Tuesday Night At The Gardens: Pro Wrestling In Louisville

Yes! Yes! Yes! I love this book. It is a great history of the Louisville,KY wrestling sceen and a good overview of the entire Gulas-Welch opperation. I really love all the clipping reprints, worth their weight in gold. But I must admit my favorite part is the chapter on the promotion war with Phil Golden. This usually is forgotten but deserves more attention and respect than it gets. I must admit I have a much higher opinion and fonder memories of the Golden promotion than Cornette. But his attitude doesn't surprise or offend me. Most of the Jarrett fans rejected Golden, who had his best success in the small to middle sized towns across the Commonwealth. But man am I glad to see this coverage and all the ad reprints. Thought I was going to have to drive up to Louisville and spend the day on microfiche in the library to ever see those again. All in all this is a GREAT book that every 55 year old Kentuckian should own.

Great Book! Thanks for the memories man! The book is jam packed with pictures, posters, fliers and comments. Highly Recommended for all REAL Memphis Wrestling Fans.

This book is quite an accomplishment... an in-depth look at Louisville, KY, one of the small cities that the Memphis wrestling promotion ran on a regular basis. Now, to some, a book focusing on such a specialized area of the wrestling business might seem a bit OCD, but this tome is readable, well-researched and a lot of fun. Of course, both of the authors have successful track records with regards to documenting the history of territorial wrestling, but the combination of the two is magic!!! Everyone knows Jim Cornette... he's been in the business for decades and has handled pretty much every aspect of the business. He broke in as a photographer while still in school, became a manager, wrestler, booker, promoter, producer, announcer, etc, etc, etc... he's done it all in wrestling. And, as most know, he's a fan. He has a huge collection of memorabilia, firsthand documentation of everything he's done in the biz and the natural instincts of a historian. So, since Louisville is his hometown, he has to be the most qualified person to attempt such an undertaking. If anyone could rival Cornette's knowledge of the Memphis territory in general, it would have to be author/historian Mark James. James has been writing about wrestling in general (and the Memphis territory in particular) for over a decade. What began as simply a reprinting of the local programs morphed into in-depth looks at various aspects of the territory. Not just results, but gate receipts, monthly schedules the territory ran, detailed, researched looks at behind-the-scenes info (including many exclusive interviews with the talent who were there), pretty much anything either a casual fan or a serious historian could want. His line of books are essential reading for anyone interested in territorial wrestling. The first book by the Cornette/James team  Rags, Paper and Pins: The Merchandising of Memphis Wrestling  was a comprehensive look at how the Memphis territory merchandised itself, complete with a reprinting of the magazine Cornette produced before breaking into the biz as a manager. This book is equally informative, but far more user-friendly. The layout is perfect for all the information included, with pop-up menus with television results, card results (when available), historical context and performer profiles. The card advertisements from the local papers are also included. Dozens and dozens of b&w photos are included, from the ads, programs and gimmick table! Top all that off with a Cornette intro (delivered exactly as you'd expect), and you have an essential book capturing a moment in wrestling history. The only complaint one could have is aesthetically... in addition to writing, editing and laying out all his books, James also self-publishes. So, he simply isn't able to print hardcover versions, with color photography. IMO, that's the only way you are going to be able to improve on this book, and James' entire line of books, for that matter. We who are far more interested in the inner-workings of territorial wrestling than today's current product are forever in his debt!!!

Tuesday Night at the Gardens is Jim Cornette's and Mark James' love letter to the Louisville Gardens, Kentucky-Tennessee-Alabama wrestling promotion and Southern wrestling in general. The book looks at wrestling at the Louisville Gardens from 1970-1975 and gives a bit of the prehistory of the Roy Welch/Nick Gulas promotion and also documents the rise of 3 people who later come to epitomize Southern wrestling: Jerry Jarrett, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Bill Dundee. The heart of the book is the collection of match cards, b&w photos, and sidebars explaining some of the more interesting or outrageous angles, events, and characters. Literally hundreds of march cards and photos comprise the bulk of the book. Along the way we meet a veritable who's who of top professional wrestling talent . Both folks who hit their prime in the 1970's, as well as, young stars who would go to become household names nationally by the end of the decade and beginning of the 1980's. A very short of the folks who will meet in the pages of this book includes: Mongolian Stomper, Jackie, Sonny, and Don Fargo, Tommy Rich, Andre the Giant, Bob Armstrong, Ron and Rob Fuller, Angelo Poffo, Dennis Condry, Mr. Wrestling, Luke Graham and many more. Jim Cornette described writing the book as a labor of love and that shines through on every page. If you are a fan of the territory era of wrestling, love the history of pro wrestling, or simply love the antics and insanity that was southern wrestling you'll love this book. Highly recommended.

This is a great history of Louisville wrestling from 71-75. I strongly suggest you get it direct from Jim, that you can have it autographed and personalized.

I like old wrestling stories. I was hoping for a lot of them in this pretty substantial book. However this is pretty strictly an almanac of the night by night occurances at the Louisville scene with detailed results and figures that go on. If you want to research this specific time period and location in wrestling history this book is authoritative. If you're looking for lots of stories you might be annoyed by the recordkeeping and repetiton. The stories are like liner notes and there aren't enough of them to satiate but what is there is great.