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charlottedante's review against another edition
4.0
Hilariously docked for the overuse of bold emphasis - if everything is emphasized, nothing is! - that literally made the first few pages I read DEVOID of MEANING as I waffled BETWEEN emphasized AND not.
The final chapters unfortunately felt separate from the rest of the book, which until that point read like a global history of mainstream professional wrestling. But then everything boiled down to WWE proper (as it usually does) without paying any attention to FCW/NXT, the (then) current landscape of any of the other promotions, or women's wrestling at all, the latter of which is unfortunately explicitly noted how little it is mentioned BY THE AUTHORS IN THE BOOK THEY WROTE. The section summarizing the Summer of Punk? How about any history at all on GLOW, Shimmer, or Stardom instead? I did really enjoy this book but to essentially read, "We didn't include women's wrestling because they've historically been poorly promoted." ???? Do you see the irony here, friends.
The final chapters unfortunately felt separate from the rest of the book, which until that point read like a global history of mainstream professional wrestling. But then everything boiled down to WWE proper (as it usually does) without paying any attention to FCW/NXT, the (then) current landscape of any of the other promotions, or women's wrestling at all, the latter of which is unfortunately explicitly noted how little it is mentioned BY THE AUTHORS IN THE BOOK THEY WROTE. The section summarizing the Summer of Punk? How about any history at all on GLOW, Shimmer, or Stardom instead? I did really enjoy this book but to essentially read, "We didn't include women's wrestling because they've historically been poorly promoted." ???? Do you see the irony here, friends.
pocketvolcano's review against another edition
5.0
This only took me so long to finish because I started reading a lot of fan fiction and didn’t pick this up for months. It’s a very entertaining, fun and knowledgeable book about the history of the One True Sport so I very much recommend it!
saidtheraina's review against another edition
4.0
Professional wrestling is a fascinating modern phenomenon.
This graphic novel traces the history of professional wrestling (starting in ancient times), and goes into detail about the last 100+ years. It talks about various Associations, specific key players, and touches on moves and slang. It also spends a few chapters on pro wrestling outside of the United States, particularly in Mexico and Japan.
I'm a pretty big fan of the Netflix series GLOW, and I studied theatre in college, so I'm always interested in performative arts and their impact on the wider culture. I also dig nonfiction graphic novels as a rule. I found this one, though, because I was specifically looking for high-appeal, sports-related books for my annual tour of local high schools. This was perfect for that niche. I opened my presentations by talking about this book, focusing on the colonial Rough-and-Tumble ancestor to pro wrestling (discussed on page 3 here).
Since I'm not a general connoisseur of professional wrestling, I can't speak to the accuracy of this telling, but I did find it fascinating. Part of me wanted a little more focus on the specific moves - I would have liked a play-by-play of at least one famous fight, perhaps. But I appreciate the importance of the association infighting to the larger art form, and that's most of the focus here.
The illustrations are clear and bright, and tell the story effectively. In some ways the narrative meanders more than I might like, but I understand it's hard to tell a story that bridges the whole planet and a couple centuries with everything influencing everything else.
It also doesn't tackle the nuance of the cultural impact the art form has had. There are acknowledgments of the rampant sexism and racism in mainstream professional wrestling, but it doesn't go particularly deep with that. Doesn't discuss homophobia at all, which (I have a feeling) is an issue. Now that I've read this for context and a framework, I feel semi-ready to read someone else take those important issues on.
If you're intrigued, this is a pretty great primer on the topic. And it definitely worked for my purposes of grabbing high schoolers.
This graphic novel traces the history of professional wrestling (starting in ancient times), and goes into detail about the last 100+ years. It talks about various Associations, specific key players, and touches on moves and slang. It also spends a few chapters on pro wrestling outside of the United States, particularly in Mexico and Japan.
I'm a pretty big fan of the Netflix series GLOW, and I studied theatre in college, so I'm always interested in performative arts and their impact on the wider culture. I also dig nonfiction graphic novels as a rule. I found this one, though, because I was specifically looking for high-appeal, sports-related books for my annual tour of local high schools. This was perfect for that niche. I opened my presentations by talking about this book, focusing on the colonial Rough-and-Tumble ancestor to pro wrestling (discussed on page 3 here).
Since I'm not a general connoisseur of professional wrestling, I can't speak to the accuracy of this telling, but I did find it fascinating. Part of me wanted a little more focus on the specific moves - I would have liked a play-by-play of at least one famous fight, perhaps. But I appreciate the importance of the association infighting to the larger art form, and that's most of the focus here.
The illustrations are clear and bright, and tell the story effectively. In some ways the narrative meanders more than I might like, but I understand it's hard to tell a story that bridges the whole planet and a couple centuries with everything influencing everything else.
It also doesn't tackle the nuance of the cultural impact the art form has had. There are acknowledgments of the rampant sexism and racism in mainstream professional wrestling, but it doesn't go particularly deep with that. Doesn't discuss homophobia at all, which (I have a feeling) is an issue. Now that I've read this for context and a framework, I feel semi-ready to read someone else take those important issues on.
If you're intrigued, this is a pretty great primer on the topic. And it definitely worked for my purposes of grabbing high schoolers.
gabaghouul's review against another edition
5.0
Jam packed with so much rich info and history about wrestling in an easy to digest way. Loved it!
fdterritory's review against another edition
4.0
I'm torn on this rating. It should probably be 3.5 just because it's a bit hard to follow in places and I'm not crazy about the structure of the chapters. But the art is really good and it's a surprisingly complete account of wresting history, so I'll give it the extra half.
pmg1980's review against another edition
3.0
I thought the first six chapters of this book were excellent. Then, Sitterson applied lip balm and puckered up to Vince Mcmahon like William Regal. Unlike Regal, Sitterson didn't stop at one peck.
sizrobe's review against another edition
3.0
I have zero interest in actually watching wrestling, but I saw this in the new shelf of the graphic novel section at the library and decided to check it out on a whim. I was surprised at how interesting it turned out to be. The biggest surprise, I think, is that professional wrestling as we know it been fake all the way back to its origins as a sideshow feature of travelling carnivals in the late 19th century.
Unfortunately, while it pretty exhaustively spans the whole modern era of wrestling in not just America, but also Japan, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, it doesn't go much earlier than the 1880's. As far as I know, wrestling has existed, for example, in ancient Greece hundreds of years BC. Also, the author had a tendency to just namedrop wrestler after wrestler, most of which I'd never heard of. I got tired of reading lists of names of wrestlers without much context.
Unfortunately, while it pretty exhaustively spans the whole modern era of wrestling in not just America, but also Japan, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, it doesn't go much earlier than the 1880's. As far as I know, wrestling has existed, for example, in ancient Greece hundreds of years BC. Also, the author had a tendency to just namedrop wrestler after wrestler, most of which I'd never heard of. I got tired of reading lists of names of wrestlers without much context.