Book Review: Ballyhoo! The Roughhousers, Con Artists and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling by John Langmead (2023)
Synopsis: In the late 19th century, a teenaged Jack Curry went to work promoting boxing matches which, at the time, were illegal in most states. Ambitious and always looking for a way to make money, he began promoting professional wrestling matches on the side, not knowing he would be one of the main reasons it would eventually grow into a mainstream sport.
This non-fiction book tells Curry's story and how he, other promoters and the wrestling stars they groomed grew what once had been a carnival attraction into a sport that packed arenas with thousands of fans and the various obstacles, including themselves, that nearly caused professional wrestling to fail.
Review: As I've said before, other than on occasions when I can find absolutely nothing else on TV, I stopped watching professional wrestling around the time it started being referred to as "sports entertainment." In fact, I couldn't even name ten active professional wrestlers without looking them up. I have, however, always maintained an interest and even a respect for the history of the sport, whether it was the way it grew via a series of handshake agreements under the National Wrestling Alliance or the extreme steps wrestlers would take to hide the scripted nature of the business.
I checked out Ballyhoo! from my local library because, while I had some basic understanding of professional wrestling's earliest days, that knowledge was in bits and pieces. After reading this book, I can honestly say most of those blanks have been filled in and I have even more respect for the men who made professional wrestling what it is today.
I always knew the earliest days of professional wrestling were a bit like the wild west, with very little structure and plenty of opportunities for wrestlers and promoters to double cross each other. In fact, I was somewhat surprised by just how easy it was for a single wrestler to upend the sport simply by choosing to ignore the script (or being paid a large sum of money to do so). Between that and athletic commissions that were determined to keep pro wrestling "honest," it really was a miracle the sport lasted beyond the early 20th century.
Curry's story was equally as intriguing. While I don't know if I would necessarily call him an innovator since most of the innovation seemed to be because of other people, he was someone who was opportunistic and forward thinking, seeing professional wrestling for what it could be rather than what it was in his time. It did make me wonder just how much more successful he could have been had it not been for the various people who derailed his efforts at various points in his life.
He, of course, wasn't alone in this. The author also does a good job talking about the others who were instrumental in wrestling's earliest days, ranging from wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis to former actor turned promoter Samuel Rachmann and his Masked Marvel. Their stories, along with Curry's, added quite a bit of detail I had not known before.
One of the most intriguing things I learned from the book was how the fans seemed to know the matches were rigged but also didn't care - to the point they rejected "honest" matches as boring. It puts all the attempts to expose the sport as fake and the steps by promoters and wrestlers to keep up the illusion into a whole new perspective.
The only thing I can say was a disappointment was the decision to end the narrative before the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1948. I'm not saying it needed to be a full history of that alliance, but a chapter about how it was formed and if/how Curry's influence impacted it would have been interesting to read.
Final Opinion: It is an interesting and entertaining book that tells both the history of professional wrestling's early days as well as America's history itself. It is worth the read even if you're just a casual fan.
My Grade: A
_______________________________________________________________________
Here are some reviews of other books about professional wrestling:
Book Review: Job Man by Chris Multerer with Larry Widen (2019)
Comments
Post a Comment