Sex, Lies, and Headlocks (38 page)

S
HAUN
A
SSAEL
M
IKE
M
OONEYHAM

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

KIM WOOD, THE STRENGTH
coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and one of Brian Pillman’s mentors, insists that he’s read more words by Dave Meltzer than any other single writer. Having backtracked through ten years’ worth of Meltzer’s weekly
Wrestling Observer
, I see what he means. Meltzer’s
Observer
provides an indispensable chronicle of the years covered in this book. The chapters having to do with McMahon’s drug trial and the death of Brian Pillman owe it a special debt.

When this project was launched in mid-1999, it had no better friend than Alan Sharp, then the publicist for WCW. He relentlessly helped to introduce me to wrestlers and others who would become invaluable over the next two years. One of them, James Barnett, is the Zelig of this book. Anyone who’s befriended Rock Hudson and guitar god Bob Mould in the same lifetime has to be remarkable, and I learned more about wrestling from him than anyone else. Also, many thanks to Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson, Will Bird, Michael Braverman, Gary Considine, David and Jim Crockett, Jim Herd, Jack Petrik, Gary Juster, Nick Lambross, Bill Shaw, Mike Tenay, and Cowboy Bill Watts for helping me with the sections on WCW.

There was no official help from the WWF because Vince McMahon chose not to lend his cooperation to this book. Fortunately, that didn’t stop people who’ve worked for him from offering a hand. I’d like to single out two for their patience and memories: Nelson Sweglar, who acted as the WWF’s director of operations through the 1980s, and Mike Ortman, a razor-smart strategist who taught me about the economics of cable TV. Also thanks to Jim Troy, Bob Arum, the Brisco brothers, Tom Chiappetta, J. J. Dillon, Verne Gagne, Les Garland, Kevin Nash, Bob Ryder, Ted Smith, David Wolff, and Grant Zwarych.

Select thanks go to an even smaller group who let me hound them on a regular basis. That group includes Jim Bell of Jim Bell Consulting, Stu Saks of London Publishing, Dave Schwarz of Viacom, and Craig Smith of wrestlinggod.com. But the most mercilessly hounded one of all is Mike Mooneyham, who started out as a friend and—midway through this book’s life—signed on to help me finish it. Without Mike, these pages would lack much of their savvy or detail.

Thanks to Peter Gethers for his direction, and to Dominick Abel for his management. And thanks to Ellen and Jake for not body slamming me on all those days when I was a monster heel.

S
HAUN
A
SSAEL
February 2002

Copyright © 2002, 2004 by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.

Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

www.crownpublishing.com

THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in slightly different form in hardcover by Crown Publishers, a division of Random House, in 2002.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Assael, Shaun.
    Sex, lies, and headlocks : the real story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment / Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham.—1st. ed.
    1. McMahon, Vince. 2. Wrestlers—United States—Biography. 3. World Wrestling Federation—History.   I. Mooneyham, Mike.   II. Title.
GV1196.M43 A88 2002
796.812’092—dc21
[B]                                                                     2002024708

eISBN: 978-0-307-75813-2

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