Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution

by Keith Elliot Greenberg Narrated by Danny Campbell

Overview

The first and only in-depth look at the indie wrestling revolution



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.



Acclaimed wrestling historian Keith Elliot Greenberg's Too Sweet takes readers back to the beginning, when a half century ago outlaw promotions challenged the established leagues, and guides us into the current era. He paints a vivid picture of promotions as diverse as New Japan, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro, Progress, and Chikara, and the colorful figures who starred in each. This is both a dynamic snapshot and the ultimate history of a transformational time in professional wrestling.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Indie wrestling has been nothing short of the revolution Greenberg suggests, and his book burrows deep inside its genesis, gestation and still-evolving future.” — Kenny Herzog, Rolling Stone, The Ringer
“The elegant prose I grew up reading (in Greenberg’s wrestling articles) is back on display here, as he shines a necessary light on a remarkable time in the indies.” — Justin Barrasso, Sports Illustrated
In 2017, after being told that no independent wrestling show 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 Centre 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.
Acclaimed wrestling historian Keith Elliot Greenberg’s Too Sweet takes readers back to the beginning, when a half century ago outlaw promotions challenged the established leagues, and guides us into the current era. He paints a vivid picture of such diverse promotions as New Japan, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro, Progress, PWG and Chikara, and the colorful figures who starred in each. This is both a dynamic snapshot and the ultimate history of a transformational time in professional wrestling.
Featuring photographs by Kevin Quiroz.
Keith Elliot Greenberg is a New York Times bestselling author and television producer who wrote for WWE’s publications for decades and co-authored the autobiographies of WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair, Freddie Blassie and Superstar Billy Graham, as well as the third edition of the WWE Encyclopedia of Sports Entertainment. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

“Indie wrestling has been nothing short of the revolution Greenberg suggests, and his book burrows deep inside its genesis, gestation and still-evolving future.” — Kenny Herzog, writer, Rolling Stone, The Ringer

“The elegant prose I grew up reading (in Greenberg’s wrestling articles) is back on display here, as he shines a necessary light on a remarkable time in the indies.” — Justin Barrasso, Sports Illustrated

“Professional wrestling fans and historians will be gratified.” — Library Journal

“Too Sweet is a great dive into indie wrestling … it is a great guide to those that want to learn about this topic.” — Voices of Wrestling

“Greenberg says he spent a year researching and writing Too Sweet and the result is the ultimate exploration of indie wrestling … Along with enlightening readers on some international indie promotions, Greenberg shows an obvious commitment to making his book a comprehensive history and guide.” — SLAM Wrestling

Library Journal

09/01/2020

To the casual observer the McMahon dynasty, which has sat at the top of the sport for decades is professional wrestling. Under the radar, though, dozens of independent wrestling circuits have proliferated, and veteran wrestling writer Greenberg presents an exhaustive study of them: Ring of Honor, New Japan, Chikara, and other independent alliances ranging from groups whose participants might wrestle seven days a week for $25 a match to the AEW (All Elite Wrestling), a current ambitious challenger to Vince McMahon's WWE, fueled financially by Shad Khan, billionaire owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Some emphasize technical wrestling, some "hardcore" specializing in gore, some Mexican style lucha libre, and some take deeper dives, such as the defunct XPW, which joined wrestling and pornography, but most share the characteristics of being less carefully scripted and offering their participants more creative freedom than the slick WWE. Greenberg effectively shows how they all follow the professional wrestling tradition of colorful performers, such as Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks. VERDICT So much is presented here that it's sometimes dizzying, but professional wrestling fans and historians will be gratified.—Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176085419
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

I first subscribed to Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer newsletter in the 1980s, after I began writing for WWF Magazine, before the lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund that forced the World Wrestling Federation to become WWE. Although the Wrestling Observer has a significant online presence, I still look forward to the paper edition each week, an exhaustive collection of wrestling history, match results, business analysis and gossip in single-spaced seven-point type. Meltzer, who has lectured at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, also popularized a star rating system for major matches, one that even the performers who claim to hate him take extremely seriously. While I was working on this book, Meltzer and I were guests on a public access show in which he was asked about his taste in movies and bands. He paused and fumbled for words. A movie? But when it comes to professional wrestling, not to mention MMA and old-school roller derby, nobody knows more — or ever will.
In May 2017, Meltzer was asked on Twitter about whether Ring of Honor, the primary American indie league at that time, could draw more than 10,000 fans. “Not any time soon,” he responded. Cody Rhodes — the youngest son of the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes and an indie prince since he parted ways with WWE the year before — then tweeted, “I’ll take that bet, Dave.”
For the next 16 months, Cody and the Young Bucks, brothers Nick and Matt Jackson, worked to prove that Dave Meltzer was wrong, as well as to create All In.
The effort became “a worldwide movement for professional wrestling [and] everyone that wants an alternative,” Kenny Omega, who went into All In wearing the vaunted International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Heavyweight Championship for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion, told the group’s website. “Especially in America because in America, you’re kind of forced to believe that WWE is the best.” All In, he continued, was “a rally to show support for people who have a different vision.”
Initially, the three men rejected outside efforts to fund the experiment and relied on their families and friends. Cody’s sister, Teil, created the name All-In, the Bucks’ father, Matt Massie Sr., the musical score. Alabama mortgage broker Conrad Thompson, a wrestling podcaster who married the legendary Ric Flair’s oldest daughter, Megan, coordinated Starcast, the fan convention surrounding the event. Cody’s wife, Brandi — a WWE-trained wrestler herself — and Matt Jackson’s wife, Dana, were deeply involved in organizational decisions.
Like Cody, WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett had grown up in the wrestling business, learning promotion from his father, Jerry Jarrett, and step-grandfather, Eddie Marlin, in the old Memphis wrestling territory. “I love to see guys take risks,” he observed. “Sometimes, that gets you into big trouble. Sometimes, it pays off. Reward is always measured by your level of risk. But when I saw All In lining up, I felt they had a pretty good chance. The concept was good. The independent wrestling revolution started quite a few years ago. Now we were on the cusp of a wrestling boom.”

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