English Wrestling

Professional wrestling superstar and leading motivational speaker Marc Mero takes readers on a journey of resilience, faith and overcoming adversity in Badd To Good: The Inspiring Story of a Wrestling Wildman. Marc Mero, who found global fame as Johnny B. Badd in WCW and alongside then-wife Rena ‘Sable’ Mero in World Wrestling Entertainment, played an instrumental role during wrestling’s hottest period. Sharing the squared circle with Hall of Fame stars including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H and Ric Flair, Mero’s fast-paced wrestling style and charismatic presentation made him ...

Kayfabe: A Mostly True History of Professional Wrestling is the story of how professional wrestling evolved from humble roots as a folk sport into an intricate and unique performance art, and a global billion dollar industry. It’s a history that takes in America’s Wild West, the Music Halls of Victorian London, the circuses of P.T. Barnum, the golden age of television, the genesis of Mixed Martial Arts, all the way to the dizzying heights of WWE's Wrestlemania and AEW's All-In. As befitting a story with roots in Vaudeville Theatre, it’s full of twists, turns, surprises, myth-making ...

There has been much said about Dusty Rhodes, the 'American Dream', over the years by both his fans and peers. Aside from the frequent fictional prose penned by wrestling magazine journalists and internet smart marks that run rumor-mill websites, however, there has not been much written about him. Until now. With the exception of a select few, there has been no bigger name or personality in the annals of pro wrestling history than Dusty Rhodes.

A breakthroughexamination of professional wrestling - its history, its fans, and its widercultural impact - that does for the sport what Chuck Klosterman did for heavymetal

The Squared Circle grows out of David Shoemaker'swriting for both Deadspin, where hestarted the column "Dead Wrestler of the Week" - a feature on the many wrestlingsuperstars who died too young because of the abuse they subjected their bodiesto - and Grantland,where he covers the pro-wrestling world and its place in the pop culturemainstream. Shoemaker's sports writing has since struck a nerve withgenerations of wrestling fans who, like him, grew up worshiping a sport oftenderided as "fake" in the wider culture. To them, these professional wrestlingsuperstars are not just heroes but an emotional outlet and the lens throughwhich they learned to see the world.

Starting in the early 1900s and exploring the path of prowrestling in America through the present day, The Squared Circle is thefirst book to acknowledge both the sport's broader significance and wrestlingfans' keen intellect and sense of irony. Divided into eras, each section offersa snapshot of the wrestling world, profiles some of the period's preeminentwrestlers, and examines the sport's influence on our broader culture. Throughthe brawling, bombast, and bloodletting, Shoemaker argues that pro wrestlingcan teach us about the nature of performance, audience, and, yes, art.

Full of unknown history, humor, and self-deprecatingreminiscence - but also offering a compelling look at the sport's rightful placein pop culture - The Squared Circle is the book that legions of wrestlingfans have been waiting for. In it, Shoemaker teaches us to look past thespandex and body slams to see an art form that can explain the world.

Bestselling author Guy Evans ('NITRO') returns with a monumental volume on World Championship Wrestling, bringing to light scores of revelatory insights in the process. Informed by over 100 new interviews, hundreds of internal company documents, confidential corporate materials, and never-before-seen financial records, BEYOND NITRO goes to places that no pro wrestling book has!

Written without collaborators and based on decades of tape recordings he made throughout his career, Hitman is Bret Hart's brutally honest, perceptive and startling account of his life in and out of the ring that proves once and for all that great things come in pink tights...

James Dixon returns with his first Titan book in almost a decade, commencing the start of a brand new trilogy. Titan Shrinking places the microscope on the WWF in 1992, as scandal threatens to derail Vince McMahon’s previously unstoppable pop culture phenomenon. Stories detailed include the departure of company icon Hulk Hogan, the sex scandal, the return of the Ultimate Warrior, headliners quitting, pushing new characters, Bret Hart’s ascent to the top of the WWF, Bill Watts taking over at WCW, and the ongoing success of the WWF in Europe climaxing with the historic SummerSlam 1992. ...

ECW was one extreme contradiction piled on top of another. It was an incredibly influential company in the world of professional wrestling during the 1990s, yet it was never profitable. It portrayed itself as the ultimate in anti-authority rebellion, but its leadership was, at various points, working covertly with the two wrestling giants, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Most of all, it blurred the line between real life and the fantasy world of professional wrestling like no other company before it.

He’s been a fixture in professional wrestling for five decades. He helped introduce a hardcore wrestling style that you see in the WWE and Japan today. He’s made his mark in Hollywood. He’s Terry Funk, and this is his story. In this captivating look at the life of a living legend, Funk opens up about growing up in a wrestling family, working with various entertainment companies (including the ECW, WWE, and WWF), and so much more.

What if the Montreal Screwjob hadn’t happened? What if the WCW Invasion would have worked? What if John Cena had turned heel? In Wrestling Rewritten, award-winning sports writer and lifelong pro wrestling fan BJ Pickard tackles some of professional wrestling's most often discussed and debated instances of what might have been. Through both historical and counterfactual examinations of the industry’s seminal angles and events over the last quarter-century, Wrestling Rewritten is an entertaining and informative read for fantasy bookers and casual fans alike.

Principles are the reasons why techniques work... or don't. There are hundreds of thousands of techniques from dozens of martial arts, but they all rely on a relatively small set of principles: Breaking the balance, distributing your weight, conserving energy, applying leverage... Once you know and understand the major principles behind grappling techniques, new techniques become easier to learn, all techniques become clearer, and your ability to make the techniques work for you will increase as well. Understanding HOW, WHY, and WHEN the moves work will bring your Judo, BJJ, Sambo or ...

Wrestling demands strength, skill, and strategy. Every grapple, takedown, and pin is a high-stakes battle requiring quick thinking and lightning-fast reflexes. The adrenaline rush that comes with each victory is like nothing else. This comprehensive guide teaches you the basics of wrestling and advanced techniques and strategies to help you excel in the sport.

THE ONLY SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY WORKBOOK THAT’S EXCLUSIVELY DESIGNED FOR WRESTLERS TO BUILD MENTAL TOUGHNESS AND BOOST THEIR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE Athletes hear it all the time… "Wrestling is 90% Mental, and 10% Physical” "It's All in Your Head" "The Only One that Can Stop You is You" "You have to be Mentally Tough!" But what exactly do those sayings mean??? Without something concrete, it's difficult for athletes to understand what it specifically takes to have a mental approach primed for success. And rather than have a debate with someone who knows nothing about mental training or sports ...

If you thought the world of pro wrestling was wild, imagine what you haven’t seen on TV and in the ring. Add to that the backdrop of building a renegade production company, negotiating with impossible wrestling talent, and hosting groundbreaking, shoot-style programming, and you have the story of Sean Oliver. Sean has seen industry-wide accolades for the company he co-founded and for which he serves as front man. Watch the unpredictable and unconventional story through Sean’s eyes.

Bobby Blaze Smedley's forthright autobiography, Pin Me, Pay Me, Have Boots Will Travel, is a powerful and insightful look at the inner workings of the world of professional wrestling, written in an introspective story-telling style that puts you in the ring with him. Overcoming illness and adversity to rise to the heights of his chosen profession, Bobby takes you on the road and around the world as he realizes his lifelong dream, to be one of the rare individuals who earns his living as a professional wrestler.

In wrestling, you learn early that effort doesn’t guarantee victory. You can train. You can sacrifice. You can do everything right— and still lose by a point. Life works the same way. I FIGHT EVERY DAY is a short, disciplined book about pain, loss, and what happens when your idea of winning is no longer possible. It is about the moment after loss— when quitting would be understandable, discipline feels optional, and one defeat threatens to become two. This is not a motivational book. It does not promise success or closure. It is a book about refusing to let one loss beat you twice. ...

Coach Harris built Titan Mat Club into a program that didn’t just win—it held people together. Now he’s in the ICU, the room is watching, and his son is the one standing on the edge of the mat with a whistle he never wanted. Evan Harris knows wrestling. He knows safety. He knows systems. What he doesn’t know is how to replace a legend’s presence with something that feels real—especially when boosters, parents, and rivals start circling with the same word on their tongues: stability. Then Mateo “Teo” Santos walks in like he owns oxygen. Teo is loud, fearless, and impossible ...

For the longest time – I got it wrong… I thought the ultimate achievement in wrestling was to win a State Championship… It is not. The ultimate achievement in wrestling is to prepare a young man for his life by having him become the best person he can be by acquiring the “Qualities of a Wrestler” while in pursuit of a state championship. Acquiring these qualities is more important than winning a state championship. They are what is needed to become happy and successful in life. These qualities are acquired during the pursuit, and not in the winning. It is in the pursuit that a kid...

What happens when the God who was supposed to comfort you feels painfully absent? Grief is never just about what you’ve lost―it’s also about the God you thought you knew. When the bottom falls out, you’re left questioning, disoriented, and wondering if faith even has a place in your pain. Mourning God is for those tired of Christian clichés and quick-fix theology. If you’re wrestling with doubt, grief, or disappointment with God, this book offers the honest, compassionate voice you’ve been seeking.

In 2017, after being told that no independent wrestling group could draw a crowd of more than 10,000, a group of wrestlers took up the challenge. For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Center Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT.