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.

Introduction by Stephen Osbourne One Ring Circus pays homage to the wrestling lifestyle that spawned such stars as Hulk Hogan and The Rock. Brian Howell spent three years following the circuit, amidst the backdrop of household lightbulbs, screaming sound systems and near-raid fans who are almost as colourful and outrageous as the wrestlers they clamour for. Capturing the visceral energy of a remarkable, near-clandestine community, this book is nothing short of inspirational. Includes more than 100 b/w photographs.

Disco Fury. Wrathchild. Bam-Bam Bambi. Ladies Choice. Backyard Billy. Cheerleader Melissa. Backwoods Militia. Gorgeous Michelle Starr. Welcome to the world of minor-league professional wrestling. For the past two decades, wrestling has enjoyed a huge following that has grown from cult status to one of the entertainment world's most lucrative industries, over the years creating mega-stars out of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Chynna, and The Rock. But for every WWF superstar there are countless wanna-be's: pretenders to wrestling's various thrones who hurl, pounce, pin down, and act out in community halls and high school gymnasiums across North America, paying their dues while counting the days before they get the call to the big leagues. One Ring Circus pays homage to the wrestling life: the sound and the fury heard amid the backdrop of household light bulbs, screaming sound systems, and near-rabid fans who are often as colourful and outrageous as the wrestlers they clamour for. Author and photographer Brian Howell spent three years following the wrestling circuit, and his book of images and narratives perfectly captures the visceral energy of a remarkable, near-clandestine community whose artful and out-there theatrics - alive and well somewhere between here and Palookaville - is nothing short of inspirational. Includes more than 100 black and white photographs.

Published together for the first time, this anthology of essays on boxing covers the sport in all its forms and at its many levels. Written in bestselling author Katherine Dunn's characteristic vernacular, these pieces range from portraits of legendary fighters such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, and Mike Tyson to the unsung stories of trainers, amateurs, promoters, cutmen, and a pair of pugilistic priests. Spanning 30 years and including all who make up the vibrant boxing world, this compilation--from one of the most original voices in American sports literature--finely elevates the sport and communicates its beauty, passion, and character.

In the do-whatever-it-takes world of the WWE, there has always been a system that guarantees happy audiences and successful careers-there's the good guys, and there's the bad guys. Over time, wrestlers may fade away, but this theme remains the same, with grudges, long-standing feuds, and an ever-changing roster of colorful characters driving the action. Until now. In this revealing look at the decline of the world's most popular sports entertainment franchise, Scott Keith uncovers a growing trend of favoritism and stagnation within the WWE that gives an elite group of stars a free ride-for as long as they want-with no worries of being retired. Ultimately the fans are the big losers because waiting in the wings is a group of talented young wrestlers eager to prove themselves in the ring. But getting to the top in the WWE takes more than good moves, because if you want to have it made-you have to be made. Book jacket.

Despite its status as one of the oldest and most enduringly popular sports in history, wrestling has been pushed to the background of the current American sports scene. Most people today would have a hard time even considering wrestling (with some of its modern theatrics) in the same terms as track and field or boxing. But until the 1920s, wrestling stood as a legitimate professional sport in this country, and a widely practiced amateur one as well. Its past respectability may not have endured, but the advent of cable television in the 1980s offered the sport a renewed opportunity to play a determining role in American popular culture. This opportunity was not wasted, and wrestlers now assume places in politics and film at the highest levels. Ringside, the first work to fully examine the history of professional wrestling in this country, provides an illuminating and colorful account of all of the various athletes, entertainers, businessmen, and national outlooks that have determined wrestling's erratic route through American history. This chronological work begins with a brief account of wrestling's global history, and then proceeds to investigate the sport's growth as a specifically American institution. Wrestling has continued to survive in the face of technological developments, scandals, public ridicule, and a lack of centralized control, and today this supremely adaptable entertainment form represents, in sum, an international industry capable of attracting enormous television and pay-per-view audiences, along with massive amounts of advertising and merchandizing revenue. Ringside focuses on the business of wrestling as well as on the performers and their in-ring antics, and offers readers a fully nuanced examination of the development of professional wrestling in America.