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Kayfabe: Stories You're Not Supposed to Hear From a Pro Wrestling Production Company Owner
"Sean's story, beginning as a renegade, outlaw company and evolving to redefining the shoot video genre, is extremely fascinating. Who knew that the man asking the questions was as fascinating as his subject matter?" -Justin Barrasso, Sports Illustrated "'Kayfabe' brings to life a world that once had its own version of ‘omerta’ in a fascinating, well written book that will intrigue long time fans, new fans, and just those who are hoping to take a peek behind the curtain of this unlikely cultural phenomenon." -Eric Bischoff, WCW President "I worked in a business full of liars, cheaters, workers, con artists and of course...politicians. I can name maybe 3 people over the years that I 100% trusted, or even believed for that matter. Sean Oliver is one of those men. In reading 'Kayfabe,' you can believe that 100% of this masterpiece is accurate–yes, even the parts about me. The most stand-up guy perhaps ever associated with the business of Pro Wrestling. You want truth–you'll find it right here." -Vince Russo, Former WWE/WCW Head Writer If you thought the world of pro wrestling was wild, imagine what you haven’t seen on TV and in the ring. Add to that the backdrop of building a renegade production company, negotiating with impossible wrestling talent, and hosting groundbreaking, shoot-style programming, and you have the story of Sean Oliver. Sean has seen industry-wide accolades for the company he co-founded and for which he serves as frontman. But there are also the threats, stories of abuse, and moments of downright hilarity that you haven’t known...until now. Watch the unpredictable and unconventional story through Sean’s eyes.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2017
218 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Sean Oliver
6 books8 followersSean Oliver is the author of the non-fiction Kindle Bestseller "Kayfabe." "Sophie's Journal" is Sean’s first novel. He has worked in film and television for 25 years with over a hundred credits on major motion pictures and television series. Sean is also co-owner of Kayfabe Commentaries, a pro sports oriented production company. He is also a stock trader and teacher. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 10, 2019
Ah, shoot!
Sean likely has a million good stories about his interactions with wrestlers over the course of his career. For example, the Buff Bagwell one in the intro. But what Sean needed most was a good editor to help tell the rest. Well...and to also tell him to stop bragging about himself.
There are some interesting things to learn in this book, like the challenges of putting on shoot interviews in a crazy industry. There's also some good anecdotes about eclectic wrestlers (like Raven and his nine boxes of cereal). But man, it all just comes across as one giant plug for Kayfabe Commentaries videos and a lot of self-congratulation. In the words of Rich Swann's old theme song. I. Couldn't. Handle. It. Couldn't. Handle. It. Couldn't Handle. It.
I give this book 3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ out of 10.
Random notes and such:
-This book has an odd quirk where Sean will take the time to explain certain things, like who Vader was, but doesn't for others. For example, "Monster BC." I had to look it up to find out that was Brodus Clay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-There's some grammar errors to be had. The "-" is used when a ":" should be thrown down.
-It's strange that time and time again we're reminded of how terrible other shoot interviews look, and yet, the Kayfabe Commentaries site looks like it's straight out of 1998.
-Sean is perhaps a bit too thin-skinned. He devotes time to take shots at people who don't get his work or what he was going for in some of his more conceptual videos. I dunno. Who cares? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-Producing the late Chris Candido's jacket to mess with Balls Mahoney just seemed like a dick move.
-The shock/outrage of wrestling journalists who weren't interested in hyping a Vince Russo live show is bizarre. For one, Russo did a shoot interview many years earlier with Ultimate Insiders, it wasn't some revolutionary thing. Having it live doesn't it make it that much more appealing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-His idea for having shoot based angles based off his interviews for TNA storylines is a terrible one. He's mad they didn't go for it. As evidenced by Russo in WWE/TNA/WCW, that stuff never worked.
-Some wrestling journalists owe their career to Vince Russo?!?? Name one.
All in all, Sean will gladly tell you about all the super famous people he's worked with, the hundreds of films he's worked on, and remind you multiple times that his DVD royalties aren't what they used to be.
Basically, the man has not met a brag (humble or otherwise) that he won't gladly share. He's Chris Jericho-level at doing that. If that sort of thing doesn't annoy you, you'll likely enjoy this much more than I did. In the end, this just feels like a rough draft. With a good editor, much of the redundancies and self-indulgent shiling could have been easily fixed, making for a far better read.
I spent way too much time on this. Sorry, slow work day.
Sean likely has a million good stories about his interactions with wrestlers over the course of his career. For example, the Buff Bagwell one in the intro. But what Sean needed most was a good editor to help tell the rest. Well...and to also tell him to stop bragging about himself.
There are some interesting things to learn in this book, like the challenges of putting on shoot interviews in a crazy industry. There's also some good anecdotes about eclectic wrestlers (like Raven and his nine boxes of cereal). But man, it all just comes across as one giant plug for Kayfabe Commentaries videos and a lot of self-congratulation. In the words of Rich Swann's old theme song. I. Couldn't. Handle. It. Couldn't. Handle. It. Couldn't Handle. It.
I give this book 3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ out of 10.
Random notes and such:
-This book has an odd quirk where Sean will take the time to explain certain things, like who Vader was, but doesn't for others. For example, "Monster BC." I had to look it up to find out that was Brodus Clay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-There's some grammar errors to be had. The "-" is used when a ":" should be thrown down.
-It's strange that time and time again we're reminded of how terrible other shoot interviews look, and yet, the Kayfabe Commentaries site looks like it's straight out of 1998.
-Sean is perhaps a bit too thin-skinned. He devotes time to take shots at people who don't get his work or what he was going for in some of his more conceptual videos. I dunno. Who cares? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-Producing the late Chris Candido's jacket to mess with Balls Mahoney just seemed like a dick move.
-The shock/outrage of wrestling journalists who weren't interested in hyping a Vince Russo live show is bizarre. For one, Russo did a shoot interview many years earlier with Ultimate Insiders, it wasn't some revolutionary thing. Having it live doesn't it make it that much more appealing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-His idea for having shoot based angles based off his interviews for TNA storylines is a terrible one. He's mad they didn't go for it. As evidenced by Russo in WWE/TNA/WCW, that stuff never worked.
-Some wrestling journalists owe their career to Vince Russo?!?? Name one.
All in all, Sean will gladly tell you about all the super famous people he's worked with, the hundreds of films he's worked on, and remind you multiple times that his DVD royalties aren't what they used to be.
Basically, the man has not met a brag (humble or otherwise) that he won't gladly share. He's Chris Jericho-level at doing that. If that sort of thing doesn't annoy you, you'll likely enjoy this much more than I did. In the end, this just feels like a rough draft. With a good editor, much of the redundancies and self-indulgent shiling could have been easily fixed, making for a far better read.
I spent way too much time on this. Sorry, slow work day.
December 28, 2019
The intro to this one is entertaining and had me thinking the book might be fun if not polished book (totally understandable, Sean is an interviewer and producer) but by the end I found it actively unpleasant to read.
January 28, 2018
I grew up on wrestling. Even though I don't watch anymore, as a teenager in the 80's it was a huge part of my life. Reading these behind the scenes stories took me back to being a kid on a Saturday morning watching Georgia Championship Wrestling or World Class Championship Wrestling out of Texas. It brought to life some of the wrestlers I'd followed back in the day. Lots of funny stories, too.
June 12, 2019
The price still wasn't right...
The book was free though some Amazon Prime promotion, so I thought I would give it a try. It wasn't worth the time it took me to download it. It is someone badly telling other people's juicy stories. It also desperately needed an editor.
The book was free though some Amazon Prime promotion, so I thought I would give it a try. It wasn't worth the time it took me to download it. It is someone badly telling other people's juicy stories. It also desperately needed an editor.
August 8, 2021
The story of the formation of a niche business, telling tales from out of school about the wrestling business. Working with wrestlers is difficult, and working with promoters is even tougher.
January 28, 2019
A wonderful book by one of those talented sods who appears capable of everything.
January 24, 2019
Great book
Full of stories wrestling fans love to hear.
Very insightful and Sean is extremely funny.
Also a very fast read.
Full of stories wrestling fans love to hear.
Very insightful and Sean is extremely funny.
Also a very fast read.
February 27, 2023
Professional DVD salesman
Sean Oliver raised the bar for the "shoot interview" subgenre in pro wrestling media with Kayfabe Commentaries. I do not consider Oliver to be an insider though, and certainly not a "pro wrestling production company owner" as the book's misleading title suggests. Although his productions were far superior aesthetically to other competitors of the time, that's still a giant leap from producing professional wrestling. Oliver is proud of KC and I respect that, but pump the brakes.
Ironically, though his shoot interview style was highlighted by professionalism, his emotional rants sound more like an angry junior college kid's pretentious memoirs. Oliver had a great idea. He hijacked comic con bookings and built his empire on the backs of broken down, unemployed ex-wrestlers by filming them humiliate themselves and former colleagues with their own drunken rants. He sold a lot of DVD's that way. That's why every time I read a passage about him being inconvenienced in some way by a broken down ex-wrestler's unreliability, it just made me roll my eyes. I rolled my eyes many times.
That is not to say that Oliver didn't do some good with his interviews. He also resurrected the career of Jim Cornette who has been nothing but a charm for pro wrestling ever since...
Though Gary Hart's story is touching, the vast majority of Oliver's most profitable interviews don't do any favors for the public image of pro wrestling. He pans Colt Cabana for doing his own research on the show and subsequently declining an interview with KC, yet Oliver saw nothing objectionable with publishing a DVD of Jamie Dundee babbling on drugs for 2 hours. I'm not sure if Oliver ever made peace with the fact that participating in his baited shoots wasn't a very forward-thinking strategy for active talents still trying to find work in the real wrestling industry. His comments about Chyna are downright disgusting.
Oliver could have wrote a very insightful book about the fight these older wrestlers are still enduring long after their times have come and gone and focused more on what he was doing to help them kick a few 8 x 10's around. He hits on it a few times, however most of this book is just a collection of silly stories from his hotel room interviews. Iron Sheik's stories are probably the funniest. Nothing in the book really gets you any closer to the wrestlers though. He still wants you to buy the DVD's for that.
Though this book doesn't offer much in terms of the pro wrestling industry, it does an effective job making the reader curious about KC productions. Well enough to make me watch some free stuff on Youtube, not enough to make me actually buy anything though. Maybe I'll pick up an Iron Sheik DVD if I see Oliver at a comic con one day.
Sean Oliver raised the bar for the "shoot interview" subgenre in pro wrestling media with Kayfabe Commentaries. I do not consider Oliver to be an insider though, and certainly not a "pro wrestling production company owner" as the book's misleading title suggests. Although his productions were far superior aesthetically to other competitors of the time, that's still a giant leap from producing professional wrestling. Oliver is proud of KC and I respect that, but pump the brakes.
Ironically, though his shoot interview style was highlighted by professionalism, his emotional rants sound more like an angry junior college kid's pretentious memoirs. Oliver had a great idea. He hijacked comic con bookings and built his empire on the backs of broken down, unemployed ex-wrestlers by filming them humiliate themselves and former colleagues with their own drunken rants. He sold a lot of DVD's that way. That's why every time I read a passage about him being inconvenienced in some way by a broken down ex-wrestler's unreliability, it just made me roll my eyes. I rolled my eyes many times.
That is not to say that Oliver didn't do some good with his interviews. He also resurrected the career of Jim Cornette who has been nothing but a charm for pro wrestling ever since...
Though Gary Hart's story is touching, the vast majority of Oliver's most profitable interviews don't do any favors for the public image of pro wrestling. He pans Colt Cabana for doing his own research on the show and subsequently declining an interview with KC, yet Oliver saw nothing objectionable with publishing a DVD of Jamie Dundee babbling on drugs for 2 hours. I'm not sure if Oliver ever made peace with the fact that participating in his baited shoots wasn't a very forward-thinking strategy for active talents still trying to find work in the real wrestling industry. His comments about Chyna are downright disgusting.
Oliver could have wrote a very insightful book about the fight these older wrestlers are still enduring long after their times have come and gone and focused more on what he was doing to help them kick a few 8 x 10's around. He hits on it a few times, however most of this book is just a collection of silly stories from his hotel room interviews. Iron Sheik's stories are probably the funniest. Nothing in the book really gets you any closer to the wrestlers though. He still wants you to buy the DVD's for that.
Though this book doesn't offer much in terms of the pro wrestling industry, it does an effective job making the reader curious about KC productions. Well enough to make me watch some free stuff on Youtube, not enough to make me actually buy anything though. Maybe I'll pick up an Iron Sheik DVD if I see Oliver at a comic con one day.
May 23, 2020
I can remember sitting with my grandmother in the early '60's watching Professional Wrestling out of Little Rock, Arkansas; as she would sit on the edge of her chair, cigarette dangling from her lower lip, swinging at the bad guys. We lived in Fort Smith, and the only wrestling that I could see was Jimmy Lott's wrestling local show for 30 minutes on Wednesday night. Attending college in North Alabama,I would watch Memphis wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling (TBS, channel 17), and a local promotion that I think they called Tennessee Valley promotions. Later in Texas, I could watch San Antonio, Dallas (WCCW), and Georgia Wrestling and AWA 0n cable. I really like wrestling, and took a lot of grief for it from friends and family. Gradually, in the last 15-20 years, I have got to the point where I don't even watch it any more. I guess that is because, I was always a NWA fan, and not a WWWF, WWF, or WWE fan. I have read several books about wrestling and wrestlers, and looked forward to reading this one, as they take back to the time when wrestling was made to look real -- and not as a show. This book just didn't fit into my wheelhouse, as the stories were not as much about the wrestlers as they were Sean Oliver. There was no rhythm or flow to the stories, and were basically about stories that I didn't care about, and Sean Oliver could not persuade me to care. I finished the book, but it is one of those that I could have quit any time after the first 50-60 pages.
November 27, 2017
Meh.
OK read, I guess. Sean is well spoken, and comes across very well. His contributions to the book make for a fun read. His co-author, Sean's Ego, heaps paragraph after paragraph of self indulgent dreck. At one point i stopped and thought, this guy took 20 plus pages to say "Terry Funk was late to a shoot". Edit, man, edit. There is more dialogue about flipping sets, and which-hotel-rooms-are-best-for-shooting, than actual wrestler interactions. Well written, but very light on actual pro-wrestling stories.
OK read, I guess. Sean is well spoken, and comes across very well. His contributions to the book make for a fun read. His co-author, Sean's Ego, heaps paragraph after paragraph of self indulgent dreck. At one point i stopped and thought, this guy took 20 plus pages to say "Terry Funk was late to a shoot". Edit, man, edit. There is more dialogue about flipping sets, and which-hotel-rooms-are-best-for-shooting, than actual wrestler interactions. Well written, but very light on actual pro-wrestling stories.
November 23, 2017
Phenomenal
Kayfabe Commentaries is a tremendous line that already takes us “behind the scenes”, so peeling back an addition layer in the Kayfabe book gives the most curious fan an idea of what goes into this art. Thank you, Sean!
Kayfabe Commentaries is a tremendous line that already takes us “behind the scenes”, so peeling back an addition layer in the Kayfabe book gives the most curious fan an idea of what goes into this art. Thank you, Sean!
June 11, 2020
Great
Having watched many of Sean's laudable commentaries vids, I was intrigued to see how much it translated for book, turns out very well indeed. An interesting read.now to read the next one 😊
Having watched many of Sean's laudable commentaries vids, I was intrigued to see how much it translated for book, turns out very well indeed. An interesting read.now to read the next one 😊
May 21, 2018
Now that was a good read.
Who knew that a book by a wrestling shoot interviewer could be this incisive and fun? The anecdotes are world-class. Breezy and fun.
Who knew that a book by a wrestling shoot interviewer could be this incisive and fun? The anecdotes are world-class. Breezy and fun.
January 10, 2019
Dnf, the idea of the book was a lot better than the execution.
March 28, 2023
Engaging
This book was a thoroughly interesting and witty journey by the co-creator of Kayfabe Commentaries, purveyors of the best 'real' wrestling-related content out there. Readers experience all the ups and downs of Sean's career both in front of and behind the cameras, as he variously is threatened, hustled, propositioned, and, ultimately, respected by some of the biggest names in professional wrestling.
Sean tells great stories in a conversational tone and provides insightful comments about not just the professional wrestling business and his place in it, but of the business he built because OF it. He truly innovated an entire 'shoot' industry. He brags a little about it all in the book, but he has every right to; facts are facts, Kayfabe Commentaries was the first, best, and remain the industry standard of the field.
Great book. Highly recommended for anyone who loves great stories well told.
This book was a thoroughly interesting and witty journey by the co-creator of Kayfabe Commentaries, purveyors of the best 'real' wrestling-related content out there. Readers experience all the ups and downs of Sean's career both in front of and behind the cameras, as he variously is threatened, hustled, propositioned, and, ultimately, respected by some of the biggest names in professional wrestling.
Sean tells great stories in a conversational tone and provides insightful comments about not just the professional wrestling business and his place in it, but of the business he built because OF it. He truly innovated an entire 'shoot' industry. He brags a little about it all in the book, but he has every right to; facts are facts, Kayfabe Commentaries was the first, best, and remain the industry standard of the field.
Great book. Highly recommended for anyone who loves great stories well told.
July 5, 2019
This book is a fun read. If you are a fan of prowrestling from the 80s/90s, chances are that you know what 'kayfabe' means. In the last decade or so, kayfabe died with the rise of social media and the mystique around the wrestling business vanished. But yesteryear wrestlers have so many stories to tell through shoot interviews. Sean's company can be considered as the gold standard in interviewing wrestlers. As a wrestling fan, his Youshoot shows are a must-watch. This book chronicles his experience in running the company, booking the wrestlers for his shows, managing their tantrums, making new friendships and also generating new program ideas which were eventually adopted by WWE themselves, thereby killing the cash cow for many small producers. If Sean's intention of writing this book was to increase subscriptions to his programs, he certainly won me over :)
January 5, 2021
I enjoyed the clips you find on Youtube from Kayfabe Commentaries, so I was excited to read this book when it was released. But I didn't get anything from the book that I wasn't getting from the video clips. Some of the professional wrestlers don't come off like professionals. The writer tries to balance the human aspect, with the journalism side, but ultimately realized that he's running a business that's all done on spec, never knowing if there will be enough people to cover the cost of the production afterward. Some of the professional wrestlers agree to talk about things and then back out, yet they still expect to be paid. Competing with podcasts and trying to do too many releases added to all this. A read that's more business than show.
June 8, 2020
Well written. Need more info PLEASE.
Well written. Very intelligent. I get that he can't tell every story and we have to buy his eyes but don't start a story and never finish. Maybe he talks about something major but then gets no details. Maybe if he gave more details I would be willing to buy some dvds. If u bring up.a roast tell us some of the jokes. Reading this well written book by a very entertaining man pissed me off more then it pleased me. Yes u want us to buy your dvd s and I am intrigued but when I PAY for a book I deserve more than just 3 story no matter how funny.
Well written. Very intelligent. I get that he can't tell every story and we have to buy his eyes but don't start a story and never finish. Maybe he talks about something major but then gets no details. Maybe if he gave more details I would be willing to buy some dvds. If u bring up.a roast tell us some of the jokes. Reading this well written book by a very entertaining man pissed me off more then it pleased me. Yes u want us to buy your dvd s and I am intrigued but when I PAY for a book I deserve more than just 3 story no matter how funny.
January 27, 2018
Very interesting book that gives a behind the scenes look at how Kayfabe Commentaries got started and some of the funny occurrences that happened along the way. Sean Oliver is a no-nonsense guy who also is very respectful of those he works with and IMO, those fans he deals with. He's always been very kind and fair in my dealings with him... as well, he's a great interviewer and it shows in the final products that they release. Recommended book whether you're familiar with KC or not.
July 28, 2019
Great perspective of a rough business
The stories here are top-notch and I appreciate the author recounting both successes and failures. Would recommend for anyone, wrestling fan or not.
The stories here are top-notch and I appreciate the author recounting both successes and failures. Would recommend for anyone, wrestling fan or not.
September 27, 2020
Shooting about shoots
Great read. If you are expecting and expose on wrestlers, this is not that book. It is about the process and headaches of booking wrestlers for a show and how it changed the industry, and the state of affairs in the digital world of today.
Great read. If you are expecting and expose on wrestlers, this is not that book. It is about the process and headaches of booking wrestlers for a show and how it changed the industry, and the state of affairs in the digital world of today.
October 19, 2020
Kayfabe Commentaries Rocks!
Hilarious and insightful stories from an excellent storyteller, Sean makes you feel like you are two pals shooting the breeze together. If you are or have been a wrestling can check out his work, be it his interviews or this tremendous book!
Hilarious and insightful stories from an excellent storyteller, Sean makes you feel like you are two pals shooting the breeze together. If you are or have been a wrestling can check out his work, be it his interviews or this tremendous book!
Read
October 24, 2021So if you are expecting a lot of old wrestling stories, or new wrestling stories from old characters, you'll be disappointed. It's more about the authors experience with his company that makes wrestling content. It's not a bad read just not what I was expecting
April 26, 2018
Another awesome story from a fan of wrestling. Sean Oliver turned his passion for the world's greatest form of entertainment into a media outlet beloved by fans worldwide. #KayfabeCommando
March 3, 2019
Not what I was expecting, but still a great read.
September 18, 2020
Fun look behind the scenes of KC and some stories about wrestlers. Ok book.
January 24, 2022
Interesting book for fans of Sean's shoot interviews. Lots of tales about the wrestling business and just how merky and backwards it really is. Nonetheless a good read!
August 10, 2022
This could have been good but it was pretty rubbish for most of it, sorry Sean - just not a good read.
July 2, 2024
This audiobook fell short in a few ways. The content loses steam after a promising prologue, and the author's narration, while perhaps intended to reflect a tough-guy persona, comes across as pompous. Additionally, the book fails to deliver on its promise of fresh insights into the wrestling world, instead focusing on the author's self-perceived brilliance. Overall, it's a disappointing listen.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews