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Written by Captain Lou Albano, the "godfather of wrestling," this book tells you the history of the stars, leagues, and moves of pro-wrestling. It includes updated coverage of WCW and WWF, of wrestling as a business, and of today's hottest stars and biggest promoters. If you want to be a wrestler, this book tells you how to get started in the business.
I. THIS CRAZY WORLD CALLED PRO WRESTLING.
1. Muscle Mania and Mayhem.
Fans, Fans, from Everywhere. Boob-Tube Brawls. Beyond the Small Screen. The Greatest Show on Earth. The Whole World's Watching. I Can't Look … Wait, Let Me See! Seeing Is Believing? Or Not. Bigger Isn't Necessarily Better. Keeping the Tradition Alive.
2. A Brief History of Wrestling.
From the Old World to the New. The Carney Connection.
Hookers and Hoaxes. Barnstorming Brouhahas. Homesteading: Wrestling Comes Home to Roost.
Presidential Power. Professional Wrestling's Roots. Gotch Gets the Lion. The End of the First Golden Age. The Strangler. Wrestling Becomes Rasslin'.
Depression-Era Depression. Wrestling Goes to College.
Gorgeous George. The WrestleMania Era. Today's Wrestlers: Crossover Appeal. Show Business. Politics.
3. The Glue That Holds It All Together: Organizations and Federations.
McWrestling: The McMahons and the WWF.
Into the Second Generation. Capitol Wrestling's Rise to the Top. A New McMahon Twist.
WCW: Wrestling Takes a Turn for the Better (Ratings). Turner Tries to Take Charge. Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW).
4. Smoke and Mirrors.
Reality Is in the Eye of the Beholder. Spikeless Punches and Other Sleights of Hand. Only the Ring Is Square. Slamming and Jamming. Pulling Your Leg—and Other Holds. Lucha Libre. Gimmicks and Tricks.
Gimmicks Galore. Stunts Gone Wrong.
The Sounds of Pain. Injuries and Accidents.
5. Rules? What Rules?
If You Think the Rules of Dating Are Tough—Try These. Rules Are Made to Be Broken. Ways to Win a Match. The Ring-Rope Rule. Don't Touch That Man in the Middle. Tag-Team Rules. By the Seat of Their Trunks. Dress Code? What Dress Code? The Real Rules.
II. THE FOUNDING FATHERS: WRESTLING'S COLORFUL HISTORY.
6. Wrestling's Warriors Extraordinaire.
The Peerless One.
Early Career. World Class.
The Strangler.
The Birth of the Strangler's Trademark Hold. Championship Material.
Jim Londos, The Golden Greek. Lou Thesz.
Strangler Takes Over Thesz's Career. Thesz Becomes Champion.
The Gorgeous One.
The Metamorphosis Begins. The Glorious Gorgeous One Goes Big-Time. A Star Is Born.
7. Post-War Wrestlers and the New Pro Wrestling.
Antonino Rocca.
Beginnings: Far from Amazonia. Rocca's Aerial Athleticism.
Killer Kowalski.
Kowalski's Cauliflower Incident. The Toughest Man of All.
Verne Gagne.
From College to the Canvas Mat. The Quest for the Title.
“The Living Legend”—Bruno Sammartino.
Coming to America. Moving on up with the McMahon Machine. Honor and Integrity: The Sammartino Hallmark.
Gorilla Monsoon.
8. Sexy, Serious, and Supreme in Their Roles.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Bertha Rapp. Mildred Burke. The Opposition Gets Organized. The Fabulous Career of Fabulous Moolah. A Temporary Lapse—Women's Wrestling Fades in the 1970s. Madame Manager. Miss Elizabeth: First Lady of Professional Wrestling. Sensational Sherri. Sunny: First of the Down-Loadables. Sable's Turn. Women's Wrestling Today. Miss Hancock. Mae Young. Terri Runnels.
9. Wacky '70s and '80s.
Andre the Giant: The Eighth Wonder of the World. Bruiser Brody: Wild Life, Mysterious Death. Ric “Nature Boy” Flair: Simply the Greatest Ever. Hulk Hogan: Taking Wrestling into the Mainstream. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka: High-Flyin' Innovator. Bob Backlund: He Looked Like Howdy Doody, but He Could Tie You in Knots. “Superstar” Billy Graham: Modern Muscle Man. “Terrible” Terry Funk: Straight from the Double-Cross Ranch to You. The Von Erich Saga.
And Now for the Real Story. Tragedy in the Second Generation. Recovery and Return to Glory. Death, Drugs, and Disaster.
Sergeant Slaughter. What's Under the Kilt: Rowdy Roddy Piper. Dusty Rhodes: The American Dream. Harley Race.
10. Stars of the '90s
Mick Foley. Lex Luger: The Total Package. Kevin Nash: From Diesel to Big Sexy. Scott Hall: As Sharp as a Razor. Macho Man Randy Savage: “Ooooooh, yeah!”. The Ultimate Warrior: Cosmic Visitor. Ron Simmons: a.k.a. Faarooq. “Ravishing” Rick Rude: Stop the Music. Bam Bam Bigelow: Tattoo Artists' Wrestler of Choice. Shawn Michaels: The Heartbreak Kid. Bret Hart: The Best There Was, The Best There Is, and The Best There. Ever Will Be. The Tragic Death Of Owen Hart.
III. TODAY'S SUPERSTARS.
11. The Rock.
His Name's Dwayne? Rocky Maivia: Third-Generation Wrestler. An Intercontinental Type of Guy. From Super-Face to Supercool. Getting Stone Cold's Attention. A Not-So-Lucky Shamrock. The Nation of Domination. Great Sayings of The Rock. From Corporate Champ to People's Champ. The Rock Layeth the Smacketh Down.
12. Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Sorry, There Already Is a Steve Williams. Airing Out Dirty Laundry. “Stunning” Steve Hits WCW. The Hollywood Blonds. A Who-You-Know World. The Knee Injury. ECW Days. Birth of Stone Cold. A Budweiser and a Belt. The Great Sayings of Stone Cold. The Neck Injury: Austin's Prospects for Return.
13. Goldberg
Obake. A Sooner Says “Later”. Bulldog Brilliance. The Pro Gridiron. Who's Next? The Raven Is Champ—Nevermore! Stop Signs Can't Stop Him. A Suplexer of Giants. Selling Out the Georgia Dome. The Arm Injury. Prognosis for Return.
14. Triple H.
Terra Ryzing. French-Canadian Aristocrat. The Greenwich Snob. D-Generation X. A Leadership Role. Feuding with The Rock. A Corporate Minister. Doing a Job for the Boss. Seducing Stephanie. The Spritz!
15. Other Superstars.
Chyna—The Ninth Wonder of the World. The Big Show. Undertaker. Chris Jericho: Y2J. Jeff Jarrett. The Dog Buff Bagwell. Val Venis. Mikey Whipwreck and The Sinister Minister. Taka Michinoku. K-Dogg. Berlyn. Crash Holly. Chris Benoit: The Crippler. Ernest “The Cat” Miller. The Demon. Dustin Rhodes. Booker T. Vampiro. Team Package. Billy Kidman. The Godfather. Sid Vicious. Disco Inferno. Gangrel. X-Pac. Rey Mysterio Jr.. Tank Abbott. Chris Candido. The Acolytes. Rikishi. Raven. The Wall. Essa Rios. Kurt Angle.
IV. HISTORY OF WRESTLEMANIA.
16. 2000: Setting Up the Main Event.
Foley's Gone. The Rock's Retirement Match. Vince Returns. Triple Threat. Three Warriors, Three McMahons. Triple H's Revenge. “M” Is for the Many Things—Or, Four McMahons, Four Warriors. Stephanie Gets Heel Heat: The Slap. Blistering Butts and Festering Guts. Stephanie Goes Gold.
17. How We Got Here.
Secrets Revealed. The Rock's WrestleMania Record. DQ Victories Are Like Kissing Your Sister. Mick Foley: Never Before a Main-Eventer. Triple H Changes Squeezes. The Big Show's Big Show History.
18. All the WrestleManias.
WrestleMania I: Captain Lou's Memories.
WrestleMania I.
WrestleMania II: Triple Main Event.
WrestleMania II.
WrestleMania III: Hogan Versus Andre, 'Nuff Said!
WrestleMania III.
WrestleMania IV: I Wanna Be a Macho Man.
WrestleMania IV.
WrestleMania V: Hulkster's Revenge.
WrestleMania V.
WrestleMania VI: Ultimate Challenge.
WrestleMania VI.
WrestleMania VII: Sergeant Slaughter Brings the War Home.
WrestleMania VII.
WrestleMania VIII: Hoosier Brouhaha.
WrestleMania VIII.
WrestleMania IX: Under the Vegas Sun.
WrestleMania IX.
WrestleMania X: The Hitman's Garden Party.
WrestleMania X.
WrestleMania XI: L.T. Steals the Show.
WrestleMania XI.
WrestleMania XII: A Couple of 60-Minute Men.
WrestleMania XII.
WrestleMania XIII: Visitor from the Dark Side.
WrestleMania XIII.
WrestleMania XIV: Stone Cold and Tyson.
WrestleMania XIV.
WrestleMania XV: For Austin, a Belt and a Brew.
WrestleMania XV.
19. WrestleMania 2000.
Pimpin' Ain't Easy. Chester McCheeserton? Hardcore Battle Royal. A Three-Way for Angle. Not Chutes and Ladders—But Close. Kat Fight. Eddy's Latino Heat. Pete Rose. The Butt of the Joke: Rikishi's Two-Cheek Attack. Psycho Dad: Vince's Evil Turn. And the Cycle Starts Again for the Next Pay-Per-View.
20. All the Better to See You With: Fans and Arenas.
Wrestling Fan-dom over the Years. Living in the Land of Creative Reality.
Maniacal Mob Scenes. Vengeful Vigilantes: Captain Lou's Memories. Early Interactive Participation. A Sign of the Times?
Taking Control of the Audience Urge to Participate.
WrestleMania Brings the Audiences into the Fold.
Fans on Camera: The Proliferation of Signs. Tools, Gimmicks, and GeeGaws. But Nothing Beats Tradition—Noise Rules. Wrestling Venues. Is It Live or Is It TV?
Watch Out for That Flying Wrestler. Great Arenas Make a Difference.
Our Favorite Arenas. A Night to Remember. When You're Ready to Rumble.
V. SPELLING WRESTLING WITH SIX LETTERS: A-C-T-I-O-N.
21. Rowdy Rivalries.
Kerry Von Erich Versus Ric Flair. Dusty Rhodes Versus Kevin Sullivan.
The Midnight Rider Makes the Scene. Rhodes Returns.
Bruno Sammartino Versus Superstar Billy Graham.
The Superstar Challenges the Legend. The Battle Is Engaged. A Title Lost—and Won.
Andre the Giant Versus Black Jack Mulligan. Ric Flair Versus Harley Race.
22. Grunt and Groan Grudge Matches.
Hulk Hogan Versus the Iron Sheik.
The Evil Foreigner Incarnate. Hulk Hogan to America's Defense. Dispatching the Dastardly Villain.
Ricky Steamboat Versus Ric Flair. The Undertaker Versus Kane. Eddy Guerrero Versus Chavo Guerrero Jr.. Jerry Lawler Versus Andy Kaufman. New Age Outlaws Versus Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie.
23. Greatest Matches of Yesteryear.
El Santo Versus Ciclone Veloz. The Dive. Edouard Carpentier Versus Lou Thesz.
Controversial Ending. Making New Champions.
Dick the Bruiser Versus Alex Karras.
Was It a Shoot? Bruiser Grows Bored.
24. Greatest Matches of Today.
El Hijo del Santo and Octagon Versus Love Machine and Eddy Guerrero.
Santo Lands on His Head. Octagon's Suicide Dive.
The Undertaker Versus Mankind: Hell in a Cell Match.
The First Fall. The Second Fall.
Goldberg Versus Hollywood Hogan.
Introduction of the Neck Flip. The Main Event. Hogan's Demise.
VI. ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: INNER (AND OUTER) WORKINGS OF THE RING.
25. Managers: Holding the Leash on 300-Pound Pulverizers.
Management 101. Learning the Managerial Ropes.
Running the Hype. Interviews for Managerial Fun and Profit. Perpetual Prankster.
Making the Match. Ringside Antics.
A Singular Case in Point. You Win Some, You Lose Some. Illegal Interference.
Management's Best.
26. Novelty Acts: What a (One-Ring) Circus!
Wrestling and Novelty Acts—A Match Made in Promoter's Heaven.
Bear Brawls. Depression Era Diversions. Bigger Is Best—for Pulling in Fans. Diminutive, Ain't They? Midgets in Wrestling.
Novelties of Today: Cage Matches.
The Modern Cage Match.
Crashing the Gate: Crossover Wrestlers. Newer Novelties.
With an Emphasis on the Ladder. Battle Royal. Three's a Crowd.
27. TV Wrestling: From the Ring to Your Living Room.
The Story Line's the Thing. The Announcers.
Old-Timers. Today's Announcers. The Wrestlers. The Managers and Valets. The Audience. The Networks.
28. So You Want to Be a Wrestling Star?
Training in the Early Days.
The College Football Connection. Amateur Wrestlers, Weight Lifters, Boxers: Everybody's Welcome.
Do You Have What It Takes? Choosing Your School. School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days. Making Your Moves.
Taking the Fall. Inside the Squared Circle.
Beyond the Basics. Moving On Up to the Big-Time.
29. Bone-Crushers and Back-Breakers: All the Right Moves.
Classic Submission Holds. A Plethora of Pins. Acrobats and Aerialists. Modern Moves. Winning Moves. Mistakes and Missed Moves. Convincing Blows. Pulling Your Punch. Getting Slap Happy. It's a Bird! It's a Plane! No, It's a 350-Pound Flying Wrestler! Getting a Leg Up. Kicking Is a Habit.
30. Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Pain: Tag Teams.
A Brief History of Tag Teams.
The Fabulous Kangaroos. The Need for Speed.
The Celebrity Effect. Road Warriors.
Team Players.
Breaking All the Rules. Matching Up the Maniacs. Head Cheese: Al Snow and Steve Blackman. The Dudleys.
APPENDIXES.
Appendix A. Who's Who in Pro Wrestling.
Appendix B. Title Histories.
Undisputed Champions. NWA/WCW World Title History.
NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) World Title. World Championship Wrestling.
WWF World Title History.
WWWF Title. WWF Title.
ECW World Title History.
Eastern Championship Wrestling.
Appendix C. Rasslin' Resources.
Official and Fan Web Sites. General Web Sites. Suggested Reading.
Appendix D. Fighting Words Glossary.
Appendix E. Collectibles Price Guide.
Index.
Anonymous
Posted December 16, 2004
I'm no idiot when it comes to the wrestling business. I know about the modern guys like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, but I also know of the legends like Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George and Killer Kowalski. This book was a great read for fans that would like to know of the old school stars like Terry Funk and Harley Race. Who else knows the business and could write a better book but one of wrestlings most famous men, Captain Lou Albano? I met many wrestlers in the book, like the Fabulous Moolah, Nick Bockwinkel, and Verne Gagne and have had it signed. That made me happy that i had bought the book and now I wish that they would come out with another one!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 28, 2002
Lou Albano has written a pretty darn good book about Pro Wrestling and clearly has a wealth of knowledge about the game he has given so much of his life to. Taking Bruno Sammartino as an area I found some things that needed correction or addition: Bruno Sammartino - never benched 565 lbs. for 38 reps! That was his all time best bench for 1 rep! He did bench 300 lbs. for 38 reps and that took place at Mid City Health Gym back in the late 60's. Lou fails to talk about how promoter Rudy Miller was the true genius in getting Sammartino intoduced to McMahon Sr. back in the late 50's. Albano fails to mention how Bruno and the WWF had their falling out...Bruno felt all his hard work to make the game respectable went to hell after McMahon Jr. employed tastless gimmicks that were vulgar, profane and perverse...things to which this day still upset Bruno. These are but a few things that could be better handled in the book. Overall the book reveals in great depth what really went on and still goes on in the game...finally putting to rest the many questions we all had as to exactly how they pulled it off to seem so 'real'. I hope Lou Albano considers these and other areas he could work to improve on future additions.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 25, 2001
This book was so good, it blew me off my feet! It was a book I would never stop reading. If you haven't read it, buy it ASAP! I give it 5 *Stars*
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Overview
Written by Captain Lou Albano, the "godfather of wrestling," this book tells you the history of the stars, leagues, and moves of pro-wrestling. It includes updated coverage of WCW and WWF, of wrestling as a business, and of today's hottest stars and biggest promoters. If you want to be a wrestler, this book tells you how to get started in the business.