The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels

this book is a spectacular and historical in site to the heels true world of professional wrestling ... once you start reading, you can't put it down a very well written book indeed. I recommend this book to any true fan of classic pro wrestling.

What a pleasure it was to open this book and find so much new information about my wrestling heroes of old - the bad guys! I've always wondered just how much of this was real, and whether any of the wrasslers ever got in trouble for excessive roughness, whether some matches ever got truly out of hand, and if match finishes were always predetermined or could possibly be stolen. This book gave me many clues and answers on those subjects, and provided lots of insights into the personalities of the wrestling stars. I can see that a tremendous amount of research was painstakingly done to produce such a thorough volume on the villains. Thanks so much to authors Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson for the wealth of reading pleasure they have provided! Peace, Don Robertson

I was really impressed with Oliver's other two books about the Tag Teams and Canadian wrestlers so I was pretty excited when I saw this title. And it did not disappoint. The bios are solid and I really liked the way that he split up the heel types and didn't try to mash it all into one big list. For any fan of wrestling, hardcore or casual, this is a must for the library.

When it comes to wrestling history and writing wrestling books Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson rank right at the top. This is the third book of theirs that I have bought and I must say, "they know their stuff". Entertaining, informative and very professionally done and researched. I give them every star you have and recommend their books to any wrestling fan.

Finally there's a book on the over-flowing wrestling literature market dedicated to the wrestlers that we, the enthusiastic legion of marks, absolutely love to hate. We call them bad guys, villains, or evil-doers, but in the carnival world of professional wrestling, they are known as "HEELS." The purpose of a wrestling heel is to create a buzz around a match or a storyline and influence the marks (fans) to buy tickets and maybe a little merchandise too - this "buzz" is called "HEAT." The heat generated by these sultans of immorality is ultimately the catalyst that builds up our favorite wrestlers, the ones we cheer for, into bonafide heroes. So in essence, the heel is the most important responsibility in a professional wrestling environment. Established wrestling journalists, Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson, hit the road to conduct hundreds of interviews with wrestlers, managers, promoters, historians and many others to piece together mini-biographies of about seventy-five of the most hated grapplers of all-time. Starting with a top twenty, and then cycling through several categories such as Pioneers, Madmen, Monsters, Technicians, Foreigners and several others (I'm not going to spoil it for you!). All of your favorite bad guys are found in the latest publication in the "Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame" series. Previous Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame books featured compelling stories about Canadian wrestlers, and Tag Teams - both highly recommended. My personal favorite heel of all-time, The Sheik, did make it to the top twenty but did not place first as I would have prophesized; however the top twenty is a veritable who's who of wrestling villainy. Some other Hall of Fame heels you can look forward to reading about are (in no particular order); Randy Savage, George "The Animal" Steel, Gorgeous George, Fred Blassie, Gorilla Monsoon, Eddie Gilbert, Nick Bockwinkel, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, The Iron Sheik, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Ted DiBiase, Bad News Allen, JBL, Rick Rude, Bulldog Brower (featured on the cover photo), Johnny Valentine, Terry Funk and that is only the tip of the blood-soaked iceberg. There is a perfect blend of old school and new school incorporated into this book and there are several chapters covering some very obscure wrestlers, who nevertheless are deserving of a mention in this book. All the many heel philosophies are covered in this book, from guys who use fear to manipulate the audience, to the connivers who use their superior intellect to outsmart their opponents, to the guys who pride themselves on being bar-room brawl specialists - you really get a feel for the art of being a wrestling bad guy in, and sometimes out of, the squared circle. It's a fascinating journey that manages to maintain a positive twist despite the focus on debauchery that occurs within the professional wrestling realm. The wrestling industry has always been build on the philosophy of good vs. evil - but the truth of the matter is one cann