Shooters: Pro Wrestlings Real Life Tough Guys [Paperback]

Johnathon Snowden, has written an excellent book for students of wrestling history, with the best and toughest, as a common thread through the story. From Farmer Burns, through Frank Gotch, George Hackenscmidt, Ed Lewis, Lou Thesz, right up to the era of Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, some wrestlers have been talented enough to control their own destinies, in what is often a sordid industry.

The pioneers realized early on that legit matches were bad for business; control of outcomes and performers was essential to ensure growth and profits. To guarantee that everyone "got with the program," and to protect the business and its secrets, promoters used the toughest, and most talented grapplers as policemen. Men like Nebraska based John "Tigerman," Pesek (a ferocious competitor who wrestled into the 1960's) filled that role for Lewis and his cronies in a 1922 match with Martin Plestina.

At one point, after being on the receiving end of Peseck's brutal tactics, Plestina was heard to shout "God, please don't kill me!" The book covers the career of Thesz, and Vern Gagne who were both good enough to control when, and to whom they lost.

The reader is given insight into the lives and methods of men like Karl Gotch, and British born Billy Robinson. Gotch after never really connecting in American rings, moved to Japan where his abilities as a wrestler, and trainer, led the Japanese to dub him "the god of wrestling." Robinson after a very successful wrestling career, has become a seminal influence in MMA, and a resurgence of catch wrestling.

Snowden also covers the careers of Angle, and Lesnar, in some detail. Angle's winning an Olympic Gold Medal, while wrestling with a broken neck is as inspiring as his descent into addiction to pain pills is sad, and tragic. Lesnar's rise in WWE, disillusionment and departure from WWE, success in MMA, and return to WWE (albeit on a limited basis) is still an unfolding saga.

Less inspiring are the stories of shooters intentionally injuring "marks," and would be wrestlers. Many in the business would call this a form of "tough love." Still, it is hard to describe wrestler Jim Wilson describing Jack Briscoe intentionally breaking the nose of a prospective wrestler's nose, at the direction of promoter Eddie Graham; "it was the first time in my life I witnessed the deliberate, sadistic breakage of human bones...As my stomach turned, Eddie Graham experienced near orgasmic excitement as he stood nearby, sweating a little and giggling."

He also repeats the story of Hiro Matsuda intentionally breaking a young Terry Bollea's leg on the first day of training. If Terry Bollea is an unfamiliar name, he, after healing and being persuaded to return to training, became famous as Hulk Hogan, the most important figure in modern professional wrestling.

I recommend this book for serious students of the sport. Casual readers should look elsewhere, and it is definitely not for younger readers.

First off I'll give a quick disclaimer, I don't care for professional wrestling at all. I watched it in the late 80's early 90's but since then it hasn't held any interest for me. I got a copy of this book based on a review I saw on it on MMATorch.

This book gives a great look at the history of wrestling back in the days when some contests were real and there were a lot of promoters running their own smaller shows. Starting with the first big name pro wrestlers in the late 1800's the book takes a trip all the way through the days of Brock Lesnar having to leave the UFC due to his illness.

I found the stories of the old school wrestlers pretty incredible. While the winners and losers were mostly chosen through internal promotion politics there was always a chance your opponent wouldn't be happy to take a fall and would actually fight back for real. The days were men were fighting many times a day in carnivals, taking all challengers with survivors earning a cash prize.

All of those stories were interesting, but the book really drew me in with the stories of the pro wrestling in Japan. That was where I started to see more names that I recognized due to being an MMA fan. There is a lot of great info on a lot of the names that currently are spoken of on a regular basis. Sakuraba was especially cool to learn about for me.

If you currently follow MMA, were ever a fan of pro wrestling, or appreciate the stories of the men who pioneered popularity of some of the combat sports this is a great book for you. It will really bring into focus the fact that, while the outcomes are predetermined, there is nothing fake about the athleticism of the men who dedicate their lives to entertainment wrestling.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.

I was originally introduced to Mr. Snowden's work with the excellent and informative MMA Encyclopedia. When I saw this book I had to give it a try. Having grown up a wrestling fan (and now being a giant MMA fan) I loved reading about the history of wrestling and its role as a legitimate "tough guy" sport. The book itself is extremely well written and well researched. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in learning about the roots of catch-as-catch-can as well as learning about some of the toughest men in combat sports history.