Professional Wrestling

Get ready to rumble, with this fun introduction to the world of professional wrestling Professional Wrestling For Dummies is the essential guide for fans eager to explore pro wrestling around the world―from the top American promotions to the vibrant Japanese scene and the high-flying spectacle...

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 ...

From ESPN reporter Marc Raimondi comes a compelling, gripping narrative history of professional wrestling’s legendary faction, The NWO (New World Order), from their inception in 1996 to their influence on American pop culture today. In 1996, professional wrestling was one of the most watched...

Nitro is a story about much more than WCW and the Monday Night Wars. It is a story of an era, a time in which the media and cultural landscape precipitated - and later supported - pro wrestling's mainstream popularity. It is a story of how a company made in the image of an intuitively brilliant risk-taker betrayed its original promise. It is a story of how a handful of men, each struggling with their own limitations, facilitated a public obsession that changed television forever.

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.

Is there a way to find truth in the stuff of legend? You may think you know Andre the Giant - but who was Andre Roussimoff? This comprehensive biography addresses the burning questions, outrageous stories, and common misconceptions about his height, his weight, his drawing power as a superstar, and his seemingly unparalleled capacity for food and alcohol. But more importantly, The Eighth Wonder of the World transports listeners beyond the smoke and mirrors of professional wrestling into the life of a real man.

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.

“Very well written, I am really enjoying it. I have been so impressed by the writers and their passion for the subject” – Mick Foley, wrestling legend and bestselling author "Expert contributions that unexpectedly and thoroughly cover a treasure trove of topics. This reader was euphoric over the amount of subject matter jam-packed into this important and long overdue collection" - Jamie Hemmings, Book Editor for SlamWrestling.net "A smart, fascinatingly diverse look at both the new market pro wrestling is developing and the new , deeper ways this most American of art-forms can be ...

By creating WrestleMania, jumping into the pay-per-view field, and expanding across North America, Vince McMahon changed professional wrestling forever. 

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.

The Matches Which Built and Crippled an Industry Frank Gotch turned pro wrestling from a fringe spectacle to one of the most popular spectator sports. Still, it took Gotch three years to lure undefeated World Champion George Hackenschmidt to the United States for a title defense. The result was two controversial but legitimate wrestling matches, whose effects were felt for the next two decades. Read the true story of this series of matches.

In Tod is God—so named for a chant the ECW fans created to honor the founder—Gordon chronicles each step of the company's meteoric rise to prominence, as well as the elements that led to his removing himself from the company before its demise. Gordon's former partnership with ECW booker Paul Heyman made for magical TV and in-ring moments. The friendship between Gordon and Heyman, both a blessing and curse, was the once-in-a-lifetime bond responsible for so many of history's greatest teams, bands, and partners.

He was the most vicious, bloodthirsty, reviled villain in the history of the ring. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, he drew record crowds everywhere he went and left a trail of burned and bloody opponents in his wake. But what those legions of fans screaming for his head never knew was that The Sheik was really Eddie Farhat. The son of Arab immigrants, Farhat served his country proudly in World War II and was fulfilling the American dream. When he wasn't screaming unintelligibly and attacking his enemies, he was busy being the owner and operator of World Wide Sports.

Witness a gritty carnival hustle transform into a global pop culture spectacle in this sports history audio experience. Ideal for a long commute or an intense workout, this narrative explores how performers and crowds quietly agreed to treat a staged contest as authentic reality. Whether you are...

The Wrestlers' Wrestlers spotlights elite performers and analyzes exactly what made them your favorite wrestler's favorite wrestlers. Authors Dan Murphy and Brian Young interviewed more than 40 in-ring veterans, historians, referees, and promoters to get a unique insider's look at the people who have made a lasting impact on the world of professional wrestling. It offers a special peek "behind the curtain" and a rare look into the top stars' thoughts on their peers, their influences, and their personal favorites.

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...

Ballyhoo! The Roughhousers, Con Artists, and Wildmen Who Invented Professional Wrestling is a history of professional wrestling’s formative period in the U.S., from roughly 1874 to 1941, and the contested interplay of wrestlers and promoters who built the “sport” as we know it. During this period, the major conventions that would define wrestling to the present day were perfected and codified, as wrestling morphed from a rough sport practiced on farms and at town gatherings to melodramatic mass entertainment that reliably drew large crowds in cities across the nation.

Former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz brings readers behind the scenes for an unprecedented look at the chaotic, surreal, unbelievable backstage world of the WWE. With untold stories from a career spanning over 15 years and featuring the biggest names and controversial moments in wrestling...

Lex Luger, wrestling mega-sensation and three-time world heavyweight champion, ruled the ring for years as "The Total Package." Yet backstage, he was wrestling with addictions to sex, drugs, and alcohol - things he clung to even when his mistress died suddenly of a drug overdose and Lex went to jail. In Wrestling with the Devil, Lex Luger reveals never-before-told stories from his career, his struggle with personal demons, and how, through unexpected faith, grace, and redemption, he overcame all odds to fight the only battle that really matters.

Earl Hebner used hard work and determination to become the most recognizable officiating name in professional wrestling, if not "the greatest of all time." Starting in Virginia as ring crew, he gained the respect of Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair, going on to referee NWA's biggest events. Then, in front of 33 million fans, Earl debuted on WWF's most-watched event ever as the evil twin ref who stole Hulk Hogan's title. As WWE senior official, he played an integral part in "The Montreal Screwjob", calling an unplanned controversial finish that screwed Bret Hart out of his championship for real. ...