Breaking Kayfabe

In 2012, three friends -- Dan Lambert, Robert Mitchell and John Menhennet -- decided to invite one of the legends of professional wrestling to dinner, where they could talk to him about his experiences both inside and out of the squared circle. They enjoyed themselves so much that they invited other friends -- Jeff Bowdren, Bob McKeon, Greg Goode, and Duane Long -- to join them for what would turn out to be a series of dinners with the wrestlers they idolized during the '70s and '80s. The group members, all of whom lived in South Florida and came from all walks of life, began referring to themselves as "The South Florida Marks." One of the members, Jeff Bowdren, had been a wrestling fan since the early '70s. His fascination with the wrestling business led him to visit arenas all over the Southeast, and in 1987, across the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo, Japan, where the wrestling bug bit him hard. In 1991, Jeff became the first (and only) person to write a regular column for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, one of the first publications to pull back the curtain that hid the behind-the-scenes manipulations of the professional wrestling business. Since then, Jeff has been known by everyone as "The Booker." Since the first dinner he attended, he has taken notes and recorded 24 interviews filled with anecdotes, tales of the road, and wrestling history. This book is the product of his efforts.Interviews with: Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Bob Backlund, Dutch Mantell, Gerry Brisco, J.J. Dillon, Jerry Lawler, Kevin Sullivan, Larry Zbyszko, Masked Superstar, Paul Jones, Paul Orndorff, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Ron Bass, Stan Hansen, Steve Keirn, Ted DiBiase, Terry (Magnum TA) Allen, Terry Funk, Terry Taylor, Tommy Rich, Tully BlanchardAlso included are interviews with Karl Gotch, Great Malenko & Tom Nash

Filled with insightful analysis and compelling arguments, this book considers the influence of sports on popular culture and spotlights the fascinating ways in which sports culture and American culture intersect. This collection blends historical and popular culture perspectives in its analysis of the development of sports and sports figures throughout American history. American History through American Sports: From Colonial Lacrosse to Extreme Sports is unique in that it focuses on how each sport has transformed and influenced society at large, demonstrating how sports and popular culture are intrinsically entwined and the ways they both reflect larger societal transformations. The essays in the book are wide-ranging, covering topics of interest for sports fans who enjoy the NFL and NASCAR as well as those who like tennis and watching the Olympics. Many topics feature information about specific sports icons and favorite heroes. Additionally, many of the topics' treatments prompt engagement by purposely challenging the reader to either agree or disagree with the author's analysis.

The millions of fans who watch World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) programs each year are well aware of their role in building the narrative of the sport. #WWE: Professional Wrestling in the Digital Age explores the intersections between media, technology, and fandom in WWE's contemporary programming and business practices. In the Reality Era of WWE (2011 to the present), wrestling narratives have increasingly drawn on real-life personalities and events that stretch beyond the story-world created and maintained by WWE. At the same time, the internet and fandom have a greater influence on the company than ever before. By examining various sites of struggle and negotiation between WWE executives and in-ring performers, between the product and its fans, and between the company and the rest of the wrestling industry, the contributors to this volume highlight the role of various media platforms in shaping and disseminating WWE narratives. Treating the company and its product not merely as sports entertainment, but also as a brand, an employer, a company, a content producer, and an object of fandom, #WWE conceptualizes the evolution of professional wrestling's most successful company in the digital era.

From the creators of the official WWE Encyclopedia, WWE 50 gives you the behind-the-scenes knowledge to become the ultimate WWE fan! Learn the Real Story Behind Key Events in WWE History: The split from the National Wrestling Alliance. Controversial figures and events from all eras. National expansion and the perilous risk involved. The legal and financial strife that nearly devastated WWE. Triumph in the Monday Night Wars. Innovations of WrestleMania, Raw, SmackDown, Survivor Series, and more! With Stunning Visuals and Insider Commentary.

This book examines how the current era of "convergence" has affected, and is reflected in, the world of professional wrestling, which combines several different genres, including drama, action, comedy, horror, science fiction, and even romance. Professional wrestling’s business practices exist at the intersection of bottom-up fan-centric strategies and strict top-down corporate control. Meanwhile, the wrestlers themselves combine aspects of carnival hucksters, actors/actresses, comedians, superheroes, martial artists, or stuntmen, and the narratives consist of everything from social critique to geopolitical allegories, and from soap opera melodramas to stereotyped exploitation. Bringing together the latest scholarship in the field, Convergent Wrestling analyzes various texts, business practices, and fan activities to explore the commonalities that define professional wrestling and consider how it exists in today’s new media ecology. In addition, the book considers the professional wrestling industry from several different angles, from massive multinational conglomerate World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to local indie federations. As such, it will appeal to scholars with interests in popular culture, media and cultural studies, and fan practices.

“In an era of ‘alternative facts,’ Rex Sorgatz’s The Encyclopedia of Misinformation helps put things in perspective.” —Fast Company This compendium of misinformation, deception, and self-delusion throughout history examines fakery in the context of science and advertising, humor and law, sports and video games, and beyond. Entries span eclectic topics: Artificial Intelligence, Auto-Tune, Chilean Sea Bass, Clickbait, Cognitive Dissonance, Cryptids, False Flag Operations, Gaslighting, Gerrymandering, Kayfabe, Laugh Tracks, Milli Vanilli, P.T. Barnum, Photoshopping, Potemkin Villages, Ponzi Schemes, Rachel Dolezal, Strategery, Truthiness, and the Uncanny Valley. From A to Z, this is the definitive guide to how we are tricked, and how we trick ourselves. “Occasional salty language and pop-culture references make this compendium of 300 short entries a delightful mix of high- and lowbrow.” —Booklist

Professional Wrestling and the Commercial Stage examines professional wrestling as a century-old, theatrical form that spans from its local places of performance to circulate as a popular, global product. Professional wrestling has all the trappings of sport, but is, at its core, a theatrical event. This book acknowledges that professional wrestling shares many theatrical elements such as plot, character, scenic design, props, and spectacle. By assessing professional wrestling as a neglected but prototypical case study in the global business of theatre, Laine argues that it is an exemplary form of globalizing, commercial theatre. He asks what theatre scholars might learn from pro wrestling and how pro wrestling might contribute to conversations beyond the ring, by considering the laboring bodies of the wrestlers, and analyzing wrestling’s form and content. Of interest to scholars and students of theatre and performance, cultural studies, and sports studies, Professional Wrestling and the Commercial Stage delimits the edges of wrestling’s theatrical frame, critiques established understandings of corporate theatre, and offers key wrestling concepts as models for future study in other fields.