The Life and Meaning
of Pro Wrestling Legend Rikidōzan
Reserve your autographed copy of the book as soon as it becomes available by remitting $24.95 in U.S. currency to paypal@muchnick.net, The price includes free shipping to U.S. addresses. (Canadian orders, add $10 for shipping. All other foreign orders, add $20.)
Coming from ECW Press,
distributed by Simon & Schuster
Irvin Muchnick, the late sportswriting great Frank Deford said, “produces magnificent investigative journalism.” Reporting for Underwater: The Greed-Soaked Tale of Sexual Abuse in USA Swimming and Around the Globe (2024) spurred government and sports governance investigations in five countries. He also took on the public health crisis in football with Concussion Inc. (2015) and Without Helmets or Shoulder Pads (2023). His classic books explaining the pro wrestling phenomenon in American society include Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal (2007) and Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of Death (now in its third “Ultimate Historical Edition”).
Muchnick was born in St. Louis and lives in California. A former assistant director of the National Writers Union, he was lead respondent of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming freelance writers’ copyrights and economic rights, Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick.
by Irvin Muchnick Late in 2021, Russell Mark, who had been high performance manager at USA Swimming in Colorado Springs for almost two decades, abruptly
Much of the energy of this site is being directed toward promoting my forthcoming book, PACHINKO MAN: The Life and Meaning of Pro Wrestling Legend Rikidōzan.
Concussion Inc. readers can reserve their direct, author-autographed copies by remitting $24.95 in U.S. currency to paypal@muchnick.net. The price includes free shipping. (Canadian orders, add $10
by Irvin Muchnick Salon ran my recent commentary on how the Milan Cortina Olympics came and went with nary a word about the scrupulously ignored
PREVIOUSLY: “Alex Pussieldi Update: Decade After Ouster in Florida, Peeping Tom and Multinational Trafficker Coach Remains a Powerful Figure in Brazilian Swimming,” October 27, 2025, https://concussioninc.net/?p=15882
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics offer as good a platform as any for contemplating the next stage in the evolution of the failed U.S. Center for
The Greed-Soaked Tale of Sexual Abuse in USA Swimming and Around the Globe
A deep dive into the unsafety of youth athletes — in the U.S. and abroad — under the commerce-driven Olympic system
The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of Death
Third and “Ultimate Historical Edition.” Full account of the sensational 2007 episode that still shines light on the dark side of the wrestling industry and of American business, media, and politics.
Investigative journalism isn’t ‘peer-reviewed literature.’ It’s a contact sport.
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