|
Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling |  | Authors: Ole Anderson, Scott Teal
Publisher: Crowbar Press
Category: Book
Buy Used: $29.44
as of 9/5/2010 22:21 MST details
New (1) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $29.44
Seller: mediastoday
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 1190504
Media: Paperback
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0974554502
EAN: 9780974554501
ASIN: 0974554502
Publication Date: November 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Here, for the first time, Ole Anderson finally tells his story. The people who know him, know that Ole is never hesitant to speak his mind and this book is no exception. Combining facts and opinion, Ole's biography is a straightforward look at the many phases of his career in the wild, if somewhat seedy, world of professional wrestling. From his days in amateur wrestling, to the time when he hooked up with Gene and Lars Anderson as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Ole relates 30-plus years of never-before-told stories. Ole tells of his feuds, both inside the ring and out, with people like Ric Flair, Wahoo McDaniel, Mr. Wrestling, Dusty Rhodes, and Bill Watts. However, his biggest feuds took places behind the scenes in the halls and offices of corporate giant, Superstation WTBS. The matches in the ring were nothing compared to his battles with The Suits, corporate executives like Vince McMahon, Jim Barnett, Bill Shaw, Jim Herd, and Eric Bischoff. In Ole's own words, "The wrestling matches may have been staged and scripted, but there was nothing fake' about the corporate and legal battles." As a former wrestler, booker, promoter, owner, and executive producer, Ole goes deeper in the inner workings of professional wrestling than anyone ever has. He tells the stories about financial, legal, and drug problems that plagued the wrestling business. It doesn't matter whether you hate wrestling or love it. This is a powerful story about a man who stood up to the establishment. His insight, humor, and colorful use of the English language makes this a "no-holds barred" book that you won't be able to put down.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 Ole Anderson Trying to Convince Us of His Place in Wrestling History. March 2, 2009
John E. Davidson (El Paso, Mexico)
Overall the book is good. But, I have several problems with it. The overall theme seems not to be how the corporate world ruined professional wrestling but rather Ole trying to convince the reader of his rightful place in wrestling history.This is evidenced by a lot of honest and not so honest self evaluations. Reading between the lines he seems to be much higher of his booking ability than his wrestling ability and I would agree. A lot of the points he makes are often repeated to the point of redundancy. He is correct in how corporate America ruined professional. It is painful to hear how people who knew nothing about professional wrestling were given the authority to split from the NWA leaving it a shell of it's former self then run WCW into the ground. Overall this book was worth reading but not good enough to keep in my collection.
 An inside look on the death of WCW December 31, 2007
John Doc Holliday (Northern Virginia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having grown up watching Ole Anderson in the ring since I was about 12, I looked forward to this book. It is a fast read and full of inside information about the wrestling business. At times I shook my head in amazement at the utter mismanagement at WCW and how Anderson tried, in vain, to show The Suits how they were killing this once heralded federation.
The book could have done without some of the minutiae about the wrestling business, but it does give a great overview of the strategizing and politicking that goes on backstage. Anderson shows his passion for the business, and his honesty about the wrestling stars of today only reinforced my opinion of the cartoonish soap opera that wrestling has become. Anderson may have tooted his own horn a lot in the book, but he has every right to do so.
I highly recommend this book for any wrestling fan that wants to know the true backroom story of the wrestling business. Unlike a lot of the coporate shills writing wrestling books today, this book is brutal in its honesty, much like the Ole Anderson of old.
Same old tough guy talk January 9, 2007
M. James (Washington DC)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you like formulaic tough guy talk common to old time wrasslers of the"I was always the straightest talking, toughest guy in the room, who never lost a fight" vein this book is for you.
Although one must admire OLE'S honesty in admitting that he was never in the same class as the likes of Thesz and the old shooters as far as wrestling was concerned. Anderson's description of how new wrestling prospects were treated is chilling in its brutality. Opens your eyes to another side of the wrasslin business that's for sure.
Worth the buy if you are interested in one person and one person only's viewpoint with no room for alernative opinions or reasoned analysis. Then again it is a book about OLE ANDERSON and apparently that is him, so as an autobiogrpahy it serves it's purpose. Worth the buy but not in the same class as top flight wrestling books like "Hooker" and "Wrestlers are like Seagulls" in my opinion.
 Hey, Tough Guy October 13, 2006
Mr. Richard D. Coreno (Berea, Ohio USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
The Rock had a career in the ring and as a booker that covered the years dominated by the territories that made up the NWA to the emergence of two national companies - WCW and WWF - and some minor regional promotions.
Trained by Verne Gagne, Anderson's tough-guy persona pushed his career to main events with his "brothers," Gene & Lars and later with Arn, as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. He also was an original member of the Four Horsemen, with Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn and manager J.J. Dillon.
During his years in the ring, Anderson also worked booking matches for the promotions, which was a major way for top wrestlers to stay in the business as their careers wound down.
In the early 1990s, Anderson was part of the booking committee for WCW. He created The Black Scorpion and was the ominous voice that haunted Sting throughout the angle. In 1994, Anderson and his son - who was training to become a WCW grappler - were fired by Eric Bischoff. Since then, Anderson has mostly stayed away from the business.
This is where the book picks up Anderson's story and why the sub-title plays a major role throughout. The autobiographical material is outstanding and recommended for older fans or those wanting a history of pro wrestling as it evolved away from promoters having sliced up the country under the NWA monopoly.
The criticism Anderson dishes out - oftentimes aimed at Flair - gets as grating as The Black Scorpion's voice. Anderson has some good points, but only the biggest myopic would feel his outlook was the direction the business should have taken.
Overall, Anderson could not get out of character to deliver real solutions to the problems he saw in the office.
Good Stories but Sour Grapes February 23, 2006
TolCat (Albuquerque, NM USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
An interesting book, I loved Ole as one of the Four Horsemen, but to hear him denigrate Flair's wrestling skills taxed credulity.
If you've just seen Flair in WWE nowdays, you can be excused for buying Anderson's comments, but when you look at his classic matches with Ricky Steamboat, or Terry Funk (or Sting, back in the NWA days) you see a guy who could match (and exceed) each of these guys hold-for-hold. There are very few wrestlers nowdays (basically four: A.J. Styles, Shawn Michaels, Kurt ANgle and Chris Benoit) who could even hold their own with prime Flair.
Most of the rest are all products of Vince McMahon's sad circus that he passes off as Wrestling.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
|
|
|
(c) 2008 Pro Wrestling Book and Video. This site is not affiliated with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), or any other wrestling promotion. "WWE," "World Wrestling Entertainment," "WCW," "World Championship Wrestling," "ECW," "Extreme Championship Wrestling," all pay-per-view names preceded by "WWE," "Monday Night Raw," "Tough Enough," and various wrestling character names including "Stone Cold Steve Austin," "Batista," "Chyna," "Edge," "Nature Boy Ric Flair," "Latino Heat," "Hardy Boyz," "Y2J," "JBL," "J.R.," "Lita," "Triple H", and "Hunter Hearst Helmsley" are trademarks of World Wrestling Federation, Inc. All merchandise displayed on this site is sold through Amazon.com or its trusted third-party vendors. In no case is bootleg, copied, pirated or other illegal material knowingly sold through this site.
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | | About this site | Pro Wrestling Book and Video has teamed up with Amazon.com, the Internet's leading retailer, to provide you with access to the finest wrestling products, by the leading manufacturers, in one spot. Be sure to browse our complete menu at left to find merchandise by wrestler or federation.
Your purchases are protected by the Amazon.com terms of sale, including their world-class secure checkout and return policies.
Questions may be directed to info@prowrestlingbookandvideo.com. Please note that since orders are shipped through Amazon, questions about payment and order status may be answered more quickly by going to Amazon.com directly.
|
|
|
|
