The Six Pack

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 in the 1980s. 

• “With a PhD in entomology, a beat-up Ford Fusion, and a prior career as a fact-checker, Brad Balukjian is both the least likely and the absolute best person to write this book. His humility, intelligence, and devotion to fact serve a work that is revelatory, emotionally on point, and addictively readable. It's all here—the lawsuits and exploitation, the clashing egos, the brain damage and the debauchery. But this is less an exposé than a love letter—to the strutting monsters of Balukjian's youth and to the men they ultimately became: surprisingly reflective, sometimes broken, always fascinating. What an achievement this book is.”
  Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Fuzz
• “Is pro wrestling real? Of course it is! It’s real enough to make a man take to the road in search of his boyhood heroes, undertake a sweet journey of self-discovery, and produce this gem of a book filled with wit, warmth, and wisdom.”
  Jonathan Eig, author of King: A Life, Ali: A Life, and Luckiest Man
• “The Six Pack isn’t mere rediscover-my-youth journey. It’s a joyful odyssey into the blissful, wacky, weird, outrageous world of 1980s wrestling. So step up to the top rope and leap into Balukjian’s masterful time machine.”
  Jeff Pearlman, author of The Last Folk Hero and Three-Ring Circus
• "Perhaps one of the most truthful and enjoyable reads about my profession ever. I absolutely loved this book."
  Bret "The Hitman" Hart, former WWE Champion
• “Brad Balukjian has created something unique in the crowded genre of pro-wrestling literature. Part wrestling confessional, part a series of eye-opening road stories, Balukjian writes of the joys (and dangers) of meeting one’s idols, as he peels back layers of some of wrestling’s greatest stars—revealing the real men within.”
  Mick Foley, author of The Hardcore Diaries
• “This is such an original concept for a book about wrestling (which is rare these days) and Brad’s storytelling abilities and sense of adventure, makes me wish I'd been riding beside him for every one of those 12,525 miles!”
  Chris Jericho, author of A Lion’s Tale and Undisputed
• "Perhaps one of the most truthful and enjoyable reads about my profession ever. I absolutely loved this book."
  Former WWF Champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart
• “A lively and surprisingly poignant installment of cultural history…. Mr. Balukjian, an engaging chronicler, writes with an amused respect for these leaping lords of the ring.”
  The Wall Street Journal
• “Brad Balukjian has masterfully combined two icons of the American experience – the road trip and professional wrestling – into a rollicking, one-of-a-kind tale. His journey, both hilarious and deeply moving, takes us through a cultural era, across the blurred lines of reality and spectacle, and into the heart of the American dream.”
  Daniel H. Pink, author of The Power of Regret, Drive, and To Sell Is Human
• “The Six Pack was a fascinating read. The extensive research and interviews with the subjects, combined with the cinematic writing style made me feel like I had a ringside seat to what can be argued as one of the most important eras in the evolution of what has become such a successful form of American entertainment. Once finished, I realized how much I learned about people I’ve known and worked with over the past thirty plus years, and how much more I would have loved to learn and appreciate from those included in this incredible book that I didn’t get to know. Bravo.”
  Eric Bischoff, former president of WCW
• “Brad Balukjian was looking for a book that would be about the first WrestleMania and the characters involved, only to travel the country and find out the characters were even more unique than what he bargained for. In doing so he had to navigate crazies, pathological liars and bad memories but still end up with more real truths about Vince McMahon’s expansion of the WWF from a regional to international brand than anyone else.”
  Dave Meltzer, Publisher and Editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
• "Balukjian delivers a tour de force with The Six Pack. Honest and personal, it's an ambitious undertaking that takes readers along on a nostalgic road trip in search of the author's boyhood heroes. I was hooked from the opening line…. Balukjian's writing and investigative chops are on full display, but it's his love and respect for the subject matter that shows up on every page."
  Mike Mooneyham, Columnist, Post and Courier
• “I’ve never been a wrestling fan - but this book is an absolute gem, for anyone. Balukjian goes deep inside this wild, bizarre, at times hilarious world and shows how it means much more than silly costumes and steroidal bodies. The human drama outside the ring is even more compelling than the brawls staged inside it.”
  Elie Honig, CNN Senior Legal Analyst and bestselling author
• "In the acclaimed The Wax Pack, Brad Balukjian's subject was baseball, where stats are precise and rules are rigid. In The Six Pack, his focus is Pro Wrestling, where stats are irrelevant and rules are fungible."
  Bob Costas
• “Newbies to the sport…will find an amiable, informed guide in Balukjian…. [T]he author puts wonderfully human faces to professional wrestlers and the fans who love them.”
  Booklist
• “Balukjian came to this project with a real sense of passion, and it shines through in his work…. The Six Pack is a great examination of an industry that provides both the highest of highs and lowest of lows for its performers and what’s unfortunate, is that it often seems completely arbitrary.”
  PostWrestling
• “When I say Brad did his research, that is an understatement….The books is written very cinematically.”
  Eric Bischoff
• “A touchingly crafted love letter to the era of wrestling that millions first fell in love with… this type of journalism is an art form….The Six Pack is a thrilling experiment and easily one of the most impressive books about wrestling ever written, the product of thousands of hours of love, miles driven, and hard work.”
  John Ellul, Voices of Wrestling
• “Unabashedly unorthodox…. [Balukjian] covers vast distances…. The picture that emerges is seldom flattering. But perhaps that’s what makes The Six Pack so different from many wrestling books…. At its very core, The Six Packis a warts-and-all love letter to the mysticism, dogma, and occasional tragedy of professional wrestling…a book wrestling fans should certainly make room for on their crowded bookshelves.”
  Pro Wrestling Illustrated
• “A fun read…. The Six Pack is a well-written and researched document of some of the biggest names in professional wrestling.”
  SlamWrestling.net
• “An incredible sixty-two-day and 12,525-mile journey of self-discovery into the heart of wrestling’s grandest stage…. ‘Never meet your heroes’ is sound advice that Brad Balukjian ignored, and we’re all the better for it! The author’s passion and attention to detail for the history of wrestling are evident…. Exceptionally well-written, meticulously researched… riveting.”
  ProWestlingStories.com
• “[Balukjian] delivers a tour de force….[The Six Pack] isn’t your ordinary wrestling book. Introspective and compelling, it’s an ambitious journey that takes readers along for the ride on a nostalgic road trip in search of the heroes of the author’s youth. And quite a ‘ride’ it is….Balukjian does a yeoman’s job of peeling back the layers of his subjects’ complicated lives, along with reconciling his childhood heroes and memories. There are many touching moments in the book, and the love and respect Balukjian has for the business shines throughout the pages.”
  The Post and Courier
• “A wild journey…. A wonderful look at the professional wrestling world…. [Balukjian’s] attention to detail is impeccable.”
  Gerweck.net
• “A wild journey…. A wonderful look at the professional wrestling world…. [Balukjian’s] attention to detail is impeccable.”
  PWMania.com