Try free for 30 days
-
The Six Pack
- On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania
- Narrated by: Brad Balukjian
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
The Wax Pack
- On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife
- By: Brad Balukjian
- Narrated by: Brad Balukjian
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is there life after baseball? Starting from this simple question, The Wax Pack ends up with something much bigger and unexpected - a meditation on the loss of innocence and the gift of impermanence, for both Brad Balukjian and the former ballplayers he tracked down. To get a truly random sample of players, Balukjian followed this wildly absurd but fun-as-hell premise: he took a single pack of baseball cards from 1986 (the first year he collected cards), opened it, chewed the nearly 30-year-old gum inside, gagged, and then embarked on a quest to find all the players in the pack.
-
Business Is About to Pick Up!
- 50 Years of Wrestling in 50 Unforgettable Calls
- By: Jim Ross
- Narrated by: Jim Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For wrestling fans, Jim Ross’ voice is the soundtrack of an era. This book is your ringside ticket to wrestling’s most unforgettable moments—from the announcer who made them iconic. In the last 50 years, professional wrestling has risen up from a collection of regional territories to become a global phenomenon—and Jim Ross has been there for it all. From the grit and glory days of the 1970s with NWA, to the rise of WCW and the heyday of WWF and WWE, to signing on as on-air talent and senior advisor for wrestling’s newest chapter at AEW, Jim Ross has long had the best seat in the house.
-
Charlie Hustle
- The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
- By: Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Ellen Adair, Keith O'Brien
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago, which still stands. At the same time, he was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it; less talented than tough, and rough around the edges. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified, until he wasn’t. Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies, the rise and fall of Pete Rose, one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
-
Ringmaster
- Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America
- By: Abraham Josephine Riesman
- Narrated by: Alyss Weissglass
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of Vince McMahon, former WWE chairman and CEO, charts his rise from rural poverty to the throne of one of the world’s most influential media empires—and features never-before-seen research and exclusive interviews with more than 150 people who witnessed, aided, and suffered from his ascent. Ringmaster is an unauthorized, independent, investigative chronicle of Vince McMahon’s origins and rise to supreme power.
-
-
A list of grievances from a moral high horse
- By Kincade on 06-02-2024
-
There's Just One Problem...
- True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE
- By: Brian Gewirtz
- Narrated by: Greg Baglia
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, wrestling was shrouded in secrecy. It had larger-than-life personalities, bone-crunching physicality and jaw-dropping theatrics, but backstage, it was an industry devoid of outsiders. Then in 1999, after working together on a special for MTV, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson turned to 26-year-old television writer Brian Gewirtz and asked, “You ever consider writing for WWE?” That question, and its answer, would have a profound effect on both of their lives for years to come. There's Just One Problem is a story about perseverance, tenacity, and steel chairs.
-
-
Such a fun listen!
- By Rick F on 12-08-2023
-
Tod Is God
- The Authorized Story of How I Created Extreme Championship Wrestling
- By: Tod Gordon, Sean Oliver, Terry Funk - foreword
- Narrated by: Sean Oliver
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tod is God—so named for a chant the ECW fans created to honor the founder—Gordon chronicles each step of the company's meteoric rise to prominence, as well as the elements that led to his removing himself from the company before its demise. Gordon's former partnership with ECW booker Paul Heyman made for magical TV and in-ring moments. The friendship between Gordon and Heyman, both a blessing and curse, was the once-in-a-lifetime bond responsible for so many of history's greatest teams, bands, and partners.
-
-
The growth of ECW
- By Anonymous User on 23-01-2024
-
The Wax Pack
- On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife
- By: Brad Balukjian
- Narrated by: Brad Balukjian
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is there life after baseball? Starting from this simple question, The Wax Pack ends up with something much bigger and unexpected - a meditation on the loss of innocence and the gift of impermanence, for both Brad Balukjian and the former ballplayers he tracked down. To get a truly random sample of players, Balukjian followed this wildly absurd but fun-as-hell premise: he took a single pack of baseball cards from 1986 (the first year he collected cards), opened it, chewed the nearly 30-year-old gum inside, gagged, and then embarked on a quest to find all the players in the pack.
-
Business Is About to Pick Up!
- 50 Years of Wrestling in 50 Unforgettable Calls
- By: Jim Ross
- Narrated by: Jim Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For wrestling fans, Jim Ross’ voice is the soundtrack of an era. This book is your ringside ticket to wrestling’s most unforgettable moments—from the announcer who made them iconic. In the last 50 years, professional wrestling has risen up from a collection of regional territories to become a global phenomenon—and Jim Ross has been there for it all. From the grit and glory days of the 1970s with NWA, to the rise of WCW and the heyday of WWF and WWE, to signing on as on-air talent and senior advisor for wrestling’s newest chapter at AEW, Jim Ross has long had the best seat in the house.
-
Charlie Hustle
- The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
- By: Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Ellen Adair, Keith O'Brien
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago, which still stands. At the same time, he was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it; less talented than tough, and rough around the edges. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified, until he wasn’t. Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies, the rise and fall of Pete Rose, one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
-
Ringmaster
- Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America
- By: Abraham Josephine Riesman
- Narrated by: Alyss Weissglass
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of Vince McMahon, former WWE chairman and CEO, charts his rise from rural poverty to the throne of one of the world’s most influential media empires—and features never-before-seen research and exclusive interviews with more than 150 people who witnessed, aided, and suffered from his ascent. Ringmaster is an unauthorized, independent, investigative chronicle of Vince McMahon’s origins and rise to supreme power.
-
-
A list of grievances from a moral high horse
- By Kincade on 06-02-2024
-
There's Just One Problem...
- True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE
- By: Brian Gewirtz
- Narrated by: Greg Baglia
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, wrestling was shrouded in secrecy. It had larger-than-life personalities, bone-crunching physicality and jaw-dropping theatrics, but backstage, it was an industry devoid of outsiders. Then in 1999, after working together on a special for MTV, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson turned to 26-year-old television writer Brian Gewirtz and asked, “You ever consider writing for WWE?” That question, and its answer, would have a profound effect on both of their lives for years to come. There's Just One Problem is a story about perseverance, tenacity, and steel chairs.
-
-
Such a fun listen!
- By Rick F on 12-08-2023
-
Tod Is God
- The Authorized Story of How I Created Extreme Championship Wrestling
- By: Tod Gordon, Sean Oliver, Terry Funk - foreword
- Narrated by: Sean Oliver
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tod is God—so named for a chant the ECW fans created to honor the founder—Gordon chronicles each step of the company's meteoric rise to prominence, as well as the elements that led to his removing himself from the company before its demise. Gordon's former partnership with ECW booker Paul Heyman made for magical TV and in-ring moments. The friendship between Gordon and Heyman, both a blessing and curse, was the once-in-a-lifetime bond responsible for so many of history's greatest teams, bands, and partners.
-
-
The growth of ECW
- By Anonymous User on 23-01-2024
Publisher's Summary
From the bestselling author of The Wax Pack, comes another eye-opening road trip adventure into a pocket of iconic pop culture—professional wrestling—starring the Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana, and many more larger-than-life characters of the WWF of the 1980s.
In 2005, Brad Balukjian left his position as a magazine fact-checker to pursue a dream job: partner with his childhood hero, The Iron Sheik (whose real name was Khosrow Vaziri), to write his biography. Things quickly went south, culminating in the Sheik threatening Balukjian’s life. Now seventeen years later, Balukjian returns to the road in search of not only a reunion with the Sheik, but something much bigger: truth in a world built on illusion.
Balukjian seeks out six of the Sheik’s contemporaries, fellow witnesses to the World Wrestling Federation’s (WWF) explosion in the mid-‘80s, to unearth their true identities. As Balukjian drives 12,525 miles around the country, we revisit the heady days when these avatars of strength, villainy, and heroism first found fame and see where their journeys took them. From working out with Tony Atlas (Tony White) to visiting Hulk Hogan’s (Terry Bollea) karaoke bar, we see where these men are now and how they have navigated the cliffs of fame.
The Six Pack combines the spirit of a fan with the rigor of an investigative reporter, tracking down former WWF employees, childhood friends, and mutually curious archivists. Wrestling is perceived as a subculture without a cultural home, somewhere between sport and theater—often dismissed as silly and low‑brow. But what makes this book so compelling is the humanity beneath each wrestler. The Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan, and the rest of the cast were not characters in a comic book movie. They were real people, with families and feelings and bodies that could break. Most of them did, in fact, break; some have been repaired, but none of them will ever be the same.
Critic Reviews
“With a PhD in entomology, a beat-up Ford Fusion, and a prior career as a fact-checker, Brad Balukjian is both the least likely and the absolute best person to write this book. His humility, intelligence, and devotion to fact serve a work that is revelatory, emotionally on point, and addictively readable. It's all here—the lawsuits and exploitation, the clashing egos, the brain damage and the debauchery. But this is less an exposé than a love letter—to the strutting monsters of Balukjian's youth and to the men they ultimately became: surprisingly reflective, sometimes broken, always fascinating. What an achievement this book is.”—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Fuzz
"The Six Pack isn’t mere rediscover-my-youth journey. It’s a joyful odyssey into the blissful, wacky, weird, outrageous world of 1980s wrestling. So step up to the top rope and leap into Balukjian’s masterful time machine.”—Jeff Pearlman, author of The Last Folk Hero and Three-Ring Circus
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What listeners say about The Six Pack
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-05-2024
It just a wrestling book
Outstanding book. Goes into great depth of not just the iron sheik but other wrestlers of the time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!