Historical Dictionary of Wrestling

John Grasso

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9780810879263
• Edition: 1

Wrestling as a legitimate contest is one of the oldest, if not the oldest form of sport. There are cave drawings in France that depict memorable matches, which are over 15,000 years old. Egyptian and Babylonian reliefs depict wrestling bouts where wrestlers are using most of the holds known to the modern-day sport. Wrestling was also a big part of ancient Greek literature and legend and historical records of sport indicate that wrestling under various sets of rules was contested at the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. Today's modern wrestling is a form of "sports entertainment" in which highly skilled athletes enact wrestling matches in such a way so that their opponents do not get hurt and the matches' endings are scripted (although the audience is not aware of the script).

This Historical Dictionary of Wrestling covers the history of Wrestling through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 600 cross-referenced entries on important amateur and professional wrestling, wrestling personalities, announcers, managers and promoters from all eras, and wrestling organizations. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the sport of Wrestling.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Editor’s Foreword
• Preface
• Reader’s Note
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Chronology
• Introduction
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Y
• Z
• Appendix A: Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductees
• Appendix B: Nicknames and Ring Names
• Appendix C: Professional Wrestlers Who Used Their Real Names
• Appendix D: Early Professional Wrestling Heavyweight Champions
• Appendix E: Wrestlemania Events
• Appendix F: Royal Rumble Events
• Appendix G: Professional Wrestling Promotional Groups
• Appendix H: Fédération Internationale de Luttes Associees (FILA) Hall of Fame Inductees
• Appendix I: Olympic Wrestling Champions Greco-Roman Style
• Appendix J: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Champions
• Appendix K: Dan Hodge Trophy Winners
• Bibliography
• About the Author