An unprecedented look behind the scenes of professional wrestling with over 100 of its most beloved stars. This latest offering from bestselling author Guttman tells the real story behind contacting, cajoling, convincing and interviewing the unique personalities from the field. Readers can journey with Guttman through the sometimes-twisted business of sports entertainment, making startling discoveries about the way the industry really works. And, for the first time, Guttman offers keen insight into the true personalities in the wrestling ring.
The uncensored inside story of ECW’s founder Tod Gordon’s journey from jewelry store owner to one of the three most powerful promoters in pro wrestling. “An incredible, entertaining and insightful story of one of the most important—and also underappreciated—promoters in wrestling history. A must-read for any wrestling fan, promoter, executive or any of the boys looking to laugh and learn.” —Alfred Boima Konuwa III, Forbes Extreme Championship Wrestling was the revolutionary, industry-redefining wrestling federation of the ’90s, and founder and owner Tod Gordon is telling his story for the first time. Gordon went from local Philadelphia businessman to the third most influential man in wrestling as ECW became the fiery challenger to WWE and WCW. ECW’s young roster featured inventive risk-taking talent that both major federations sought to emulate but could never duplicate. Chants of “E-C-W!” rang out in wrestling arenas across all federations for decades. “…a must-read story detailing the colorful history of ECW.” —Justin Barrasso, Sports Illustrated 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. Gordon has stayed silent on the causes for the split and, by doing so, assumed blame for it. Until now. "The true, raw and unvarnished journey of an extreme influencer who changed the entire trajectory of the professional wrestling industry. The letters ECW never cease to fascinate fans and Tod Gordon finally reveals all the inner workings and machinations that came with the creation, rise and fall of the most influential wrestling company of the 1990s.” —Mike Johnson, PWInsider Tod is God is the closest you’ll ever get to living ECW’s ride to the top. Come sit beside Sandman, Sabu, Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, and other ECW stars as Gordon brings you inside the locker rooms, hotel rooms, and car rides. From the triumphs and breakthroughs to the frustrations and tragedies, you’ll live it all alongside the man who started it all. “ECW was figuratively (and occasionally literally) the match and accelerant that took the wrestling business from being a niche product to a staple of broadcast and cable television. Without Tod Gordon, there never would have been a WWF Attitude Era. He ended up changing an entire industry.” —Dave Scherer, PWInsider
An unprecedented look behind the scenes of professional wrestling with over 100 of its most beloved stars. This latest offering from bestselling author Guttman tells the real story behind contacting, cajoling, convincing and interviewing the unique personalities from the field. Readers can journey with Guttman through the sometimes-twisted business of sports entertainment, making startling discoveries about the way the industry really works. And, for the first time, Guttman offers keen insight into the true personalities in the wrestling ring.
In the latest offering from the best-selling author of World Wrestling Insanity, James Guttman tells the real story behind contacting, cajoling, convincing, interviewing, and learning from more than 100 of professional wrestling's most beloved stars. From former World Champions to Playboy models, from grizzled veterans to slick promoters, Radio Free Insanity, Guttman's popular and groundbreaking weekly web broadcast has featured an environment that fosters discussion and leads to countless memorable tales. In Shoot First... Ask Questions Later you'll journey with Guttman through the business of sports entertainment, making startling discoveries about the way the industry truly works. For the first time ever, Guttman offers keen insight into the true personalities of wrestling's stars. Who's the nicest guest off-air? And who was the most abrasive? Who was the funniest? And who was the worst interview in the history of interviews? What's the bizarre story behind speaking with Scott Steiner, and why was Guttman worried? Why was Corporal Kirschner answering JG's phone? What's the inside scoop on the now infamous Ole Anderson shoot? What were crazy pre-interview conversations with people like Jerry Lawler, Diamond Dallas Page, Juvi "The Juice" Guerrera, and others really like? Discover all this and more from James Guttman's two years behind the curtain and inside the work/shoot world of professional wrestling. Shoot First ... Ask Questions Later, with over 100 names you've come to know and love and sometimes hate, comes from the outsider who makes it his mission to find out what makes them tick.
The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.
In his own words, Bret Hart’s honest, perceptive, startling account of his life in and out of the pro wrestling ring. The sixth-born son of the pro wrestling dynasty founded by Stu Hart and his elegant wife, Helen, Bret Hart is a Canadian icon. As a teenager, he could have been an amateur wrestling Olympic contender, but instead he turned to the family business, climbing into the ring for his dad’s western circuit, Stampede Wrestling. From his early twenties until he retired at 43, Hart kept an audio diary, recording stories of the wrestling life, the relentless travel, the practical jokes, the sex and drugs, and the real rivalries (as opposed to the staged ones). The result is an intimate, no-holds-barred account that will keep readers, not just wrestling fans, riveted. Hart achieved superstardom in pink tights, and won multiple wrestling belts in multiple territories, for both the WWF (now the WWE) and WCW. But he also paid the price in betrayals (most famously by Vince McMahon, a man he had served loyally); in tragic deaths, including the loss of his brother Owen, who died when a stunt went terribly wrong; and in his own massive stroke, most likely resulting from a concussion he received in the ring, and from which, with the spirit of a true champion, he has battled back. Widely considered by his peers as one of the business’s best technicians and workers, Hart describes pro wrestling as part dancing, part acting, and part dangerous physical pursuit. He is proud that in all his years in the ring he never seriously hurt a single wrestler, yet did his utmost to deliver to his fans an experience as credible as it was exciting. He also records the incredible toll the business takes on its workhorses: he estimates that twenty or more of the wrestlers he was regularly matched with have died young, weakened by their own coping mechanisms, namely drugs, alcohol, and steroids. That toll included his own brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith. No one has ever written about wrestling like Bret Hart. No one has ever lived a life like Bret Hart’s. For as long as I can remember, my world was filled with liars and bullshitters, losers and pretenders, but I also saw the good side of pro wrestling. To me there is something bordering on beautiful about a brotherhood of big tough men who pretended to hurt one another for a living instead of actually doing it. Any idiot can hurt someone. —from Hitman
The nepotism, backward logic, racist overtones, and power plays behind the World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) downfall are exposed in this indictment of wrestling's first family--the McMahons.
An invaluable resource for any wrestling fan of the era. The sixth in the series from www.historyofwrestling.co.uk this is the complete guide to every WWE DVD release from May 2002 to December 2004, with full in-depth reviews and analysis of every disc (and extras), awards, match ratings, and much, much more. Read all about the start of the Ruthless Aggression Era, with debuts of future main event mainstays John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista all taking place in the time period covered. Learn about the Brand Extension, The Death of Al Wilson, Katie Vick, Evolution, the return of the WWE Hall of Fame, RAW's tenth anniversary spectacular, the rise of Brock Lesnar, and so much more. As usual the book is a monster, with over 300,000 words crammed in covering every pay per view, DVD release and special.
