The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians (Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series) [Paperback]

Greg Oliver (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series | Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Canada has sent more top performers into the wrestling ring than any other country, although this fact has often been hidden by promoters. The Canadian roots of wrestling are celebrated in this fact-filled volume, which details the role Canadians have played, from wrestling's hardscrabble early days to the celebrities of the pay-per-view era. Wrestling's darkest secrets are revealed, such as the homeland of Rowdy Roddy Piper (Saskatchewan, not Scotland) and the origin of Mad Dog Vachon (not Algeria, but Quebec). The famous fighting families such as the Harts, Cormiers, and Rougeaus are featured, along with fascinating stories, photos, and facts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Greg Oliver has covered professional wrestling for over 17 years, writing for Canadian Wrestling Report, Sun Media newspapers, and various wrestling magazines. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: ECW Press (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550225316
• ISBN-13: 978-1550225310
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,566,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Count Grog- Wrestling manager/promoter, April 27, 2005

By 

Gregory Mosorjak - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians (Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series) (Paperback)

Greg Oliver's The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadains is a informative look a the wrestling greats that have called Canada their home. My only complaint is I wish it was another 100 pages longer. The top Canadian Wrestlers of all time are given several pages each and the author goes in depth into their careers. Such stars as Whipper Billy Watson, Killer Kowalski, Mad Dog Vachon and Gene Kiniski are among the Canadain greats that we learn pages of highlights of their careers. The great Families in Canadain wrestling like the Rougeaus, The Harts and Vachons get good coverage. No book on Canadain Wrestling History could be written without mentioning Jack Britton and his midget wrestlers. Little Beaver and Sky Low Low get the extra coverage as they deserve.
The rest of the book gives short biographies that range from a few paragraphs to several pages. Here Greg covers the next teer of Canadain stars like Gilles Poisson, Billy Red Lyons and Rocky Johnson. Chapters are devoted to Managers, Tv commentators and adopted Canadains like Sweet Daddy Siki, Baron Scicluna and Wolfman Willie Farkas (Who I got to meet in September 2004 in Toronto and is a great guy. Even the Canadain stars of today like Chris Benoit, Chris Jerico and Steve Corino get biographic thumnails of their careers.
I highly reccomend this book for the wrestling history buffs out there. Excellent resource for the who's who in Canadain wrestling history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greg Oliver is Tops, April 2, 2008

By 

Uncle Chino "Johnny" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians (Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series) (Paperback)

I must say I have read all of Greg Olivers wrestling related books and the guy is tops in his profession when it comes to Pro Wrestling and knowledge of its culture, of the sport and colorful characters. Greg does his homework and these books will and should be used as reference books on the sport for a long long time. I recommend this book and all his others to anybody.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Biased rankings, July 3, 2008

By 

Ricardo Ramos "Rude Rick" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians (Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series) (Paperback)

Oliver's rankings of the best Canadian wrestlers of all time is biasedly based on the era he followed as opposed to the modern day or even the best days of the best Canadian wrestler of all time Bret Hart. Can'ttake Oliver's book seriously as perhaps a reference but for that just use the internet encyclopedia. Would rather recommend an autobiography of one of the wrestling stars but not this opinionated account.