Batista Unleashed

People around the world know Dave Batista as World Wrestling Entertainment's "the Animal," the rope-shaking, spine-busting World Heavyweight Champion, one of the most popular Superstars in recent years.The crowd turned Batista from heel to babyface after they were electrified by his awesome physique and physical wrestling style. Few fans, however, know that Batista didn't join the profession until he was thirty years old -- an age at which many wrestlers are thinking about hanging up their boots. Nor do most fans know the tremendous toll the climb to the top has taken on Batista's personal life. While successfully staying away from hard drugs and -- usually -- liquor, he found sex too tempting to resist. "Women were my drug of choice," the Animal confesses. That addiction cost him his marriage, destroying a relationship that had helped him climb from poverty to the pinnacle of sports entertainment in less than two years. Now, in Batista Unleashed, the WWE Superstar comes clean about the choices he made and the devastating effects they had on his family. He talks about the injury that stripped him of his title -- an injury he blames on Mark Henry's carelessness. While being sidelined cost Batista untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income, it also set the stage for a tremendous comeback that cemented the Animal's reputation as a true champion. Batista talks about growing up in the worst part of Washington, D.C., where three murders occurred in his front yard before he was nine. He speaks lovingly about his mother -- a lesbian -- and how hard she worked to keep the family not just together but alive. He talks candidly about his own criminal past: a conviction on a drug charge and another, since overturned, on assault. He speaks of his days as a bouncer and a lifeguard, and tells how bodybuilding may have saved his life. Once he made it to the WWE, Batista realized he wasn't really ready for the big time. His career seemed headed for a fall until Fit Finlay took him under his wing. But his real education came when he joined Evolution and rode with Triple H and Ric Flair, two of sports entertainment's all-time greats. Batista talks about what they taught him, and details some of their wild times on the road. But the champ also reveals a kinder, gentler side. While his soft-spoken manner in the locker room has sometimes been misinterpreted as arrogance, in truth Batista's always been somewhat shy and quiet. Emotional by nature, he reveals for the first time that the tears fans saw at WrestleMania 21, when he won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, were very real. And he speaks movingly about his problems with his ex-wives and teenage daughters, and how it felt to become a grandfather. While his straight-shooting mouth has occasionally gotten him into trouble -- most notably in a backstage confrontation with Undertaker after some remarks about SmackDown! -- Batista is his own harshest critic. He explains his early limitations as a wrestler and the work he has done to overcome them. Interspersing his memoir with accounts from life on the road, Batista lightens the narrative with a surprising sense of humor. An Animal in the ring, he reveals himself as an honest and even humble man in everyday life.

The “baddest man on the planet,” undisputed, three-time WWE Champion and current UFC World Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesner, shares his true personal story of determination, domination, and survival in Death Clutch. A raw, no-holds-barred memoir from one of the most popular—and polarizing—figures in sports entertainment and professional mixed martial arts, Death Clutch is an essential volume for every WWE and Ultimate Fighting fan.

He's called the human highlight reel of professional wrestling. His high-flying acrobatics have thrilled fans on every continent. He's been crowned champion of the world's greatest wrestling promotions, from Mexico to the U.S. But he's never revealed the inside story of who he is. Until now. Wrestling fans know him as Rey Mysterio, an American luchador of unparalleled talent, the ultimate proof that good things come in small packages. Now for the first time, Rey adds the personal side to the story: • How he had to fight to get a tryout in the ring • Who he was before Rey Misterio Jr. -- and even before Colibri, usually noted as his first identity • What it was like to wrestle in Mexico -- from the bullrings to the riots • How he fought plans for his unmasking in WCW -- and why he wishes he hadn't succeeded • The inside story of the 619, the West Coast Pop, and his other signature moves • The impact of Eddie Guerrero on his career in WWE • The personal struggle that cost him ring time in 2008 but ultimately made him a stronger man • His real passion in life as husband and father In Rey Mysterio: Behind the Mask, Rey talks candidly about his twenty-plus-year career, from the days of sneaking into bars as a fourteen-year-old to his most recent showdowns in WWE. He speaks of the emotional moments in the ring with his uncle Rey Misterio, and the dark days when he went under the knife to repair his damaged knee. Along the way, Mysterio introduces American audiences to the mysteries of lucha libre, the high-flying, anything-goes Mexican wrestling style that he has done so much to popularize in the U.S. He also talks about the debts he owes to wrestlers such as Konnan, known as the Mexican Hulk Hogan, and dishes some behind-the-scenes dirt on the collapse of WCW at the height of the Monday Night Wars. Mysterio talks tenderly -- but realistically -- of his friend Eddie Guerrero, providing a well-rounded picture of one of the most beloved wrestling figures of recent history. He also details his march toward the Heavyweight Championship, and his mastery of the WWE Triple Crown -- a feat that placed him in an elite group for all time. Behind the Mask is the intimate portrait of one of wrestling's all-time greats, a story wrestling fans of all ages won't want to miss.

Under Eric Bishoff's watch as president of WCW, the company went head to head with Vince McMahon's WWE and beat them at their own game before WCW itself spectacularly imploded. But by then, Bishoff had made an indelible mark on televised wrestling, producing shows that had appeared more dangerous, more sexy, and more edgy than anything that had come before. He did this to such an extent that in 2002, McMahon seized the chance to bring in his former nemesis as General Manager of RAW; since then, true to form, Bishoff regularly surprises fans with matches that would once have been unthinkable for television. In this revelatory look at his life and career, Bishoff frankly discusses the things he did, both right and wrong, as he helped shape the sports entertainment industry into today's billion dollar business.

Inside the Minds: Innovation Unleashed is the most authoritative book ever written on the intricacies within, the power around and the impact of the creative element in marketing communications. Featuring the chief creatives from some of the world's leading Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations firms, this book provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of the role of the creative in developing successful, innovative campaigns. From conceptualizing and evaluating ideas, turning them into effective communication vehicles and revamping a tired brand into one with true staying power, authors articulate the finer points around building brand loyalty and expressing creative freedom now, and what will hold true into the future. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside the truly great creative minds of today, as experts from all sides offer up their thought around the keys to success within this fascinating realm of the communications industry.

Owen's wife Martha, tells the story of their life together from the days as high school sweethearts, through Owen's rise to fame in the WWF.

MOTHER, PART ONE. Industry icon MIRKA ANDOLFO presents an all-new vision for the She-Devil With A Sword, in a thrilling new ongoing series! Our story begins in a village on fire, set by members of the dreaded Three-Eyed Shezem. When Red Sonja arrives, the only survivor of the flame is a lively child with curious white tattoos. The child will become Sonja’s travel companion, on a journey from hardened ice to imposing forests, where dangerous secrets wait to be revealed… Begin a trailblazing adventure with MIRKA ANDOLFO (Unnatural, Mercy) and incredible artist GIUSEPPE CAFARO (Suicide Squad)! Neapolitan artist and writer, Mirka Andolfo is one of the most complete and eclectic Italian creators in the international field. Her Mercy series was published almost simultaneously in Italy (November 2019, Panini Comics), France (January 2020, Éditions Glénat) and United States (March 2020, Image Comics). Her ControNatura (Panini Comics) is one of the most successful Italian series of the last few years. Published in the USA by Image Comics under the title Unnatural, it’s a best-selling hit with several reprints already. Andolfo has been collaborating with DC Comics since 2015, having lent her pencils to such titles as Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Bombshells, Teen Titans, Green Arrow, R.W.B.Y. and Hex Wives. Also as an artist, she’s drawn comics for Dynamite and Aspen, as well as some short stories for Vertigo and DC’s Young Animal, and she’s working on covers for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Valiant, BOOM! Studios, Aspen, Zenescope.

His way with words has served Adam Copeland well. It was his writing that opened the doors to his future career as a WWE Superstar, when he won a newspaper essay competition for which his prize included free wrestling training. In 2002, while sidelined with a serious neck injury, he began to write a weekly column for wwe.com, giving fans an insight into the life of one of their favourite performers. It was the fan response to this column that led WWE Books to ask him to write his autobiography. ADAM COPELAND ON EDGE takes the reader inside the world of professional wrestling, a world you can only truly know – and write about – if you have experienced it in the ring. But more than that, this book also takes you inside the mind of one of wrestling's brightest stars, as with disarming candour he shares his feelings and his reflections, his inspirations, his highs and lows, his goals and ambitions, in thoughtful, articulate detail. You think you know EDGE? Read on and find out…