Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: 101 WWE Matches To See Before You Die Review - Perhaps The Best Wrestling Book I've Read
By The Doc
Dec 21, 2015 - 7:47:21 PM

What do you want from a book about professional wrestling?

I’ll tell you what I want. I want a book that discusses the pertinent topics that we all love to analyze – the greatest wrestlers, the greatest matches, and the greatest moments – and gives a unique perspective on them; that challenges the way that I think about historical events or the context in which I’d previously viewed various performances. I want a book that readily engages my memory bank and brings to the forefront that which I hadn’t thought about in years. I want to book that reminds me why I spend so much time writing and conversing about pro wrestling.

101 WWE Matches To See Before You Die might well then be the best book that I’ve ever read about pro wrestling…and I’ve pretty much read them all.

That wrestling is best viewed as a performance art open to all sorts of artistic interpretation is the book’s central theme. The author utilizes 101 WWE matches to support his assertion that the sports entertainment model of pro wrestling viewing is outdated and needs to be replaced with one that is better-rounded and better-suited for modern times. I’ll let you read the book to get the specifics of his philosophy, suffice to say that I think highly of it.

The theme of the book bears greater emphasis. It would be easy to read the title and assume it’s just Samuel ‘Plan’s version of the Top 101 matches in WWE history. Though understandable, that would be completely inaccurate. When you see Big Show vs. Kane from an obscure Monday Night Raw in 2006 on the list, you figure that out pretty quickly. ‘Plan does write of many of the greatest matches of all-time, but the matches cited are essentially joined together in a long-form essay that contextualizes wrestling’s past so that we can understand what a possible version – an excellent version, in my opinion – of wrestling’s future could be; one that is as forward-thinking as it is intelligently mindful of its history.

For the first few decades of its existence, WWE was trying to decide what it wanted to be and eventually figured out through a variety of experiences and historical periods that it couldn’t be just one thing to one sect of the audience. Yet, at its core, WWE is about storytelling…and there are few limits to the kinds of stories that WWE can choose to tell. In order to maximize the scope of its practice, WWE must fully embrace the depth of what they’re capable of being as a storytelling entity; and in order for us fans to maximize what we can get out of WWE, we have to open our minds and be willing to adapt our viewing habits.

Today’s wrestling fanbase is a fascinating mixture of the old and the new and, no matter old or new, we all have greater access to the wrestling product and its history than ever before. That changes things in ways that we’re only just beginning to understand. History helps shape new realities; it provides invaluable wisdom. More than anything, I think 101 is an incredible how-to guide for both WWE and its enthusiasts as we collectively journey forward. To clarify, this is no utopian thesis, but rather an in-depth explanation of the reasons why wrestling has been good and bad in every era over these last 30 years. Learn from the past and the future looks brighter.

Samuel ‘Plan is relatively new to the LOP audience. He just started writing on the MP earlier this year. Yet, I suspect that those of you who have read his column – Just Business – have already gained a great appreciation for his interpretation. I think his column represents the best brand of pro wrestling writing; a brand that seeks to be constructive instead of destructive. Anyone can slam a promotion’s product, sensationalizing its downs and hyperbolizing its ups. It takes the crafting by a mature writer to be critical while avoiding the classic IWC tendency to literarily rip apart and to offer – to the fans, the wresters, and the promotions – criticism that builds up rather than tears down. I’ve always liked that about ‘Plan and the qualities that I appreciate about his columns are magnified in his book.


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