Ebook Death of the Territories Expansion Betrayal and the War That Changed Pro Wrestling Forever Audible Audio Edition Tim Hornbaker Kyle Tait Tantor Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 11 hours and 9 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Tantor Audio Audible.com Release Date March 12, 2019 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07P6Y9R86

Death of the Territories Expansion Betrayal and the War That Changed Pro Wrestling Forever Audible Audio Edition Tim Hornbaker Kyle Tait Tantor Audio Books Reviews

• Few eras in wrestling were as critical and as misunderstood as the 1980s. The business transformed from being dominated by a group of regional companies to being dominated by two national powerhouses as cable television and the sport's first mainstream exposure in decades changed everything.
  
  I thought I knew the story of this era, but Tim Hornbaker has set me straight. This book, which might as well be the definition of "meticulously researched," provides a wealth of new information and insight on the transition of the wrestling business during the 1980s. At the center of the story is Vince McMahon Jr. and the WWF, and while the book doesn't exactly exonerate him of the charges flung by traditionalists, it offers a nuanced and complex picture of wrestling's most successful promoter.
  
  Hornbaker, who seems to have read everything written during the 1980s about professional wrestling, makes it clear that the main reason the other territories ultimately failed to withstand Vince's national expansion efforts is because the promoters who ran them never trusted each other enough to truly cooperate. That distrust was well-earned this book is, among other things, a chronicle of seemingly endless double-crosses and backstabbing business maneuvers. Almost no one emerges looking saintly, with the possible exception of Pacific Northwest promoter Don Owen, who was widely respected by his fellow promoters and wrestlers alike. An NWA loyalist to the last, Owen bowed out in the 1990s, crying as he told one last crowd he was leaving wrestling after 68 years. It's a heartbreaking portrait, and one of the many anecdotes that fleshes out Hornbaker's history.
  
  If you want to know how wrestling became what it is today, this is a book you have to read.
• I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable wrestling fan and historian,but jeesh Tim Hornbraker makes me look like a starry eyed rookie. The level of research is simply astonishing.The history of the territories is explained, little fiefdoms across the country and a "good ol boys" mentality of not treading on someone else's turf. For decades the system worked. Then cable television came along. Superstations out of Atlanta, Chicago and New York began sending their programing across the country and it was the beginning of the end of the territory system. Vince K. McMahon had the foresight to see the possibilities in roughly 1983 and by 2001 the business of professional wrestling was his alone.Greed,hubris,old age, and the many poor business decisions of others helped him along,but McMahon's asencion was a done deal regardless,the only variable was time.Enjoy this treasure.
• As someone who has researched aspects of this time period closely, I was not expecting to learn much new- just enjoy a ride down memory lane. However, there were so many new pieces and it reminds one that the WWF (now WWE) struggled in certain places to gain a foothold. If there is any room for improvement, it is of its ambitious nature. There is so much covered that, at times, it can be hard to absorb it all. I plan to re-read at least once more just to acquire some more of the information I may have missed the first time around.
• The early part of this books and the names mentioned brought back a lot of good warm memories as a young fan of the WWWF. The weekly TV show the mention of Ray Morgan the host of that weekly wrestling show. I was surprised to learn that part owners of the WWWF were wrestlers Robert Marella AKA Gorilla Monsoon and Arnold Skaaland before being brought out when Vincent Kennedy McMahon
  Some of the biggest names in Pro wrestling did have the ability and freedom to work the different Territories by mutual agreement between those territories. All in all the book was not what I expected to be it did not explain how the territory worked only that a handful of people held the rights to put on wrestling shows in specific parts of the country and they did not infringe on geographic sections of others. I did not like that much of the book only dealt with attendance and ticket sale figures of shows.
• I'm a huge old school wrestling fan, who like most aren't interested in today's product. So as a result I read just about anything I can find on wrestlings by gone era. When I stumbled across this book I had high hopes, and this certainly doesn't disappoint in any way. This book is chuck full of incredible facts, and information from the early to mid 80's. This book is a must have read for any old school wrestling fan, and is now one of my most favorite books about that timeframe. Awesome book, and an excellent read!
• Mr. Hornbaker has done it again. In his third book diving into pro wrestling history, Mr. Hornbaker has crafted a narrative that is both compelling and informative. Death of the Territories is incredibly well researched and carries with it the weight of legitimacy that many wrestling books lack because they aren't researched with the detail that Mr. Hornbaker puts into his work. He takes what could be done as just a boring recitation of information and creates a narrative that puts you into the world, into the war of 1980s professional wrestling that left Vince McMahon controlling a wrestling empire and saw the dismantling. of a system that had been in effect since the 40s.
• Really well done and highly researched book with so many interesting facts I was unaware of...Just a great read if your interested in the real story of the wrestling territories...
• Each of the many many chapters seem to document different events but told in the same way over and over. I didn't do a word count but "grappler" must have been used 100+ times. The book is very fact oriented but there was very little storytelling in it. I think it is better suited to someone who is serious about their wrestling history. Overall a difficult read to stay connected with.