I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

I like wrestling- I used to be quite a big fan- so I thought this would be quite a good book but I feel like this book focused on a lot of wrestlers that are already very big and known within the industry and there were only about two or three women mentioned within the entire book when there have been famous female wrestlers since pretty much the beginning of wrestling.

It wasn't bad but could be better.

Being a big professional wrestling fan, I knew I had to jump on the opportunity to read this new book by ECW press. ECW Press, coincidentally not named because of the former company, occasionally does Wrestling books that are very good. If you haven’t ever heard of them, The Death of WCW by Bryan Alvarez and R.D. Reynolds is worth a read for sure. This book in question, The Wrestlers’ Wrestlers – The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling has the initial experience of a typical curated top XX list, but what sets it apart from others is the source material for the list. The author went out to other wrestlers and asked “who would you say is a ‘Wrestler’s Wrestler?'”. The responses were varied and deep and not what one typically sees in these sorts of books.

“The Wrestlers’ Wrestlers spotlights elite performers and analyzes exactly what made them your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestlers. Authors Dan Murphy and Brian Young interviewed more than 40 in-ring veterans, historians, referees, and promoters to get a unique insider’s look at the people who have made a lasting impact on the world of professional wrestling. It offers a special peek “behind the curtain” and a rare look into the top stars’ thoughts on their peers, their influences, and their personal favorites.”

My biggest takeaway from this book are the sections about wrestlers that I am too young to have ever seen anything of. With the book spanning the 1920’s to modern times, information about wrestling in that post WWI era is always scarce despite hearing the occasional move being named after somebody today (Thesz Press comes to mind). Getting to read things about pioneers of the artform such as Karl Gotch, Strangler Lewis, and Lou Thesz was awesome, and with the latter, I have decided to pick up a copy of his book as it was the source for a lot of this material evidentially. One of my favorite recurring tidbits is the fact that in those early days of pure shooter styled wrestling, matches would sometimes last upwards of two hours in length. I can’t imagine sitting through that now, but it must have been a real sight to see back then!

This book occasionally has pictures to accompany the information presented, which is a nice touch. That way you can see some of these legendary men for yourself and see if the descriptions match up. All-in-all this book is a great addition to the bookshelf of any wrestling fan as long as they are willing to venture outside the recency barrier and see what the sport was like in the past. It doesn’t strive to be an encyclopedia or a definitive list in any way, but its interesting to see what qualities the actual wrestlers see as important to being a “Wrestler’s Wrestler”.

My thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for an advance copy of this book.

The Wrestlers’ Wrestler: The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling by Dan Murphy and Brian Young is a perfect introduction to the art of Professional Wrestling and a nice handy guide for knowledgeable fans who love to hear stories about the players and the sport. The authors both historians and writers of the profession have interviewed active and retired wrestlers to bring together a list of who the wrestlers would consider the one's that they would go out of their way to watch, respected the most in their field, and the men and women who respected the business.

The list is interesting and worthy of discussion for those listed and those omitted. A biographical sketch is given with notable feuds, matches and other information. There are various categories, classic, Attitude era, ranging from the turn of the 20th century to the modern day.

The book also serves as a nice history, a little light in Lucha, but a good primer on Japan and England and Europe but is mostly American or Canadian in scope. A great gift for the burgeoning wrestling watcher, or for a Memphis, Mid-South wrestling superfan.

Subtitle: The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is devoted to the concept of a “wrestler’s wrestler” – wrestlers that other wrestlers recognize for their skill and attitude, as well as for making their opponents’ performance look great in the ring. The authors interviewed over 40 wrestlers and others associated with the business and used their input to come with a list of about 60 wrestlers who met their criteria.


I’ve been fortunate enough to have met 13 of the wrestlers profiled through my involvement with both Harley Race and the Cauliflower Alley Club. My favorite story from the book involved one of those thirteen, Sputnik Monroe. I knew that Monroe was a star down south about 60 years ago. What I didn’t know was that he was also recognized as a civil rights icon in Memphis. The profile of each wrestler covers basic biographical data, career highlights, and comments from their contemporaries.

I gave The Wrestler’s Wrestlers five stars on Goodreads. In my opinion it’s a little more skewed toward the last 10-20 years than it should be, and it made me sad to read that so many of the stars from when I first started watching nearly 50 years ago have died, but I still loved this book from beginning to end.

The Wrestlers’ Wrestlers: The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling by Dan Murphy and Brian Young
MARCH 18, 2021


While well-written and informative, this book may struggle to stand out.

If you’ve read any of the Greg Oliver/Steve Johnson “Hall of Fame” series, you’ll be familiar with the format of this book. It’s a series of profiles (primarily of US wrestlers) grouped together in broad categories, each combining a career overview with comments from interviews.

In this case the participants are not the subjects but rather several dozen wrestling figures interviewed for the project, covering such diverse perspectives as Colt Cabana, Shayna Bayzler and referee Jimmy Korderas. These are backed up wit the occasional, clearly-acknowledged, extract from a book or broadcast interview.

Between the category sections the book has a run-down of various historical eras such as the height of the territory system or the shoot-style period in Japan.

The profiles are detailed enough that only the most devoted fans of wrestling history will come away without learning anything.

The main limitation is instead the absence of a clear niche. The problem is that “wrestler’s wrestler” is inherently a subjective and fuzzy concept that’s defined largely by the contributing voices. At different points it covers skilled in-ring workers, those with a legitimate background, and those who connected with an audience.

That leaves some curious inclusions and exclusions: while this is one of the few books that profiles Brad Armstrong, it doesn’t really feel obvious why Jerry Lawler and Dusty Rhodes get profiles but Hulk Hogan does not.

This certainly isn’t a limitation on the content itself — those who pick it up will find it worthy of their attention. But it does mean the book doesn’t have a clear unique selling point to make it a can’t-miss proposition in a crowded market place.

What exactly is a wrestler’s wrestler? You often hear the phrase thrown around a lot when looking at those who have excelled in their chosen profession throughout history. They might not have made it to the top of the mountain and headlined shows all across the world, but they can be relied on to deliver top quality performances night in and night out in any spot on the card. With The Wrestler’s Wrestler, authors Dan Murphy and Brian Young take on the monumental task of compiling a definitive list of the men and women who have earned the respect of both their peers and promoters alike as solid hands in the ring.

So, what are the criteria for crafting a list like this? Well, aside from interviewing over fifty pro-wrestlers for the book, Murphy and Young looked at the following areas when putting together their who’s who of the best of the best:

Believability
Versatility
Adaptability
Respect
Dedication
Aura/Presence
Safety

With the aforementioned criteria, the authors would then break up the book and its featured performers down into seven parts or eras: The Forefathers, Bumpers/Shooters and Psychologists, The Kings of the Territories, The Supercard Era, The Attitude Era and the Rise of Extreme Wrestling, ROH and the Rise of the Indies and The All Time Masters of the Craft. Like many of the wrestling books that tackle lists and classifications, I thought this was laid out well. When looking at a length of time as long as the history of professional wrestling, they can’t afford to spend a lot of time on any one person (if you want to keep it under one thousand pages, I'm sure), which allows the book to flow well.

I wouldn’t exactly consider myself a wrestling historian by any means, so it was interesting to learn about a few of the men that made up the industry's early days. Names like “Whipper” Billy Watson, Sputnik Monroe, Dick Hutton and George Gordienko jumped out at me as names I’ve heard in passing but knew very little about.

Once the book moves into The King of The Territories and The Supercard Era, names begin to become more recognizable – at least for me. It was great to see names like Ricky Morton, Ted Dibiase, Barry Windham and Brad Armstrong highlighted as guys who could pull a good to great match out of just about anyone. Guys like these were vital in an era where size became more important than skill. The larger and often slower athletes needed someone like Curt Hennig to make them look great or at the very least, passable.

In the 1990s when storylines dominated television over match quality, there were still several performers who were quietly exceeding expectations as pure workers. The spotlight is given to such names as Manami Toyota, Dean Malenko, William Regal, Eddie Guerrero, Mitsuharu Misawa and Owen Hart - these were pro wrestlers who not only achieved success in their own right, but paved the way for a style that would begin to dominate the independent scene in the early 2000s and lay the groundwork for a level of workrate that we all expect from modern day wrestlers.

When wrestling entered the 21st century, a more physical and technical style inspired by the work of those above would begin to emerge in North America where names like AJ Styles, Mercedes Martinez, Samoa Joe and Mike Quackenbush gain prominence in the eyes of wrestling purists. These performers would be putting on five-star classics in armories, halls and small arenas across the United States for the better part of a decade.

Aside from the seven main parts, there are shorter intervals that spotlight other corners of the wrestling business. The book looks at the infamous Canadian “death tours” where hardened workers cut their teeth against the harshest elements that constant travel has to offer. Murphy and Young also look at crossover appeal between the squared circle and Hollywood as well as the history of Japanese “strong style”, “jobbers”/enhancement talent and wrestling’s tag team masters.

When I picked up this book, I neglected to look at the categories or any of the wrestlers listed in the table of contents, so I was getting a little skeptical when it came to a few of the names omitted up to this point. However, when I arrived at the final part, all was forgiven. It’s hard to argue with any of the names selected within “The Masters” classification as appearances are made by Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Daniel Bryan, Keiji Muto and The Dynamite Kid, among others. These are the flag bearers for top-notch bell-to-bell performances. Given that these are the be-all-end-all of wrestler’s wrestlers, more time is given to each bio, so you truly get to sink your teeth into wrestling’s filet mignon.

As you’ve probably noticed, there aren’t many appearances by women in many of the aforementioned lists – the co-authors defend this in saying that many women in the past weren’t afforded the opportunity to master their craft and become inspirations for the generations that would follow them. In North America, a lot of the female wrestlers were relegated to sexually-charged gimmick matches or even left off the card for long stretches of time. With the recent “Women’s Evolution” within WWE, there's no doubt that many of the current performers will become just as integral as the men who preceded them. If you want a deeper dive into many of the pioneers of women’s wrestling, authors Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy have written an entire book on the subject – Sisterhood of the Squared Circle.

In closing, putting together The Wrestler’s Wrestler is a hell of a task. Not only do Dan Murphy and Brian Young have to comb wrestling’s long and often sordid history, but they have to risk both intentionally and unintentionally excluding some of the best the business has to offer. Sure, there are probably some names missing here, but it’s hard to argue with many of their selections. These are the men and women who have helped solidify wrestling as an art form and often exceed the public’s perception of what wrestling has been, is and can be..

***

Note: This review will be posted at www.postwrestling.com closer to the publication date of the book.

I know this is an uncorrected proof, but I noticed some typos/inconsistencies with dates.

In AJ Style's bio, it states that he defeated Okada on May 3rd, 2016 to win the IWGP title, but this should be 2014. Date is correct, year is wrong.

Again, it states that in February 2014, Styles defeated CM Punk to become the first ROH Pure Champion - that should be 2004.

In Kurt Angle's bio in Part Seven, it states that he won the TNA title in May 2017, but that should be keyed as 2007..

There's a photo inserted within Mike Quackenbush's section that is keyed as Quackenbush/Ultimo Dragon, but Dory Funk Jr, and Harley Race are shown.

In The Wrestlers’ Wrestler Dan Murphy and Brian Young take the wrestling fan through a history of professional wrestling by profiling not the biggest stars but the wrestlers who are most skilled at professional wrestling as an art form you would say. In this history, the authors take you from the days of Gotch and Hackenschmidt to the days of Sammartino, Backlund, Race, and Bockwinkel, through the 1990s stars of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, figures of today such as Daniel Bryan and Cesero, and numerous figures in between.

Through these profiles and stand alone materials, we see the evolution of the sport from hours long athletic contests to a territory system, to a more cartoonish, though more popular WWE and various rebellions against it. What we discover is that no matter what form wrestling takes whether more athletic or character in form, you still need people skilled in the art of professional wrestling.

The one thing this book seems to struggle with is who the audience is. Given the subject matter and the wrestlers profile, one might assume that the audience is the internet wrestling fan who thrives on workrate and sees beauty in more technically based matches. But then the authors mention that Mike Quackenbush trained people like Cesero, Orange Cassidy, and Alexa Bliss. The latter two figures are certainly not internet wrestling darlings and suggest that the authors were trying to come up with people the average wrestling fan might know.

But otherwise, it’s a solid history of wrestling through the technicians who made it believable.

The Wrestlers' Wrestlers spotlights elite performers and analyzes exactly what made them your favorite wrestler's favorite wrestlers. Authors Dan Murphy and Brian Young interviewed more than 40 in-ring veterans, historians, referees, and promoters to get a unique insider's look at the people who have made a lasting impact on the world of professional wrestling. It offers a special peek "behind the curtain" and a rare look into the top stars' thoughts on their peers, their influences, and their personal favorites.

The Wrestlers' Wrestlers is a history of professional wrestling but also a tribute to the frequently misunderstood art itself. Featuring stars of the 1920s to today, this essential read deserves a prominent spot on the bookcase of every fan and historian.
As a fan of wrestling and history, when I saw this book I knew I had to request it and I was fortunate enough to be granted it. In The Wrestler’s Wrestler we see a compilation of some of the greatest wrestlers of all time and it is an incredible list, choosing wrestlers that come from every era and across the planet.

The expertise of the writers is so clear throughout this book and this book is incredibly well researched - it’s given me a new collection of books and things I need to read very soon as they delve into the history of this wonderful sport. It shows that they love this stuff, and they are academic about it.

This book is everyone you could ever need to know in professional wrestling, from the legends like Thesz and Gotch to the current era where they touch upon the likes of Cesaro and Mercedes Martinez, this book gives you a full and wonderful picture of the progress and growth of the sport from 1930s to now.

Non-Fiction is always at it’s best when it makes you stop and google for a moment because you want to know more as soon as possible, and the amount of times I paused to google matches and background just to build on the information they were giving me was wonderful - this book is the perfect base to begin reading about wrestling history, but also to nod and say, yes, best in the world.

I’m always impressed by the books ECW Press releases and this is just another to add to that tremendous list, if you love wrestling, you need to start buying their books, they are never less than impressive and this is further proof of it.

5*.

(I received an ARC from NetGalley for honest review).

In THE WRESTLER'S WRESTLER, Murphy and Young highlight some of the best grapplers and in-ring works that have stepped into the squared circle since the former carnival sideshow act morphed into a sports entertainment spectacle. They give brief biographies and summaries of careers on some of the best wrestlers from the past hundred years. As part of their research, Murphy and Young interviewed over forty wrestlers, referees, and historians.

I have been a pro wrestling fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up during the Monday Night Wars, and my formative years were shaped by the Attitude Era—and I'll readily admit that it wasn't always the best influence. As a wrestling fan, I enjoyed reading about wrestlers from the different eras—most of whom I've heard of, but a few that I hadn't. It was interesting to learn more about each wrestler and the short bios left me wanting more. It was also intriguing to learn how pro wrestling went from legitimate wrestling matches and turned into the flashy sports entertainment spectacle that it is today. THE WRESTLER'S WRESTLER is a must read for pro wrestling fans of all ages.

This is a history of professional wrestling in America from how it first became popular in the early 20th century up to the present day and it does so mainly via the profiles of wrestlers and covers their careers. There are also brief sections covering how wrestlers get started, how they get to the next town, celebrities, the development of different styles of wrestling and enhancement talent.

As an admitted professional wrestling fan I loved this book. It was a good idea to have the Sinister Minister James Mitchell write the foreword. I enjoyed finding out about his fandom as a child. What is good about this book is that it covers the earlier wrestlers that unless you're an insider fan or a wrestling geek like myself you may never have heard of such as Ed 'Strangler' Lewis. It also profiles such wrestlers that don't always make it into books like this as books tend to focus on the modern era. By this, I'm referring to Johnny Valentine and Ray Stevens. It also does this in the modern era as well mentioning Brad Armstrong and the British greats such as William Regal, Dave Taylor and Dave Finlay. A true wrestling fan would love this book. This book could easily have been a lot longer without losing anything but you have to draw the line somewhere. Personally, I would have done profiles of the enhancement talent and included sections on referees and managers but wrestling fandom is subjective so that isn't really a criticism.

Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for this ARC of a fantastic book.

The genuine target audience for this book is so narrow unless the goal was just to reiterate the "accepted canon of great wrestlers" while providing no insightful unique point of view. While not poorly written or uninformed by any stretch of the imagination, a book like this is most useful or interesting to convey a point of view that is in some way interesting and/or challenges accepted orthodoxies of an art form. In the same way, I would not recommend "The Authors' Author" that focused on William Faulkner et al. or "The Directors' Director" that focused on Steve Spielberg et al, I cannot recommend this to any wrestling fan beyond someone who has experienced nothing but modern cable wrestling from the last two decades.

This book gives you what it says it will give you. Basic biographies of pro wrestlers from the 40's to the current day. Nothing more nothing less.