He's been booed, reviled, and burned in effigy. Fans have hurled everything from beer bottles to fists at him. Industry critics have spewed a tremendous amount of venom about his spectacular rise and stupendous crash at World Championship Wrestling. But even today, Eric Bischoff's revolutionary influence on the pro wrestling industry can be seen on every television show and at every live event. Bischoff has kept quiet while industry "pundits" and other know-it-alls pontificated about what happened during the infamous Monday Night Wars. Basing their accounts on third- and fourth-hand rumors and innuendo, the so-called experts got many more things wrong than right. Now, in "Controversy Creates Cash," Bischoff tells what "really" happened.Beginning with his days as a salesman for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association, Bischoff takes readers behind the scenes of wrestling, writing about the inner workings of the business in a way never before revealed. He demonstrates how controversy helped both WCW and WWE. Eric gives the "real" numbers behind WCW's red ink -- far lower than reported -- and talks about how Turner Broadcasting's merger with Time Warner, and then Time Warner's merger with AOL, devastated not only WCW but many creative and entrepreneurial businesses within the conglomerate. Bischoff has surprisingly kind words for old rivals like Vince McMahon, but pulls no punches with friends and enemies alike.Among his revelations: How teaming with Mickey Mouse turned WCW into a national brand. Why Hulk Hogan came to WCW. Why he fired Jesse Ventura for sleeping on the job. Why Steve Austin didn't deserveanother contract at WCW, and how Bischoff's canning him was the best thing that ever happened to Austin. How Ted Turner decided WCW should go head-to-head against "Raw" on Monday nights. How "Nitro" revolutionized wrestling. Where the New World Order really began. How corporate politics killed WCW. And how he found his inner heel and learned to love being the guy everyone loves to despise.Bischoff brings a surprisingly personal touch to the story, detailing his rough-and-tumble childhood in Detroit, talking about his family and the things he did to cope with the stress of the high-octane media business. Now a successful entertainment producer as well as a wrestling personality, Bischoff tells how he found contentment after being unceremoniously "sent home" from WCW.Love him or hate him, readers will never look at a pro wrestling show quite the same way after reading Bischoff's story in "Controversy Creates Cash,"

    He's plied his trade around the world, building a legion of fans spanning multiple generations. He's held the NWA Heavyweight title, and helped introduce a hardcore wrestling style that you see in the WWE and Japan today. He's made his mark in Hollywood, and acting in film and television. He's Terry Funk, and he's more than just hardcore.Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore is the life story of one of professional wrestling's most enduring and endearing figures. Terry talks about growing up in a wrestling family, including running a wrestling promotion with his father, Dory Funk Sr., and teaming with his brother and former fellow NWA Heavyweight champion, Dory Jr. Terry shares humorous road stories and anecdotes from his memorable feuds with Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Jerry Lawler, and many more. He shares his views on the wrestling business today, and why his retirements do not stick.

    While still in high school, Matt and Jeff decided to become professional wrestlers at any cost. In a business that usually prizes giants, they were told their aspirations were unreasonable and impossible. But after the tragic loss of their mother, they began to pursue their goals with unstoppable determination.The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire tells the story of Matt and Jeff Hardy's journey to WWE superstardom. Whether taking beatings from Razor Ramon and Nikolai Volkoff during their first WWE matches or winning the WWE Tag Team Championships against the Acolytes, the Hardy Boyz have experienced all the pains and pleasures that sports-entertainment has to offer. Their fast-moving, high-flying ring style has raised the bar for anyone who aims to follow in their footsteps.From receiving a standing ovation for their 1999 No Mercy ladder match against Edge and Christian to winning singles championships, Matt and Jeff have succeeded both as a team and as individuals. Still in their mid-twenties, the Hardyz have long careers ahead of them. The Hardy Boyz is the inspirational true story of two small-town North Carolina boys who clawed their way to the top of the magical world of professional wrestling and achieved their childhood dreams.

    Forget the ghost writer and the computer keyboard - this mesmerizing memoir is straight from the pen and notebook paper of the Hardcore Legend, Mick Foley, chronicling the heart-pounding build-up to "Lockdown," one of the most important matches of his long and storied career. Foley's every limit is tested, as he battles back the formidable tag-team of Father Time and Mother Nature - overcoming a host of injuries and serious self-doubts to get back in the ring with one of his all-time favorite foes. With his trademark blend of wit and wisdom, wildness and warmth, Foley dishes previously untold stories from his remarkable life, including his transition from WWE to TNA, his ill-fated stint as a television commentator, his tumultuous relationship with Vince McMahon, his thoughts on performance enhancing substances in sports, the troubling list of wrestlers dying way too young, and his soul saving work in Sierra Leone. Raw, dynamic, and unabashedly honest, COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN charts Foley's wrestling rebirth, and rise to heights that his fans thought he would never see again. "Publisher's Note: 100% of the advance for this book has been donated to Child Fund International and RAINN. "

    

    The bagpipe-playing legend gets down and dirty about the world of professional wrestling-and his own career. He takes readers back to his life as a teenage runaway and his first match, when he stepped into the ring for $25. He recalls his triumph as the youngest World Light Heavyweight Champion, and how he helped make the World Wrestling Federation the phenomenon it is today with little more than a microphone stand and a bow tie. From a man who joined the game long before it emerged as big-time entertainment comes a story that tells it like it is-and that's filled with as much excitement as the jam-packed arenas where he fought his fiercest foes.

    In June 2007 Benoit committed suicide after killing his wife and son, and the media coverage surrounding this event—as well as the facts of the case and its effects on professional wrestling—are all extensively addressed. Benoit’s life prior to and during his pro wrestling career is examined, as is his significant impact on the wrestling world and widespread popularity. This close-up look at one of pro wrestling’s greatest and most lamented figures also presents the place of his tragedy in the darker side of wrestling’s history.

    He tells all about his experiences with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon, and all the other personalities that every wrestling fan knows like a relative. Just like his career, this tell-all has no holds barred.

     To wrestling fans, the Nature Boy is a platinum-blond deity. A sixteen-time World Champion, "Slick Ric" could convince television viewers that a momentous life experience would pass them by if they missed an upcoming match. His opponents were challenged with this simple taunt: "To be the man, you have to beat the man." From the moment he was born, Richard Morgan Fliehr was enmeshed in controversy. Like many of the other children adopted through the Tennessee Children's Home Society, he had apparently been stolen from his birth parents. Raised just outside Minneapolis, Ric was a distracted student, a brilliant athlete, and a wild party boy. Then, a chance meeting with Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, directed Flair to the world of professional wrestling. In 1974, Flair relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, igniting the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling promotion. He was almost forced to retire a year later when his back was broken in a plane crash. Flair recuperated, and in 1981 he would win his first National Wrestling Alliance championship. As the most traveled champion ever, he once wrestled eighteen hour-long cards during a fourteen-day stretch. Before purchasing World Championship Wrestling in 1988, Ted Turner was given assurance that the Nature Boy would come with the package. But Flair's clashes with WCW management would drive him to World Wrestling Entertainment. When he later returned to WCW, Flair collided in and out of the ring with Hulk Hogan and -- as the company disintegrated -- began losing his self-esteem. Arriving back at WWE in 2001, Flair was a broken man. What he didn't realize was that wrestlers who'd grown up idolizing him now inhabited the locker room. With their support, he was finally able to claim his legacy and receive the credit he so richly deserved. To Be the Man traces the rise of one of wrestling's most enduring superstars to the pinnacle of the sports entertainment universe, and is a must-read for every wrestling fan.

    With only a guidebook for a companion, Amy set out for Mexico City to learn about "lucha libre," Mexico's professional wrestling. She returned to the States, resolute in her goal to be a professional wrestler.Amy found people who saw her determination and her heart, and agreed to train her. She met a number of wrestlers who would prove influential in her career. Among them were two North Carolina stars who had just signed with World Wrestling Entertainment -- Matt and Jeff Hardy. Amy formed an instant bond with the brothers; their high-flying bravado inspired her own ring style.It wasn't long before Amy -- now christened Lita -- joined WWE. She proved to be a pioneer in women's wrestling. It took a broken neck suffered on the set of a television series to stop her...but only temporarily. "Lita: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D -- The Reality of Amy Dumas" is the stirring tale of one young woman's amazing journey to the top of WWE.

    150,000 first printing.

    Revealing riveting stories about his participation in the 1980s and 1990s superstar wrestling team the Road Warriors, it recounts memorable fights with his partner Mike "Hawk" Hegstrand. He describes how he and Mike rose to become a revolutionary tag team—reinventing themselves with spiky accessories and wearing face paint before it was popular—and chronicles famous rivalries, movement between different wrestling associations, and dealing with Mike's longtime struggle with drugs and alcohol. He also invites fans into his personal life and discusses his family and newfound Christian faith. Featuring stories of incredible physical feats and deep-felt companionship, this testimony will help fans relive the glory days of a wrestling legacy.

    These are the true-life diary entries of a prison officer, working in one of the country’s worst correctional facility. The daily stabbings, rapes and murders are just the beginning of a nightmare ride into the darkness of life behind bars. It’s a raw and ruthless look behind the walls in all its brutal honesty. This is maximum-security.

    And now, for the first time anywhere, he tells you how he does it -- and how you can, too. Making The Game -- Triple H's Approach to a Better Body is Triple H's verbal and visual blueprint for building your body. He discusses how "a Jones for bodybuilding and a love for wrestling" morphed a skinny, 135-pound fourteen-year-old into one of the biggest Superstars in World Wrestling Entertainment. But be warned -- the "Cerebral Assassin" has two words for anyone who's not serious about the craft: "Complacency sucks!" He's spent the past twenty years living by the philosophy that training results in improved strength and conditioning, self-discipline, and an ability to focus on setting goals. This book isn't for pantywaists who'd rather exercise their egos. Triple H had help along the way. He didn't get to be "that damn good" without the support of a loving family. And over the years several bodybuilders (including world-renowned trainer Charles Glass) worked with him to develop the best training regimens. Their advice, plus hardcore commitment, helped Paul Levesque survive "The Hard Way In" through Walter "Killer" Kowalski's wrestling school and become "Terra Rising" in Kowalski's International Wrestling Federation; enabled him to adjust to a difficult life on the road as "the French guy" in World Championship Wrestling; and gave "Hunter Hearst-Helmsley" the self-assurance he needed to succeed. Making The Game breaks down and demonstrates the split-training workout program Triple H has embraced to achieve new levels of success in sculpting his body. Between drilling you with reps and sets, he relates how training gave him the inner strength to shoulder the brunt of a controversial "Curtain Call" in the ring and, later, to elevate his position with Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock as one of the "Big Three" in WWE. Relive the fateful Raw events of May 2001 that left Triple H with a torn quadriceps muscle. Then you too can feel "The Triple H Burn," the series of exercises he endured through nine months of physical therapy so he could resume his wrestling career. Besides offering the lowdown with step-by-step exercises for both novice bodybuilders and those looking to radically advance their workout, Making The Game weighs in on the science behind progressive-training resistance and rest-pause techniques; the significance of exercise form over volume; the truth behind achieving "six-pack abs"; the dangers of overtraining and "skullcrushing" exercises that risk injury; and how creativity can go a long way in your workout. Triple H sees it as his mission to provide the guidelines for you to follow in the months and years ahead. And if there's one thing he knows how to do, it's succeed. It's time to stop playing The Game...and time to start Making The Game.

    Outrageous costumes, cartoonish characters, and scripted story lines are featured in this retrospective look at the no-holds-barred stunts pro wrestling promoters have used to attract viewers.