WWE Encyclopedia

5 Responses

1. Christopher Jones

   July 20th, 2010 at 8:14 am

   1

   Often times while I’m watching an old wrestling match (or browsing some wrestling website) I end up looking an old wrestler up on Wikipedia in hopes of finding out more about him (or her). The WWE is, apparently, hoping to capitalize with marks like me with the WWE Encyclopedia. As the name implies, this book is an encyclopedia to all things (well most things) that have occurred in the vast history of the WWE – wrestlers, TV shows, PPV’s, title histories, etc.

   The book is written in kayfabe (pretends that wrestling and the personalities are “real”), so you are not going to get any inside information as far as behind the scene stuff goes. To me, that’s perfect – but be forewarned though if you are looking for serious information on the people who played these characters you are going to be disappointed. For example, the encyclopedia has a separate entry for Kane and Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS with no mention one person played both roles (Glenn Jacobs). This is because in the WWE canon they are two separate people (one a crazy guy who is the Undertaker’s brother and the other was an evil dentist – classic stuff) that just happened to played by the same person. Hence, the two different entries. I could see how this will be annoying for some people though who might want to know what the “real names” of these wrestlers are or some information about their real life pasts.

   Really the only drawbacks (besides the potential problem for some that the book is written in total kayfabe) are the omissions or errors. I haven’t searched every single page to find these issues (a few other reviews discuss them), but they appear to be very small in number when one stops to consider the thousands of different wrestling gimmicks that have shown up over the years. I certainly wouldn’t let it stop me from purchasing the book because TL Hopper isn’t profiled (there are always going to be errors in this sort of undertaking).

   Overall, a great purchase for wrestling fans of all ages who want to either learn or fondly remember the fun and goofy past of the WWE.
   Rating: 5 / 5

2. Graboidz

   July 20th, 2010 at 8:45 am

   2

   The “WWE Encyclopedia” is a fantastic reference for wrestling fans. There is so much info packed into this book you will spend hours upon hours reading through the various items presented. You get a thorough history of each and every title in WWE’s history, from the Heavyweight Titles, down to the Intercontinental Title and Tag Team Titles to things like the Hardcore Title and European Champ titles as well. You also get the history of WCW and ECW titles too.

   You get the history of every Pay Per View the WWE has presented over the years, as well as look at ALL of WWE’s TV programming through the years. Of coures the real reason to purchase the Encyclopedia is the indepth SuperStar Profiles. Of couse you get the profiles of guys like “Hulk Hogan”, “Stone Cold Steve Austin” and “The Rock”, but you also get profiles on everyone from “Doink the Clown” to “The Brooklyn Brawler” and “Haku”. No one is left out of this reference, even “Chris Benoit” gets a profile, which surprised me as he’s been purged from most other WWE projects. It was nice to see profiles on the older wrestlers as well, guys like Bruno Sammartino, and Black Jack Mulligan get a nice profile, and credit for helping shape wrestling during the early years.
   
   The book is laid out in alphabetical order, so if you want to take a quick glance at say the “Backlash” pay per view history, it’s easy to locate. One thing to note, which is a little odd, that the wrestlers are alphabetized by their first names, which means if you are looking for Bobby Heenan for example you would turn to the “B” section, not “H”. Another nice addition, is that the various tag teams have both a team entry as well as an individual entry in this reference. So if you were a fan of US Express say, they will have a profile on the team itself, but you will also have individual profiles for both Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo.

   The photographs of some of my favorite childhood superstars really brought back some great memories as well. It’s obvious WWE spent a TON of time and money on this book, and I can honestly say it’s one of the best WWE produced products in a long time. If you were a fan of WWF’s Hulkamania era, or the Attitude era there is plenty of interesting info in here for you. Even if you aren’t a fan of the current product being put on tv today, you will still enjoy this book. Highly recommended for both casual and hardcore fans.
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. P. Bernier

   July 20th, 2010 at 10:37 am

   3

   Being a true WWF/WWE fan for many years this WWE Encyclopedia was a no-brainer for me. After looking through this LARGE book I have to say the WWE really went all out for this book. They left NOTHING out of this book, yes even Chris Benoit is included in this book along with ALL the titles he obtained before he died. I honestly could not find any wrestlers who were excluded from this book, from the top stars to mid-card stars and they even included the jobbers! There is no doubt in my mind, this is an absolute MUST for any WWF/WWE fan!
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. Eric Neveu

   July 20th, 2010 at 11:35 am

   4

   This book is the best thing released by the WWE EVER !!!!!!
   
   This is the best book around, so more infos !
   
   Over 1000 superstars with photos and bios !!!!
   
   even guys like : Battle Kat, Phantasio, Big Steel Man, Al Perez …
   
   all are listed !!!
   
   All tv Shows/PPV
   
   All differents stipulation for matches
   
   All the belts (timeline)

   even 2 pictures of Missy’s Manor !!!!
   
   2 pictures of the MYSTERY MAN (Furface) fighting Rick Martel
   
   The Bio of Chris Benoit is included !!!

   The best book around

   unfortunately some wrestlers are missing but it’s a really short lists:
   
   from memory :

   Sean Ohaire
   
   Mordecai (Kevin Thorn is in but not this gimmick)
   
   Rico (mentionned but no pic or bio)
   
   Nathan Jones
   
   Ernest Miller
   
   Velvet Mcintyre
   
   furnas/Lafond
   
   Max Mini
   
   tenessee Lee
   
   Matt Morgan
   
   ultimo dragon
   
   kanyon
   
   sakota
   
   kizarny
   
   Rodney Mack
   
   Tiger Ali Singh (is showed in a pic, mentionned at 2 times, but no bio)
   
   Daniel Puder
   
   Spike Huber
   
   Chris Walker
   
   Kazarian
   
   …
   
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. Lisa Traugott

   July 20th, 2010 at 1:01 pm

   5

   I don’t have anything much to say about this. This book is pretty good because it has all superstars and divas, but I found more match types on Wikipedia than in this book. I would buy it for the wrestlers and divas, but not for the matches.
   Rating: 3 / 5