Ringside
Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America
Author: Scott M. Beekman
Amazon info
Finally, a historian covers the topic of professional wrestling in America, from its 19th century beginnings up until the WWE domination in 2001. Some things that were new to me:
* Wrestling matches are divided into "shooters" (real matches, winner unknown) and "works" (worked matches, winner known in advance). Since the 1920s, "works" have dominated.
* The sport has long obeyed the code of "kayfabe" which means that everyone pretends that the bouts are real (shooters) and not fake (works). The code of kayfabe was finally broken in 1989 when Vince McMahon argued (successfully) that his WWF organization should not pay NJ sports licensing fees, since they were entertainment and not sport. In fact, it was my memory of this event that prompted me to read the book.
* The emergence of "characters" started in the 30s with the emergence of good guys ("faces") and bad guys ("heels"). These personae increased in importance as the influence of televised matches expanded.
* The emergence of today's extreme fighting appears to have emerged in wrestling's turf battles as the WWF pushed "wrestling with attitude" in the late 90s to steal market share (and ultimately destroy) the rival WCW.
* And of course, a ton of details about wrestling - the various organizations, feuds between promoters, etc. that dominated the 20th centuray landscape.
I had thought that the breaking of kayfabe in 1989 finally allowed wrestling to truly emerge into what I called "real life comics". Since there was no longer any pretension to sport, everything could now become bigger than life. I thought that was what led to the strength of wrestling in the 1990s. This book gave me a broader perspective and the "character/storyline/comic book" aspect had been in place for much longer than I thought. I guess that as a kid, I didn't realize nearly all the bouts were worked. But in reading this book, I still believe that my theory had a kernel of truth.
Recommended: Anyone who remembers Andre the Giant - who was actually 6'8", 400 lbs - not the advertised 7'4", 500 lbs.