The stage was set for 2020 to be among the best years in pro wrestling history. Keith Elliot Greenberg had all the intentions of writing the follow-up “Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution.” And then, COVID happened.
The best-selling author changed course, chronicling unprecedented times inside and outside the ring with, Follow the Buzzards: Pro Wrestling in the Age of COVID-19 from ECW Press.
“This is more of a legacy book than a book in the moment,” the New Yorker explained. “I understand how people now might not want to relive the ‘COVID Age.’…I do think you read things like the books about the death of WCW where it almost has more resonance now than it did at the time.
He continued: When [last book] was completed I thought it called for a sequel because it ended with the first broadcast of AEW Dynamite. There were a lot of loose ends like what happened to indie wrestling now there is this promotion that has acquired a lot of the indie wrestlers. Then COVID hit so I said, ‘“I think this has to be a COVD book.’”
Much like all his work, he took a deep dive and immersed himself. Not only on the pro wrestling side but what was happening in politics and society as a whole. He likened his approach to that of Jonathan Mahler’s “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning.” More than a baseball book about the Yankees, it’s in essence a time capsule back to 1977 with the Son of Sam and the New York blackout.
“I think in the time of COVID you really couldn’t distinguish what was going on in professional wrestling from what was going on in the real world,” Greenberg said. “Here you have matches in empty arenas so you can’t pretend COVID isn’t there. You have the George Floyd case, and you have certain wrestlers come to the ring with Black Lives Matter singlets or armbands. You have to acknowledge how the outside world is affecting professional wrestling.”
The show must go on has always been a mantra followed by this unique form of sports and entertainment. That reigned true even as the world shut down, owners and promoters put their innovative minds to work. We saw the ThunderDome, Stadium Stampedes, unorthodox venues, and everything in between to keep the proverbial lights on and give people regular shows to watch while sheltering in place.
“We also had indie wrestlers with limited budgets who were improvising as well,” Greenberg said. “I remember being in Indiana during an afternoon show in the park and everyone was spread out and socially distanced. I asked promoter Brett Lauderdale of Game Changer Wrestling, ‘Why are you doing this in the afternoon.’ He said, ‘So I can save money on lighting.’ Honestly, there were wrestlers who needed to wrestle. Their constitution called for it. There were fans who needed to watch wrestling and see it live.”
The book also does a great job of painting the picture of what was happening outside the United States. Greenberg adds that “When you see this Finnish promotion use COVID as an opportunity to expand into Estonia. That’s none of us in the U.S. or very few of us would have known. I wanted to have that all in there because I want people to walk into a library and open this book and say, “This is a snapshot of history.”
The writer took feedback from his last book and made a conscious effort to focus more on women’s wrestling. Despite all the steps forward, the “Speaking Out” called for more changes that needed to be made.
“You had wrestlers being called out for sexual impropriety,” Greenberg said. “I work as a TV producer and cover the true crime. I thought, ‘How would I handle this if I were covering it, and it was not a wrestling story? This is bigger than wrestling.’ When I’ve done stories about sexual abuse don’t name the actor because you don’t want people tracking down that accuser and calling her a liar and terrorizing her. That’s how I treated the speaking-out accusers.
He continues: “I wasn’t going to put their names in the book….I confined the stories I told to the males who vigorously defended themselves in a public way. David Starr, Joey Ryan, Marty Scrull, and Matt Riddle. Those are the folks who were very public about defending themselves. Some people say I spent too much time on the defense, but that was out in public. So, I’m not embarrassed or second-guessing it. This is the beginning of a dialogue. It’s in the book. If you don’t like the way I handled it, let’s continue this dialogue. Sexual abuse has been in society and professional wrestling for a long time. Like racism, let’s figure out ways to make things better.”
If you’re a fan of this book and want more, Greenberg has returned to his magazine writing roots as a regular columnist for Inside the Ropes. At the same time don’t expect another book from him right away.
“So much is happening right now, and so much will happen,” he said. “I don’t even know where to begin. So right now I’m sitting back and waiting to see what happens in professional wrestling. There will be another book, but I might not start writing it for another two years. I’m still waiting to see what the trends are and the lessons are.”
Translation: We’ll see where the buzzards fly.
