18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential reading for fans of pro wrestling's history., April 18, 2001
This review is from: Hooker : An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling. (Paperback)
We can go back and forth, argue and banter over the question "When was pro wrestling's golden age?" without coming to a consensus. One thing is certain: the golden age of pro wrestling literature is here and now. "Hooker" ranks on the top of the wrestling publication mountain, right alongside the autobiographies of Mick Foley and Dynamite Kid. What makes Lou Thesz's biography stand apart is his firsthand account of the pro wrestling industry during an era that has too little authentic historical coverage. Mr. Thesz gives us something that I doubt many others from that period (1930s onward) could: he eloquently tells of his fascinating journey as a wrestler, and gives the story greater depth since he tells us about the nature of pro wrestling as an industry. We get a bird's eye view of the cyclical rise and fall of several powerful wrestling promotions, the specifics of promotional wars, and the bartering between promoters. We see the profession through the eyes of a man who had to work simultaneously as the World's Heavyweight champion and a savvy man of business.
If there is any weakness in this book, Mr. Thesz is upfront about it. He makes no pretenses that it is difficult to write a first hand account of promoters and fellow wrestlers objectively; no matter how hard one tries, prejudices and biases will show. Taking this into account, I have even greater admiration for the end result. He pulls no punches criticizing men he considered limited technical wrestlers (IE Antonino Rocca Baron Leone), yet he carefully points out their strengths as performers, and sounds genuinely sympathetic when such performers were exploited by greedy promoters.
We read detailed accounts of Thesz's experiences with wrestling legends like Joe Stecher, Ad Santel, George Tragos, and Dara Singh. We learn about his lifelong friendship with mentor Ed "Strangler" Lewis; how if it weren't for one phone call Lewis made, the name Lou Thesz could have been absent from wrestling history.
I am especially jazzed that Mr. Thesz wrote a detailed account of "The Iowa Cornstalk," Fred Grubmier, the wrestler who deceived people into thinking he was the village idiot, when in fact he was quite the sharp shooter! I have heard stories about Fred Grubmier before, and am glad Mr. Thesz chose to include him in this book. It would be a crime to let Fred Grubmier's name fade from wrestling history.
Whether you are a fan of wrestling past or present, this book will give you a vivid picture of pro wrestling as an industry. If you are somebody who has aspirations to enter the pro wrestling business, I strongly urge you to read this book along with Foley's and Dynamite's; these works will give you fair warning before diving into a career that requires a clever sense of business, talent, and as Lou Thesz says in the beginning of the book, perhaps something in the way of a guardian angel!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lou Thesz:There will never be another one like him, March 31, 2001
This review is from: Hooker : An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling. (Paperback)
I got the book "Hooker" over a year ago. It came in the mail at 4:30 p.m on Tuesday and I had read it completely by 6:00 p.m. Wednesday. I could not quit reading it. It is one of the best books I have ever read. Lou Thesz is one of the greatest wrestlers that this business has ever produced. I promoted several towns out of Nashville booking office and I had the privilege of having Lou wrestle for me several times. On one occasion we started selling tickets at 5:00 p.m. and was completely sold out at 6:30 p.m. The matches did not start until 8:30 p.m. and the fans sat there for two or more hours waiting for that match. We turned several thousand people away. Anytime Lou would wrestle in a town for me;the attendance would stay up for several months eventho he was not on the card. He had that kind of impact on wrestling. After the matches we went out to a nightclub in Memphis and Lou had all the respect of everyone there. He has been an inspiration to me for all my entire wrestling life (45 years in the wrestling profession as wrestler and promoter). If you have not read this book;be sure and purchase it as it is one of the best and informative books I have ever read.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wrestling History 101, November 2, 2003
This review is from: Hooker : An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling. (Paperback)
This book is amazing! On telling the history of professional wrestling its second to none. And the best source for the history of Catch Wrestlers(Hookers), How wrestling went from Carnivals to the big time. And the stages of evolution it went through on the way to the Sports Entertainment its evolved to today. All the greats are talked about in length. Frank Gotch, Ed Lewis, Joe Stecher all the great hookers of yesteryear. This book tells how all the old promoters used to run the Business. Very intersting reading.
This book's weak point is in the actually biography of Lou Thesz. Way to much stuff left out. He would rattle on for page after page about Toots Mondt and other promoters. And then throw in a sentence like "I was married for 30 years to so and so. I wished I never met her." And just leave it at that. So he comes out of this book kind of like a cardboard cut out of the good guy he played in the ring. But dont get me wrong this book is awesome and a must read. 5 star supreme, one of the most interesting books Ive ever read. Just dont think that Lou reveals much about his self. Because he dosent. He talks about his 3 sons with just a one liner about he has three sons. Very shallow about his family life. And no pictures. But a great biography of the actual wrestling and behind the scene promotions. And how George Tragos took the son of a Hungarian/German shoe maker and made him one of the most dangerous human beings to ever walk the planet. Must read!
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