Eugen Sandow - The First Superstar
From the very earliest footage of professional wrestling, to sexual intrigue and fights with wild animals - who was Eugen Sandow?
The Fights That Made Antonio Inoki: #1 The Great Antonio
In this series, The Fights That Made Antonio Inoki, I will look at the stories behind some of the fights that stand out from the pack, that I didn't have scope to discuss within the book. These are the fights that cemented Inoki's legacy, that made headlines, or that otherwise merit a closer degree of scrutiny.
First - The Great Antonio.
Forbidden Door and the follies of the Invasion
A look at Forbidden Door, Invasion angles, interpromotional wrestling, and the importance of brand identity and a promotional USP
For the love of a Crush Gal
“There's no magic ingredient to super-stardom, but whatever it was in 1983, the Crush Gals had it.” - a loving tribute to the great Chigusa Nagayo, and an exploration of what it means to be a wrestling legend
AAA Triplemania XXX - Tijuana
AAA, then. For those of us who follow Lucha Libre, a source of near constant frustration and bemusement, and to those who don’t, little more than a meme of a promotion. I don’t pretend to be a Lucha Libre expert, but it’s a style and a scene that is close to my heart, particularly the mid-to-late ‘90s era that I voraciously consumed during my tape trading days, and which AAA is currently mining for precious nostalgia.
/ˈkeɪfeɪb/
Kayfabe.
That's the name of the upcoming book, and it's a word that anyone who follows wrestling has likely encountered, but what is it, really? What does it mean, and where does it come from?
Lexico has the seemingly simple and concise definition; (in professional wrestling) the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic.
Keeping Kayfabe
Welcome, one and all, to Keeping Kayfabe - the new one-stop shop for the projects of Patrick W. Reed; that’s me, in case you hadn’t guessed.
After close to ten years working in professional wrestling, and far longer watching it and studying its history, this year I was proud to announce the forthcoming release of my first ever book, Kayfabe: A Mostly True History of Professional Wrestling. You’ve found your way here, and you’ve probably seen the homepage, so I’m sure you know all about that already. So what’s this blog all about?