University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 12-2018 Irish Whips and German Suplexes: Professional Wrestling and the American Immigrant and Minority Experience Colin Rush Walker University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, Sports Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Walker, Colin Rush, "Irish Whips and German Suplexes: Professional Wrestling and the American Immigrant and Minority Experience" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 2993. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2993 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Irish Whips and German Suplexes: Professional Wrestling and the American Immigrant and Minority Experience A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Colin Walker University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in History, 2016 December 2018 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _ Calvin White, Jr, Ph. D. Thesis Director _ _ Jim Gigantino, Ph. D. Jeannie Whayne, Ph. D. Committee Member Committee Member Abstract Trends within sports and popular entertainment have long been regarded as great indicators of larger transitions in the social, political, and economic landscape of the United States. Repeatedly mined and often used for context, sports have become intrinsically linked to the broader discussions of people, their beliefs, ideals, and actions occurring in the historiography of American culture.