The world of professional wrestling is paradoxical. Storylines are intricately plotted by creative writers, refined by the agents and the wrestlers the day of the match, and performed live in front of worldwide audiences to evoke drama and emotion. It's scripted: it's "fake." Yet, more often than not, it is the real-life backstage machinations, the behind-the-scenes tales of drama and deceit, of pettiness between allies and adversaries, that feel as though they were actually penned by Hollywood's finest scriptwriters.
David Sahadi's Backstage Pass is a firsthand account of what occurs beyond the squared circle - stories that are often more compelling and dramatic than anything that occurs on TV or inside a ring. These never-before-told stories are glorious, nefarious, and at times truly unbelievable: five-star mega-bouts between the powers that rule, the leaders and decision-makers who are often in agreement (but mostly at odds), and the superstars themselves.
This book is a tale of defiance, decadence, and denial - and you do not have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy it. Backstage Pass pulls back the veil on the clandestine world of professional wrestling through the never-told-before stories of one of the most iconic figures in television production history.
David Sahadi is an Emmy Award–winning producer, director, and writer best known for his work as creative director at WWE, where he conceived and directed over 300 national commercials, three of which aired during the Super Bowl. Though Sahadi travels the country monthly, he calls Chattanooga, TN, his home.
Sales and Market Bullets
• FROM NBC TO WWE: David Sahadi built his career on innovation, and this book follows the journey from working on NBC sports to transforming the WWE into a modern entertainment powerhouse.
• A NEW ERA: Learn how this production trailblazer introduced real TV drama, cinematic camera angles, and location shooting to wrestling, reshaping iconic characters like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock into global stars. You'll also get a front-row seat into what it's like to work with Vince McMahon and other wrestling legends with engaging and unsensationalized anecdotes to reveal the heart of the business.
• AN ENTERTAINMENT JUGGERNAUT: Go beyond the ring to uncover the dollars-and-cents mechanics of producing TV and pay-per-view for wrestling, with firsthand insights into the cutthroat world of sports entertainment. With a career spanning decades with the WWE, and then Impact Wrestling, TNA, and Major League Wrestling, Sahadi has seen it all.
