Wrestling History

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

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.

As a WWE wrestler with millions of fans, Shawn Michaels had adulation and all the attention he could ask for, but he found himself longing for something more. When he became a committed Christian at the height of his career, Shawn learned what it's like to be a man of faith in a secular arena...

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.

The Royal Rumble has fascinated and enthralled wrestling fans around the world for over 30 years, captivating the imagination in a way that few other wrestling PPV concepts ever could. In the first volume of Retro Pro Wrestling's Complete History of The Royal Rumble, journalist and wrestling fan CJ Scholes relive every match, every angle, and every interview from the annual every-man-for-himself extravaganza. From Hacksaw Jim Duggan's victory in the inaugural TV special to The Rock's triumph at the 2000 event via back-to-back wins for Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin, the ...

Retro Pro Wrestling Presents: The Complete History of Wrestlemania Volume 1 - 1985 to 1998 Experience the history of Wrestlemania like never before! Relive every legendary match, captivating storyline, and unforgettable interview that made the early years of Wrestlemania the benchmark for professional wrestling entertainment. This volume takes you from the groundbreaking Wrestlemania 1, where Hulk Hogan and Mr. T teamed up to take on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff, to the electrifying Wrestlemania 14, where Stone Cold Steve Austin ushered in a new era of Attitude in the World Wrestling ...

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 ...

Lewis, Burns, Jenkins and Gotch, Legendary Wrestlers of the Legitimate Era In January 1881, Edwin Bibby defeated Duncan C. Ross to establish the first American based catch wrestling title, the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. For the next thirty-two years, the best wrestlers in American competed for the prestigious title. Learn the true history of the first catch wrestling championship in the United States.

Professional wrestling has a long and storied history defined by pivotal moments and critical decisions that sent ripples throughout the industry. Have you ever wondered how differently things might have turned out if a key event had gone another way? This book explores those possibilities, diving deep into the most significant "what if" scenarios that could have reshaped the entire wrestling business. Imagine a world where Hulk Hogan never signed with WCW in 1994, leaving Ric Flair and Sting as the promotion's franchise players. Consider the landscape if the New World Order never invaded, ...

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.

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.

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.

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.

In early 2015, Roderick Toombs, aka Rowdy Roddy Piper, began researching his own autobiography with a trip through Western Canada. He was rediscovering his youth, a part of his life he never discussed during his sixty-one years, many spent as one of the greatest talents in the history of pro wrestling. Following his death due to a heart attack that July, two of his children took on the job of telling Roddy's story, separating fact from fiction in the extraordinary life of their father.

Who Will Survive? From the opening bell of the first annual Survivor Series to the controversial closing moments of Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels and The Montreal Screwjob of Survivor Series 1997, relive every single match, interview, and angle from the second-longest running PPV in WWE history. The Complete History of Survivor Series - Vol 1: 1987 - 1997 features a Who's Who of all your favorite pro wrestling superstars including: Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre The Giant. Demolition, The British Bulldogs, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock. Sid, Kevin "Diesel" Nash. Scott "Razor ...

Retro Pro Wrestling presents The Complete History of Starrcade, featuring thoughts and analysis of every match, angle, and interview from the National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling's flagship event. From Ric Flair taking on Harley Race for the world title at A Flare for the Gold to Sting earning the title of 'Wrestler of the 90s' at Future Shock, part 1 of this series reviews all of the Starrcade events from the 1980s. Alongside Sting and Flair, you'll also read about matches including Lex Luger, The Youngbloods, The Steiner Brothers, The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, ...

The last 16 decades are rife with incidents like the "Montreal Screwjob", but in this new audiobook, it's time for some unsung heroes of professional wrestling's past to finally get their due. When did tag team wrestling migrate from Australia to the United States? How did a mid-ring heart attack reshape lucha libre? What was the first intergender wrestling match? There’s an unlimited amount of angles from which to view the fits and starts of professional wrestling’s serpentine growth.

This “infectious and contagious” (“Stone Cold” Steve Austin) New York Times bestselling memoir from WWE superstar Rebecca Quin—a.k.a. The Man, a.k.a. Becky Lynch—delves into her earliest wrestling days, her scrappy beginnings, and her meteoric rise to fame. Raised in Dublin, Ireland...

Flowers for Adrian is a detailed and engaging look at the life, death and legacy of professional wrestler Keith Franke, who competed as “Gorgeous” Keith Franks and “Adorable” Adrian Adonis during the 1970s and 1980s before his untimely death in 1988. This biography, the first of its kind, takes the reader through Franke’s start in life as an orphan, through to achieving his childhood dream of becoming a pro wrestler. The tale plays out across the colourful background of wrestling’s territories era, where Franke learned his trade the 'old-fashioned' way in Vancouver, the ...

In the world of professional wrestling, the goal is to make you feel something, to cheer the hero and despise the villain. But what happens when the attempt to create a hated character crosses the line from compelling television into genuinely offensive territory? This book explores the moments when WWE’s creative decisions went spectacularly wrong, resulting in storylines that were tasteless, uncomfortable, and often embarrassing to watch. This collection chronicles the most controversial angles in WWE history, from the early days of national expansion to the modern era. It delves into ...