Review: Mike Mooneyham’s ‘Final Bell’

Reading a collection of obituaries sounds depressing, but “Final Bell: Legends of the Mat Remembered” is a thrilling journey through the annals of pro wrestling thanks to your pilot, Mike Mooneyham.

Since 1989, Mooneyham has written the longest-running pro wrestling column in the United States. He is a member of several halls of fame, including the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa; the South Carolina Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame; the Lowcountry Wrestling Hall of Fame; and the Mid-Atlantic Legends Hall of Heroes. In 2009, he received the Jim Melby Award for excellence in professional journalism.

Mooneyham began covering pro wrestling in the mid-1960s for a number of national wrestling publications. He was a writer, editor and columnist with The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, for nearly 40 years, retiring in 2016. But he continues to write his popular Sunday wrestling column and it’s easy to see why.

Mooneyham loves pro wrestling – his passion dropkicks you with every page. A student of the game, he knows the history of the sport, the inner workings of the business and most importantly, the people behind the characters. Instead of towing the company line as several members of the wrestling media eager for press passes and exclusive interviews do today, Mooneyham’s allegiance lies with the wrestlers, the “independent contractors” who have been taken advantage of for decades. In his tribute to Eddie Guerrero, he calls the 38-year-old’s passing “wrestling’s wakeup call,” examining the lethal cocktail of alcohol and drug abuse that many of its performers consume in order to continue the daily grind. In his tribute to Ivan Koloff, he scolds WWE for not inducting the “Russian Bear” into its hall of fame while he was still alive to enjoy one last moment in the spotlight for a tremendous career. While Mooneyham’s journalistic integrity never comes into question, it’s clear that he only wants the best for the people he writes about.

The other reason that he continues to write this weekly column is because he’s so damn good. I’ve been a fan of his style since “Sex, Lies and Headlocks,” his 2002 New York Times best seller with Shaun Assael. In that book (a must-read for any wrestling fan), Mooneyham gives a history lesson on Vince McMahon’s rise to power and all the controversies he survived along the way. The education continues with “Final Bell,” as Mooneyham injects color into these black-and-white figures of yesteryear. A true reporter, he includes quotes and insights from deceased wrestlers’ peers and family members, giving readers a different, behind-the-scenes perspective on the characters from TV. You learn what Killer Kowlaski was like from the perspective of one of his trainees, as well as why the lifelong bachelor finally settled down at 79 years old.

Published by Evening Post Books, the 256-page book (with forewords by Jim Ross and Les Thatcher) is broken into different sections consisting of illustrious champions like Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino and Jack Brisco, originals like Johnny Valentine, Chyna and Roddy Piper, underrated performers like Penny Banner (who I now have a crush on) and Buddy Landell and wrestling’s braintrust like Jim Barnett, Bobby Heenan and Gordon Solie.

The section on stars from the Mid-Atlantic territory is like summer school for a millennial yankee like me. I’ve only heard of names like Tim Woods, Swede Hanson and George Scott; now I’m scouring YouTube for matches between Mr. Wrestling and Mr. Wrestling II. Mooneyham’s writing style goes well beyond your standard obit, ramming past career highlights from Wikipedia and explaining what these wrestlers meant to the industry and to their fans. Of course, he understands their impact better than most because he grew up on the territory; his sparse anecdotes about discovering the sport during a Bronko Lubich match (Bronko’s comprehensive tribute runs 11 pages) or going to dinner with promoter Henry Marcus are highlights of the book.

One of my favorite columns is on Jay Youngblood, who passed away in 1985 at just 30 years old. Even though Youngblood died four years before Mooneyham’s column even began, the journalist chronicled his life in 2015 through the limited memories of his daughter Ricca. It’s a fascinating look into the life of a wrestler’s child, especially one who never really knew her father. (Sadly, far too common in the industry.) Giving a voice to the voiceless is perhaps Mooneyham’s greatest talent, and it’s what separates him from his peers.

You can order “Final Bell: Legends of the Mat Remembered” here.

About Author

John Corrigan

Editor-in-chief John Corrigan has covered pro wrestling for nearly a decade, reporting for Wrestledelphia, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Temple News and others.

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