Ballyhoo!

The Roughhousers, Con Artists, and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling (Sports and American Culture)

By: Jon Langmead

Narrated by: Kirk Winkler

Ballyhoo! The Roughhousers, Con Artists, and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling is a history of professional wrestling’s formative period in the U.S., from roughly 1874 to 1941, and the contested interplay of wrestlers and promoters who built the “sport” as we know it. During this period, the major conventions that would define wrestling to the present day were perfected and codified, as wrestling morphed from a rough sport practiced on farms and at town gatherings to melodramatic mass entertainment that reliably drew large crowds in cities across the nation.

The narrative uses the life and career of Jack Curley—a boxing promoter whose fortune took a turn for the better when he began promoting wrestling matches—as a compass as it charts the development of wrestling. By the late 1910s, Curley’s shows were selling out Madison Square Garden monthly. Ballyhoo chronicles his competition with the other promoters, as well as the lives of colorful athletes like “Strangler” Ed Lewis, Frank Gotch, the “Masked Marvel,” Jim Londos, “Gorgeous George” Wagner, “Farmer” Martin Burns, and “Dynamite” Gus Sonnenberg.

The book is published by University of Missouri Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2023 The Curators of the University of Missouri (P)2024 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A page-turning cultural history..." (Amy Reading, author of The Mark Inside)

“A meticulously detailed, gloriously colorful, continuously gripping account of a master showman and his cohorts...” (Jeff Leen, author of The Queen of the Ring)

“Langmead has crafted a history of a sport (or is it entertainment?) that feels definitive and engrossing." (Booklist)

The evolution of professional wrestling

Jon Langmead puts the jigsaw puzzle pieces of pro wrestling history together in "Ballyhoo!" This is a highly recommended work for those that appreciate the lineage of the industry we call professional wrestling, or at times, sports entertainment. The author explains how a sport that once featured long drawn-out matches, transitioned to offering exciting, entertaining bouts.

"Ballyhoo!" documents the mark wrestling and boxing promoter Jack Curley made on the business of professional wrestling. Curley was able to establish and offer an entertaining style of wrestling for the growing audience during a boom period. Curley promoted the high-profile Frank Gotch vs. strongman Georg Hackenschmidt for the World Heavyweight title match to the delight of wrestling fans.

The book presents wrestling to today's fans as it was perceived by the media in the early days. The author also notes how promoters would shmooze with mobsters, professional athletes, and politicians to protect and grow their business interests. Curley promoted matches at the famed Madison Square Garden, before butting heads with another promoter, Tex Rickard.

The fans pay to see the stars, and "Ballyhoo!" covers the early draws of the sport, such as Ben Roller, Joe Stecher, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, former NFL star Gus Sonnenberg, Wayne Munn, polish strongman Stanislaus Zbyszko, and Jim Londos. These pioneers paved the way for the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and The Rock.

Langmead discusses the shenanigans in and out of the ring during this golden era of wrestling. The book leads up to the next wrestling boom period, when the sport became a fixture on American television. The author does a fantastic job explaining the evolution of professional wrestling, five stars! Kirk Winkler also provides sensational narration.

The real history of pro wrestling.

If you love pro wrestling this is a must listen. It’s still real to me damn it. ✌️❤️

Informative

It’s an Early history lesson not often covered in the books from the last 20-30 years. Which makes it a good jumping off place to research several subjects covered in the book.

Great source of information; inconsistent audio production.

If you're interested in the history of wrestling, from the founding pioneer days, till it begins to take the shape of what we know now, this is the book for you.

My only complaint, and it's really minor compared to the abundance of information and research provided, is the inconsistency of the audio production. It is very obvious when the audio was recorded during different sessions. It can be extremely jarring when it happens mid sentence.

Otherwise, I can't recommend this book enough.

Very informative

Loved the book and the narrator. Well paced. It kept moving along even though so many decades were covered.

The Logic of truth to storytelling.

This well-researched book helps understand the early wrestling ages of competition that evolved into a more enjoyable and profitable entertainment. Promoters created the path to the golden age many of us enjoyed through the 60s-90s. The death of the territories was the beginning of the end for many of us old timers.

And we watched the game thrive through the WWF and WWE. But old timers may no longer buy the schtick. Today is cookie cutter body building athletes instead of real characters like Dick the Bruiser, The Sheik, Abdullah and more.

But the true roots were tough guys that worked carnivals, traveled circuits and found angles to keep wrestling from being a 3 hr snooze that the genuine wrestling contests produced.