Brad Balukjian's Books

The Six Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania

By: Brad Balukjian

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The Six Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania

By: Brad Balukjian

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.

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Page Count

339

Publisher

Hachette Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0306831570

ISBN 13

9780306831577

The Wax Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife

By: Brad Balukjian

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The Wax Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife

By: Brad Balukjian

The Wax Pack," part baseball nostalgia and part road trip travelogue, follows Brad Balukjian as he tracks down players from a single pack of baseball cards from 1986"--

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Page Count

286

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496229827

ISBN 13

9781496229823

The Six Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania

By: Brad Balukjian

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Six Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania

By: Brad Balukjian

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

339

Publisher

Hachette Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0306831570

ISBN 13

9780306831577

The Wax Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife

By: Brad Balukjian

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Wax Pack

On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife

By: Brad Balukjian

The Wax Pack," part baseball nostalgia and part road trip travelogue, follows Brad Balukjian as he tracks down players from a single pack of baseball cards from 1986"--

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

286

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496229827

ISBN 13

9781496229823

Book's by Brad Balukjian

The Six Pack

The Six Pack

The Wax Pack

The Wax Pack

The Six Pack

The Six Pack

The Wax Pack

The Wax Pack

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