fan of pro wrestling for most of my life. I know that I did not know everything about the business. This book proves that I did not know everything about the business. This is the book I'll be recommending to my fellow wrestling fans. I'm a mark for Brian Solomons work on this book.

[ReadinRasslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of comments on here have said it, but this is pretty much the definitive book on the history of pro wrestling. Everything up until 2013 is covered from multiple territories and promotions to historic events and matches to the best and worst gimmicks in wrestling history. Brian Solomon is a fantastic author and one of the foremost wrestling historians around, so it checks out that this is so heavily researched and well made. Only thing I didn't like is that the book sort of feels like a Wikipedia article sometimes, not so much in how it's written but how it's published. The book just doesn't have a ton of life to it visually. A lot of this was information I already knew, so personally this was a slog at times. Yes, yes, I do know about WrestleMania III, but this is great for people who don't know about those 93,000 hulkamaniacs in the Silverdome, brother. Great stuff for beginning wrestling fans or mid-level enthusiasts, though even the most expert of marks can agree this is really well done in terms of writing and research.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early beginnings of wrestling are detailed better than anything I read before. Most studies begin with Gotch and Hackenschmidt, this goes earlier. Really detailed stories of early television. The NWA history is brought up. We go up to the TNA wrestling at the end.
I realize this means things get shortened. Bob Backlund gets a few paragraphs here and there. Bret Hart is largely ignored. Somehow this manages to get redundant too. The NWO show up a lot.

[Chip Rickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read for the true wrestling fan. Somewhat outdated but it gives the information other histories do but it does it in smaller portions.

[Randall J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive look at the history and varying aspects of professional wrestling. Well written and lucidly told. A must for anyone interested in learning more about this uniquely American art form.

[Siamese Twin Cobra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peak casual reading material for the dedicated pro-wrestling fan. Turn to literally any page. Either you already know most of this stuff and just enjoy experiencing someone's perspective on things, or you encounter some interesting pro-wrestling history. Either way, any wrestling fan would love this book. It covers everything from Randy Savage to Antonio Inoki to Mil Mascaras to Sabu to Chyna to the territories to some asshole billionaire yank who pretty much single-handedly ruined mainstream pro-wrestling in the United States for decades... My only complaint is this book doesn't go deep enough into any particular subject. Just as I want to know more, we're already onto the next. So, perhaps this is like Smark 101 rather than Upper Division reading material for wrestling nerds.