We Promised You a Great Main Event

An Unauthorized WWE History

By: Bill Hanstock

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

Unauthorized. Unrestricted. No holds barred.

In We Promised You a Great Main Event, longtime sports journalist Bill Hanstock pulls back the curtain to give a smart fan’s account of WWE and Vince McMahon’s journey to the top. Untangling the truth behind the official WWE storyline, Hanstock does a deep dive into key moments of the company’s history, from the behind-the-scenes drama at the Montreal Screwjob, to the company’s handling of the Jimmy Snuka scandal, to the real story of the Monday Night Wars.

WWE is an extraordinary business success and an underappreciated pop cultural phenomenon. While WWE soared to prominence during the Hulk Hogan years, as the stakes grew more and more extreme, wrestlers faced steroid scandals and assault allegations. The whole story is here, good, bad, and ugly, from the heights of iconic cultural moments like Wrestlemania III to the arrival of global superstars like The Rock and John Cena.

We Promised You a Great Main Event is an exhaustive, fun account of the McMahon family and WWE’s unprecedented rise. Drawing on a decade of covering wrestling, Bill Hanstock synthesizes insights from historians, journalists, and industry insiders with his own deep research to produce the most up-to-date, entertaining history of WWE available. Full of amazing characters and astonishing stories from the ring to corporate boardrooms, it is a story as audacious as any WWE spectacle.

A triumph!

Mr Hanstock perfectly encapsulated the experience of being a lifelong fan of pro wrestling. Well written and researched and well performed. I look forward to future work from Mr Hanstock.

Enjoyed a fresh narrative take

Often it’s the same few recounting the eras and companies of pro wrestling and when a fresh voice aware of the complexity of wrestling? It’s a treat to recap the WWE both from the spectrum of absolute hilarity, to the stunningly speechless tragedies that the company has navigated.

Great story and reading performance.

I loved this book, it was very well researched and was very informative and entertaining.

main event

a realy good book that tells the major spots of wwf/wwe. a lot of ditails and good behind the scenes storys.

pronunciation goes a long way

there are a lot of mispronouncing of names and false facts. if that doesn't bother you though, it's a great book