Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson, Bobby Eaton (Foreword)
ECW Press, 2005
Paperback, Ebook
Oliver and Johnson have collaborated to write a comprehensive, entertaining and enlightening book about the most notable tag team wrestlers of the 20th century. Through extensive research, which includes interviews with many of the featured personalities, their family members and friends, Oliver and Johnson excellently chronicle the careers of those who made their mark through tag team excellence.
The book is broken into chapters based on the eras in which the profiled tag teams were most prominent. Each chapter is a broad strokes picture of the North American tag team division during a particular time frame. Each profile
discusses the formation of the team, the team's rise to prominence, the eventual break up of the team and a short "where are they now" style epilogue. Despite the volume of information, the book is a very easy read.
discusses the formation of the team, the team's rise to prominence, the eventual break up of the team and a short "where are they now" style epilogue. Despite the volume of information, the book is a very easy read.
Oliver and Johnson conducted a plethora of interviews with the personalities themselves, their friends and/or family members to give some insight into the lives and careers of the performers. The sheer number of interviews is astounding.
It is apparent to the reader that Oliver and Johnson worked very hard in the research of the book which is not often the case in the genre of professional wrestling books.
It is apparent to the reader that Oliver and Johnson worked very hard in the research of the book which is not often the case in the genre of professional wrestling books.
What is most interesting about the book is the frequent reminder that tag team wrestling was an important and integral part of the pro-wrestling industry for many years. From the standpoint of the performers, they were given an opportunity to work a very different style of match than the standard one on one, on fall match. In some territories tag team wrestling often over-shadowed the singles matches. Most importantly, however, some wrestlers were unable to thrive as singles wrestlers, but excelled when given the right partner and/or opponents. So many of the names featured in the book were mid-card or opening match performers until they became very successful through tag team wrestling. In today's wrestling scene where tag teams are often very short term pairings of mid card stars without any major storyline, one can't help but wonder who has suffered from the lack of a stable and viable tag team division in the major promotions.
The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams is as complete a wrestling book as one can find. While Oliver and Johnson may have been better off if they had not started the book with their own Top 20 Ranking of Tag Teams -- ranking anything in pro wrestling is often an invitation for controversy -- Oliver and Johnson have chosen wisely.
04/15 Re-read: While I still wholeheartedly stand by the 5* rating of the book, an updated edition would be welcomed. Many of the personalities profiled have either retired, entered new careers or passed away. It would be interesting to see if some of the then active teams in the first book have retained their status as great teams and which (if any) teams from the past decade would be included. Nevertheless, it is a great book worthy of every fan's bookshelf.
04/15 Re-read: While I still wholeheartedly stand by the 5* rating of the book, an updated edition would be welcomed. Many of the personalities profiled have either retired, entered new careers or passed away. It would be interesting to see if some of the then active teams in the first book have retained their status as great teams and which (if any) teams from the past decade would be included. Nevertheless, it is a great book worthy of every fan's bookshelf.
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