Professional Wrestling in the Pacific Northwest: A History, 1883 to the Present

by Steven Verrier

Introduced in the Pacific Northwest in 1883, professional wrestling has a long and storied history in the region and has contributed significantly to Northwest culture. This entertaining account of the wrestling industry in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia provides a detailed look at more than 130 years of events in the ring and behind the scenes. The author draws connections between developments in wrestling and the changing identity of the Pacific Northwest.

222 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2017

Reviews

[Jason Presley · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who knows absolutely nothing about wrestling in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, this might be a decent place to start. It does give a very high level overview of the subject. However, for a work that is intended to cover over 120 years of wrestling history, 222 pages (including pictures, bibliography and index) doesn't get the job done.

The late 1960s-1990 are covered fairly well (even if most of the information was just summarized from previous books by Dean Silverstone and Vance Nevada), but the 1883-1960s flys by in about 50 pages. And that is sort of the problem overall; the author seemed to be in a hurry to get to the particular section of the Pacific Northwest's history that he experienced first hand, leaving the rest thin on details. Also, most of the book just seems to be summarized from other people's work without adding much original research to the field. To be fair, the author liberally cites his sources, but in some cases those sources are themselves summaries.

I do not feel I got my $29.95 worth in the hardcopy, so if you're interested in seeing what Mr. Verrier has to offer, I would highly recommend going the ebook route and save your money. It is not bad, but the entire first half of the book needs to be filled out to actually convey a fuller history of the region prior to 1965. If you are truly interested in the topic from the title of the book, seek out Mr. Verrier's sources and get it first hand.

[Lance Lumley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, which is very detailed, about the Northwest wrestling territories. Many may know the 1980s time during the Don Owen period, but this book covers many sections before, and some after. There is a lot of information in the short book, with some parts just featuring names of wrestlers, but that does not deter from the book. It is very well researched.
For an in depth review, go to :https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/201...