Identity in Professional Wrestling

Aaron D. Horton is an associate professor of history at Alabama State University in Montgomery.

Table of Contents


Introduction

Part I. Race

The Iron Sheik and Public Representation of Iranian National

Identity in Professional Wrestling (Zara Mirmalek)

“They ain’t like us”: Race, Class and Gender in Smoky

Mountain Wrestling (Edward Salo)

Latin Lords of the Ring: Politics, Nativism and Mexican/

Chicano Identity Through Professional Wrestling (Justin D. García)

“Degenerative sports and dirty tactics”: Race and Professional Wrestling in Cape Town, South Africa, c. 1880–1988 (Hendrik Snyders)

Nazis, Japs and Pearl Harbor Attacks: German and Japanese

Stereotypes in American Professional Wrestling (Aaron D. Horton)

Deepest, Darkest Africa, (Illinois): Cultural Appropriation in Professional Wrestling (Kevin Hogg)

Part II. Gender

Wrestling with Masculinity: Exóticos in Lucha Libre (Ximena Rojo de la Vega Guinea)

Transformed Bodies and Gender Norms: Gender Identity of Japanese Women Pro Wrestlers (Keiko Aiba)

“A secret fascination”: Professional Wrestling, Gender ­Non-Conformity and Masculinity (Elizabeth Catte and Josh Howard)

Sasha Banks, the Boss of NXT: Media, Gender and

the Evolution of Women’s Wrestling in WWE (Christiana Molldrem Harkulich)

III. Culture and Modernity

The Beginnings of Wrestling in Brazil: Theatricality, Marketing

and a Colorful Character (Riqueldi Straub Lise, André Mendes Capraro, Natasha Santos and Aaron D. Horton)

The Transmission of Cultural Values Through Professional

Wrestling: A ­Cross-Cultural Comparison (Tyson L. Platt)

The “Sportification” of Wrestling in France: Strength,

Performance and Regulation (1852–1913) (Frédéric Loyer and ­Jean-François Loudcher)

IV. Wrestling and Media

“I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket”: Music in the Memphis

and ­Mid-South/UWF Professional Wrestling Territories

and the Transformation of Southern Political Culture,

1958–1987 (Christopher L. Stacey)

Pile Driving the Past: WWE ’13 and Mediating the History

of WWE Through Video Games (Andrew Baerg)234

Lowland Gorilla Ballerina Acrobat: Brock Lesnar, Sherdog.com

and the Perception of Professional Wrestlers Competing

Combat Sports (Evan Karl Nagel)

Macho Madness and the Mania (“Oh Yeaaaah, Dig It!”):

Mediatization, Masculinities and Affective Memories of WWF’s Halcyon Days (c. 1984–1993) (Damion Sturm)

Origins of the Rock ’n’ Wrestling Connection (Seth Bovey)

About the Contributors

Index