In 1988, a corporate broadcasting giant swallowed one of professional wrestling's most storied territories whole, and what followed was a decade-long parade of executives, ego clashes, and creative decisions so baffling they have to be read to be believed. From a Pizza Hut executive pitching hunchback tag teams to a Roman gladiator rebranding of the greatest champion in wrestling history, the people running World Championship Wrestling seemed locked in a competition with each other to see who could do the most damage the fastest. This is the inside story of how a company with some of the best wrestlers on Earth buried them under glitter-covered stormtrooper helmets, mini-movies involving boat explosions and evil one-eyed midgets, and monster truck battles. It tracks the revolving door of power — from a man who let the World Champion walk out the door with the belt, to a former territory boss who banned top-rope moves while employing the best high-fliers alive, to the young announcer who talked his way into the big chair and then bet everything on a single aging superstar. That superstar arrived like a conquering emperor, complete with a staged ticker-tape parade, and proceeded to bulldoze every homegrown talent in his path while surrounding himself with the same crew of buddies he'd brought from up north. Champions were humiliated, legends were put in dresses, and an indestructible seven-footer no-sold a fall off an arena roof while an ancient wizard sat in a fake ice cave drinking goblets of blood and assembling the dumbest faction in wrestling history. Every backroom deal, every sabotaged title reign, every boneheaded gimmick, and every corporate knife fight that shaped WCW's chaotic early years is laid out here in full, unsparing detail. The story of how this company clawed its way from laughingstock to the most dangerous competitor Vince McMahon ever faced is one of the wildest rides in the history of the business — and it starts with everything they did wrong.
