WrestleMania Book Author Talks Interviewing Vince, Including Chris Benoit, Taker's Streak, HBK, More

I recently interviewed Brian Shields, who is the author of the new 30 Years of WrestleMania book, which you can purchase at Amazon.com by clicking here. You can follow Shields on Twitter @ItsBrianShields , or on Facebook. Below is the full interview:

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Wrestling Inc.: Did you grow up as a wrestling fan?

Shields: I grew up a huge fan of professional wrestling, sports entertainment. I am a proud child of the 80s, so growing up on Long Island, I think we were one of the first areas in the country to have full cable, so in the early to mid-80's I watched. WWE was always my favorite. I watched everything ? Georgia Championship Wrestling and then later Jim Crockett promotions on WTBS, which later became WCW, Verne Gagne's AWA and the Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling was on ESPN during the week. There was a great show called pro wrestling this week hosted by Joe Pedicino and Gordon Solie and that was like a SportsCenter style show of all the different territories around the country and in to Canada, and I used to watch that as well. We even had in the late 80's Angelo Savoldi's ICW, which was pretty much like a northeast promotion. So we got?in New York through cable?we had so many great choices during that time, so yeah, I grew up a huge fan.

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Wrestling Inc.: How did the collaboration with WWE come about?

Shields: I started out in the video game business at Acclaim Entertainment and I've been a writer all my life, but I actually started out in sports marketing. Acclaim published Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam , The Simpsons, they were the first to do the Spider-Man and some of the Marvel superhero games. They were actually the first company that had the rights to make the WWE video games for the home consoles. So I got an internship there in the late 90's and actually as I was starting my marketing career they were putting out WWF Warzone and Attitude so I've enjoyed a wonderful relationship with WWE since then working on a variety of special projects. At first it was really more on consumer products, licensed products side.

In the mid-2000's it began more on the creative side and as a writer. My first book was published in 2006 through Simon and Shuster and that was Main Event: WWE and the Raging 80's. From there I co-wrote the New York Times Bestselling WWE Encyclopedia, co-wrote the updated and expanded version as well. Then there were some DK readers that I wrote, which are for people who are just learning how to read?I did those for John Cena and Triple H. For somebody that grew up a fan, being able to enjoy this relationship is a dream come true, and it's one of those things where you get a call to work on something you can't say yes quick enough.

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Wrestling Inc.: When you started with this book, when did the process begin?

Shields: I worked on this project for about a year and a half with WWE and DK, and it was a great process. The creative process with WWE and DK is always phenomenal as a writer. The second Encyclopedia came out in November of 2012. I asked to have a meeting with WWE in January or February of 2013 because I just had some ideas I wanted to kick around. That's another great thing about working with WWE and DK?when you have an idea, you just speak to someone about it and you can have a meeting about it, and that's just invaluable as a writer. I had a couple of ideas that we were talking about, and that was going through the process, and I got a call in May of 2013, and it was "in how many ways and how quickly can I say yes?" I was six years old when the first WrestleMania emanated from Madison Square Garden that Sunday afternoon. I felt like my life was flashing before me, all the different memories. My first week on the job, the interviews that WWE arranged for me?and I need to thank Steve Pantaleo at WWE- was longtime executive Basil Devito, Linda McMahon, Howard Finkel, Pat Patterson and "Mean" Gene Okerlund. That's the first week of working on the project. I feel like that says it all for me. That set such an important tone of how the project would go. I have to thank the WWE archivist as well, who does incredible work and I had several visits to the WWE Warehouse which is just an inspiring place to walk around. So that's how the collaboration started and from a timeline standpoint that's when it began.

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Wrestling Inc.: Where is the WWE Warehouse? Just kidding, I know it's secret. People see the photos and videos of the warehouse online, that must be crazy to actually visit.

Shields: It was pretty insane. Loving the industry like I have my entire life, you walk in there and you're immediately inspired. There are artifacts and memorabilia and pieces of history with every step you take. I'm talking about stuff that's from all over the world, the early 1900's.One of the first things I saw?and it made it into the book?Liberace signed a beautifully framed poster of him and the Rockettes. It was a billboard ad for his show that was happening at Radio City, he'd signed it to Vince and Linda McMahon. The WWE archivist, I don't think I've ever seen anyone schedule a photo shoot so quickly. Within the next couple of days, the stuff that we were finding with his guidance?we just did an amazing photo shoot. In the over 220 pages that are in 30 Years of WrestleMania you'll see all of these artifacts that from WrestleMania's history. It's just amazing. Another cool thing, being a gamer, they have the coin-op arcade game WrestleFest, which to this day is one of the greatest wrestling video games of all-time.

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Wrestling Inc.: You interviewed Vince McMahon for this project, who doesn't grant interviews very often anymore. What was it like to interview him?

Shields: It was surreal. I met him and Linda McMahon at WrestleMania 25. There was a little reception before WrestleMania in Houston for the WWE licensees, and I was there because the WWE Encyclopedia came out around that time frame. It was such a challenge to stay with my line of questioning because you feel like every answer is so important and you wanna ask something else or you want to go in a different direction. It was another dream-come-true scenario. 30 Years of WrestleMania will take readers through this journey through time where an idea that he had on vacation to do an annual event. The venue was booked before the event even had a name and WWE was working backwards to create this event. Some of the other incredible milestones WWE has achieved as an organization, it's all running through your mind as you're speaking with him, and really any members of the McMahon family. This is their livelihood and what they've built as a family. They couldn't have been more generous with their time, and the conversations were just phenomenal.

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Wrestling Inc.: Shawn Michaels wrote the foreword for the book. What was your reaction when you heard that he'd be doing that?

Shields: If there was a video camera recording me when I got that call from the WWE, people would see my jaw hit the floor. I really couldn't believe it, it was just amazing. I think back to sitting on my mother's couch in Long Island watching TV. I first saw Shawn Michaels on ESPN on World Class Championship Wrestling. Seeing him come through there and Mid-South, and AWA, and Memphis, and WWE. You think back to WrestleMania 5 against the Twin Towers. It was just really special. In the book, we're celebrating certain aspects of WrestleMania, and one of those is Shawn Michaels and what he achieves at WrestleMania. Not only is one of the first pages you see his foreword, but then you also get to enjoy his interviews throughout his book. That was the ultimate topping on the sundae so to speak. I get to work with WWE and DK, I get to write about WrestleMania, and Shawn Michaels is writing the foreword to the book. It's surreal.

Wrestling Inc.: The topic of Chris Benoit is a tough one. In the book, the title match of WrestleMania 20 is profiled in the book, there is a photo of Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and Chris is featured, and you write about how future events changed that moment. How difficult is it to treat that subject?

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Shields: We set that precedent with the WWE Encyclopedia, and I wrote Chris' entry for the encyclopedia. I think that really set the precedent for how he would be featured in historical works. For me, whether it was the encyclopedia or 30 Years of WrestleMania, it's really treated the same as for everyone else in that it has to be historically accurate and factual. As a writer, it's something that I try to be extra sensitive to, and that it's written well, and that it's appropriate for the book. I think we've done that in the encyclopedias, I think the WWE has done an excellent job of that, and I think in 30 Years of WrestleMania, people will find that as well. He's included in things that are historical– if you look on their website, he's a part of the championship histories. My approach in writing is that it's very factual, and things are written in such a way that are very sensitive to the fans, the WWE, and the families affected in that tragedy. In general, I think it's important to remember, this wasn't a difference of opinion in a business matter, or different philosophies, this was an unspeakable human tragedy that took place. It's very important to handle that in a certain way. It's something that's not easy.

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Wrestling Inc.: Celebrities are a big part of WrestleMania. Mr. T helped make WrestleMania 1 a success, Mike Tyson helped turn around the ratings war, who are some of the celebrities you spoke to for the book?

Shields: This was another dream-come-true scenario. I got to speak to Joan Rivers, who was unbelievable. Larry King, Mike Tyson, Daryl McDaniels, Donald Trump is also quoted in the book. I have to thank WWE for arranging those interviews as well as the Friar's Club in Manhattan where I enjoy membership. We were able to get some wonderful quotes from the book and have some great conversations.

One of my favorites was Larry King. The first 5 or 10 minutes consisted of him telling me how much of a wrestling fan he was as a kid growing up in Brooklyn. He used to listen to the wrestling matches on the radio, and then would watch it on television, and how one of his favorite wrestlers was Antonino Rocca which was so cool to hear in general. Then I had to think back, I the pleasure of writing Antonino Rocca's entry in the WWE encyclopedia. It was a really interesting conversation, and then him talking about Gorgeous George, who is featured in 30 Years of WrestleMania in the celebration of the Hall of Fame. Hearing about his wonderful experiences of working with the McMahon family and the WWE all these years, it was a great conversation. There are some great quotes from him on that WrestleMania 24 chapter, because he had a panel discussion on Larry King Live before WrestleMania 24. The quotes are so important and they help paint the incredible picture that you want painted. They're also important because you hear the emotion on their voice and in their face when they talk about something, and it helped provide context as a whole. He and WWE have had a great relationship for over 25 years.

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When I interviewed Linda McMahon in her office, she spoke to me for almost two hours which was incredible. The story that she shared about being backstage with Joan Rivers at WrestleMania 2, and Joan Rivers literally bumps into Jake Roberts with Damien. The quote from Joan Rivers is phenomenal.

Wrestling Inc.: What were your thoughts when the Undertaker's streak ended at WrestleMania 30?

Shields: As a fan I was in complete shock. I did not expect that. I wanted the streak to just live on. Maybe that's selfish on my part. I didn't want the streak to end because it was so unique and special to a performer that is all that and more. To have 75,000 people totally stunned and silent, especially in 2014 with social media and the internet and keeping things secret it's a testament to The Undertaker, what the streak not only is and what it means, but how people reacted when it was broken. It made mainstream news. The only thing from a historic perspective that seems to be similar is when Bruno Sammartino lost his championship for the first time in Madison Square Garden to Ivan Koloff. The stories that I've heard from people that were there are that it was that of complete shock and silence, that nobody really believe it. So years later this, on a global stage at Wrestlemania, the streak is something that will be talked about forever and I think WrestleMania 30, being the day that the streak ended will also be talked about forever.

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Wrestling Inc.: What was your favorite WrestleMania of all-time?

Shields: I'm terrible at naming one of anything. There's part of me that goes back to WrestleMania 3. The size of the venue, the 93,000 plus in attendance, the variety of matches on that day, that was one of the first events that highlighted WrestleMania's concept, the sports entertainment concept from bell-to-bell, there's something on this show for everyone. You had Roddy Piper's farewell match, which he speaks to in the book, and why he felt it was right to leave WWE at the time. The epic saga between Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and of course Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. So I think there's part of me that will always go back to WrestleMania 3. There have been so many incredble WrestleManias over the 30 years, and people will see that in the book. WrestleMania 25, that match with Shawn Michaels in the Undertaker was a moment where I just sat there and couldn't believe what I was watching.

Wrestling Inc.: In the same vein, hat is your favorite WrestleMania match of all-time?

Shields: It used to be Savage-Steamboat, and then Hogan-Andre for different reasons. I went through stages. Then it was Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart– that iron man match was amazing. I think it's Shawn Michaels/Undertaker from WrestleMania 25.

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Wrestling Inc.: There's so many great moments and matches, and going through this book sometimes people forget a lot of them because there's 5 or 10 you hear about all the time, and you forget about how much more there is. It's really a great look back at the premiere pro wrestling event. You really did a great job with this book.

Shields: Thank you. There will be so many memories that will come back into people's minds. I think back to WrestleMania 17– I think WrestleMania was one of the best productions WWE ever had. You think back to all those great matches and the historical significance– ECW was gone, WWE was days removed from buying their competition, they're back in a dome for the first time since WrestleMania 8. I feel like WrestleMania 17 is almost the apex celebration of the Attitude Era. The McMahon family, Undertaker-Triple H, TLC was incredible, you had the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in their second of three WrestleMania main events. There are so many WrestleMania moments that people are going to remember, and many that younger or newer fans are going to learn about.

You can purchase "30 Years of WrestleMania at Amazon.com by clicking here. You can follow Brian Shields on Twitter @ItsBrianShields, or on Facebook.

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