Reviews

This is the English-language follow-up to Orig's Cario'r Ddraig and concludes with a selection of warm tributes from many stars of the wrestling world who fought with and for him, including some friends of fifty years' standing. Orig died in 2009; an Eisteddfod 'bard', a legend, and clearly much loved by those he had trained and promoted all over the world. Although in some ways he seems a mass of contradictions, there is one constant -- his tough refusal to accept rules and authority -- which he traces back to the 'bandit' traditions of his Snowdonia village. Despite his obvious courage and athletic ability, this rebelliousness meant that he did not take to the structures of conventional sport, especially the F. A., so he moved into the tough but less-regulated world of professional wrestling, first as a fighter and later as 'the best damn promoter in the world'. He certainly toured the world and recounts some hair-raising, chaotic trips to Pakistan (where he met his match in the Bholu brothers), Nigerian nightmares, and hilarious odysseys in Ireland -- his favourite area, to which he returned (for love rather than money) till the end. This book gives a flavour of Orig's way with words (even in English) as a bargainer, con-man, advocate for his sport and proud, defiant north-Walian. Although many think of professional wrestling as stunt-theatre, Orig's fighters seem to have been genuine (even if their titles weren't). The theatricality was mainly concentrated in the persona of the 'heel' or villain, the chat of the promoter, and sometimes the result. In some ways Orig comes over as a man out of his time, more like a nineteenth-century showman or perhaps someone much further back: the leader of a Celtic war-band -- boastful, loyal, fatherly, loving a drink and a fight, generous, irascible, but taming his giant fighters with poetry and guile. He might have been a Methodist but one can't help thinking he might be more at home with Annwn or in Tir na nOg with Cuchulainn and Finn. Caroline Clark It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatad Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council