NSR REVIEWS: Wrestling Babylon
Wrestling Babylon, a book written by noted author and freelance journalist Irv Muchnick, isn’t really a book. It’s more a collection of magazine articles that dare to pull the curtain back on the world of professional wrestling. Muchnick, the nephew of legendary St. Louis promoter Sam Muchnick, has “followed pro wrestling since he was knee high to a turnbuckle.”
Professional wrestling rides the line between sport and entertainment. While the finishes are pre-determined, the injuries and toll taken on the bodies of these men and women has lead to a number of tragic deaths, some of which Muchnick covers in Babylon.
The only negative of this book is there isn’t necessarily a flow from article to article. But one of the running themes is the very complicated view of WWE chairman and principal owner Vince McMahon. Muchnick expresses admiration but also sees a negative to the McMahon story.
“He is a fascinating public figure, a modern P.T. Barnum,” Muchnick said, “You can’t not take into account modern pop culture without Vince McMahon. There is a dark side to what he’s done.”
Muchnick goes onto point out how many members of the mainstream write what they see on television and treating it as a cartoon instead of asking some tough questions. Babylon provides readers with a chance to see a different side of the story. One of the earlier pieces Muchnick wrote dealt with the Von Erich family and World Class Champion Wrestling.
Published in Penthouse magazine of all places, the Von Erichs name started with Fritz Adkisson portraying a German just after World War II. Fritz had six sons, five of which died before the age of 35. Jackie, the firstborn, died at the age of six because of an electrocution. The other four deaths were by suicide, the most controversial of which was David Von Erich in 1984.
Muchnick talked about the story by saying everyone in the Von Erich told pathetic lies. He also mentioned that for this story, he was originally promised a copy of David’s autopsy but then they reneged on that promise. It also served as a way for Muchnick to put him on the map in a serious way.
Some other articles included in Babylon deal with the deregulation of professional wrestling by state athletic commissions and how Vince McMahon affected that, McMahon’s aborted attempt to start a bodybuilding federation, a story about Hulk Hogan in the early 1990s and his own steroid usage, and an article from 2003 about McMahon’s WWE entertaining the troops. Also included at the very end of the book is a list of every wrestler who’s died since 1985. Looking at the names, so many passed away before the age of 50 and too many in their 30s. Muchnick’s finest work turned out to be a simple list of wrestlers who’ve died before they should have. Another would join the list shortly after this book was published.
Babylon originally came out in April 2007. Just two months later, a WWE wrestler named Chris Benoit murder his wife Nancy and son Daniel. It was yet another dark tale in a series of them in this bizarre world of professional wrestling. Muchnick appeared on various media outlets throughout the aftermath and is currently working on a book to be published later on in 2008 entitled CHRIS AND NANCY: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of Death. If it turns out anything like Wrestling Babylon, readers will get another shocking look at the world of professional wrestling.
Tags: Chris Benoit, Hulk Hogan, Irv Muchnick, pro wrestling, Vince McMahon, Von Erichs, Wrestling Babylon
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[...] on a book called Chris and Nancy. He has written a number of books about the industry including Wrestling Babylon. Muchnick was not available to be interviewed for this story, but his blog is one of the best [...]
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