Synopses & Reviews
This detailed tell-all of the demise of the former top pro wrestling company World Championship Wrestling explores the colorful personalities and flawed business decisions behind how WCW went from being the highest-rated show on cable television in 1997 to a laughable series that lost 95 percent of its paying audience by 2001. Behind-the-scenes exclusive interviews, rare photographs, and probing questions illustrate with humor and candor how greed, egotism, and bad business shattered the thriving enterprise. Wrestling fans will devour the true story of this fallen empire, which in its heyday spawned superstars such as Sting, Bill Goldberg, and the New World Order.
Review
"A must-read for fans who want to be taken behind the scenes." New York Daily News
Review
"A history book that anyone who has an interest in professional wrestling should read." epinions.com
Review
"The exhilaration created by the dueling companies comes alive on the pages." Wrestling Observer Newlsetter
Synopsis
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, however, everything had bottomed out. The company -- having lost a whopping 95% of its audience -- was sold for next to nothing to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. WCW was laid to rest.
How could the company lose its audience so quickly? Who was responsible for shows so horrible that fans fled in horror? What the hell happened to cause the death of one of the largest wrestling companies in the world? The Death of World Championship Wrestling is the first book to take readers through a detailed dissection of WCW's downfall.
Synopsis
Behind-the-scenes interviews, rare photos, and probing questions illustrate with humor and candor how greed, egotism, and bad business shattered World Championship Wrestling. 50 photos, 20 in full color.
About the Author
R. D. Reynolds is the author of
WrestleCrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling and the creator of WrestleCrap.com. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Bryan Alvarez is the editor of the
Figure Four Weekly newsletter, which has covered pro wrestling and mixed martial arts since 1995. He is a writer for WrestlingObserver.com, cohost of the
Wrestling Observer Live radio show on Sports Byline USA, and former columnist for
Penthouse. He is an independent pro wrestler. He lives in Portland, Oregon.