AUTHOR-Heath McCoy
FORMAT-Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-$5
I had been wanting to read this book for a few years. But the $20 price for a paperback kept me from buying it. Then a few weeks back I was at a outdoor Indy wrestling show,Powerslam Productions Slamfest 4,and on the gimmick table was stacks of wrestling books. Ended up grabbing this one and 2 others.
Before reading the book I knew a bit about Stampede. But not that much. Mostly cause I haven't seen much Stampede footage. Stampede was a Calgary based wrestling territory. Ran by Stu Hart and his family. It lasted for decades and produced some of the most technically sound wrestlers of the modern era.
But with anything that last a long time there will be the good and the bad. And sadly nowadays Stampede is remembered more for the bad than the good.
It seems cause of the long harsh trips the wrestlers loved to play ribs AKA practical jokes on each other. And Stampede developed a rep as having some of the worst ribs of any territory in North America.
The author works for a major Calgary newspaper. And his research into the history of Stampede is amazing. So many stories are told that I had never heard before. And you can tell he spent weeks talking to the various living members of the Hart family.
So if you have any interest in the territory days of wrestling this is a book worth tracking down.
Pain & Passion gets a 4.13 outta 5