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Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women's Wrestling
A behind-the-scenes look at over a century of female wrestling, with profiles and "Fascinating sports history" (Booklist).
From the carnival circuit of the late 1800s to today's main events, this book offers a look at the business of women's wrestling with its backstage politics, real-life grudges, and incredible personalities. With more than one hundred profiles, you'll learn about the careers of many well-known trailblazers and stars of today, including Mildred Burke, the Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young, Penny Banner, Wendi Richter, Trish Stratus, Chyna, Lita, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Bayley.
With rare photographs and an exploration of women's wrestling worldwide--including chapters on Japan, Mexico, England, and Australia--Sisterhood of the Squared Circle is a priceless contribution to the history of professional wrestling.
From the carnival circuit of the late 1800s to today's main events, this book offers a look at the business of women's wrestling with its backstage politics, real-life grudges, and incredible personalities. With more than one hundred profiles, you'll learn about the careers of many well-known trailblazers and stars of today, including Mildred Burke, the Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young, Penny Banner, Wendi Richter, Trish Stratus, Chyna, Lita, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Bayley.
With rare photographs and an exploration of women's wrestling worldwide--including chapters on Japan, Mexico, England, and Australia--Sisterhood of the Squared Circle is a priceless contribution to the history of professional wrestling.
443 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2017
35 people are currently reading
676 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 17, 2017
"Sisterhood of the Squared Circle" is a book that I looked forward to reading because I love books about the history of sports, particularly wrestling. This encyclopedic take on the way that women have influenced wrestling since the beginning, starting in carnivals and surviving to become main events at pay per view matches, shows the longevity and need of females in wrestling. I enjoyed the first half of the book the most because it focuses on those legends that made the Diva era and the current era of wrestling what it is today. The stories of the legends, told one by one with short biographies, feuds, and deaths, are well worth the price of the book. Toward the second half, it starts to get more and more repetitive and faceless. When I would look up the wrestlers on the internet, the old pictures and matches on Youtube (which is highly recommended to make this experience even better), I was really interested in the beginnings through the mid-2000s. The wrestlers in the last section of the book seemed all the same to me, that the descriptions that Laprade was using were starting to wear thin, and by the end of the book, I was a little ready for it to be over. Having said that, I wondered to myself whether the structure of going chronologically was the best bet. There seemed to be places where the information was backtracking and I was rereading the things I had already read. This made the last fifth of the book just something to get through.
Having said all of this, I really enjoyed most of "Sisterhood of the Squared Circle" and it does highlight the most important aspect of the world of wrestling: It might be fun to watch the men wrestle, but it doesn't mean a thing if the women are not there as well.
I received this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Having said all of this, I really enjoyed most of "Sisterhood of the Squared Circle" and it does highlight the most important aspect of the world of wrestling: It might be fun to watch the men wrestle, but it doesn't mean a thing if the women are not there as well.
I received this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 3, 2022
This book provides multiple short (VERY short) biographies of a few dozen women over the course of about 70 years of wrestling history. The book was published in 2017, before AEW and STARDOM's explosion in international popularity, so it is a bit dated already. Nevertheless, there are many things I liked about this book, however it covers such a broad range that it only scratches the surface of much of the content.
Things I liked: Mildred Burke is one of the few historical figures that is documented in lengthy detail. Even though her section is longer than most, it really should've been longer. I was elated to see such high praise for LuFisto, though it would've been hard for Monsieur Laprade to forget about that. It also has a lot of info about Alundra Blayze that I wasn't aware of, things that changed the way I've always generally felt about her. The book also doesn't try to whitewash Moolah.
Things that were meh: To put it flatly, half the wrestlers profiled in the book are still active today, or already have their own autobiographies, documentaries, and a plethora of exposure that renders much of the content common knowledge for seasoned wrestling fans. The book only explains how a few wrestlers specifically shaped the industry (albeit in brief detail), with the bulk of the content providing trivia (statistics, dates, title changes, notable storylines, etc). Most of the current WWE wrestlers have longer biographies than the industry's veterans. A few AJW legends are covered, though the whole "international" chapter felt tacked-on and relied too heavily on Dave Meltzer quotations, echoing the authors' own distances from those topics. The book is primarily about North American wrestling history.
It's a respectable gist of the history of women's pro wrestling, though I would have still been sold if it ended after 1995. Women's wrestling changed so much afterwards that it's an uphill battle trying to frame it altogether. It feels like 2 or 3 volumes condensed to 1, though it's a quick and easy read that pays homage to some of the greatest stars in the world of women's pro wrestling.
Mildred Burke FTW!
Things I liked: Mildred Burke is one of the few historical figures that is documented in lengthy detail. Even though her section is longer than most, it really should've been longer. I was elated to see such high praise for LuFisto, though it would've been hard for Monsieur Laprade to forget about that. It also has a lot of info about Alundra Blayze that I wasn't aware of, things that changed the way I've always generally felt about her. The book also doesn't try to whitewash Moolah.
Things that were meh: To put it flatly, half the wrestlers profiled in the book are still active today, or already have their own autobiographies, documentaries, and a plethora of exposure that renders much of the content common knowledge for seasoned wrestling fans. The book only explains how a few wrestlers specifically shaped the industry (albeit in brief detail), with the bulk of the content providing trivia (statistics, dates, title changes, notable storylines, etc). Most of the current WWE wrestlers have longer biographies than the industry's veterans. A few AJW legends are covered, though the whole "international" chapter felt tacked-on and relied too heavily on Dave Meltzer quotations, echoing the authors' own distances from those topics. The book is primarily about North American wrestling history.
It's a respectable gist of the history of women's pro wrestling, though I would have still been sold if it ended after 1995. Women's wrestling changed so much afterwards that it's an uphill battle trying to frame it altogether. It feels like 2 or 3 volumes condensed to 1, though it's a quick and easy read that pays homage to some of the greatest stars in the world of women's pro wrestling.
Mildred Burke FTW!
June 15, 2019
As an encyclopedic resource, this is a very solid book. It is not perfect, as other reviewers have pointed out. There is a lot of assumed information or information out of order. There's also a good amount of overlap that could use some additional editing. Readers would have benefited from an introductory chapter outlining a history of women's wrestling (and the all-female federations and promoters) before going into biography. At times I found myself putting the book down to google someone who had never been mentioned in previous pages.
There is also a bit of an unintentional bias that rears its head from time to time. There's a sentence about WWE's first female trainer Sara Amato that reads: "In fact, she's so good at what she does that she now not only trains women, but men as well." A word of advice-If you're writing a book about women's wrestling, how about not demeaning the women's division by pointing out that someone is a good enough trainer that they can work with men. I don't think this was malicious, but it is sloppy for a book like this.
I'm nitpicking a bit, but when your subject is women's wrestling, it would have been nice to have a woman on the writing team. That omission likely speaks more to wrestling fandom than to the author's knowledge of the subject. On that point they are very informed on the subject and I absolutely learned a lot from this book. I will certainly refer to it often, and think future volumes could (and should) follow. It's biggest shortcoming is not anyone's fault but time. This book was released in 2017, just one year before the women's division of WWE exploded with an all-women's royal rumble, an all women's pay per view, and the first ever women's match in the main event at Wrestlemania 35. It is optimistic about possibilities, but so close to missing the coverage of them. Perhaps future editions can include an extra chapter on this exciting period of women's wrestling and fandom.
Overall, this is a great introduction to the subject, but there is a lot missing from the story, and hopefully a lot more to be written by the athletes and fans in years to come!
There is also a bit of an unintentional bias that rears its head from time to time. There's a sentence about WWE's first female trainer Sara Amato that reads: "In fact, she's so good at what she does that she now not only trains women, but men as well." A word of advice-If you're writing a book about women's wrestling, how about not demeaning the women's division by pointing out that someone is a good enough trainer that they can work with men. I don't think this was malicious, but it is sloppy for a book like this.
I'm nitpicking a bit, but when your subject is women's wrestling, it would have been nice to have a woman on the writing team. That omission likely speaks more to wrestling fandom than to the author's knowledge of the subject. On that point they are very informed on the subject and I absolutely learned a lot from this book. I will certainly refer to it often, and think future volumes could (and should) follow. It's biggest shortcoming is not anyone's fault but time. This book was released in 2017, just one year before the women's division of WWE exploded with an all-women's royal rumble, an all women's pay per view, and the first ever women's match in the main event at Wrestlemania 35. It is optimistic about possibilities, but so close to missing the coverage of them. Perhaps future editions can include an extra chapter on this exciting period of women's wrestling and fandom.
Overall, this is a great introduction to the subject, but there is a lot missing from the story, and hopefully a lot more to be written by the athletes and fans in years to come!
July 7, 2017
I'll be honest, I was quite disappointed in this book. I had really high hopes, having often heard Pat Lapse on the Wrestling Observer Radio show.
It's not that this is a bad book, far from it. It's just that it only scratches the surface of what it could have been. Essentially, this is a short encyclopadeia of the key players in the history of women's wrestling. It follows the simple format of short biography followed by a photo of the lady in question. It was interesting, but it just didn't have the meat on the bones that I was hoping for.
When I noticed that I was only 14% of the way through the (e)book and Mildred Burke and Moolah had been covered already, I knew this wasn't going to be my cup of tea. I was genuinely wondering how the authors were going to fill the rest of the pages if these key players were dealt with so swiftly. The answer is that WWE is heavily covered, as well as quite a few pages dedicated to Japan which was good.
One of the main issues I had with the text was that there were too any repeats in information quite close to each other. It came across very much that this was the two authors splitting the bio's between them and not checking in with other for quality control. An example would be where Trish Stratus's run with Lita would be covered in much the same way in both of their chapters, so it felt like I was reading the same thing twice.
That being said, there was still a lot to like about this book. I learnt nuggets of information I wasn't already aware of, I remembered fondly wrestlers long forgotten and it finished neatly as the woman's revolution was just kicking off.
As long as you approach this book knowing exactly what you are getting yourself into you will enjoy this book, buy I feel there is another story left to be told in a second volume.
It's not that this is a bad book, far from it. It's just that it only scratches the surface of what it could have been. Essentially, this is a short encyclopadeia of the key players in the history of women's wrestling. It follows the simple format of short biography followed by a photo of the lady in question. It was interesting, but it just didn't have the meat on the bones that I was hoping for.
When I noticed that I was only 14% of the way through the (e)book and Mildred Burke and Moolah had been covered already, I knew this wasn't going to be my cup of tea. I was genuinely wondering how the authors were going to fill the rest of the pages if these key players were dealt with so swiftly. The answer is that WWE is heavily covered, as well as quite a few pages dedicated to Japan which was good.
One of the main issues I had with the text was that there were too any repeats in information quite close to each other. It came across very much that this was the two authors splitting the bio's between them and not checking in with other for quality control. An example would be where Trish Stratus's run with Lita would be covered in much the same way in both of their chapters, so it felt like I was reading the same thing twice.
That being said, there was still a lot to like about this book. I learnt nuggets of information I wasn't already aware of, I remembered fondly wrestlers long forgotten and it finished neatly as the woman's revolution was just kicking off.
As long as you approach this book knowing exactly what you are getting yourself into you will enjoy this book, buy I feel there is another story left to be told in a second volume.
June 22, 2021
Started reading this reference book back in 2018. It's essentially an Oliver/Johnson HOF book that looks at women's wrestling, and it does that job very well. The in-depth indie/TNA/Japan sections are welcome, and some of the later-in-time capsule bios are quite interesting (note: the book covers the beginning of the new era of women's wrestling in WWE, but B Lynch hasn't yet become "The Man," etc.).
Overall, for anyone who keeps their finger on the pulse of the business in a professional sense - as I do - or for fans looking for a book to keep above the toilet bowl for quick but focused reads - as I did during the three or so years I poked away at this - "Sisterhood of the Squared Circle" delivers the goods.
Overall, for anyone who keeps their finger on the pulse of the business in a professional sense - as I do - or for fans looking for a book to keep above the toilet bowl for quick but focused reads - as I did during the three or so years I poked away at this - "Sisterhood of the Squared Circle" delivers the goods.
February 9, 2017
Received an ARC via NetGalley
This is a very detailed history of women wrestlers. The book is organized in a chronological fashion and begins in the late 1800s with women who wrestled in sideshows and circuses. Each woman has her own section and it has a little bit of information on her personal life, but mainly focuses on her wrestling career. It lists promoters, opponents, and wrestling organizations of each era. I buy for the wrestling section for a public library and would need to wait and see what the “extras” are in the printed book. If this book has a good number of quality photos and an index, I would buy it. In the ARC there were just 4 tiny pictures at the end of the book and no index. I received the ARC at least 6 months before publication and assume that the final book will have several improvements.
This is a very detailed history of women wrestlers. The book is organized in a chronological fashion and begins in the late 1800s with women who wrestled in sideshows and circuses. Each woman has her own section and it has a little bit of information on her personal life, but mainly focuses on her wrestling career. It lists promoters, opponents, and wrestling organizations of each era. I buy for the wrestling section for a public library and would need to wait and see what the “extras” are in the printed book. If this book has a good number of quality photos and an index, I would buy it. In the ARC there were just 4 tiny pictures at the end of the book and no index. I received the ARC at least 6 months before publication and assume that the final book will have several improvements.
August 18, 2017
This is a great reference book. I'm very happy that it exists. I expect to return to it again and again for its historical information. It also makes me want to learn more about several of the women, stories, and organizations that the book covers. Very thorough.
October 23, 2021
Entirely too dependent upon extant quotes cobbled together from myriad sources. Granted that a vast majority of the subjects covered within this exhaustive history of women's wrestling have long since passed thus cannot provide unique and 'fresh' quotes, but the author seems to have put no legwork into securing any comments by contemporary female talent. The sole active wrestler that provides any unique input is Natalya in a brief forward, and I suspect she did so given the writer is also Canadian.
One of the quirks of the book that irritated me is the over-indulgence of space Laprade gives to Dave Meltzer. For as many stories and opinions he offers on dozens of wrestlers, he may as well have been granted a co-author credit! Laprade leans heavily on Meltzer, who is no more an 'expert' in any sort than any person who merely documented second and third-hand information. It is a pet peeve for a person such as myself who enjoys reading wrestling books to see so many otherwise intelligent writers and wrestling personalities afford Dave Metlzer some form of exalted status. Here, again, Laprade is lazy, essentially handing off the vast bulk of the sections detailing the women's wrestling scene in Japan over the decades to Meltzer to comment upon.
Though there is plenty of fascinating material here that is not well known, such as the true popularity of women's wrestling and the amount of gate receipts it commanded for many decades, especially in Japan, too much of it is background and only touched upon. In his relentless drive to check the boxes on giving thumbnail sketches of 'every' female wrestler of the 20th and 21st centuries, Laprade far too often moves on from events, drama, and trivia that could and should have been expanded upon. I was frustrated so very often reading this book.
Instead of drilling down into a particularly fascinating or lurid fact (such as the Fabulous Moolah's penchant for 'prostituting' her young charges, or how many male wrestling personalities skirted the law in having relations with underage talent or the nefarious insider-dealing that kept women's wrestling groups splintered among themselves and unable to form a united league), this 'history' book contents itself by blandly regurgitating a formula that I quickly tired of: provide basic background of the talent (height, weight, birth date and location), sprinkle in a few comments culled from other sources in magazines, books, podcasts or even the WWE Network, detail the talent's title reigns, if any, then wash, rinse, repeat. By the time Laprade has exhausted the list of North American and Japanese females and moved on not only to the UK, Australia, and even the (then-current) crop of notable independents, I was about ready to tap out. I retained very little of what I'd read, as it all blurred together into one homogeneous female wrestler who won titles and had a career. I was spent.
This book is a 'fan book'. It is well-written, it is well produced, and for those who simply wish to have an all-in-one overview of the last hundred years of female wrestlers, then it is fine. However, for a person who read this because of the promise of the word 'history' of women's wrestling in the title, they will be left instead with basically a series of Wikipedia articles slapped into a book, with some terrible and groan-inducing comments from the wrestling 'genius' of Dave Meltzer as well.
One of the quirks of the book that irritated me is the over-indulgence of space Laprade gives to Dave Meltzer. For as many stories and opinions he offers on dozens of wrestlers, he may as well have been granted a co-author credit! Laprade leans heavily on Meltzer, who is no more an 'expert' in any sort than any person who merely documented second and third-hand information. It is a pet peeve for a person such as myself who enjoys reading wrestling books to see so many otherwise intelligent writers and wrestling personalities afford Dave Metlzer some form of exalted status. Here, again, Laprade is lazy, essentially handing off the vast bulk of the sections detailing the women's wrestling scene in Japan over the decades to Meltzer to comment upon.
Though there is plenty of fascinating material here that is not well known, such as the true popularity of women's wrestling and the amount of gate receipts it commanded for many decades, especially in Japan, too much of it is background and only touched upon. In his relentless drive to check the boxes on giving thumbnail sketches of 'every' female wrestler of the 20th and 21st centuries, Laprade far too often moves on from events, drama, and trivia that could and should have been expanded upon. I was frustrated so very often reading this book.
Instead of drilling down into a particularly fascinating or lurid fact (such as the Fabulous Moolah's penchant for 'prostituting' her young charges, or how many male wrestling personalities skirted the law in having relations with underage talent or the nefarious insider-dealing that kept women's wrestling groups splintered among themselves and unable to form a united league), this 'history' book contents itself by blandly regurgitating a formula that I quickly tired of: provide basic background of the talent (height, weight, birth date and location), sprinkle in a few comments culled from other sources in magazines, books, podcasts or even the WWE Network, detail the talent's title reigns, if any, then wash, rinse, repeat. By the time Laprade has exhausted the list of North American and Japanese females and moved on not only to the UK, Australia, and even the (then-current) crop of notable independents, I was about ready to tap out. I retained very little of what I'd read, as it all blurred together into one homogeneous female wrestler who won titles and had a career. I was spent.
This book is a 'fan book'. It is well-written, it is well produced, and for those who simply wish to have an all-in-one overview of the last hundred years of female wrestlers, then it is fine. However, for a person who read this because of the promise of the word 'history' of women's wrestling in the title, they will be left instead with basically a series of Wikipedia articles slapped into a book, with some terrible and groan-inducing comments from the wrestling 'genius' of Dave Meltzer as well.
February 28, 2023
I love this book as an introduction to the wild world of pre-WWF women's wrestling, which has fascinating real-life characters and dramatic power dynamics.
I mostly like it otherwise, but there's also kind of a weird recency bias and a related WWE/SHIMMER bias as well. I'm not saying none of these more recent athletes or promoters have had an impact on the world of women's wrestling, but I think the book is stronger if it doesn't spin its wheels quite so much in the recent past and then-present of women's wrestling.
First of all, there are just a number of observations made in the book that have aged awkwardly. For example, Athena/Ember Moon is labeled "the future of WWE" and she doesn't work there anymore and I don't know that she really had a huge role there. I'm not asking the authors to have predicted AEW's founding or her move to that company. I just think that, for a variety of reasons, the book would have been better off speculating less and simply telling the story of women's wrestling in the US up through the Divas era and ending on the transition away from that terminology/aesthetic.
Also... is SHIMMER really this important? I know it isn't irrelevant and I know I'd say that PWG--a promotion with a similar business model at a similar time--has been important, but I've just never gotten the impression that SHIMMER was as big or vital as this book suggests it is. Admittedly, it offered women a place to wrestle seriously in the United States when infuriatingly few promoters would do so, but I feel like this book overstates its legacy.
Arguably, PWG is where world champions and executive vice presidents first got over huge. SHIMMER to me just always seemed like a place where some now-big women happened to spend some time. I apologize if I'm just wrong, but if I'm right their role in the book is pretty inflated and feels like kind of a favor and/or personal bias that doesn't fit the broader scope of the book. Like, this little Illinois indie company gets an awful lot of attention right alongside the likes of AJW and WWE.
(Speaking of, while I'd adore much more joshi history, I appreciate the inaccessibility of what you'd build that from, if the author doesn't know Japanese and have vast archives of joshi resources. The joshi section is pretty good and one could probably only demand more from a joshi specialist who knows the language well and so on.)
I mostly like it otherwise, but there's also kind of a weird recency bias and a related WWE/SHIMMER bias as well. I'm not saying none of these more recent athletes or promoters have had an impact on the world of women's wrestling, but I think the book is stronger if it doesn't spin its wheels quite so much in the recent past and then-present of women's wrestling.
First of all, there are just a number of observations made in the book that have aged awkwardly. For example, Athena/Ember Moon is labeled "the future of WWE" and she doesn't work there anymore and I don't know that she really had a huge role there. I'm not asking the authors to have predicted AEW's founding or her move to that company. I just think that, for a variety of reasons, the book would have been better off speculating less and simply telling the story of women's wrestling in the US up through the Divas era and ending on the transition away from that terminology/aesthetic.
Also... is SHIMMER really this important? I know it isn't irrelevant and I know I'd say that PWG--a promotion with a similar business model at a similar time--has been important, but I've just never gotten the impression that SHIMMER was as big or vital as this book suggests it is. Admittedly, it offered women a place to wrestle seriously in the United States when infuriatingly few promoters would do so, but I feel like this book overstates its legacy.
Arguably, PWG is where world champions and executive vice presidents first got over huge. SHIMMER to me just always seemed like a place where some now-big women happened to spend some time. I apologize if I'm just wrong, but if I'm right their role in the book is pretty inflated and feels like kind of a favor and/or personal bias that doesn't fit the broader scope of the book. Like, this little Illinois indie company gets an awful lot of attention right alongside the likes of AJW and WWE.
(Speaking of, while I'd adore much more joshi history, I appreciate the inaccessibility of what you'd build that from, if the author doesn't know Japanese and have vast archives of joshi resources. The joshi section is pretty good and one could probably only demand more from a joshi specialist who knows the language well and so on.)
November 5, 2018
The first (to my knowledge) book to take a stab at detailing the history of women's wrestling in America (as well as highlighting the history in Japan as well as looking at Mexico, Australia and the United Kingdom), LaPrade and Murphy knocked it out of the park. They do an amazing job of telling how women's wrestling came to be, the major stars that helped it's rise, the dry spells throughout as well as the combination of factors that forced WWE to change it's own women's division. They make sure to give both sides of the story on the "Fabulous" Moolah (a controversial subject in her own right), as well as spotlight the women who made their own marks outside of Moolah's grasp. The chapter on Japan was an eye opener for someone like me who wanted to know more about the history of Joshi wrestling but can't read Japanese. And I loved the sub-chapter on intergender wrestling, how LuFisto made history changing the laws in her own land, and the defense of it from the writers as well as quotes from women within wrestling.
The only criticism I would have is to have ended the book with a focus on Stephanie McMahon. There's no doubt she has had a hand in how WWE has changed it's presentation of women in WWE, but I believe two factors caused Vince McMahon (who holds the ultimate say in everything on the main roster) to finally start changing things: the rise of female athletes in sports outside of wrestling as well as inside it - the independents were where serious female wrestling was to be found in the mid-2000s; and the fans ourselves who, knowing what the women in the company were capable of, demanded change. This isn't to diminish anything Stephanie has done (after all, having 3 daughters of your own can certainly change your perspective, especially working in a male dominated environment like wrestling), but as a fan it has been aggravating how she has been shoe-horned into being the "face" of the revolution within WWE.
Aside from this minor criticism, if you are looking for an easy, compelling read on women's wrestling in America, this is it. If anything, I would hope that others might be inspired to build on this work and write books focused on women's wrestling in Japan (more extensive than what was detailed here), Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The herstory of women's wrestling is fascinating.
The only criticism I would have is to have ended the book with a focus on Stephanie McMahon. There's no doubt she has had a hand in how WWE has changed it's presentation of women in WWE, but I believe two factors caused Vince McMahon (who holds the ultimate say in everything on the main roster) to finally start changing things: the rise of female athletes in sports outside of wrestling as well as inside it - the independents were where serious female wrestling was to be found in the mid-2000s; and the fans ourselves who, knowing what the women in the company were capable of, demanded change. This isn't to diminish anything Stephanie has done (after all, having 3 daughters of your own can certainly change your perspective, especially working in a male dominated environment like wrestling), but as a fan it has been aggravating how she has been shoe-horned into being the "face" of the revolution within WWE.
Aside from this minor criticism, if you are looking for an easy, compelling read on women's wrestling in America, this is it. If anything, I would hope that others might be inspired to build on this work and write books focused on women's wrestling in Japan (more extensive than what was detailed here), Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The herstory of women's wrestling is fascinating.
June 7, 2021
Professional wrestling is a weird thing for the average person to understand. It's a totally made up thing. It's totally silly. But like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny and the tooth Fairy It's something you totally believe as a kid and then make your peace with as you get older. If I need to stop stressing about reality I tune in to wrestling and I'm DOWN. I'm 9 years old again and I believe. There is a lot of fascinating drama connected to this sports entertainment. In any event, I decided to read this history of female wrestlers because, why the hell not? This book is way too log but it does what it sets out to do , which is to cover every female wrestler from the origin until now. There are hundreds of concise histories. Many of them are very dramatic but what shines through the whole book is that these women chose their own path and deserve just as much respect as the men. I have no problem giving them that respect. Read the book. It's interesting and often sad but always celebrates the ladies. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
April 8, 2018
As a wrestling fan, the rising prominence of women's wrestling has been a welcome occurance, and this book lands at nearly the perfect time. A history of women's wrestling, mostly United States-based, this attempts to be as clear and direct about the personalities as possible.
The pros are how comprehensive the stories are about the important players, including people on the independent scene. The major con, however, is that the book is less about "the history and rise" of wrestling, but instead acts as a vehicle for capsule biographies of any important women involved. It becomes less a story about women's wrestling and more about "these are the people you should know from this era."
A better narrative makes this a five-star affair, but otherwise, a solid read.
The pros are how comprehensive the stories are about the important players, including people on the independent scene. The major con, however, is that the book is less about "the history and rise" of wrestling, but instead acts as a vehicle for capsule biographies of any important women involved. It becomes less a story about women's wrestling and more about "these are the people you should know from this era."
A better narrative makes this a five-star affair, but otherwise, a solid read.
May 30, 2019
This book covers history of women's wrestling from it's early beginnings up to Ronda Rousey's first year. The book is basic mini biographies of the females in each era of wrestling. The best parts are the pioneer women from the 50s and 60s. Fans of the Viceland documentaries "The Dark Side of The Ring" would want to read this for the Moolah sections. There are current women that are missing, with covering only Flair, Sasha Banks and Paige (no Alexa Bliss mentions).
Overall it is a nice read and a quick reference guide for wrestling historians.
For an in depth review, go to my page at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...
Overall it is a nice read and a quick reference guide for wrestling historians.
For an in depth review, go to my page at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...
April 4, 2023
This book was such a pleasure to read. At first I was thrown off at the way it was organized with wrestler's names and then blurbs about them, I was worried it would be more about just bios vs the historical evolution of women's wrestling but I quickly realized I was wrong. Though it was organized this way, it was still following the evolution and providing great historical context by listing women in a mostly chronological order of when they began wrestling. Such a gem of a book and the perfect jumping off point into this fascinating world. I found myself constantly making note of documentaries, books and other resources cited throughout the book that I can't wait to dive into!
January 10, 2022
The story's from the 40s to 60s are very interesting, with huge larger than life characters crisscrossing the US whilst juggling families and crazy jobs like lion taming.
But quickly the book devolves into a brief introduction of a time period followed by bios of the top stars of that period. It's also very clear which periods the author has more research and interview material on than others. The book is heavily America centric so if you are a fan of Joshi or lucha there's isn't a huge amount for you here. It's long and sometimes dull but with moments of interest.
But quickly the book devolves into a brief introduction of a time period followed by bios of the top stars of that period. It's also very clear which periods the author has more research and interview material on than others. The book is heavily America centric so if you are a fan of Joshi or lucha there's isn't a huge amount for you here. It's long and sometimes dull but with moments of interest.
September 30, 2024
File this under "random things I want to know more about". I loved GLOW when it was on Netflix and I watched the documentary after so this history has always been really interesting to me, but I think the format only really works if you know about the structure of wrestling. If you don't know anything about how it's formatted and the territories and such, it's confusing. Fine overview on different people, although at the end they do all start blurring together in a "they wish they could have done more, but alas" sort of way.
October 20, 2017
Although I learnt a lot about the horrors of women’s wrestling pre 1960 this book is more a a-z Of big name wrestlers from the last few decades. Some big names are missing but it just really is a summary of some big name women’s wrestlers and a few paragraphs on who they are and how they started.
Honestly there is very little here for wrestling fans as they should know most of this and if you have no interested in wrestling then you have none in this book.
Honestly there is very little here for wrestling fans as they should know most of this and if you have no interested in wrestling then you have none in this book.
November 2, 2017
was completely enthralled by this book from the moment I opened it. Absolutely loved reading the individual stories of so many female wrestlers from both the past and present. Got a little bored the closer the stories/profiles got to modern day (mostly because I already knew a lot of those histories) but still enjoyed finding out some smaller details.
April 23, 2020
Really great from a historical standpoint, but I wish the writing was a little more interesting. Still, women were responsible for innovations that we see in pro wrestling today, so maybe give them their goddamn due. Girls rock!
February 9, 2021
I’m really impressed with the amount of information lent to everyone featured here, even lesser known talent from the 1940s and 50s. It’s not a gripping page turner, but a good primer on women’s wrestling from its inception to the 2010s.
January 2, 2023
i giggled a little when i read the outdated information like "what if the first women's royal rumble is next?" or "what if Ronda Rousey joins wwe?"
other than that, I enjoyed learning about the women that came way before the official wwf/wwe era.
other than that, I enjoyed learning about the women that came way before the official wwf/wwe era.
December 14, 2017
Really interesting overview of the women's wrestling history... It's really interesting reading!
June 2, 2018
Absolutely incredible. I hope for an updated version in a few years that includes more of the women of NXT, WWE, SHIMMER, etc.
July 23, 2018
A fascinating book that gives backgrounds to women wrestlers of the past and present!
August 22, 2018
The encyclopedic nature of it makes it easy to read on one hand, but a bit monotonous on the other.
August 5, 2020
Its not really a book...its an Encyclopedia.. so I skipped a bit of it.
July 10, 2021
This book is a deep dive into the history of women in professional wrestling. It's a great read for the neophyte or the avid fan.
June 19, 2017
Loved this book! So much history and interesting stories about women wrestlers over the years as well as current wrestlers from different promotions. The pages (including photos) are in black and white but there is a small section in the middle of the book with really nice photographs in color that I loved.
March 4, 2022
March is Women’s History Month. In celebration of women’s history, the Literary Squared Circle blog reviews the 2017 book Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women’s Wrestling by Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy (ECW Press, 2017).
Sisterhood of the Squared Circle is among the most comprehensive books on the subject of women’s wrestling ever written. While many modern wrestling fans think that the pioneers of women’s wrestling are Trish Stratus and Lita, this book traces the rich history of women’s wrestling back a century prior to that. Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy profile over 100 women wrestlers from every era from the real pioneers (Cora Livingston & Clara Mortensen) to the superstars of today (Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, etc.).
Mildred Burke, June Byers, The Fabulous Moolah, Wendi Richter, Sherri Martel, Madusa/Alundra Blayze, Chyna. They’re all here. In addition to the profiles one would expect to find, there are a few interesting entries. Long forgotten African-American wrestlers of the 1950s and 1960s (Babs Wingo, Ethel Johnson, etc.) are featured as are the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW), International wrestlers from Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, & Australia, and wrestlers from the Chicago-based indie promotion SHIMMER.
Despite clocking in at over 400 pages, Sisterhood of the Squared Circle is a quick read due to the timeline being broken up into easily readable and informative digestible bites. The book is not only an interesting read, but an educational one as well. I learned more about women’s professional wrestling while reading Sisterhood of the Squared Circle than I had from any other book on the subject.
Along with Jeff Leen’s biography of Mildred Burke, The Queen of the Ring, I consider Sisterhood of the Squared Circle to be one of the two most definitive books ever written about the history of women’s wrestling. From the Billy Wolfe Era to The Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection. From the Attitude Era to the Divas Revolution. If you have any interest in women’s wrestling and its history, Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women’s Wrestling is a must-read. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
4 Stars out of 5
Sisterhood of the Squared Circle is among the most comprehensive books on the subject of women’s wrestling ever written. While many modern wrestling fans think that the pioneers of women’s wrestling are Trish Stratus and Lita, this book traces the rich history of women’s wrestling back a century prior to that. Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy profile over 100 women wrestlers from every era from the real pioneers (Cora Livingston & Clara Mortensen) to the superstars of today (Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, etc.).
Mildred Burke, June Byers, The Fabulous Moolah, Wendi Richter, Sherri Martel, Madusa/Alundra Blayze, Chyna. They’re all here. In addition to the profiles one would expect to find, there are a few interesting entries. Long forgotten African-American wrestlers of the 1950s and 1960s (Babs Wingo, Ethel Johnson, etc.) are featured as are the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW), International wrestlers from Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, & Australia, and wrestlers from the Chicago-based indie promotion SHIMMER.
Despite clocking in at over 400 pages, Sisterhood of the Squared Circle is a quick read due to the timeline being broken up into easily readable and informative digestible bites. The book is not only an interesting read, but an educational one as well. I learned more about women’s professional wrestling while reading Sisterhood of the Squared Circle than I had from any other book on the subject.
Along with Jeff Leen’s biography of Mildred Burke, The Queen of the Ring, I consider Sisterhood of the Squared Circle to be one of the two most definitive books ever written about the history of women’s wrestling. From the Billy Wolfe Era to The Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection. From the Attitude Era to the Divas Revolution. If you have any interest in women’s wrestling and its history, Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women’s Wrestling is a must-read. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
4 Stars out of 5
March 9, 2018
An abridged history of professional women's wrestling
Easily the best reference book on the history of professional women's wrestling from the early carnival days to the present as of 2017. There are many great biographies and autobiographies out there with both fans and detractors based on the wrestlers themselves and their fans. Pat Laprade, who is a leading authority on pro wrestling with a special fondness for women wrestlers, gives an unbiased view on the individual women themselves. As well as the history of the sport past and present. I titled this review an abridged history of professional women's wrestling which I feel it was. No doubt, there will be critics who will wonder why a certain time span or their favorite wrestler was not included or given more their due. In order for all time spans, promotions and wrestlers to be included would require volumes and vo!umes. Perhaps Pat will write more. One could only hope on this entertaining and well written subject. Check out more wrestling books by Pat Laprade for unique well researched and entertaining perspectives on professional wrestling.
Easily the best reference book on the history of professional women's wrestling from the early carnival days to the present as of 2017. There are many great biographies and autobiographies out there with both fans and detractors based on the wrestlers themselves and their fans. Pat Laprade, who is a leading authority on pro wrestling with a special fondness for women wrestlers, gives an unbiased view on the individual women themselves. As well as the history of the sport past and present. I titled this review an abridged history of professional women's wrestling which I feel it was. No doubt, there will be critics who will wonder why a certain time span or their favorite wrestler was not included or given more their due. In order for all time spans, promotions and wrestlers to be included would require volumes and vo!umes. Perhaps Pat will write more. One could only hope on this entertaining and well written subject. Check out more wrestling books by Pat Laprade for unique well researched and entertaining perspectives on professional wrestling.
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