Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America

by Abraham Riesman

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NPR’s 2023 Books We Love

“Riveting, essential reading.” —Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland

The definitive biography of Vince McMahon, former WWE chairman and CEO, charts his rise from rural poverty to the throne of one of the world’s most influential media empires—and features never-before-seen research and exclusive interviews with more than 150 people who witnessed, aided, and suffered from his ascent.

Even if you’ve never watched a minute of professional wrestling, you are living in Vince McMahon’s world.

In his four decades as the defining figure of American pro wrestling, McMahon was the man behind Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, John Cena, Dave Bautista, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and Hulk Hogan, to name just a few of the mega-stars who owe him their careers. For more than twenty-five years, he has also been a performer in his own show, acting as the diabolical “Mr. McMahon”—a figure who may have more in common with the real Vince than he would care to admit.

Just as importantly, McMahon is one of Donald Trump’s closest friends—and Trump’s experiences as a performer in McMahon’s programming were, in many ways, a dress rehearsal for the 45th President’s campaigns and presidency. McMahon and his wife, Linda, are major Republican donors. Linda was in Trump’s cabinet. McMahon makes deals with the Saudi government worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And for generations of people who have watched wrestling, he has been a defining cultural force.

Accessible to anyone, regardless of wrestling knowledge, Ringmaster is an unauthorized, independent, investigative chronicle of Vince McMahon’s origins and rise to supreme power. It is built on exclusive interviews with more than 150 people, from McMahon’s childhood friends to those who accuse him of destroying their lives. Far more than just an athletics or entertainment biography, Ringmaster uses Vince’s story as a new lens for understanding the contemporary American apocalypse.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Sports, Pop Culture, Audiobook, History, Business

491 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 28, 2023

About the author

I'm a journalist and the author of the biography "True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee" (Penguin Random House / Crown, 2021). I am working on another biography, "Ringmaster: The Life and Times of Vince McMahon" (Simon & Schuster, TBD).

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ringmaster chronicles the rise of Vince McMahon, from his early life in poverty to working for his father to taking the WWF national and beyond.

I thought Riesman's book about Stan Lee was great so I got myself on the ARC list when the call went out. I read it in three long sittings.

First off, the Unmaking of America portion of the title is sensationalistic. Sure, Vince and Trump are friends and the McMahons worked to get pro wrestling deregulated and Vince manipulates the media but that's about all the Unmaking there is.

The format is similar to Riesman's Stan Lee book. Vince's early life as Vinnie Lupton is detailed, both from Vince's words and from the people who knew him, generating some conflicting stories. Vince didn't meet his biological father, Vince McMahon Sr, until he was 12 and took his name sometime after.

I've been a wrestling fan off and on for most of my life so I knew a lot of stuff about Vince's early days in the wrestling business but not nearly all of it. I didn't know the McMahons owned a hockey team or Vince was involved in Evel Kineval's Snake River Canyon jump, for instance.

Vince running the other promoters out of business is a well trodden road so there aren't a ton of pages spent on it other than the Georgia Championship Wrestling timeslot debacle. The sex scandals were detailed, like Vince allegedly raping female referee Rita Chatterson and all the ring boy unpleasantness. The death of Nancy Argentino was also detailed, forever derailing whatever Vince had planned for Jimmy Snuka in the longterm.

Once the first Wrestlemania hits, things are in full swing, including drug scandals, Vince and Hogan falling out, The Ultimate Warrior being a dick, Vince's various trials, and all that stuff. Vince's stint as a heel in the USWA was covered, something I've always wanted to know more about.

From there, the late 1990s and early 2000s are covered, Montreal Screwjob, Monday Night War, and Vince eating his two biggest competitors.

So what did I think? This wasn't exactly the book I was picturing, focusing primarily on Vince McMahon the person. I wouldn't have minded more backstage stuff or road stories but that's how I feel about most wrestling books. My opinion of Vince McMahon hasn't changed. I don't think he's a genius and the last good idea he had was turning heel in 1997. I also don't think he's a particularly good person. He does keep the wrestling business going on a national level, though.

It's a very well researched book. Riesman didn't skimp and consulted multiple sources on almost ever morsel of information. I don't feel like Riesman had an axe to grind and explored everything fairly. There was a lot more Bret Hart material, which is a plus in my book, and even that wasn't just shots at Vince. Like I said, I would have liked more backstage stuff but that's not the book Riesman was writing.

Anyway, this is an interesting look at Vince McMahon and his rise to power. Like the Stan Lee book, if you think Vince McMahon is a benevolent wrestling genius, you probably won't enjoy finding out about the realities of his rise to power and all the stuff he swept under the rug. Four out of five stars.

[Cory Abbott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book but doesn’t really bring much new info to the table.

Anyone who follows wrestling would know this story very well already.

Much detail is given to wrestling story lines and not Vince behind the scenes.

A good summary of what is publicly known about Vince McMahon. But we still wait for the great bio of wrestling most important figure.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many others, I found my way into Wrestling fandom in the aftermath of the massive publicity generated by the first Wrestlemania. I had previously looked down my nose at Wrestling as being some ridiculous distraction that idiots and hillbillies thought was real. But the relentless attention that Wrestlemania received, and the fact that my best friend, who was no idiot or hillbilly, was a fan, wore me down. Before I knew it, I was regularly watching the weekend programming, and attending live events at Madison Square Garden with my friend, our parents, and my Mom's co-workers.

And I've remained a fan or Wrestling, on and off, until this day. My tastes now tend to favor AEW over the goofy and cartoonish WWE, but I'll be in front of my TV in April, watching this year's "Showcase of The Immortals", Wrestlemania.

Through it all, Vince McMahon has been there. Like most other casual fans, I knew him only as the odd-looking (My Mother used to call him "Baseball-Head"), awkward "announcer" who seemed totally unsuited for the job, and was usually larger and more pumped-up than the competitors. Imagine our shock when we learned that this man OWNED the company! (It explained A LOT.)

Steroid scandals, murder, rape, assaults, abuse.....nothing that has happened in WWE has been able to stick to Vince McMahon. Recently, it looked like he was going to crawl off and remain in the shadows after more sexual assault allegations and financial impropriety came to light, leading to his resignation, but the man came roaring back and took control of the company again, ousting his own Daughter, and now stands poised to make a fortune by selling his company, in a final "Fuck you!", to the Saudis.

Abraham Riesman's RINGMASTER didn't hold many surprises for me....I've read and seen a lot about Vince's life already. It did confirm my belief that he is a loveless piece of shit who would sell out anybody to ensure that he comes out on top. He seems to have driven his children out of the WWE, and his relationship with his Wife looks to be purely one of mutual greed.

Riesman draws some direct lines between McMahon's behavior and his friendship with Donald Trump, implying that the former President learned a lot from Vince's amorality, and applied it in his political life. I bounced back and forth between thinking this was hype and exaggeration, and fully buying into it. Your mileage may vary, but I can see how Vince's fuck you attitude and refusal to ever back down and apologize have gone from shocking behavior decades ago, to de rigueur now.

Is Vince really responsible for the ugliness of America today...? I was surprised to discover how much the McMahon's contributed to Trump and his bogus charities, to his campaigns, and how his connection to Saudi Arabia (Getting $40 million paydays for each event WWE runs there) went completely overlooked as a massive conflict of interest, considering that Linda McMahon was serving in Trump's cabinet. The closeness between McMahon and Trump, if accurate, is also an eye-opener.

Even if you feel like you know everything about "Mr. McMahon", Riesman's book is well-written and entertaining, but you'll feel like you need a shower by the time you're done.

[britt_brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

From little Vinnie Lupton to “Mr McMahon,” and sadly, from an abused child to an abusive adult. I now know more about professional wrestling than necessary, but those were the fascinating bits of this biography. McMahon is manipulative, power hungry, and not a good human. And he’s friends with Donald Trump, so that should tell you something. #RIPOwenHart

[Fresh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible book and the author should be ashamed for marketing this as a Vince McMahon biography. A majority of the research is unoriginal and from past wrestling books. At some point, the book devolves from attempting to offer insight into McMahon's decision-making process to recapping the entire Attitude Era. The author admits they stopped watching wrestling after the boom period of the late 90s, and decides to end the book around that time, too, ignoring 25 YEARS of events that happened, and instead running through them in a Coda.

If you read wrestling books, this IS NOT written by a subject matter expert.

Why would the author rely on General Adnan's biography for insight into Vince's 1991?

[Joshua Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book to review.

I give this book a 2 out of 5 stars; I tried very hard to like this book. I’m a huge mark for wrestling and love learning about the back stage politics of it all, but I just could not get into this. The writing style struck me as confusing. At some points it was the most formal literature review that I have ever read. At other points it struck me as overly familiar, like all 100+ interviewees were the authors best friends. And the language went back and forth between the formality and familiarity of it all. The author also is not consistent in that sometimes they introduce the same interviewee 5-6 times and other times you have to remember from 150 pages earlier who someone was. Given how many individuals contribute to the authors narrative this book lacks a cohesive narrative voice. Try as I may for nearly a month, I could not finish this book in its entirety.

[Marty Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the past few years, Abraham Josephine Riesman has been one of my favorite writers in the world of pop culture. Between their [always great *Vulture* articles] and their fantastic Stan Lee book, *[True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee]*, I know that when Riesman writes something, I need to sit up and take notice.

So, when I found out that Riesman’s newest book, *[Ringmaster]*, available today, was going to be the first attempt at making a definitive look at the life and times of WWE chairman and all around enigmatic, if not psychotic, figure, Vince McMahon, I became overjoyed. *True Believer* was a great look at another almost mythical figure in Stan Lee, so undoubtedly, *Ringmaster* would follow in kind.

Unfortunately, however, here is where I learned the trouble of high expectations. Over the run of its 461 pages, *Ringmaster* is a great encapsulation of the life and times of Vince McMahon. That said, as a deep wrestling fan, I’ve been reading about McMahon and his various trials and tribulations for decades now, so the book already is on the back leg. Attempting to write a narrative for those who haven’t really heard of Vince McMahon, *Ringmaster* serves as a great 101 level course for the man for those new to his life story, but for me, I was aching for a 201 level deep dive.

You get a holistic view of McMahon’s childhood, his terrible step father, his estrangement from his father — until he takes the reigns of his father’s business, the World Wide Wrestling Federation —, the birth of WrestleMania, the apparent coverup of murder and sexual impropriety, this book has a bit of everything. Yet, at the same time, the story is somewhat hamstrung by Riesman’s own fandom. It’s stated early on that Riesman stopped watching pro-wrestling around the death of Owen Hart in 1999. To that same point, Riesman has the majority of *Ringmaster* end here.

This is a massive and unfortunate gap for those hoping for a career spanning guide to the life and times of Vince McMahon. The 1980’s heyday, mid-90’s downfall, and late 90’s rebirth are stories constantly told, with varying degrees of validity, by both countless wrestling journalists, and WWE themselves. The post “Attitude Era” timeline, circa 2001, including such things as the murder/suicide of Chris Benoit, rise of John Cena, and embarking on their own streaming service have been relatively untouched, and remain so here. This is damned even further by the fact that — due to the time this was written and prepared for publication — the book does not delve into last Summer’s reveal of further sexual assault allegations, hush money, and ultimately, McMahon’s departure from the company. Until he returned at the beginning of the year. To sell the WWE.

Undoubtedly, there is a hell of a book in there…and unfortunately, that book is not in *Ringmaster*. After reaching 1999, a number of post 2000 highlights are discussed, but with nowhere near the level of detail or effort seen in the prior chapters. To tie together with the full title of the book — *Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America* — the end of the book tries to tie pro-wrestling tactics and a shared business history between McMahon and Donald Trump, but much like the coverage of a post 2000 era, this too feels glossed over and barely making more than a surface observation, when there is undoubtedly, more meat on the bone.

Perhaps the issue lies with me in the reader’s chair. I know too much about Vince McMahon, and have a want for what this book clearly isn’t. If you’re new to the world of wrestling, and haven’t heard these tales before, *Ringmaster* is a well-researched, eye-opening tome. But for me, it was running back prior material. I continue to adore Riesman’s writing, and hope that this book does well enough that they can write a second volume for the hardcores like me.

***Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America* is available now. An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professional wrestling grew from a popular but regional entertainment option to a world-wide entertainment spectacle under the leadership of Vince McMahon. There has been much written about him, his enterprise that currently uses the moniker WWE and many of the wrestlers that were employed by McMahon. This book on McMahon by Abraham Riesman is most complete account of the rise of WWE and also the life of McMahon.

The title of the book is the only part of the book that was disappointing to me. From that title, it sounds like a reader might expect more about McMahon and his wife Linda’s involvement in American politics – everything from his friendship and connections with former President Donald Trump to Linda’s runs for the U.S. Senate under the Republican Party representing Connecticut. While Riesman does touch on those topics at brief moments through the book and a bit more detail in the epilogue, that isn’t the main focus of the book.

Instead, that focus is on Vince McMahon’s life, how he became interested in the business of wrestling and how he gained control of the now-WWE from his father. While the elder Vince did not play much of a role in raising Vince Jr. his influence was shown in how the company was thereafter run. Riesman does a fine job of portraying McMahon fairly, showing all sides of his complex character.

That includes his dealings with wrestlers, whom he names for both real and stage names. It doesn’t matter whether one’s favorite wrestler during their biggest stage of popularity, Riesman discusses how McMahon made handshake deals or promises that were (mostly) broken. This includes very popular performers like Hulk Hogan (who was actually “stolen”, using Riesman’s words, from a smaller regional wrestling association), Rowdy Roddy Piper, Stone Cold Steve Austin or Andre the Giant. Women wrestlers like the Fabulous Moolah are included and even McMahon’s family, such as when his daughter Stephanie was part of the storyline.

Riesman also paints a very good picture of the wrestling business, with frequent use of the word “kayfabe” to continually distinguish what was real and what was staged. He talks about the differences in fans who thought there was genuine competition (“marks”) and those who knew it was fake but enjoyed as artform (“smarts”). This is important to consider when reading about McMahon’s career with the business as he eventually became part of the show as a heel without being an actual wrestler.

Whether it is the many controversies involved in the WWE (the name, steroids, blatant racism and sexism, the alleged rape of a female referee), the actual biography of McMahon or the stories of many wrestlers, any reader with interest in the wrestling industry should pick up this book about the biggest name to ever be involved in the entertainment business of professional wrestling.

I wish to thank Atria Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Korah · Rating 3 out of 5]

starts strong but in the latter parts devolves into rehashing without much analysis some of the more bizarre storylines and booking decisions that even the most casual fans are already aware of. Should have got more into Linda's political career, Stephanie's interim run as CEO that was most certainly a work, the Saudi Arabia deal. For the point it was trying to make, could have belabored just how enmeshed the McMahons and Trump are.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really front-loaded, making certain significant events receive little more than cursory attention (the Benoit murders-suicide, for example), but this is an incredibly detailed and exhaustive look at VKM...even if some of the details are at times misrepresented. It is pro wrestling after all.

ARC provided for an honest review.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute garbage. A complete waste of time. The rantings of a crazed far-left lunatic who wanted to go after Republicans and Trump. So original!

[Gabriel Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book was fairly good. I found the parts about deregulation fascinating. Second half was just an odd summary of storylines that brought nothing new to the table.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars because the writing wasn't fantastic.
5 stars because I couldn't put this down.
4 stars because that's just show biz, baby.

[Mark Schiffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly riveting piece of true crime. I’m not a wrestling fan but I just couldn’t put this down. The audiobook was really well done too.

[Jason Kirk]

Everybody has long assumed wresting is "fake." The only people in the dark: wrestlers who believed they were fooling everyone else. Wrestling is a fiction in which even the crowd agrees to play a role, at which point it becomes so real, anyone who steps inside the ring is hooked for life.

So even though it's always felt like McMahon created so much of what we think of when we think of American culture, Abraham shows McMahon's real innovation was to monopolize an addiction. The company McMahon built in his image was based around pouring body and soul into the ring, and nobody committed to the bit more than McMahon did. He just so happens to have monetized the pouring.

Abraham's best moves here include letting McMahon's own words linger ominously, often showing the delicate dance between Real and Fake, and choosing the details that construct a case for McMahon as a murky Trumpian self-mythologizer who didn't invent anything gruesome, but sure did profit from submerging in it, all while working through openly on-the-nose pathologies in public. With both Trump and McMahon, it's as if the real mystery is the total lack of mystery. The exact things that appear to be wrong with these guys are the things that are wrong with these guys! Yep! That's it! Now what?

McMahon sold a vision of masculinity that raised me, and even as I read toward where I knew this story to be going, I kept thinking, "When I was twelve, this exploitative trash is what the market decided should be aspirational for me." I loved that trash and still do.

[Jere Pilapil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings. With the subtitle “and the unmaking of America” I wish it would have reached a little broader occasionally to say something about how WWE’s programming reflects changes in American culture or something because as it is it’s a collection of behind the scenes wrestling stories that eventually morphs into summaries of stuff that happened on WWE TV. It’s a solid biography but the 4 hour How2Wrestling podcast ep (and I’m sure the Behind the Bastards eps) covered a lot of this. Maybe the most interesting stuff comes late with Bret Hart describing how they reconciled, which gives a little more insight into the human being than we get based on what we see reported/rumored. But it’s too little too late by then and thrown into a coda.

[Kate Kiriakou · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone whose wrestling acumen only extends so far as recognizing a few big names and a few finishing moves my brothers attempted on me throughout childhood, this book could not have been more accessible or compelling. Vince McMahon's cult of personality and the way kayfabe was/is adopted as a way to hand-wave away real crimes behind the scenes were among the more compelling themes explored. I loved the structure and research in the book. I would have been interested to hear more about some of the topics discussed in the coda (the author's personal connection, the 2021 lawsuits, and how WWE might have set the model of individual contractors for the forthcoming gig economy), but the book had to end somewhere.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was ultimately worth the time it took for me to listen to the audiobook. It rehashes a lot of the history of professional wrestling that has involved Vince McMahon, all of the bigger picture and important stuff. It's comprehensive in that sense. If you're a fan of both the product and the behind-the-scenes stuff of WWE, you didn't learn anything new. There is a lot of bias in the storytelling, a weird mix of kayfabe and reality, and it skips/rushes through everything post-Attitude Era. I still really enjoyed the book and thought there was a lot of value in listening to it, but it's a bit flawed. I don't know.

[Nick Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The die hard wrestling fans probably won’t find much new in this book, but if you’re a nominal fan like me who grew up in the attitude era, you’ll enjoy it.

It’s basically the story of how the modern WWE came to be through the telling of Vince’s life. There’s a lot of detours into some messed up stuff - rampant sexual abuse, steroid addiction, bullying and cover ups - but the book is at its best when it tells the story through the eyes of other characters, whether it’s Rita Chatterton, Adnan Al-Kaissie, or Brett Hart (probably the most sympathetic character in the whole story.)

[Gregory Melahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Believe it or not, this is the *second* book about professional wrestling I’ve read. My brother and I were fans when we were kids and attended matches long before the modern era described in this book. At that time it was more like going to the circus. What we see today bears almost no resemblance to the innocent and quirky spectacle of that earlier time.

Vince McMahon Jr took his father’s wrestling entertainment business to new levels and became a billionaire in the process. This book is a good description of how that happened and we see along the way how autocrats see the value in this kind of polarizing entertainment. That’s why Saddam Hussein himself was a fan. And of course a U.S. President was not just a fan, but actually participated in the televised events. The book could have spent more time on that intersection but I’m not sure there’s a whole book on that depressing topic.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've recently been watching a bunch of episodes of Vice's "Dark Side of the Ring", hence why I picked this book up. I didn't grow up watching WWF/WWE, but I remember its stars being everywhere in the 90's and I was curious to know more about the company and the man who started it. This was a great non-fiction read and though I agree with others that the second part of this title, "the unmaking of America", wasn't thoroughly explored, it doesn't take away from the book in my opinion. I learned a lot and it was a fun reading experience!

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did find this book interesting but don’t feel it lived up to its title. It was more a history of Vince and all of his wrestling eras and big storylines within those eras.

So Trump and others were fans and are mentioned. But I expected the book to have some sort of analysis as to how tied together the relationship between Vince, wrestling, and Trump and his campaign/personality.

My take aways are Vince is a lying jerk, wrestling is a soap opera, and has some questionable storylines. Oh and Trump happened to be a fan and is friends with Vince but that’s about all you learn.

[Jeremy Sonnier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn’t really bring any new info to the table and the author chose to stop in the middle of 1999 when there has been plenty of recent scandals involving Vince. It covers his childhood in great detail so I would say it’s worth a read for his younger history but, it sort of fizzles out after the early 1980s. If you’re looking for a more detailed history of the golden era into the attitude era, I would recommend Bret Hart’s memoir.

[Jessica Blitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I genuinely think this would have been better with pictures

[Andrew Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An abrupt end, hinting at a sequel. Feels like we just got half the story here.

[Paul Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child, every Saturday afternoon, the garish spectacle of two men grappling one another in what seemed to be a real contest, captured my attention. As I got older, wrestling became a little more mainstream and my own interest became intermittent. The book, Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America by Abraham Riesman is a superb book with excellent insight into how the garish spectacle became mainstream. It also delves into the business and seamy side of wrestling. At times, the reader may have a hard time telling the difference. Ms. Riesman has done some fine research. The author has accomplished two tasks in this work: a bio of Vince McMahon Jr., his meteoric rise and controversial fall and explaining the expansion of wrestling from a low-brow mix of sports and theatre in spread-out regions of the United States to a national audience. One can't help but admire McMahon's ability to overcome what was a difficult childhood with a stepfather and then re-discovering his biological father. Some things I wasn't aware of included McMahon's other promotional misadventures: he had had some involvement with Muhammad Ali's gimmick fight with Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki and Evel Knievel's jump over the Snake River Canyon. Yet it's the world of professional wrestling (later to be known as "sports entertainment") where McMahon made his name. He once described himself as "the Walt Disney of wrestling". A bold comparison, to be sure. Through, what some consider ruthless tactics or just plain business, McMahon was able to consolidate regional wrestling associations to create the World Wrestling Federation (later changed to World Wrestling Entertainment). It's clear that the author has a dubious opinion on McMahon by the book's subtitle. All the big names over the years- Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Jerry Lawler, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ultimate Warrior and Brett Hart--are in the book with interesting details provided. Ms. Reisman does not shy away from the controversies (and there are many)like some of the controversial story arcs created by the WWF and the use of drugs The author does some good research on the violence within the industry, particularly against female wrestlers and employees. One interesting aspect the author covers is the transformation of mainstream media covering wrestling as an ongoing beat. Clearly, it made a difference in how the sport was viewed by the public. In the end, the book centers around Vince McMahon, wrestling executive, showman and occasional wrestler himself. Who will ever forget the time McMahon had a match with, wait for it, God? You can read for yourself to see who won. McMahon resigned from the WWE's parent organization in 2024 following allegations of sexual misconduct. This book has everything: cheap opera with an athletic twist and high tragedy. Even if you're not a fan of wrestling, this book tells an interesting story. This book is available in accessible formats from the Centre for Equitable Library Access in Canada (CELA) and Bookshare in the United States.

[Scott Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5 stars) (Audiobook) Perhaps this book is more like Vince MacMahon than the author would like to admit: A lot of hype, but much of the final product doesn’t quite live up to all of it. The book is good about digging into the upbringing of Vince MacMahon, noting that the family struggles (his real, blood family, not the MacMahon family he would come into later in childhood) he faced would define much about his adult life. The work primarily focuses on the rise of Vince MacMahon as he took over the old World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), turning it into the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), later WWE after the loss against the World Wildlife Fund up until the end of the Attitude Era (late 1990s-early 2000s). Vince is seen as ruthless, not afraid to screw over rivals, employees and partners, a man who would forge a close connection with Donald Trump and become a major player in Republican politics.

However, even in this recounting, there are a lot of gaps in the story, and while a reader will gain more insight into Vince MacMahon, this work isn’t quite sure if it wants to be a bio on Vince, a commentary on the state of pro-wrestling, or how one of the top promoters in America entered into politics (Trump may rank among the best promoters in all of American history, but even Trump will admit that Vince MacMahon may be just as great a promoter as he is…and that is coming from Trump in one of his Apprentice shows). Much of the information and key stories in this book appear to come from The Dark Side of the Ring (A documentary series that covers some of this biggest scandals in wrestling history) as well as the John Oliver Last Week Tonight show that focused on the WWE. If you already watch those, then this book doesn’t offer that much new or interesting, save the Vince MacMahon origin story. The gaps between the Attitude Era and the election of Donald Trump also beg for some analysis, but you don’t find that here. Also, there is but a slight mention of the XFL, which failed twice under his leadership (2000 and 2020), both of which were just as massive undertaking as his failed body-building organization.

It would be interesting to see Riesman address the very, very recent developments involving Vince MacMahon. MacMahon (who resignation from the WWE in 2021 marks the publication cut off for this book) is back in a position of power, actually returning to handle creative for WWE in shows last week (to very mixed reviews), and was part of a major corporate merger with UFC for a conglomerate fighting/sports entertainment company. Vince MacMahon’s role as the king of the WWE is set, and arguably, he is the greatest force in the history of pro-wrestling. However, this work, for all of the insights it does offer, leaves way too much untold, almost begging for a follow-up pay-per-view, er, book to generate more money.

[Tom Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected or wanted.

My Confirmation Bias chose this book for me because I had long agreed with the Author's late admitted premise that there was remarkable similarity between Trump's
"Covfefe" and McMahan's "Kayfabe".

I was expecting that there would be an emphasis on revealing these parallels. Instead it was a probably well-researched Biography of McMahan's rise to dominance over the World of "Professional" Wrestling. Most of the anecdotes he shares ring true to anyone with even a fleeting exposure to the craziness of his productions over the years.

I'll give it three stars for his mention of some of the Greats a neighbor took me to see at Sunnyside Gardens in New York City when I was ten. At the risk of sounding sexist, I would have preferred a male voice narrating this subject, but Weissglass did a good enough job. Three Stars ***

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books and watched a lot of documentaries, and still, there was material here that I had never heard (specifically related to Vince McMahon's personal life and family of origin). I was so surprised that I hadn't previously heard about some of what I read here that I wondered if it was possibly not true. Were the facts being fabricated here?

The writer of this book has an understanding of professional wrestling, but writes in such a way that makes it sound like he has disdain for either Vince McMahon, professional wrestling, or both. I know that it is hard to not write with a bias, but the author of this book went out of their way to cast professional wrestling and Vince McMahon in a negative light. The non-stop negativity in this book made it harder for me to get through than other books that I've read about professional wrestling.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly the name of the book should be “Asshole-The Story of Vince McMahon” because I don’t think there is a better word to describe him. He’s a certified asshole. The fact it took people 20+ years to realize it kinda blows my mind. The man’s whole shtick was built on him just being an asshole. He basically stole his business from his dad, 1/2 of the ideas he says he made he stole, potentially helped jimmy snuka get away with murder, continued a show after someone fell 80 feet to their death. These examples arnt even the worst things he’s done, that’s how bad of a person he is.