Old School — L.A. Taylor

Go inside the world of pro-wrestling from its earliest days in 1947 to 1968. Mafia connections. Fixed matches. Urban legends. Raw and riveting, here's a novel that asks the question, Did wrestling make TV or did TV make wrestling? Jack Fitzpatrick learned from the best, his pops, Charlie Fitzpatrick, a mob-connected prize fighter. But Jack doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. He wants to go his own way into a new form of ringside sport—wrestling. With a boost from the mob, Jack moves forward in his quest to bring wrestling to the masses. Running the east coast territory and sitting as the commissioner of the United Wrestling League, Jack, AKA Caesar, dominates all aspects of professional wrestling. By the late 1960s, Jack decides it's time to shake things up with the Belgian Behemoth, a 7' 6 giant, chosen as the next UWL champ. If his scheme, backed by the other promoters across the country, fails then Jack's reign will be over. Deceptions and subterfuge lurk around every arena as Jack makes empty promises while Gizzi pulls the strings. The other promoters distrust each other as fathers groom sons to wrestle, win, and wrangle their way to the top. Jack's son, Jackie, and, Val, the son he never knew he had until it was too late, vie for the top role in Jack's legacy. As a media mogul in Atlanta begins taking over, wrestling may have found a way to the mainstream. It's a crap shoot as to who will succeed and who will be pushed out of the sport or off the cliff. From New York to Toronto to Detroit to Atlanta to Florida and to the west, the promoters—many of whom are former wrestling champs—make up the territories for the sport. None of them know exactly who to trust. Is it Jack? Gizzi? Both or neither? Failure will seal fates and the death toll hovers. Nothing is sacred and nothing is guaranteed in the smoky backrooms of a sport on either the brink of success via television or the edge of the abyss by its own shady and illegal activities.With a cast of unforgettable characters—Frank the Weasel, the Great Amir, Large Marge, Lou Appollo, Black Jack to name a few—L.A. Taylor draws the reader into the story and action with outrageous acts both inside the ring and out. Old School allows the reader a rare glimpse behind the curtain and into Madison Square Garden and the backrooms of the Copacabana where the likes of Ed Sullivan and Jackie Gleason make appearances. Even Jack Dempsey plays a role as a guest referee as a favor to Jack. Buy Old School, Ring Squared, Book 1, for an intimate look inside the world of pro-wrestling from its beginning through the explosion of the sport into the world of television. Neither would ever be the same.