Pro Wrestling Heroes & Icons (Spoilers if you care)

[Dylan Waco]

So I got my copy of this today and it is a MASSIVE book. It's going to take me a while to get through it but I have enjoyed all of the other books in the Hall of Fame series to one degree or another and this looks like a very impressive effort. I'll probably use this thread to keep track of my notes/comments as I'm reading rather than doing a big write up when I'm finished.

 

Quick notables so far:

 

The introduction is quite good in terms of establishing what a babyface/good guy is and establishing context for the book. I marked out for the Lanny Poffo quote about his match with Terry Funk at the Garden which is one of my all time favorite matches and I also thought there were some other interesting points made about the evolution of babyfaces and the different forms of selling ("registering," "selling," and "dying"). There is a really odd reference to Gus Sonnenberg, where he is sort of tossed into the pile with Wayne Munn as a failed experiment. That's not true at all as Gus was a draw of note and a game changing wrestler. It may just be me misreading the intent as it is used as a bridge to the discussion of Londos, but still it rubbed me the wrong way.

 

I'll address the top twenty later, but Londos being first is pretty ballsy, but also entirely defensible in my view, even if I likely would have gone another direction. Bret Hart being as high or higher on this list than he was on the Canadians list is hilarious.

 

Notable/Surprising Inclusions:

 

Leo Burke (yay Musgrave!)

Bruiser Brody (not really surprising, but even as "anti-hero" this feels like a huge stretch - where was he cast in a serious position as a babyface of note for any length of time?)

Bob Armstrong (maybe not terribly surprising, but I look forward to his bio)

Rufus Jones (Mooneyham pick)

 

Notable Omissions:

 

Jim Brunzell (arguably doesn't really "deserve" to make a list limited in scope, but is one of the only guys I can think of who never worked heel and had a record as a very strong face in the AWA and MACW)

Ricky Morton (in my view a silly omission, though I'm sure the argument is that the book excludes tag teams who are already covered. Still a guy who has a case for being the best overall in ring babyface should be on the list somewhere.)

Dino Bravo (Laugh if you want but they have a section for ethnic babyfaces that includes a couple of guys who are lateral picks, maybe lesser picks depending on what you are emphasizing)

Rey Mysterio (the one exclusion that I think is absolutely inexcusable. Along with Morton has an argument for being the best in ring babyface of all time and has influence, international stardom, impact and drawing power all as positives. In my view - particularly given the fact that they don't include Japanese/Mexican/European wrestlers in the equation - Rey is a top twenty pick. To leave him out altogether is absurd)

[KrisZ]

Brody was a mega babyface in World Class for years when he would go in and out.

 

Brunzell did work heel for a short time when the Bees had a run in like 1988.

[Dylan Waco]

The Bees worked heel? How do I not remember that.

 

I know Brody was a star attraction as a babyface here and there, but it feels really forced to include him on this list. Maybe a better way of putting this is "did he ever have a babyface RUN of note?"

[rainmakerrtv]

The Bees worked heel? How do I not remember that.

I don't remember it as a heel run as such ... there was something that happened in a lumberjack match between Ted Dibiase and Hulk Hogan, right after the twin ref angle (although the commentary didn't reflect that). The Killer Bees were wearing their masks as lumberjacks and kept attacking Hogan, and I think the commentary team speculated if DiBiase had paid them off. It was never confirmed that it was actually the Killer Bees, and I figured at the time it would be revealed DiBiase hired two masked guys to impersonate the Bees, but nothing ever came of it afterwards.

[PeteF3]

I would assume Bravo was in the PWHOF: The Canadians book hence his exclusion here.

[KrisZ]

The Bees worked a non descript feud against the Young Stallions for like a month where they heeled it up.

[Bix]

Are you sure they weren't babyface matches? The Hogan-DiBiase match was March 12th, but the Bees continued working as faces for months, so presumably they were "fake Bees." The Stallions matches were in August.

[Dylan Waco]

I would assume Bravo was in the PWHOF: The Canadians book hence his exclusion here.

He was, but that's hardly a disqualifier for this book.

[KrisZ]

Could've been fake Bees I guess but I remember one of the matches being televised and it looked like them. They were working heelish whoever they were.

[Dylan Waco]

Finished the top 25. A few quick things:

 

Hogan finished second which is fair enough and JYD finished in the top 25 but man their bios were not inspiring at all. JYD's was by far the briefest of his section (the Austin bio in the top twenty section may have been shorter) and was as critical as it was favorable. The Hogan bio was meaty enough, but really came across like someone begrudgingly giving credit to someone they didn't care for. It's kind of offset by placing him where they placed him, and we all know his history, but it would have been nice to have something more befitting the guy who was ranked the 2nd best/biggest "hero/icon."

 

The Rocca and Carpentier bios were also fairly critical, but they seemed more complete and were very interesting reads. The Wahoo bio was also a fun read.

 

Including Steve Casey and Bob Ellis in the top twenty was interesting. In the case of Casey the case they made was interesting and it was a very insightful piece about a figure I knew little about. I don't buy him as a top twenty guy, but it really was a solid enough attempt to class him at that level. The Ellis piece? Not so much. Lots of talk about his blading technique and toupee in a short bio that was light on career info. Just seems odd to make a controversial pick like that and do little to justify it.

 

The Mil Mascaras bio had some criticism in it, but was almost immediately offset by a variety of quotes from guys putting Mascaras over as a misunderstood talent. It is also by far the lengthiest bio in that section. For whatever reason they seemed to play up Mascaras hard and actually went into some of his Mexican fame which is odd since they don't rate international figures. Almost seems like they expected criticism having him in the upper tier and went heavy on the bio for that reason.

 

The Joe Savoldi bio was really interesting and makes me which there was a full length bio of his life available.

[Dylan Waco]

Greg Oliver was kind enough to link to this post at the books official blog.

 

http://blogs.canoe.ca/gregoliver/

 

I have finished the book and have a ton more to say on it, though I'll hopefully get to in the coming days. Over all I thought it was a great book and the best of the HoF series. There are too many to mention now, but the pieces on Rufus Jones and Thunderbolt Patterson were really well done looks at guys that aren't often discussed in a positive light. I also thought the Bearcat Wright bio was excellent and made a strong case for him as one of the more forgotten guys in wrestling history.

[Al]

I just got this book in the mail today. I love Oliver and Johnson's series of books. It's fantastic to read in depth about wrestlers and territories that weren't well known.

[khawk20]

I just got this book in the mail today. I love Oliver and Johnson's series of books. It's fantastic to read in depth about wrestlers and territories that weren't well known.

I got mine yesterday. Ditto to the rest, great series and I've enjoyed them all.

[goodhelmet]

Dylan... get Mooneyham on the podcast to discuss this stuff.

[Dylan Waco]

Dylan... get Mooneyham on the podcast to discuss this stuff.

Very good possibility of that in the near future. Greg my be on fairly soon as well.