The ''WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment'' is a reference book featuring in-depth knowledge surrounding the leading organization in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWE). The book covers the 45-year history of WWE and features a comprehensive A-Z listing of nearly 1,000 former and current wrestlers from as early as the 1960s to the present day. The book also contains official listings for title histories, television and pay-per-view events, most notably, a detailed history of

WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, mos ...

. More updated reissues of the book were released in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

Synopsis

The ''WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment'' contains profiles for past and present WWE personalities, as well as event and title histories. While providing information primarily about the personalities career in WWE, information is also present about their careers in other companies. People who portrayed separate characters are often given separate profiles for each character. People who left the company on bad terms were given favorable profiles, including

Alundra Blayze Debrah Ann Miceli (born February 9, 1964), better known as Madusa, is an Italian-born American monster truck driver and former professional wrestler. She is currently working for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as a producer. In 2015, she h ...

and

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. Best known by his ring name The Ultimate Warrior, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 198 ...

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...

has a profile in the encyclopedia, however there is no mention of the double murder and suicide.

Writing

Brian Shields and Kevin Sullivan (not the wrestler) created the book together. WWE was given final say over who would be included in the book. Overall, the book took over one year to create. Sullivan and Shields divided some of the work load, dividing the research for championship title histories in half.

Reception

The book debuted at No. 10 on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Hardcover Books Bestsellers List and climbed as high as No. 8. It received mostly favorable reviews. Bob Kapur of SLAM! Wrestling was favorable toward the book, saying that it "is just the ticket for fans looking for a trip down memory lane". He praised the book for including lesser known personalities, but also criticized the absence of notable

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

s such as Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon.

References

External links

Book Review: WWE Encyclopedia
by Steven Wilson

by John McMullen
The WWE Encyclopedia - a book review by Evan

WWE Encyclopedia Book Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wwe Encyclopedia WWE 2008 non-fiction books Professional wrestling books DK (publisher) books American encyclopedias 21st-century encyclopedias Specialized encyclopedias