National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Professional Wrestling Kindle Edition

Great book. I like all of the books the author has made about wrestling. Gotta get the Ric Flair one...

371 pages finally telling us the WHOLE TRUTH about professional wrestling from the very beginning to the fall of the wrestling organization from which all others came. THE NWA! Shocker! Some wrestling matches especially championship matches are real! Champions had to have the ability to protect the title when doublecrossed! This was called a shoot match. You had to hurt your opponent or lose the belt. Back in the day you could see some matches were scripted but some were REAL! Bad blood, greed, or ego caused some to disregard the script and go for it! True some of this book is boring. Especially the beginning. But overall if you are really a wrestling fan you NEED this education. From then on you will view matches differently. WWF fans find out the real beginning of your wrestling world and the WHOLE story of the McMahon family from 1866.AWA fans find out that your Verne Gagne might have been the greatest of them all. World class fans find out about Frityz Von Erich. And lifetime wrestling fans relive matches and names you have long forgotten! Did you know Champions have to post a bond in case they go rouge? Many of you have a grand dad or dad who was an avid rassling fan. This book would make a GREAT gift for him. A chance to relive some of his happiest memories.

As a bit of an amateur pro wrestling historian, I found a lot of value with this book. It gives you the ins-and-outs of the creation of the National Wrestling Alliance and how it supplanted the National Wrestling Association as the main governing body of pro wrestling. The author gave good biographies of the NWA champions, and the political wrangling behind the scenes that made them champions. He also gives biographies of the promoter/members of the NWA, which is extremely useful.The history of the federal government's anti-trust investigation is convoluted, and can be a bit hard to follow at times.This book is over-all well-written, and is an easy read IF you have some knowledge of the subject and the different "characters." Even if this is your first foray into this subject, stick to it and read it a time or two.Pros: Great source of information on the formation of the NWA, which was the main pro wrestling organization in the USA for nearly 40 years. The bios on the promoters and champions were interesting and insightful.Cons: Readers new to this material may have a little trouble with the anti-trust investigation section, because there are a lot of people involved.The pros far outweigh the cons for this book.

Great read!

An absolutely excellent book, exhaustively researched, well written, highly informative. It goes into meticulous and sometimes exhaustive detail about the history of the NWA from it's 1948 formation (and its early precursors) until 2007 when the book was written. Covering the founders, promoters, promotions, the champions, challengers, and the Alliance's adversaries, including the details of the anti-trust suit brought against them, this book is among the best books ever written on the subject of professional wrestling. I highly recommend it to anyone that is serious about knowing about the NWA.

Got this for a birthday gift

The research by author Tim Hornbaker on the early history of professional wrestling, leading to the birth, glory years and fall of the NWA, is nothing short of spectacular. But the book ultimately fails to deliver a winning move on the premise that the "monopoly" of the NWA somehow did damage to the industry.Covering the beginning of the organization in 1948, with six founding members from across the nation, Hornbaker separates specific periods of the NWA with features on legendary wrestlers and personalities.The focus of the text concerns a federal investigation in the 1950s concerning alleged monopolistic practices, which was settled in 1956 through an agreement signed by the NWA on specific guidelines to permit competition by independent promoters.Under the leadership of Sam Muchnick - NWA president from 1950-1960 - pro wrestling emerged out of a substantial troubled economic period into a decade of great popularity - fueled by TV - and recognizable champions and belts. This was not sports-entertainment by any stretch of the imagination.There are few wrestling books which delve into the subject with such depth, while placing events in a real historical perspective. And instead of being a stranglehold, it can be argued that the NWA kept the industry honest for the talent by having strict rules that promoters must adhere to; importantly, that they have the financial means to operate a territory.

This just might be the best book on the history of pro wrestling that I've ever read.

Tim Hornbaker hat verdammt viel Arbeit in das Buch gesteckt und nennt kleinste Details (besipielsweise in welchem Hotelzimmer die jährlichen Meetings des NWA Boards waren). Für Wrestling Fans, die es historisch aufgearbeitet mögen, ein absolutes Muss

A fantastic book

... liest dieses Buch. Es besticht durch seine Objektivität und Genauigkeit! Eine Fortsetzung bis in die heutige Zeit wäre wünschenswert. :D

To write a comprehensive analysis of the history of the NWA would probably take over 1,000 pages and only ever be read by the most ardent of wrestling fans, so Tom Hornbaker has attempted to do it in less than 400 pages, and has made a pretty good fist of it. The book details the prominent champions, legal wranglings, championship disputes, territorial competition, corruption versus co-operation, and so many different personalities vying for more influence in the NWA. It also proves that underhand tactics like large cash payoffs, creating a wide scale monopoly over business practices, and screwjobs at the finish of wrestling matches were all in existence long before Vince McMahon Jr entered the fray of 'sports entertainment'. My main criticism of this book is that it badly needs an index for easier referencing, and also some appendices clearly laying out title lineages (or even promotional / leadership lineages ) would have been useful. That said, as much as casual wrestling fans will probably be put off by this tome being somewhat turgid to get through in places, more devoted wrestling historians should find a lot of enjoyment from discovering detailed knowledge about the creation and development of one the most important companies of professional wrestling's past.

Lots of details, no narrative. Worthy but boring. Nothing really to engage the reader, I'm afraid. Definitely not worth the money.