Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal

by Irvin Muchnick

Irvin Muchnick -- a widely published writer and nephew of the late, legendary St. Louis wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick -- has produced a book unlike any other on the astonishing growth of professional wrestling and its profound impact on mainstream sports and society. In Wrestling Babylon, he traces the demise of wrestling's old Mafia-like territories and the rise of a national marketing base thanks to cable television, deregulation and a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550227610
• ISBN13: 9781550227611
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Quick read

This covers various scandals in the sport, and seems complete (ends before the Benoit deaths). It is readable for fans and non-fans alike. It ends with a chronological list of deaths of wrestlers under the age of 50 (and its a fairly long one). Could be more detailed.

Much, Much, Muchnick

This book is hardcore! Though some of the tales told out of school here are so old that moss is growing high and wild around them, it's just the same as HOLLYWOOD BABYLON. Indeed the more "classic" the scandal, the more clearly you can see the footprint, and nothing that goes on today in World Wrestling is any stranger than the wrestling lore Muchnick digs up for his pulseracing expose. Hope the computer screen thumbnail gives you an idea of how ironically sleazy and MIDNIGHT TATTLER-like the cover of the book is closeup. For Muchnick, there's no such thing as too low a hold in wrestling. First off he puts to bed any illusions you or I might still be cherishing about wrestling as a "real" sport. Every bit of business has been staged, he says, from the bell to the buzzer and beyond. As for "safety standards," they're a joke. The long appendix in the book, filled with the names of dead wrestlers, and those they left in their wake, is chilling evidence of a "sport" that eats up its young and spits them out when they're 30. Anablic steroids are like Raisinettes to these guys, just chomp on'em all day and all night, and the theatricality of it all demands that each player has more muscles than they did last year. Is Hulk Hogan's [....] actually covered in tennis ball sized scar tissue from repeated injections? Maybe they've gone by now. It's Chinatown, Jack. If Kenneth Anger's book played up the uncensored sexuality of the film stars, Muchnick's Babylon is more about business itself, though there's certainly enough sex thrown in to raise some eyebrows. One former wrestler "used to joke that he had to be careful about bending down for a bar of soap on the shower floor." And the drugs lead to wild emotional power surges, during which look out anyone who gets in their way. Hangers on, casual fans, groupies, wives and children, all knocked senseless by four hundred pound lugs tweaking their balls off. It's a pretty scary story by any account.

Behind the Scenes of Wrestling

These articles written by the nephew of a wrestling promoter will open your eyes to the dark side of the sport, including sex abuse and steroid use.

A top-turnbuckle bodyslam of pro wrestling

"Wrestling Babylon" is the fly on the wall in the locker room. The stories that Irv Muchnick weaves throughout the book are more dramatic than any "angle" written by WWF writers. From Hulk Hogan's steroid scandal to backroom pedophila to Superfly Stuka's mysterious dead girlfriend, you really start to see how wrestling, despite IPOs, videogames and its semi-mainstream appeal, is a seedy, dark business. The sense of Vince McMahon's mind you get from reading the various chapters is particularly noteworthy. The psychology of a man who took wrestling from gymnasiums to Madison Square Garden is fascinating and frightening. Perhaps the scariest and darkest part of the book is McMahon's own quotes on how he treats his business and his employees. All in all, "Wrestling Babylon" is a great book for anyone who knows the difference between a German Suplex and a Boston Leg Lock. It is also a great book for anyone who has a soft spot for wrestling but always wanted to peer behind the curtain.

An Eye Opener!

Wrestling Babylon is a real eye opener. It blasts open the gritty underside of professional wrestling. This book is basically a compilation of articles written over the past two decades by Irvin Muchnick, a nephew of legendary wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick of Minnesota. The book presents insider information about the overuse of anabolic steroid in pro wrestling during the past two decades and other forms of drug abuse which stems from wrestling promoters preference to employ those who possess highly inflated and cartoonish physiques. It also reveals the sexual abuses which do happen behind the scenes. The book content is written with a great deal of humor and obvious love of professional wrestling. It perhaps appears to be a contradiction to say the author loves "rassling" and yet maintains a hard edged objectivity when discussing what actually happens behind the scene, however Muchnick has been able to successfully balance the two opposing sentiments. He is simply presenting wrestling as it is. It is only through awareness that positive change can happen. I only wish that Muchnick had been able to tie the story of professional wrestling from the early years of the television era and linking it to its current evolutionary stage and leading to a discussion about its possible future. Perhaps that is meant for another book. Are you listening Mr. Muchnick?