The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians

David E. Kemp, a former professor of drama at Queen’s University, is
the author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

Greg Oliver has been writing about professional wrestling for more than
18 years. Refreshingly, in his introduction, he acknowledges that
professional wrestling is a fixed sport. In the well-written and
meticulously researched text that follows, we learn that Canada has
probably created more top-notch wrestlers per capita than any other
country on earth. We also discover that wrestler’s names do not always
betray their origins (Abdullah the Butcher, for example, hails from
Windsor, Ontario). We are also introduced to Canadian wrestling
dynasties; in his foreword, Jacques Rougeau Jr., a wrestler from Quebec,
presents us with a wrestling family tree stretching back four
generations.

Oliver’s entertaining book lists the top 20 Canadian pro wrestlers;
profiles Canadian wrestling stars, past and present; and talks about the
families, the managers, the announcers, and the midget wrestlers, among
other topics. The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 200
photographs, some of them provided by the wrestlers from their personal
collections. This is a book fans will treasure.