WWF WrestleMania : The Official Insider's Story

by Basil V. DeVito Jr., Joe Layden, WWF

When Hulk Hogan hoisted the seven-foot-four, five-hundred-pound Andre the Giant into the air and over his head, the crowd fell briefly silent, as if not quite able to believe what was happening. As the Giant crashed to the canvas with a great THUD!, a roar went up from the crowd. It was pandemonium!

Goosebump-raising moments like this one at 1987's WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan, are what sports-entertainment is all about. Now fans can relive sixteen years of these electrifying events through vibrant color photographs, previously untold insider anecdotes, and an exclusive DVD of WrestleMania 's greatest moments.

In WrestleMania: The Official Insider's Story, Basil V. DeVito Jr. -- a man with intimate knowledge of the past sixteen years of WrestleMania -- takes fans on a journey into the squared circle and into the private worlds behind the curtain and behind the boardroom doors.

Fans will be treated to:


What happened when the Hell's Angels showed up backstage for the first WrestleMania demanding to be seated in the sold-out house
How Vince McMahon boldly predicted the weather -- with 93,000 seats on the line
Which Superstars were in the first-of-its-kind, main-event 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII
What the guest celebrities were really like, including Muhammad Ali, Liberace, Pete Rose, Mike Tyson, Willie Nelson, Donald Trump, Lawrence Taylor, Vanna White, Burt Reynolds, and many others
Which Superstar mistook the president of Trump Plaza for the concierge and asked him to sell two WrestleMania IV tickets and bring him the money backstage
How the championship matches link WrestleManias through the years
Who ushered in a new era of "Attitude" at WrestleMania 13
How WrestleMania XVI's Fatal Four-Way Title Match -- with Triple H, The Rock, the Big Show, and Cactus Jack -- came to have a McMahon in every corner
And much, much more!
Whether you're a new fan or an old mark, you don't know sports-entertainment unless you know about the sixteen-year history of its crowning jewel, WrestleMania !

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a well presented book with great action photos of all 16 Wrestlemanias thus far plus some great backstage photos too. It's chock full of interesting stories of the events leading up to and surrounding each event. The DVD that come with the book is a great (if hasty) highlights package of what Wrestlemania is about although the omission of some matches in favour of others (No Steamboat vs Savage from WM 3?!?) is sometimes puzzling. If you're a wrestling fan you MUST buy this book - you won't be disappointed! :-)

[Brayhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a good book for people that want to know what goes behind the scenes in WEE. It gives a lot information about the events such as how they set up, how they train,' it even goes as far as some of the wrestlers' background stories. Personally I wanted more out of the book like more details about the fights, most of the book are different fights that happened throughout the years with a brief explanation and a little explanation on how WEE started. I learned that WEE is more then just play fighting it take dedication good acting skills and a lot of training. I would recommend this book to the people that want to the type of information the back scenes to everything the the set up the wrestlers. This book differently changed my prospective because now know that there is more that goes on to WWE then just put wrestlers in a ring to fight. Theirs months of preparation training and much more things. I would to see into his other book to see if he has what i'm looking for in a WWE book.