The Unreal Story of Pro Wrestling
The Unreal Story of Pro Wrestling (1998) The fascinating story of how pro wrestling evolved from a sport to entertainment and now to controlled mayhem, watched by 25 million TV viewers weekly. Perhaps this is a modern-day insight into the American psyche, akin to the mythology of the cowboy before it. Today it is a business that caters to Americans’ desire for violence, but within a make believe context in which few of the participants are ever seriously injured. This is examined in Dr. Michael Bell’s 1990 book, Studies in Sociology Volume 8: Wrestling as Ritual Drama in American Culture. Now I have a better understanding why, as a twelve-year old, I relished going to the old Philadelphia Arena to watch Gorgeous George perform.
