Populism and Professional Wrestling in the Sunbelt South

Christopher L. Stacey is professor of history at Louisiana State University of Alexandria.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter One: The Emergence of the Trans-Mississippi Region in the Sunbelt South, 1933-1983Chapter Two: Rasslin’ with Race: Race and Political Culture in The Memphis and Mid-South Territories, 1959-1992Chapter Three: Populism and Kayfabe: Identity and Professional Wrestling in Southern Political Culture in the 1970s and 80sChapter Four: Working, Shooting, Playing and Kayfabe: The Relationship between Professional Wrestling and ‘Legitimate’ Sports in the Trans-Mississippi Wrestling RegionChapter Five: “I Couldn’t Carry a Tune in a Bucket’: Music in the Trans-Mississippi Territories and the Transition from Rasslin’ to Sports EntertainmentChapter Six: Life, Death, Violence and Kayfabe in the Trans-Mississippi RegionChapter Seven: The Hollywood Outside Agitator Vs. the King of Memphis: The Jerry Lawler—Andy Kaufman Wrestling Feud and the Political and Cultural Climate of the Post-Civil Rights South, 1981-82Chapter Eight: The Death of Kayfabe: The Trans-Mississippi, the Rise of Corporate Wrestling, and the disappearance of the Territories, 1982-1995EpilogueBibliographyAbout the Author

Coupling the nuance of a Bill Watts storyline with the power of a Terry Funk punch, Stacey brightly illuminates how pro wrestling provides a lens for understanding key issues in the evolving American South of the twentieth century. This is a spirited and long-overdue study of an important component of Southern popular culture.