
Hardcore History
The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW
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Narrated by:
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Karl Miller
About this listen
ECW was one extreme contradiction piled on top of another. It was an incredibly influential company in the world of professional wrestling during the 1990s, yet it was never profitable. It portrayed itself as the ultimate in anti-authority rebellion, but its leadership was, at various points, working covertly with the two wrestling giants, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Most of all, it blurred the line between real life and the fantasy world of professional wrestling like no other company before it - many of those who thought they were conning others ended up being victims of the ultimate con.
Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW offers a frank and balanced look at the evolution of the company, starting even before its early days as a Philadelphia-area independent group called Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992 and extending past the death of Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001. Writer Scott E. Williams has pored through records and conducted dozens of interviews with fans, company officials, business partners, and the wrestlers themselves to bring listeners the most thorough account possible of this bizarre company.
The book sets out to answer several questions: Did World Championship Wrestling really try to destroy ECW by draining off its talent? Was Vince McMahon secretly as a friend to ECW, as he has claimed? What really caused the death of ECW? Who lied to whom? Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW will address all of those mysteries and many more in a story that is sure to be extremely controversial for fans and critics of both the ECW and professional wrestling.
©2006, 2007, 2011 Scott E. Williams. Foreword copyright © 2006, 2007, 2011 Shane Douglas (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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A breakthroughexamination of professional wrestling - its history, its fans, and its widercultural impact - that does for the sport what Chuck Klosterman did for heavymetal
The Squared Circle grows out of David Shoemaker'swriting for both Deadspin, where hestarted the column "Dead Wrestler of the Week" - a feature on the many wrestlingsuperstars who died too young because of the abuse they subjected their bodiesto - and Grantland,where he covers the pro-wrestling world and its place in the pop culturemainstream. Shoemaker's sports writing has since struck a nerve withgenerations of wrestling fans who, like him, grew up worshiping a sport oftenderided as "fake" in the wider culture. To them, these professional wrestlingsuperstars are not just heroes but an emotional outlet and the lens throughwhich they learned to see the world.
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Editorial reviews
The ECW was always an underdog in the world of wrestling, smaller and scrappier than its bigger brothers, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. In journalist Scott E. Williams' Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW, Karl Miller intrepidly narrates the now defunct company's fascinating backstory, from its genesis in 1992 to its collapse in 2001. Miller's clear and sympathetic voice performance underlines the brutality of the sport, while critically unveiling the truth behind questions that still linger, including the ECW's relationship to Vince McMahon and the WCW, and the real reasons the ECW died.
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If you thought the world of pro wrestling was wild, imagine what you haven’t seen on TV and in the ring. Add to that the backdrop of building a renegade production company, negotiating with impossible wrestling talent, and hosting groundbreaking, shoot-style programming, and you have the story of Sean Oliver. Sean has seen industry-wide accolades for the company he co-founded and for which he serves as front man. Watch the unpredictable and unconventional story through Sean’s eyes.
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BEHIND THE SCENES GALOUR
- By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM ALJEHANI on 04-05-18
By: Sean Oliver
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Too Sweet
- Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution
- By: Keith Elliot Greenberg
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2017, after being told that no independent wrestling group could draw a crowd of more than 10,000, a group of wrestlers took up the challenge. For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Center Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT.
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Super Book, Annoying Narration
- By Richard on 04-10-21
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Rowdy
- The Roddy Piper Story: A Biography of Our Father
- By: Colt Baird Toombs, Ariel Teal Toombs, Craig Pyette - contributor
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In early 2015, Roderick Toombs, aka Rowdy Roddy Piper, began researching his own autobiography with a trip through Western Canada. He was rediscovering his youth, a part of his life he never discussed during his sixty-one years, many spent as one of the greatest talents in the history of pro wrestling. Following his death due to a heart attack that July, two of his children took on the job of telling Roddy's story, separating fact from fiction in the extraordinary life of their father.
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Bravo
- By Amazon Customer on 02-14-25
By: Colt Baird Toombs, and others
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The Death of WCW
- By: R.D. Reynolds, Bryan Alvarez
- Narrated by: Bryan Alvarez
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1997, World Championship Wrestling was on top. It was the number-one pro wrestling company in the world, and the highest-rated show on cable television. Each week, fans tuned in to Monday Nitro, flocked to sold-out arenas, and carried home truckloads of WCW merchandise. Sting, Bill Goldberg, and the New World Order were household names. Superstars like Dennis Rodman and KISS jumped on the WCW bandwagon. It seemed the company could do no wrong.
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Like a rambling friend telling you WCW history
- By Eric Philleo on 12-18-17
By: R.D. Reynolds, and others
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The Eighth Wonder of the World
- The True Story of André the Giant
- By: Bertrand Hébert, Pat Laprade
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Is there a way to find truth in the stuff of legend? You may think you know Andre the Giant - but who was Andre Roussimoff? This comprehensive biography addresses the burning questions, outrageous stories, and common misconceptions about his height, his weight, his drawing power as a superstar, and his seemingly unparalleled capacity for food and alcohol. But more importantly, The Eighth Wonder of the World transports listeners beyond the smoke and mirrors of professional wrestling into the life of a real man.
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The Narration Nearly Ruins A Perfectly Good Book
- By Prince Akkanatan on 07-16-20
By: Bertrand Hébert, and others
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Nightmare Fuel
- The Science of Horror Films
- By: Nina Nesseth
- Narrated by: Raquel Beattie
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Horror films promise an experience: fear. But how exactly do filmmakers pull this off? The truth is, there's more to it than just loud noises and creepy images. With the affection of a true horror fan and the critical analysis of a scientist, Nesseth explains how audiences engage horror with both their brains and bodies, and teases apart the elements that make horror films tick. Nightmare Fuel covers everything from jump scares to creature features, serial killers to the undead, and the fears that stick around to those that fade over time.
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Science + Horror = Intrigued
- By Bradley on 12-06-22
By: Nina Nesseth
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Men, Women, and Chain Saws
- Gender in the Modern Horror Film
- By: Carol J. Clover
- Narrated by: Eva Wilhelm
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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From its first publication in 1992, Men, Women, and Chain Saws has offered a groundbreaking perspective on the creativity and influence of horror cinema since the mid-1970s. Investigating the popularity of the low-budget tradition, Carol Clover looks in particular at slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films. Although such movies have been traditionally understood as offering only sadistic pleasures to their mostly male audiences, Clover demonstrates that they align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the females tormented.
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There's so much more to horror than this...
- By Lacey Waldron on 03-16-25
By: Carol J. Clover
What listeners say about Hardcore History
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jake
- 11-08-20
ECW
If you loved ECW back in it's hayday or are just a fan of hardcore wrestling in general, youll love this.
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- Shane King
- 02-12-22
Good not great.
I enjoyed the book but the reader mispronounced several names and the story was alright but I feel it could have been told a little better. All in all though I did enjoy the book and enjoyed it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dr Feelgood
- 11-29-16
Get a narrator with product knowledge
What a great book on the history of ECW! it is well written and has tons of quotes and backstage stories. As good as the book is, the narrator ruins it. His voice is flat with little intonation. I can forgive that, but I can't forgive the mispronounced names throughout. He could have jumped on YouTube to hear the names, he could have asked the author, he could have done his homework. Instead, we are treated to Chris Benoyt (Benoit) and Tony Skee-ah-voon (Schiavone) He ruined the entire book.
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11 people found this helpful
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- michael
- 04-10-16
E C DUB!!!!!!!!!
What did you love best about Hardcore History?
Any and everything ECW..... Those three letters being chanted in a shabby little bingo hall in south philly, 20+years later still brings a smile to my face
What was one of the most memorable moments of Hardcore History?
I loved the accounts of the mass transit incident
Which character – as performed by Karl Miller – was your favorite?
Not characters
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Not that kinda book
Any additional comments?
Good read/listen
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- ZW
- 09-07-17
Great history of ECW
Having grown up watching ECW this book was extremely entertaining and spot on. The narrator was alright, but not unbearable. The inside details and story do ECW justice. Now we just need an updated version. If you liked this book try also: The Death of WCW. It is an excellent listen with a great narrator.
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- Jasen
- 04-01-22
interesting trip down memory lane
As a long time fan of professional wrestling, listening to the story of one of the most entertaining wrestling organizations ever was a treat. (Could have been told in a more condensed fashion.)
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- Christian
- 04-10-18
More detail than I expected
Out of the dozen or so wrestling books I have read, this one stands out. It contained more detail than I was expecting, and while very pro-ECW, did present the negative aspects of the company.
Other than some strange mispronounced names every once in a while, the narration was better than multiple other wrestling audio books. There should be a requirement that book narrators be at least marginally familiar with the subject matter.
The only nitpick I have is the exclusion of some small details that a fan of ECW would recognize as missing.
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- Super ultra donkey
- 05-02-22
I never saw ECW
interesting book kind of makes me wonder what ECW was like I saw a couple of videos on YouTube don't think it was my cup of tea but the book was outstanding
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- Anonymous User
- 11-20-24
EC Dub!!!
I enjoyed listening to this story. I love wrestling and it’s great getting more back story to everything. Congrats on HOF Hayman
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- Mary C.
- 02-03-25
Fantastic book
It was really interesting to learn about the history of ECW especially since I am from Philadelphia and a huge wrestling fan.
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