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

Greg Oliver (Author), Steven Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series | Publication Date: June 15, 2007

As the first comprehensive look at the ruffians, rascals, and rule breakers in the wrestling business, this history explains the rise of the wrestling villain, the reasons for his (or her) success, and the impact these sordid characters have had on the sport. Based on first-hand interviews with hundreds of wrestlers, managers, promoters, and historians, these entertaining profiles document wrestling’s top rotten apples from the 1920s to today, providing plenty of support for the book's claim that fans love to hate the bad guys as much as they love to love the heroes. With remarkable candor, wrestling’s troublemakers explain why they became villains and how they perceived and honed their roles; the sport is richer for the presence of the nefarious ones—and they know it. With more than 150 never-before-seen photos, this book will satisfy devoted fans and inspire everyone else to take a look at the exciting and often bizarre world of professional wrestling.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An irreplaceable reference tool and a great documentation of our storied wrestling history."  —KayfabeMemories.com

"A fascinating journey. . . . Rating: 9.5 / 10."  —Online World of Wrestling

About the Author

Greg Oliver has been covering professional wrestling for two decades for the SLAM! wrestling website, the Canadian Wrestling Report, and other magazines and newspapers. He is the author of The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians and coauthor of The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. Steven Johnson is the author of articles on business, politics, and sports in dozens of newspapers and magazines, and the coauthor of The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: ECW Press (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550227599
• ISBN-13: 978-1550227598
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #802,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being BAD never looked so GOOD!, August 20, 2007

By 

Brad from OWW "http://www.onlineworldofwrestl... (Nova Scotia) - See all my reviews

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

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 cannot survive without the other. To quote my old pal, Diamond Dallas Page (who is not featured in this book), that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing!

Reviewed by Brad Dykens of OnlineWorldofWrestling.com

4.0 out of 5 stars Heel lovers, unite!, October 31, 2009

By 

imafunker2 "miamiderek" (tulsa, ok) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

Talk about making an impression. When this oversized paperback arrived in the mail, I couldn't help but be awed by it's packaging and presentation. Start with the cover: could you find a picture that better illustrates the absurdity, and the gore, of pro wrestling?
This is a fun book, and belongs in any wrestling fan's library. The aesthetic qualities alone make "The Heels" worth the price; the content therein only strengthens the book's worth. In-depth reporting on dozens of the greatest 'bad guys' the business has seen is what the authors deliver. This is no pre-packaged WWE puff piece, nice and edited, safe for the kiddies, and of course with a completely altered series of events. Nope, this is the real, bloody, forehead-scarred deal.
Haven't you ever been sitting around your home, like most of us, thinking to yourself, "I feel like I need to know more about Magnificent Don Muraco"? Well, now you can. This thick tome also includes the author's picks for the 20 greatest heels of all time, and separates the detailed biographies of each heel by what they played in the ring: Were they pretend foreigners, like "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff? Possibly they were preening, robe-wearing dandies such as the legendary Gorgeous George, or more recently, "Exotic" Adrian Street.
Of course, despite my enormous praise, it's not quite perfect. You'll find yourself wondering why there aren't some legendary figures discussed more in depth, such as Kamala or One Man Gang. And does Jeff Jarrett, who spent about half his career as a babyface, and when breaking the rules didn't exactly light the world on fire, belong on this esteemed list? Certainly not.
Small quibbles, all. Enjoy this wonderful read, and pay proper homage to wrestling's greatest characters, the heels.

5.0 out of 5 stars News from the Vaults of Pro Wrestling, October 10, 2008

By 

Donald W. Robertson "earthsaverdon" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

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