Review: NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW

NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW by Guy Evans
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although covering the well-trodden trail of the late 90's/early 00's Wrestling "Monday Night Wars", Evans' book is different to most retellings as it's almost entirely from the perspective of the loser - WCW. His research is excellent and it's clear he's been able to get exclusive access to a number of ex WCW employees. The problem as ever with Professional Wrestling non-fiction is that almost everyone is a compulsive liar with a cripplingly large ego, Evans takes a lot of the book from interviews with Eric Bischoff (ex-Executive Producer/President of WCW) and he frequently contradicts himself and others without there being too much challenging. Therefore it makes for a frustrating, slightly fractured read at times, with everyone being able to do a better job than those in charge and no-one wanting to take credit for any bad decisions (and there were a lot of them).

The book became a bit of a chore near the end and WCW's rather pathetic demise, but it's a detailed account and I can't see a better book being written from this perspective.

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