Headlocks and Dropkicks

Headlocks and Dropkicks
Author: Ted Kluck
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2009-06-22
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0313354820

Is it sport or is it entertainment? As presented by World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., the most well-known promoter of professional wrestling, it is hard for the uninitiated to tell. A refuge for the very athletic, and often a breeding ground for the highly dysfunctional, professional wrestling is, in the truest sense, life on the fringes. Headlocks and Dropkicks: A Butt-Kicking Ride through the World of Professional Wrestling chronicles sportswriter Ted A. Kluck's effort to become a professional wrestler at a popular wrestling school in the suburbs of Chicago. In training to become a wrestler, Kluck was able to delve into the traveling-circus elements of the sport and talk to the people who make it work—promoters, bookers, and the wrestlers themselves. Wrestling has weathered manifold changes in American taste to survive and thrive as it does today. Kluck examines the tension between the good vs. evil tales that permeated wrestling in the early to mid 1980s, along with the seamy soap opera storylines that seem to drive it today. He also takes time to catch up with the biggest stars the sport has produced—some of whom have parlayed their fame into financial security and others who are currently looking to reclaim their past glory.

Twin Cities Sports

Twin Cities Sports
Author: Sheldon Anderson
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2020-02-03
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1610756789

The histories in Twin Cities Sports are rooted in the class, ethnic, and regional identity of this unique upper midwestern metropolitan area. The compilation includes a wide range of important studies on the hub of interwar speedskating, the success of Gopher football in the Jim Crow era, the integration of municipal golf courses, the building of a world-renowned park system, the Minneapolis Lakers’ basketball dynasty, the Minnesota Twins’ connections to Cuba, and more.

The Rise & Fall of ECW

The Rise & Fall of ECW
Author: Thom Loverro
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2007-05-22
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1416561560

Independent wrestling promotions were once the norm all across the country. However, with the rise of World Wrestling Entertainment and the creation of World Championship Wrestling -- out of three Southern promotions -- the possibility of an independent succeeding grew fainter and fainter. As the nineties began, independents were looking for creative ways to survive. In the East, several banded together to share cost and talent; they were known as Eastern Championship Wrestling. Based out of a warehouse in Philadelphia that stored parade floats and hosted bingo, this promotion seemed doomed to be just one more ninety-day wonder. When they hired a brash New Yorker, Paul Heyman, he warned Eastern Championship Wrestling that the job was just temporary. He would come in, shake up a lot of the wrestlers, and then leave. But what Heyman did redefined professional wrestling in the nineties. What he created was a company that dared to push the boundaries of sports entertainment. What he created became Extreme Championship Wrestling. As the person responsible for booking -- who was going to wrestle and who was going to win -- Heyman dared to break with tradition. Rather than relying on local talent and down-and-out veterans to draw in crowds, he created new characters and story lines that would appeal to the core wrestling fans: eighteen- to twenty-four- year-old men. Paul also realized that to persuade them to come, you had to get their interest and keep it. You had to offer the fans more than just the match. ECW became known for the interview, the shoot. Heyman got to know each wrestler's style, and in their interviews he would encourage them to speak from their hearts. When it came to the matches, ECW broke even farther from the mainstream. Tables, ladders, chairs, barbed wire, and even frying pans were used with abandon. Wrestlers not wanting to be topped put their bodies on the line, taking ever greater risks, daring to jump, leap, and fall from places never tried before. ECW matches became the stuff of legend. Word spread as savvy wrestling fans began talking about the promotion and exchanging tapes. To keep the buzz building, wrestlers used the age-old trick of taunting the fans, and ECW fans responded in kind. By including the fans in the shows, ECW attracted a rabid, cult-like following that is still going strong today. For nearly a decade, ECW redefined professional wrestling with a reckless, brutal, death-defying, and often bloody style that became synonymous with "hardcore." Through extensive interviews with former ECW talent and management -- Paul Heyman, Mick Foley, Tazz, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, and many more -- The Rise & Fall of ECW reveals what made this upstart company from Philadelphia great -- and what ultimately led to its demise.

The Boy from Nowhere Street

The Boy from Nowhere Street
Author: David Meah
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2019-02-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0244761000

When young David is born on a cold January winters day, a tragic accident leaves him parentless and alone; he steps into a series of life events that peak through to the extremes, celebrating the highs and sharing the lows as he grows to adolescence. We join in with the trials of making friends, and the tribulation of losing them. From newborn to a teenager, his journey through life is an emotional roller-coaster adventure. We witness the very raw feelings of individuality due to his skin colour in a predominantly white suburb of Leeds (England) during the 1960's and 1970's, and the difficulties that can be caused by simple-mindedness and an old way of thinking. "The Boy from Nowhere Street" puts the reader into the heart of the action, almost as a friend of David'. Watching the events unfold as they happen? giving this an authentic feeling and a gritty truth that can be both uplifting and sometimes difficult to handle.

Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels
Author: Stephen Ciacciarelli
Publisher: Infobase Learning
Total Pages: 61
Release: 2013
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1438146515

A biography of pro wrestler Shawn Michaels, from childhood to gifted athlete to world heavyweight champion.

Wrestling's One Ring Circus

Wrestling's One Ring Circus
Author: Scott Keith
Publisher: Citadel Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2004
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780806526195

For almost twenty years, the world wrestling federation ruled under the big top of sports entertainment... Then it all came crashing down. But how did things get so bad so quickly? What really triggered the federation's self-destruction? And how did a man acknowledged as a genius in business, promotion, and entertainment, a latter-day P.T. Barnum of wrestling's greatest show on earth, become his own worst enemy? All will be revealed in this shocking, entertaining, and always witty foray into the One Ring Circus that is pro wrestling.

Hardcore Wrestling!

Hardcore Wrestling!
Author: Tyler Christian
Publisher: Sybex
Total Pages: 148
Release: 1999
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9780782126914

This full-color guide covers the whole wrestling phenomenon, including moves, cheats, and strategies for all the top-selling wrestling video games. Inside information topics include: photos and profiles on top performers; background history; league information; wrestling moves and holds; and more.

Pain and Passion

Pain and Passion
Author: Heath McCoy
Publisher: ECW Press
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2010-12-14
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1554902991

The wild blood-on-the-mat saga of the rise and fall of the infamous Stampede Wrestling company.

WWE Wrestlemania 21

WWE Wrestlemania 21
Author: Debra McBride
Publisher: Prima Games
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2005
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 9780761547785

How will you become a Legend? Create the ultimate WWE Superstar Complete breakdown of all Superstar moves How to humiliate your opponents and make them feel the pain Get the most out of the WWE Shopzone Dominate in the ring with detailed strategies on every match type

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Dwayne
Author: Marylou Kjelle
Publisher: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc.
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2013-05
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1612285481

It hasn’t always been an easy road for superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He could easily have let his troubles in high school, and his disappointment at not being drafted by the NFL, bring him down. But Dwayne comes from strong stock—his grandfather, Peter Maivia, a Samoan High Chief, was a legendary wrestler, and his father, Rocky Johnson, is also a professional wrestling champion. As Dwayne himself will admit, his heritage is what makes him a winner—both in the ring and out. From professional wrestling champion to bestselling author to movie star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson traces the story and many rock-solid careers of this larger-than-life personality.