A Fool For Old School...Wrestling, That Is

In 2009, professional wrestling is a wildly different animal to what it was even 15 years ago. The style of wrestling was different, the style of storylines were different, and the style of characters were different. Whereas WWE owner Vince McMahon told us in 1997 that he was sure that fans were "tired of having their intelligence insulted", the product since then has been even more intelligence-insulting than his cartoon vision in the 1980s.

Thankfully, then, there's always been more to wrestling than the WW(W)F, a fact which is borne out in the first book of Canadian journalist Richard Berger, who previous worked for the Stampede Wrestling promotion that helped to hone the skills of such talents as Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and Brian Pillman, as well as British wrestlers The Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington) and the late Davey Boy Smith.

"A Fool For Old School...Wrestling, That Is" is a collection of 20 of Berger's columns for Fight Network Radio and Live Audio Wrestling, with musings and memories largely about the days of Johnny Valentine, The Destroyer, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, to name but a few. But there are also informative and thought-provoking articles here about the differences between storylines of today and yesteryear, the under-appreciated role of the referee in pro wrestling, and even about the harrowing Chris Benoit murder-suicide case. There's even room for two interviews with former referee James Beard, who shares some interesting stories about his own career, much of which was under the tutelage of the great Gary Hart, who passed away in 2008.

Throughout, Berger's prose is a joy to read, and for me, is in the archetypal style for any book which wishes to inform. While the average reader may need a dictionary on hand for just a smattering of words, each paragraph is very clearly written, emphasising points with detail, but without tying your brain in literary knots. At 244 pages (this number is taken from a draft print of the book and may slightly differ in the final version) of relatively-large print, it's also got enough to keep the reader going, without fatigue on the subject matter.

Of the 20 articles on offer here, there are several that I enjoyed in particular, for varying reasons. One is "Johnny Valentine and the Rules of Engagement", a smile-inducing remembrance of how stories were told in the ring, not on the microphone, in the good, old days. "Improving The Product" tells of the small steps that current wrestling promoters could take to regain pro wrestling's place in the entertainment market, and makes the process seem so simple you wonder why it continues to be ignored. And "The Intelligent Heel" pines for the days where the bad-guys used just as much brain as they did brawn, which in turn led to more interesting storylines.

Overall, "A Fool For Old School...Wrestling, That Is" will be a fine trip down memory lane for older readers, and an education for younger ones. It's a remembrance of how wrestling was in days of yore, and of just how talented the actors/athletes who performed in the ring really were.

That particular style of wrestling may never be back in vogue, but with books like Berger's, it's greatness will never be forgotten.