Titan Sinking: The Decline of the WWF in 1995

The Titan Trilogy #1

by James Dixon, Benjamin Richardson (Illustrator), Jim Cornette (Foreword)

Throughout the history of the WWF, there have been times of prosperity and times of hardship, cycles that shape the ethos of the company by forcing changes to its infrastructure and on-screen direction. The one constant throughout three decades of change is Vincent Kennedy McMahon, the stalwart puppet-master who captains the ship. Unflinching, thick-skinned, and domineering, McMahon has ultimately outlasted all of his competition and come out on top of every wrestling war he has waged. In 1995, he very nearly lost.

Titan Sinking tells the tale of one of the most tumultuous, taxing and trying years in WWF history. Vince was reeling from a nightmare first half of the decade as the year commenced, but having seemingly steered the company through an image-shattering five years, he looked to rebuild his ailing brand and rediscover the magic formula that made his promotion such a juggernaut in the eighties. As each week passed, more and more problems behind the scenes began to unfold, plunging the WWF on the bring of crisis.

This book gives the inside story of all of it: with detailed accounts of incidents from Syracuse to Montreal, from the Kliq to he BSKs, Vince's new hope, to his various creative flops and failures. Find out the real story of the year, and learn how 1995 brought WWF to the brink. --- INCLUDING FOREWORD BY JIM CORNETTE ---

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Audiobook, History

278 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2014

About the author

James Dixon is Chief Editor and writer at historyofwrestling.co.uk, and is a frequent contributor to WhatCulture Wrestling content.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know that old saying, “the night is always darkest just before the dawn”? Nothing could be closer to the truth when analyzing the year that was 1995 within the World Wrestling Federation. Prior to their massive spike in popularity that would arrive in 1998, Vince McMahon’s wrestling empire was crumbling in the face of a determined young upstart by the name of Eric Bischoff with his Ted Turner financed wrasslin’ company, WCW. Author James Dixon looks at the budget cutbacks, decreased wages and stagnant programming that plagued the global entertainment juggernaut as its promoter Vince McMahon struggled to find a way to compete as well as increase the company’s fledgling audience.

While mainly concentrating on 1995, the book also delves into the WWF’s various lawsuits of the early 1990s, the steroid trial initiated by the United States government and McMahon’s struggle to compete with WCW signing away his brightest stars. There’s even a portion dedicated to the long rumored Randy Savage/Stephanie McMahon scandal, calling attention to whether or not anything actually transpired between the two. Hard evidence is given through quotes from those who were backstage during the time and an eerily specific rant given from Savage himself seemed to give it credence.

For hardcore fans like myself, there may not be much in here you don’t already know. However, it does reinforce how horrific the morale was among the workers backstage. A group known as “The Kliq” comprised of top stars Shawn Michaels, Kevin “Diesel” Nash, Scott “Razor Ramon” Hall, Sean “1,2,3 Kid” Waltman and Paul “Triple H” Levesque continually occupied the top of the card, thus receiving large payouts and creating a glass ceiling of sorts for those hoping to ascend to main event status.



Of those comprising The Kliq, Shawn Michaels was without a doubt the worst of the bunch. If the man hadn’t been so undeniably talented, there’s no way he could have gotten away with half of what he did. Seemingly all of the events that occurred within the company during that period either ended or started with Michaels “losing his temper”. The gang would terrorize others backstage, sabotage matches if they happened to be working with a performer they didn’t like as well as constantly having the ear of McMahon lobbying to remain on top. The atmosphere became so bad that a rival group was formed under the guidance of locker room veteran Mark “The Undertaker” Calaway, whose chief job would be to police the Kliq making sure things never came to the point of violence.

Dixon’s book is tightly researched taking content from shoots (interviews with a performer out of character), podcasts, memoirs and documentaries (all of which are cited in the rear of the book). Dixon even had Jim Cornette, a man at the forefront of the madness in 1995, write the foreword. Recommended to me through what could be considered an excellent companion podcast, The New Generation Project Podcast, “Titan Sinking” is a great look at a difficult time for what is now the gold standard of wrestling.

Also posted @ Every Read Thing.

[Mike Tedesco · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an ok book that heavily relies on Wrestling Observer Newsletters from the time and shoot interviews from guys with a cross to burn against WWE, which inherently makes them unreliable. A lot of the book contains speculation about what was going on in the mind of Vince McMahon with almost zero proof that it is any true. Another issue I had was this seemed to be written in Microsoft Word and it seems the author right clicked on every other word to check for synonyms. As a teacher, I've seen students do this and sometimes the words used don't fit. It made the author seem desperate for credibility. It's a decent retelling of what happened, but when he delves into backstage stories, some of what he states to be fact has been discredited elsewhere by the people involved. It was also kind of annoying that he went out of his way to refer to performers by their birth names, so Psycho Sid was constantly referred to as Sid Eudy, but Shawn Michaels was never referred to by his real name. It's just inconsistencies like that that drove me nuts reading it. Not great.

[Craig Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book so much. It's a look at the nosedive the WWF took in 1995, but also covers the scandals and court cases of the years prior. So many backstage stories about Vince, "The Kliq", losing talent to WCW, the start of Nitro, SUNNY, Shane Douglas, Shawn's brawl in Syracuse, the failure of King Mabel, business crumbling under Diesel...just so much stuff. This was when I was a huge super fan of the WWF in the 90s back before I had internet access. This is the wrestling biz, so I'm not sure how many of the stories are 100% true, but it was still a fascinating read.

[Ben Atwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look back!

Highly recommended for all fans of the old school. I consider myself to be a pretty "smart fan" and I learned a lot. really makes you appreciate the stability of the business as it is. Also makes you.think lovingly of the great workmates from the old days. Only a handful of errors or shoddy editing. if you have kindle.unlimited it should be an instant buy. still very much worth it otherwise.

[Michael Cushing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to write this review sort of in reverse. Instead of listing what I liked first, contrasted with what I didn't like, there's only one thing that I didn't absolutely love about this book: the editing. Whoever edited this book made an absolute mess.

So I'm giving what I would normally consider a 5 star book, 4 stars because of the editing job done on it.

Aside from that, this is one of the best Professional Wrestling Books I've read. The level of research that went into this Book is simply remarkable. Pro Wrestling is mainly an Oral History. Meaning that the Foot Notes listed throughout the Book primarily reference either Shoot Interviews or Podcasts. With that being said, however, I can't imagine how many hours of listening to interviews James Dixon had to go through in order to put this book together.

This was entertaining beginning to end. I honestly couldn't put the book down. The EBook that I read was 220 pages, and I read that in two days. However, I do have to stress that this Book is designed to be read solely by wrestling nerds. This isn't book isn't going to take you by the hand and lead you through the worst year in WWE's History, 1995. It expects you to already have done a good bit of homework yourself before even starting it.

But with that being said, I was there for most of 1995. A lot of the matches, angles, and characters described in this book I've actually seen in real time as they were happening in 1995. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, and for years we always got the B Shows when the WWF either had a major show going on in Toronto, Ontario, or Montreal, Quebec. And man, that was a time that I wish I could go back to. Sitting in the front row ringside watching the best in Tag Team wrestling. The Hart Foundation, the Fabolous Rougeau Brothers, The British Bulldogs, the Rockers, etc. And then by 1994, they had stopped sending us the B Team because their entire Roster was filled with B Players. All the worst gimmicks. This book talks about how Vince decided one cost cutting measure would be to tape their Superstars and Wrestling Challenge shows, before Raw ever existed, in 4 hour blocks. Here, we had 6 hour blocks of TV Tapings. It was one long night. But man, the absurdity of what they were presenting... the awfulness of it... it was freaking hilarious. I would sit there and laugh until I cried watching these angry Cartoon Characters put on phony squash matches all night.

This book effectively brought me back to that time in my life and I'm grateful for it. So grateful that I'm picking up book 2 in the Trilogy immediately. If you truly were a fan of WWF in the 90s, then this is a Book that you definitely want to check out.

[Glyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a wrestling fan at the time I really enjoyed this reconstruction of the year where Vince McMahon Jr "lost $6 million out of my ass" as a quote cheeerfully posted after the introduction to thiis book tells the reader .

This was a strange year in Professional Wrestling. The WWF (as it then was) was still recovering from the disastrous steroid abuse scandal and was beset by a string of it's employees being engaged in acts that ranged from the crimminal (sex abuse, illegal possession of drugs) to the dickish (Shawn Michaels infamous escapade when he was beaten up in Syracuse NY having got himself into a state where he could not physically defend himself even if he tried, an incident that would, in the end, show McMahon's genius for channelling bad publicity into good business. This added to a very weak roster and some catastrophic booking decisions led to Vince's annus horribilis when his company posted a loss for the only time in it's history.

This uses chats with many of the players to reconstruct and analyse those dire days and there is little attempt to hide the nastier stuff There is a brutal honesty about these quotes and the main text flows easily and informatively using the quotes judiciously and effectively.

This year in professional wrestlingwas dominated by three thingsL 1) The rise and power of the so called Kilq aroound Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash who polarised the locker room and yet oddly created the impetus for the most successful era in WWE (as it is now( history
2) Eric Bischoff answering the question "what does WCW need to do to compete with WWF? with " I think we need Prime Time" he said it for no better reason than it was the only thing he could come up with. A reply that birthed Nitro and the "Monday Night War"which gave professional wrestling arguably it's greatest era
3)This book shows McMahon at his most creatively bankrupt. He replaced cartoon superheroes with clowns, teachers, farmers and teachers. a point the book makes well is people don't go to wrestling to see a Bin man beat up a clown they want superheroes yet McMahon would remain too convinced in the tried and tested to listen. It is only with the company teetering with cut revenues, disastrous pay per view figutres and tired stories and being beaten all ends up bu the new and exciting Nitro content that he took the gloves off and changed the game.

Essential reading for anyone who loved wrestling in the 1990s. This is part one of a trilogy that I will be engrossed with.

[Anadyr21 · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a standpoint of storytelling, the descriptions of incidents between "the boys" was actually quite engaging. In particular, I never would have expected a written description of a mediocre match to be rather exciting, but it was a Bret Hart match, and he could turn sh*t into gold. The stories of things going on behind the scenes was rather interesting also, even for someone who was already familiar with some of it. These aspects of the book were very enjoyable.

The biggest negative, and I hate to be a grammar Nazi, but this book really needed an editor. I don't know if this was because I read it as an e-book, since scanning errors can be quite common. I can let a few spelling and grammar errors slide, but it shouldn't be so significant that I think I could have done a better job, and my background is not English or Journalism. This was part of the reason that I didn't rate the book higher.

The other issue is that I felt this book skimmed the surface. I realize this book mostly depicts the time around 1995, and it deals with bad decisions being made, buy rates being down, etc, but I never really got the feeling that Titan was really in sinking (like the Titanic). In decline, yes, but that's not necessarily unusual for a growing company. That's not to say that things weren't really bad, but if so, I'm not sure how well that was communicated.

All in all, it was a fun read, and certainly gave a bit of insider perspective on why certain decisions were made, which were completely baffling to a wrestling fan, who had little to no idea about what was going on behind the scenes.

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Material was interesting, but writing style was poor in my mind. Didn't need the unnecessary cursing as it added nothing to the material.

[NightShift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight in to possibly the WWEs most turbulent year and yet more evidence that Vince McMahon is legitimately insane. Well worth the read.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat entertaining but the approach to both writing style and research/citation is flawed and detracts a lot. Where the story is about well-documented incidents like the Syracuse nightclub fight, the book is informative and credible but these moments are often lost in a sea of inconsistent writing which varies in style as if several different people have taken turns at the keyboard.

At times a detailed breakdown of a particular match will take place even though it doesn't really have any bearing on the overall story of the year, and the entire narration is peppered with reminders about spots being pre-arranged/choreographed/cooperative which is fine early on to set the tone of the book but the way it keeps being brought up as if it's a revelation is sometimes like reading a transcript of the voice over from Exposed! Pro Wrestling's Greatest Secrets.

This patronising tone is reinforced by the near-constant reference to wrestlers by their real names (Peter Polaco is referred to as such multiple times before finally being identified as the then-Aldo Montoya, which makes the references to him pointless if you don't happen to know his real name); this persists even when discussing the main event appeal of certain matches, leaving out the gimmick names as if the reader is supposed to be impressed with knowledge accessible to anyone with internet access; repeatedly calling Sid Vicious/Justice "Sid Eudy" doesn't add anything.

There is a lot of inconsistency in how major players' thoughts are sourced as well. Direct quotes from Jim Cornette and Kevin Nash for example (presumably taken from shoot interviews) are useful but then there are many strange 3rd person omniscient prose descriptions of what went through the heads of Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff and others at key moments including descriptions of how they breathed (a deep breath or through their teeth etc.) and even how they sat in their chairs, which can be nothing other than speculation. I understand dressing up the narrative a little to keep it interesting but claiming an inside line on McMahon and Bischoff's thought processes with nothing to back it up has the unfortunate effect of calling into question the validity of everything else that's written.

Overall a weird mish-mash of an attempt at a true history, smarky posturing, and poorly judged narrative choices leaves it at 2 stars and me not particularly keen to read the other two volumes of the "trilogy".

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started watching wrestling as a kid and was hooked after the Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow fight when Reggie White showed up. Monday nights were spent flipping back and forth between nitro and raw with my dad. The Monday Night Wars has always been one of my favorite periods to read about. Up until now, I had only read Nitro and Monday Night Wars which both come from the WCW perspective. I have always wanted a book from the WWE perspective and this series covers it.

Titan Sinking is book 1 in a three part series on WWE from 1995 to 1998. It shows how far they had fallen from the glory days of the 80s. Dixon shares a lot of backstage rumors and behind the scene details. He does a good job of sharing perspectives from both sides, but rarely ever draws a definitive conclusion leaving the reader to draw their own. And that’s fine by me as it’s almost like finally being able to call the wrestling hotline for the inside scoop and rumors that my parents would never let me call as a kid.
I’m excited to read the next two books. The only knock on this book is there are no page numbers. It’s like he wrote it on Word and hit print. Secondly, he refers to wrestlers by their real name which makes it hard to follow at times. It would have been easier if he would have just used their stage names.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Dixon offers a deep dive into one tumultuous year in the World Wrestling Federation; from a parade of dead-in-the-water gimmicks, to the rise of formidable competition, to performers acting out, 1995 saw the WWF struggle to maintain the hold it once had on the world of professional wrestling. 
 The first in a trilogy, Dixon's Titan Sinking offers a great in-depth look at the state of sports entertainment in the early-to-mid-90's, as Vince Mcmahon's company began its transition from family-friendly entertainment to the edgier tone of the attitude era, and analyzes the people and the political environment that led to such a shift. It's an entertaining and breezy read, bolstering a creatively lackluster year on-screen with the soap opera-esque drama that was unfolding behind the scenes.

[Matthew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting look into the WWF in 1995 which creatively and commercially was the worst year in the hostory of the company. There's a lot of setup detailing the scandals and lawsuits which explains why Vince McMahon had to make as many compromises as he did with the plethora of cartoony characters and insipid sorylines. It could've done without the unnescessary chapter on the 'incident' with Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon which ultimately amounts to pure specualtion and feels like a tabloid piece in some trashy magazine. That aside though, the book still makes an entertaining and insightful read with lots of stories I didn't know about. If you're a wrestling fan you could do a lot worse than to check this out.

[Will Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on and off for almost a year, finished it during a recent business trip flight and it’s really solid. I wish I could give it 3.5 because it’s better than a 3, but just not quite a 4.

James Dixon either isn’t a massive wrestling fan or made a ton of unnoticed errors in this book, but they really aren’t that big of a deal, because an average wrestling fan wouldn’t have even noticed.

Ex:
- Calling Gerald Briscoe a “booker” when he meant “shooter” (somewhere around page 45 iirc)
- Referring to wrestlers by their lesser-known names; like calling Charles Wright “Kama” instead of “The Godfather”.

These were very minor nitpicks, just hard for me to find things to say about something I already knew so much about.

Oh and also: why the hell weren’t there any page numbers?

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this in 2020, much of the stories have now been covered by wrestling podcasts, like Something to Wrestle and Grilling' Jr. The book is still entertaining, but does make some subjective claims based on "rumor and innuendo" that includes quotes from dirt-sheets (Meltzer).

Quick read where each chapter takes on a specific topic like a PPV or a professional rivalry. Spends a lot of time talking about the Kliq and how they pissed off everyone. Lots of Bob Holly and Chris Candido bitching, which can be entertaining. The commentary from Cornette was appreciated, including his introduction.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about the decline of Titan Sports (The WWF) in 1995 and what led to it. This was a great read for anyone my age who grew up watching wrestling. I was more of a WCW guy, but when I was older started watching WWE (WWF) in the early 2000's. I remember going back and watching old VHS tapes and DVDs and realizing the big difference between the early 90s and late 90s. This book does a great job going into all the different events that took place that would eventually kill the 80s gimmick era and replace I with the attitude era of the late 90s. Very interesting and a must-read for any wrestling fan.

[Boomer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who was a gullible teenage wrestling fan back in the 90's, I can really appreciate a book like this. I've been watching a lot of the mid 90's events on WWE Network lately and it just makes me shake my head that I didn't realize how terrible the product was back then.

There's a lot of interesting info on the behind the scenes chaos and all the major points of 95 are covered in depth - Diesel's failure as WWF Champion, Shawn Michael's face turn, Mabel's inexplicable main event push... it's all here and really gives some insight into what happened to some wrestlers before, during and after these events. Fun stuff.

[KK · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a wrestling fan, I found this to be very interesting! I grew up in the 90s so I don’t remember much of this, but I find the late 90s to be a very fascinating time in WWE history. I really enjoyed reading this but definitely found myself stopping to look up videos to see for myself. The reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 was because there were a lot of terms I found myself needing to look up. Also, it was unclear to me when the author actually spoke to subjects vs when it was just speculation. Overall, I enjoyed it and learned a lot! Can’t wait to dive into the second part of the trilogy.

[Adam Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well thought out, well researched book that contains many of the stories you've likely already heard with additional anecdotes that you might not.

My issue is with the production and editing. There are no page numbers which I find odd. The editing is appalling with quoted sections in italics overrunning into half the next paragraph. Some paragraphs start with capitals for a random number of words and some don't.

It's a really interesting read for sure but badly let down by lack of editing and proof reading

[J.J. Lair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reviews on this were all over the place so I bought this with trepidation. I liked it. I think a few timelines were off, but on the whole, it was a reminder of those days. There are backstories going back to the 1980s, WcW, and legends.
The behind the scene stories were believable. There was a scandal rumor that the author repeats about Randy Savage that is unconfirmed.
No real bias toward anyone.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the year in which Vince McMahon's all-conquering WWF hit its first major bumpy patch since taking over professional wrestling in the USA.

Uses a lot of contemporary sources and interviews to good effect, charting the key players, their movements and their relationships with each other, as well as the rise of the WCW.

[Jason Schneeberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice over view of the WWF in 1995, a time in which the company was struggling to even stay in business. I knew a lot of the info that was in this book, but there were a few surprises along the way that I had not heard before. I’m looking forward to reading the other two books in this series very soon.

[Matt B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few spelling mistakes, Bryan Clark spelt as Clarke, it's petty I know but still, Ric Flair not for the first book either is referred to as Rick. The book is what it says, a run down of the WWF from January to December 1995. Most of it you already know but there's a few bits in there I didn't know such as Bob Holly's and Bam Bam's roles behind the scenes. Solid book overall.

[David Brimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent dissection of the WWF in 1995: the worst year in the promotions famed history. Here we see failed experiments like Mabel and Dean Douglas up against the likes of The Undertaker and Bret Hart. We also see the formation of the Kliq, Diesel’s failed title run, and the rise of Shawn Michaels.

If you are a fan of wrestling, and especially late period WWF, then this a must read!

[Regis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knowing as much as I do now, this book doesn't seem exactly factual. Stories are entertaining, but inaccurate. Good, quick read. Clinical narration. I realize this is a paperback edition, but I had to use it as a review, because there is no audiobook option.

[Gary Nugent · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great book

I enjoyed it. Comprehensive. Keep up the good work. I will check out more by the same author. Peace out

[Optimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read,Divulges some previously unknown information about the worst year of pro wrestling.nothing much else to it

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough

A detailed look at probably the last full year I followed the (then) WWF, and the reasons behind it's decline!

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made it six chapters in and stopped. The story in itself is interesting, but the writing style is just brutal. It really turned me off.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book for those that want an inside view of how bad wrestling got in the 90s however the facts are amazing.