GuyEvansBooks.com
Super Bowl Special: All 5 Guy Evans Books for $99 OR $25 EACH (FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING)
Super Bowl Special: All 5 Guy Evans Books for $99 OR $25 EACH (FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING)
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This bundle is NOT available anywhere else!
It includes ALL FIVE books written by 'NITRO' author Guy Evans!
As seen on 'Who Killed WCW' - the acclaimed VICE TV series!
PLUS...Free WORLDWIDE shipping is included!
Over 2,000 pages in total!
Alternatively, Customize your order and get any INDIVIDUAL book for just $25!
NITRO Synopsis
In April 1999, Entertainment Weekly asked its readers what many in America were suddenly wondering to themselves: how did wrestling get so big?
As a consequence of the heated ratings competition between World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), the spectacle had taken over Monday nights on prime-time cable television. But in a departure from the family-friendly programming produced by the last industry boom - the 1980s wave, which made household names of Hulk Hogan, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant - the new era of wrestling combined stunning athleticism with a raunchy sex appeal, engrossing story lines and novel production techniques that reflected a changing society and its shifting values.
Once again, wrestling was a ubiquitous phenomenon - only this time, it seemed as though the fad would never end. With both WCW and WWF expanding into other forms of entertainment - movies, video games, and the like - the potential for growth appeared to be limitless.
But with uncertainty surrounding its corporate future, and increasingly uninspired programming eroding its audience, WCW stood on the verge of collapse. Three years into a five-year plan devised by its charismatic leader - a former Blue Ribbon Foods salesman named Eric Bischoff - the company whose unexpected ascension had initiated the entire boom was operating on borrowed time.
For by the end of the five-year plan, WCW ceased to exist.
But Nitro is a story about much more than WCW and the last great wrestling boom. It is a story of an era, a time in which the media and cultural landscape precipitated - and later supported - pro wrestling's mainstream popularity. It is a story of how a company made in the image of an intuitively brilliant risk-taker betrayed its original promise. It is a story of how a handful of men, each struggling with their own limitations, facilitated a public obsession that changed television forever.
And so, with the inside knowledge of a journalist, the perspective of a historian, and the passion of a fan, author Guy Evans provides a fresh look at an unfortunate inevitability - the downfall of World Championship Wrestling. Bolstered by exclusive interviews with over 120 former TBS and WCW employees, Nitro is the definitive picture of the last wrestling boom.
Featuring exclusive interviews with:
Eric Bischoff, fmr. President of World Championship Wrestling;
Harvey Schiller, fmr. President of Turner Sports;
Jamie Kellner, fmr. CEO of Turner Broadcasting System;
Bill Burke, fmr. President of TBS network;
Joe Uva, fmr. President of Turner Entertainment Sales and Marketing; Scot Safon, fmr. SVP of Marketing for TNT network;
Kevin Nash, WWE Hall of Famer and 5-time WCW world champion; Diamond Dallas Page, WWE Hall of Famer and 3-time WCW world champion;
Vince Russo, fmr. WCW writer;
Marcus 'Buff' Bagwell, fmr. WCW superstar and 5-time world tag team champion;
Kevin Sullivan, fmr. WCW superstar and head booker;
Neal Pruitt, fmr. WCW Feature Producer and voice of the nWo;
Alan Sharp, fmr. WCW Director of Public Relations;
Mike Weber, fmr. WCW Director of Marketing;
Jerry Jarrett, legendary wrestling promoter and booker...
And many, many, many more!
BEYOND NITRO Synopsis
Bestselling author Guy Evans ('NITRO') returns with a monumental 680-page volume on World Championship Wrestling, bringing to light scores of revelatory insights in the process. Informed by over 100 new interviews, hundreds of internal company documents, confidential corporate materials, and never-before-seen financial records, BEYOND NITRO goes to places that no pro wrestling book has!
BEYOND NITRO is divided into three parts, as outlined below:
Part 1: Untold Stories – a series of engrossing personal profiles of people with a unique connection to WCW;
Part 2: Where The Big Boys Played – an examination of various aspects of the WCW story which often escape introspection, such as the byzantine nature of its corporate accounting system, the company’s historical Southern lineage, and the impact of its pioneering production team;
Part 3: A Wrestling Odyssey – a look at some of the changes which occurred in the wrestling business post-WCW, including a noticeable change to the mainstream wrestling style, the proliferation of what is sometimes called ‘the wrestling bubble’, and the phenomena of WCW experiencing a ‘second life’ through the waves of ‘90s nostalgia.
To supplement this rather weighty structure – and to break up the presentation more generally – six ‘interlude’ chapters are included of various lengths, ranging from incredibly detailed (e.g., ‘Spiked!’) to relatively direct in scope (e.g., ‘Don’t Touch That Dial’). In all cases, these ‘interludes’ relate to a theme (or set of themes) explored in the preceding chapter. In the process, the book is able to delve into some thrilling uncharted waters, relative to the world of late ‘90s WWF - and even TNA during the 2010s.
BEYOND NITRO features exclusive interviews and comments from:
Eric Bischoff, fmr. WCW President;
Stuart Snyder, fmr. WWF President & COO;
Keith Mitchell, legendary fmr. WCCW, WCW, TNA and AEW producer;
Kevin Sullivan, fmr. WCW head booker and wrestler;
Jerry Jarrett, legendary wrestling promoter and booker;
Kevin Kay, fmr. President of Spike Television;
David Schwarz, fmr. Senior Vice President of Communications at Spike TV;
Scott Fishman, Executive in Charge of Production at Spike TV;
Eric Fleischer, fmr. Sr. Director of Consumer Insights, WWE;
Christine Lawrence, fmr. Senior Director of Media Insights and Analytics, WWE;
Michael Capretta, fmr. VP of Global Research and Insights, Warner Bros. Discovery;
David Sahadi, fmr. Creative Director, WWE;
Sami Callihan, fmr. Impact World Champion;
Lash LeRoux, fmr. WCW wrestler;
Scott Hudson, fmr. WCW announcer;
Neal Pruitt, fmr. WCW feature producer and 'voice of the nWo';
Dick Cheatham, fmr. group controller for TBS;
Jenni Sloan, designer of the nWo logo...
And many, many, many more!
Informed by the same attention to facts, research, analysis, drama and detail which made NITRO a bestseller, Beyond NITRO is finally here.
It's a simply sensational sequel!
Grateful Synopsis
The follow-up to former WCW President Eric Bischoff’s first autobiography, Grateful picks up where Controversy Creates Cash left off!
Produced in partnership with NITRO author Guy Evans, Grateful covers Bischoff’s post 2006-career, including his WWE return, AEW involvement, TNA experience and much more.
Explore the unlikely journey that culminated in Bischoff’s surprise induction into the WWE Hall of Fame!
Sitting Ringside Volume 1 Synopsis
Championship Wrestling (WCW) famously battled Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (WWF) for Monday night ratings supremacy. While on the WCW side, numerous autobiographical accounts have been written of the time period, relatively few participants witnessed the ‘War’ in its entirety. As the unmistakable ‘voice of WCW’ and its long-time ring announcer, David Penzer was featured on every episode of Monday Nitro and Thunder - the only on-screen personality in WCW to do so. Moreover, he witnessed the proceedings from the best seat in the house - ringside!
In this candid, revealing and highly entertaining memoir, Penzer recounts his unlikely journey to the big-time - from his humble beginnings in South Florida to the lofty heights of WCW and the ‘Monday Night Wars’. With an affable, engaging and self-effacing style, Penzer takes readers behind the curtain like never before, revealing both the personal and professional struggles he encountered in rising the ranks of a famously tough business.
In Sitting Ringside Volume 1, Penzer also ‘opens the vault’ on a veritable ‘treasure trove’ of bonus materials - from production notes, to show formats, to internal documents which he has kept for over 20 years. Fans may be surprised to discover what’s included!
As Kevin Sullivan states in the book’s foreword, Penzer was the “least likely to succeed in the wrestling business” - but over the course of a ten-year (1991-2001) association with WCW, Penzer became a utility player like no other. In addition to fulfilling the role of WCW’s lead ring announcer, Penzer provided assistance on the production end of the business, as well as talent relations, and even the creative department during the company’s dying days. As such, he provides an intriguing insiders’ account of WCW’s ‘rise and fall’ - delivered with unprecedented insight and perspective.
In particular, Penzer demonstrates an astute, compelling, and highly nuanced view of several of his most well-known contemporaries, including:
- ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper;
- Chris Jericho;
- Eric Bischoff;
- Kevin Sullivan;
- Vince Russo;
- Dusty Rhodes;
- Jody Hamilton;
- Tony Schiavone;
- ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund; and
- Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan.
Co-written by NITRO author Guy Evans, Sitting Ringside Volume 1 is a unique look at an historic era in pro wrestling - and one man’s dream to be a part of it.
Foreword by Kevin Sullivan
Contains rare documents, show formats and notes from behind the scenes at World Championship Wrestling!
Print Length: 500 pages
Sitting Ringside Volume 2 Synopsis
2001: A Wrestling Odyssey.
With the wrestling business still reeling from the recent sale of WCW, David Penzer exits the company with an uncertain path ahead. At first, David finds a measure of comfort in the form of a (short-term) severance agreement, but as the weeks and months progress, his future appears increasingly in doubt. Is this the effective end for our personable protagonist?
Spoiler alert: no - it isn't! As such, this second volume of Sitting Ringside covers David's career post-WCW (2001-2024), with a particular focus on just some of the following topics:
- The remarkable untold story of the 'X' Wrestling Federation;
- On-the-road adventures with 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper;
- The halcyon days of TNA Wrestling;
- Never-before-heard insight on a profound wrestling tragedy;
- An unlikely yet impactful return (see what we did there?)…
…and much, much more!
Co-written by NITRO author Guy Evans, Sitting Ringside Volume 2 is the continuation (and culmination?) of an unlikely wrestling success story.
Print Length: 400 pages
Foreword by Mike Tenay
