For decades, distinct professional wrestling territories thrived across North America. Each regionally based promotion operated individually and offered a brand of localized wrestling that greatly appealed to area fans. Promoters routinely coordinated with associates in surrounding regions, and the cooperation displayed by members of the National Wrestling Alliance made it easy for wrestlers to traverse the landscape with the utmost freedom. Dozens of territories flourished between the 1950s and late '70s. But by the early 1980s, the growth of cable television had put new outside pressures on promoters. An enterprising third-generation entrepreneur who believed cable was his opportunity to take his promotion national soon capitalized on the situation. A host of novel ideas and the will to take chances gave Vincent Kennedy McMahon an incredible advantage. McMahon waged war on the territories and raided the NWA and AWA of their top talent. By creating WrestleMania, jumping into the pay-per-view field, and expanding across North America, McMahon changed professional wrestling forever. Providing never-before-revealed information, Death of the Territories is a must-read for fans yearning to understand how McMahon outlasted his rivals and established the industry's first national promotion. At the same time, it offers a comprehensive look at the promoters who opposed McMahon, focusing on their noteworthy power plays and embarrassing mistakes.--Publisher's description.
Authors
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Date published
- 2018.
- Description conventions
- rda
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 796.812
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- Distributor
- Canadian Electronic Library (Firm),
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-us---
- ISBN
- 9781773052335 9781770413849
- LCCN
- GV1198.12
- LCCN Item number
- H67 2018eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (viii, 264 pages)
- Published in
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)kck00239299 (OCoLC)1053861342 (CaOOCEL)479769
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- Front Cover -1
- Title Page 2
- Copyright 3
- Epigraph 4
- Table of Contents 5
- Acknowledgments 6
- The Established System 8
- Titan Sports 19
- The Beginning of the End 31
- Southern California 43
- The Surviving Territories 55
- A New Era in Professional Wrestling 68
- “They Sure Got Rid of Me” 81
- The Great TV Expansion of 1984 93
- An Industry at War 105
- Rock ’n’ Wrestling 117
- Cooperation and Crisis 128
- WrestleMania 139
- The Only Game in Town 150
- Year of the Supershow 162
- The War Expands Again 174
- Grappling with Turbulence 186
- Manifest Destiny 199
- Loyalty versus Money 211
- A Bruising Tragedy 223
- The End of an Era 235
- Endnotes 250
- About the Author 271
- Back Cover 272
