Historical Dictionary of Wrestling
By (author) John Grasso
Not available to order
Publication date:
06 March 2014Length of book:
444 pagesPublisher
Scarecrow PressISBN-13: 9780810879263
Wrestling as a legitimate contest is one of the oldest, if not the oldest form of sport. There are cave drawings depicting memorable matches in France, which are over 15,000 years old. Egyptian and Babylonian reliefs depict wrestling bouts where wrestlers are using most of the holds known to the modern-day sport. Wrestling was also a big part of ancient Greek literature and legend and historical records of sport indicate that wrestling under various sets of rules was contested at the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. Today’s modern wrestling is a form of "sports entertainment" in which highly skilled athletes enact wrestling matches in such a way so that their opponents do not get hurt and the matches' endings are scripted (although the audience is not aware of the script).
This Historical Dictionary of Wrestling covers the history of Wrestling through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 600 cross-referenced entries on important amateur and professional wrestling, wrestling personalities, announcers, managers and promoters from all eras, and wrestling organizations. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the sport of Wrestling.
This Historical Dictionary of Wrestling covers the history of Wrestling through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 600 cross-referenced entries on important amateur and professional wrestling, wrestling personalities, announcers, managers and promoters from all eras, and wrestling organizations. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the sport of Wrestling.
Wrestling in its pure form—at the high school, college, and Olympic levels—is an exciting, unpredictable, and very competitive sport. Monday night wrestling, or 'wraslin' is not. There is a reason for the 'E' in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is all about entertainment and this latest volume in the publisher’s Historical Dictionaries of Sports reflects the scripted version of wrestling. Although various wrestling holds, moves, and history are included, Grasso’s work is more about Monday Night Raw and other professional organizations—the televised versions. Readers will find out more about Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Harte than wrestling in its amateur form. The dictionary is an alphabetic listing of who, what, and when with a chronology, abbreviation list, and brief introduction included. Eleven appendixes document various features such as nicknames, hall of fame wrestlers, and prominent pay-per-view WWE events. There are references to NCAA champions and Olympic wrestling but the heavy emphasis is clearly the hulking athletes and entertainers who come alive on weekly television and now the newly launched WWE network.