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"The Assassin" Jody Hamilton releases his autobiography

Posted: Jul 12th 2006 By: CMBurnham

In November 2003, Scott Teal combined forces with Ole Anderson to
publish Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional
Wrestling.

Eighteen months later, he teamed up with J.J. Dillon and Philip
Varriale to produce a winner in Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls: From
McMahon to McMahon.

Both of those books published by Crowbar Press received high ratings
and rave reviews.

And now, Scott has joined forces with Joe Hamilton on the latest of
the Crowbar Press releases ? Assassin: The Man Behind the Mask.

http://www.1wrestlinglegends.com/crowbarpress/assassin

This autobiography takes the reader behind the scenes for a personal
glimpse behind the mask of one of pro wrestling's hottest
attractions, The Assassin, aka Joe (Jody) Hamilton.

When Joe Hamilton was just 19 years old, he and his brother, Larry,
headlined a show at Madison Square Garden, drawing a record 20,335
people to see them wrestle Antonino Rocca and Miguel Perez. To this
day, Joe remains the youngest wrestler to ever headline a main event
in the Garden.

In 1961, Joe hooked up with veteran wrestler Tom Renesto to form a
team called the Assassins, and for the next eleven years, they were
considered to be one of wrestling's hottest attractions, drawing
sellout crowds to arenas in California, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, in addition
to foreign countries like Japan and Australia.

Joe takes readers on a journey as he tells about life both in and out
of the wrestling ring?being attacked, stabbed, and shot at by angry
wrestling fans; wrestling under a mask and trying to keep his
identity a secret; legitimate fights and confrontations behind the
scenes in the dressing rooms; a war between two wrestling promotions
in Atlanta, Georgia; and never-before-told stories about legends like
Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Giant Baba, Toyonobori, Pedro Morales,
Bill Goldberg, Ray Gunkel, and their biggest rivals, the Kentuckians.

= = = = = = =

Excerpt from "Assassin: The Man Behind the Mask"
Copyright ? Scott Teal and Joe Hamilton
When Barnett told (Ric) Flair that (Rick) Rude was really angry,
Flair didn't want to go. He tried to talk his way out of it until
Barnett just about pushed him into the dressing room. We were in
the room next door and heard everything that was said. When the
door shut behind him, we could hear Rick Rude cussing and calling
Flair everything but a human being. "Don't just sit there with your
head down, you gutless mother fu?er! Get up out of that chair and do
something about it, you yellow son-of-a-bitch!"
The abuse went on for several minutes, with Rude relentlessly
screaming at Flair, telling him to stand up. Flair just sat on the
chair with his head down. Of course, if Flair had done as Rude asked,
Rude would have killed him.

= = = = = = =

You can find the index, chapter titles (indexed with subjects covered
in each chapter), excerpts from the book, and complete ordering
information at:
http://www.1wrestlinglegends.com/crowbarpress/assassin

Assassin: The Man Behind the Mask will be mailed the week of July 24-
29.

FREE! While supplies last, an 8x10, autographed photo of The
Assassin will be included with every copy ordered. First come,
first served.