Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling - Softcover

"The title says it all and this book delivers." -thefightnetwork.com
"The title says it all and this book delivers." --thefightnetwork.com

"Riveting story detailing the rise, fall, and rebirth of the Hart wrestling dynasty." --About.com

"[This] collection of stories has been widely considered as the most in-depth coverage of the territory." "--SLAM! Sports"

"An excellent read, well-researched, wonderfully written . . . and brutally honest, balanced and filled with real passion. . . . A must-read." --411mania.com

"I couldn't put the book down. . . . Brutally honest, its depth, getting into so many of the key personalities and stories, is amazing." --Dave Meltzer, "Wrestling Observer"

"McCoy deftly resurrects the iconic status that Stu Hart's family once enjoyed among wrestling fans worldwide. . . . A wild blood-on-the-mat saga and a powerful drama that will captivate readers." --"Miami Herald"

"I can't say enough good things about [this book]. This is easily one of the top five wrestling books of all time and I recommend everyone pick up a copy today and read it. You will love it just as much as I did." --Online World of Wrestling

"Throughout the tale, you meet wild and wacky characters like the McGuire brothers tag team, who made the Guinness World Book of Records as the world's heaviest twins. . . . Or a guy who tried to drink Canada dry (not easy considering the size of Canada) and a man who kept a bear in his house until one day he forgot to lock the cage!" --"NY Daily News"

Established in the 1940s by the legendary Stu Hart, Stampede Wrestling was a founding wrestling company that was highly influential. This dramatic account follows Stampede’s blood-on-the-mat saga of more than 50 years, from its grassroots beginnings in Calgary to its rise and bitter fall. Despite hosting some of the biggest names in the sport and developing many modern day wrestling staples, such as ladder matches, the emergence in the 1980s of the wildly popular WWE ultimately doomed the Stampede league to closure. The Hart family crumbled along with the league, with son Owen dying in the ring and other members torn apart by begrudging feuds and internal strife. Full of violence, sex, and drugs, this is a gripping tale of the birth of professional wrestling.