Awesome Truth: A Wrestling Book Club

You've heard us talk all about Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America; now it's time to talk to the author! Abraham Josephine "Josie" Riesman joins us to discuss writing a book that aims to be the definitive Vince biography, as well as how it feels to be an outsider reporting on pro wrestling.

The story of Vince McMahon is a difficult one to tell, especially in the wake of the retirement and resurgence that has kept the WWE chairman in the limelight despite numerous financial and sexual accusations being leveled against him. Vince is one of the most complex and problematic corporate overlords in modern American history, and Ringmaster is an attempt to distill him down to 464 pages and assess his impact on not only pro wrestling but all of society. Does it succeed? Join us as we dissect this long-awaited effort to tell the full McMahon tale.

It's April, which means it's (sigh) Backlash season. While this year's event features stars like Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar, and Bad Bunny, this post-WrestleMania show is not usually a highlight for WWE. That said, to give you all the watch-along you deserve, we dug into the archives and pulled up Backlash 2007, which features four of the era's top guys facing off: John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels. Does HBK mesh well with these 3 modern stars? How have Cena and Orton evolved over the years? And how is Edge twice as swole 16 years later? We'll answer all these questions and more during this Backlash Fatal 4-Way.

WWE 24 is the most consistent documentary series on the WWE Network/Peacock, and their WrestleMania 38 episode is no exception. Even 15 minutes on Rick Boogs can't slow down this intimate backstage look at Stone Cold Steve Austin, Becky Lynch, Kevin Owens, and the other stars of 2022's biggest show. Join us as we finish our Mania coverage by dissecting yet another WWE 24 offering, and who knows: Maybe we'll talk for 20 minutes about WrestleMania 39 (and Roman Reigns versus Cody Rhodes) along the way.

We've made it to 150 episodes! To celebrate, we're diving into the rich history of pro wrestling theme songs and ranking our 10 favorites. What will make the cut? Will the glass breaking for Stone Cold Steve Austin top Triple H's Motorhead classics, or will Shawn Michaels being the world's sexiest boy sneak into the No. 1 spot? From Jim Johnston to CFO$ and everything in between, join us as we toast to years of Awesome Truth by choosing wrestling's best entrance music.

It's WrestleMania month, which means it's time for another world-famous Awesome Truth watch-along. This time, we're revisiting WrestleMania XVI, also known as WrestleMania 2000. And, of course, the match we're discussing is one of the greatest tag-team showdowns of all time: the Hardys versus the Dudleys versus Edge and Christian. They call it a "triangle ladder match" but it's basically the first-ever TLC match, and it sets the tone for a million vicious spot-fests to come. So turn on Peacock, load up this Mania classic, and bask in 23 minutes of wrestling insanity with your best buds Steve and Walt.

A&E continues to embrace pro wrestling with WWE Rivals, another documentary series that covers the greatest rivalries in sports entertainment history, and they've chosen to kick off their second season with a look back at Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant. Is there more to say about the Hulkster going up against the Eighth Wonder of the World? Is WWE finally ready to embrace and revisit the pre-WrestleMania III era when Hogan was a heel and Andre was a face? And does bringing in Freddie Prinze Jr to "host" this series excite anyone out there? Join as we break down A&E's latest wrestling endeavor.

It's time for another world-famous Awesome Truth watch-along; this month, we're revisiting the 2012 Elimination Chamber PPV, also known as the night Santino Marella had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Up against Hall of Famers like The Big Show, Daniel Bryan, and Cody Rhodes, Santino and his Cobra stole the show and somehow got WWE fans to believe that he'd be the next World Heavyweight Champion. Join us as we rewatch one of the most iconic ElimChambs in history.

The Ric Flair story has been told up and down, left and right. We covered his autobiography on the very first episode of this show, we covered his 30 for 30 back in 2017, and his sexual transgressions were well-detailed in the Plane Ride From Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring. But now, Peacock and WWE Network Documentaries have given us even more Nature Boy, as Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair was released to the world in December 2022. Does the world really need another 2 hours of Flair chatter? Is there more of his life to dissect and analyze? Join us as we discuss Ric Flair yet again, hopefully for the last time.

The 2015 Royal Rumble is also known as "the night everyone turned on Roman Reigns," as Philadelphia fans booed the Big Dog (and his cousin The Rock) with a passion and kickstarted years of WWE crowds being mixed at best toward Reigns. Your two Awesome Truth hosts were in attendance that night, jeering like crazy as beloved wrestlers like Daniel Bryan were tossed aside for Roman's babyface push to the top. With the 2023 Royal Rumble right around the corner, join us as we revisit this classic Rumble and see if it's as bad as we remember.

Back in 1988, famed director John Carpenter and WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper came together for what became a true cult classic: They Live. From South Park parodies to eBaum's World soundboards, the pop culture impact of Piper's performance in They Live was far greater than anyone could've anticipated. For our first episode of 2023, we popped on this 94-minute gem and discussed the acting career of one of pro wrestling's top thespians.

When you hear that Vice is releasing a new Vince McMahon documentary, mere months after the chairman retired from WWE amid allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money payments, it's only natural to get excited. So imagine our surprise when it turned out to be cobbled-together clips from old Dark Side of the Ring episodes mixed with several minutes of new Dave Meltzer and Vince Russo interviews. Why did Vice rush this out, trick its audience, and perhaps salt its reputation as a hard-hitting chronicler of wrestling history? Join us as we dissect the few ups and many downs of The Nine Lives of Vince McMahon.

Arn Anderson in graphic novel form? That's right; "The Enforcer" himself, the WWE Hall of Famer and original member of the Four Horsemen, is coming to the world of comic books. To promote Arn Anderson: My Life as the Enforcer, which is collecting pledges on Kickstarter through mid-December, we welcome Arn himself and friend of the show Dirk Manning to discuss the Arn comic, how they've condensed four decades of wrestling into a few hundred pages, and what it was like to see the business evolve from NWA and WWF to WCW, WWE, and now AEW.

With Triple H finally achieving his dream of integrating WarGames into the WWE main roster, Awesome Truth is taking a trip back to the '90s and revisiting one of our favorite iterations of the double cage match! Join us as we watch along with Fall Brawl 1997, specifically the main event WarGames match pitting the nWo’s insufferable team of Kevin Nash, Syxx, Konnan, and Buff Bagwell against The Four Horsemen’s Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, and Curt Hennig. I sure hope Mr. Perfect can be trusted!

What would happen if "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan squared off against the undead? The 2013 feature film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies answers that very question and also throws Kurt Angle and Matt Hardy in there as a bonus. Join us as we discuss this very low-budget Troma picture, released at the height of the zombie craze, and dissect the performances of all your favorite aging grapplers.

Back in March 2020, the world basically paused as we assessed how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. All that remained? Televised professional wrestling. In Follow the Buzzards, best friend of the show Keith Elliot Greenberg recaps the battles that accompanied the coronavirus, in politics, society, and the squared circle. He visited outdoor indie shows and went backstage at WrestleMania 37, all to bring us this story of how wrestling can survive -- and even thrive -- in the craziest of circumstances.

To celebrate this month’s release of Follow the Buzzards: Pro Wrestling in the Age of COVID-19, Awesome Truth invites author and close friend Keith Elliot Greenberg back on the show! Keith discusses how and why he started chronicling this particular topic in book form as well as sharing his favorite memories as a writer and a fan during wrestling’s COVID-19 era. For more, buy Follow the Buzzards: Pro Wrestling in the Age of COVID-19 wherever books are sold.

"This is awesome" is a chant most wrestling fans know well, whether it's screamed along with a great match, a classic promo, or an epic staredown. But on Peacock's new WWE show, This Is Awesome, it's reduced to a watered-down cliché applied to a countdown clip show. Join as we return to what was once the WWE Network and assess their assessment of the most "awesome" SummerSlam moments and wrestler entrances.

Brian Gewirtz, former WWE head writer and current exec at Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions, has given us a serious contender for best wrestling book of 2022. In his new autobiography, There's Just One Problem...: True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE, Gewirtz provides a uniquely personal perspective into the backstage world of WWE. Join us as we discuss Brian's many creative battles with Vince McMahon, his relationship with The Rock, and what it must've been like to book and produce celebrity talent for Raw’s illustrious guest host era.

For a while now, The Players' Tribune has been helping athletes speak directly to fans via first-person articles that highlight the ups and downs on the road to fame and glory. This includes professional wrestlers; stars like Sting, Eddie Kingston, Jade Cargill, and even the wife of Brodie Lee/Jon Huber have shared their powerful stories. This week, we are revisiting many of The Players' Tribune's wrestling articles and assessing this unique, succinct way for wrestlers (mostly of the AEW variety) to open up and tell their tales.