The definitive take on the McMahon family’s journey to wrestling dominationFor decades, the northeastern part of the United States, better known to insiders as the territory of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, was considered the heart of the professional wrestling world. Capitol territory — from Boston southward to Washington, D.C. — enjoyed lucrative box-office receipts, and New York’s Madison Square Garden was centre stage. Three generations of McMahons have co...

For more than a century, professional wrestling has cultivated some of the most eccentric and compelling personalities. As the embodiment of flamboyance and intensity, the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair stood at wrestling's apex for decades, cementing his place as a once-in-a-lifetime athlete and performer. When he was in the ring, fans knew they were witnessing the very best, and he not only became a multi-time world heavyweight champion in the NWA, WCW, and the WWE, but his status as a generatio...

“Tim Hornbaker further establishes himself as possibly the finest wrestling historian writing today.” — SLAM! Wrestling on Death of the TerritoriesFrom the author of Death of the Territories and Capitol Revolution comes the definitive biography of “Nature Boy” Ric FlairFor more than a century, professional wrestling has cultivated some of the most eccentric and compelling personalities. As the embodiment ...

In the 1950s, in Las Vegas, a businessmen’s conglomerate dominating a $25 million-a-year sports industry hid their illegal practices from the U.S. Department of Justice until they were caught. The sport that privileged cold hard cash over honest competition was professional wrestling, and the conspirators were members of the famed National Wrestling Alliance.National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling examines the NWA promote...

For decades, distinct professional wrestling territories thrived across North America. Each regionally based promotion operated individually and offered a brand of localized wrestling that greatly appealed to area fans. Promoters routinely coordinated with associates in surrounding regions, and the cooperation displayed by members of the National Wrestling Alliance made it easy for wrestlers to traverse the landscape with the utmost freedom.Dozens of territories flourished between ...

For decades, distinct professional wrestling territories thrived across North America. Each regionally based promotion operated individually and offered a brand of localized wrestling that greatly appealed to area fans. Promoters routinely coordinated with associates in surrounding regions, and the cooperation displayed by members of the National Wrestling Alliance made it easy for wrestlers to traverse the landscape with the utmost freedom.Dozens of territories flourished between ...

Considered by Ty Cobb as the “finest natural hitter in the history of the game,” “Shoeless Joe” Jackson is ranked with the greatest players to ever step onto a baseball diamond. With a career .356 batting average—which is still ranked third all-time—the man from Pickens County, South Carolina, was on his way to becoming one of the greatest players in the sport’s history. That is until the “Black Sox” scandal of 1919, which shook baseball to its core.While many have sympathized with...

The Three Counthighlights the triumphs and tragedies Jimmy Korderas experienced over his storied career as a WWE ref, from humble beginnings with Jack Tunney in Toronto to being a part of the main event at WrestleMania. For the first time, Korderas talks about the harrowing experience of being in the ring during Owen Hart’s accident and about the horrific effects of the Chris Benoit tragedy — the most difficult moments of his life in wrestling.The book also includes untold...

Irvin Muchnick - a widely published writer and nephew of the late, legendary St. Louis wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick - has produced a book unlike any other on the astonishing growth of professional wrestling and its profound impact on mainstream sports and society. In Wrestling Babylon , he traces the demise of wrestling's old Mafia-like territories and the rise of a national marketing base thanks to cable television, deregulation and a culture-wide nervous breakdown. Naturally, the figu...

?The most unpredictable and charismatic grappler of all time? The brute that made brawling an art before the term "hardcore" was coined? The confrontational businessman who fought for every penny he felt he deserved? "Bruiser" Brody had no peers when it came to blood and guts, controversy and independence. Most wrestling promoters portrayed their top talent as exactly that kind of free-spirited, take-no-guff personality. They didn't mean it, though - which explains why so few would admit t...

What went wrong with WCW? In 1997, World Championship Wrestling was on top. It was the number-one pro wrestling company in the world, and the highest-rated show on cable television. Each week, fans tuned in to Monday Nitro , flocked to sold-out arenas, and carried home truckloads of WCW merchandise. Sting, Bill Goldberg, and the New World Order were household names. Superstars like Dennis Rodman and KISS jumped on the WCW bandwagon. It seemed the company could do no wrong. But by 2001, how...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. "When it comes to wrestlers writing their autobiographies, Jericho may be the best in the world at what he does." ― The Baltimore SunIn this insightful, riveting book, Jericho takes us into WWE wrestling arenas around the world as he details his classic rivalries with The Rock, Steve Austin, HHH, Shawn Michaels, and John Cena, along with all the politics and backst...