One Fall

Professional wrestling is a form of entertainment as fascinating as it is misunderstood. Baum understands it, though - it interests people as much for what goes on outside the ring as inside, and for the stories being told as for the action and athleticism. It's a timeless, unique form of drama, and at its best its damned entertaining.

One Fall takes place during one of the most interesting times in pro wrestling - the “Monday Night Wars” of the early 2000s, with the Global Wrestling Alliance and Revolution Wrestling taking the place of WCW and the WWF. It's not a straight analogue, though - Baum is a better storyteller than that, so he takes the elements of reality that make for a great story, twists them together, and adds fiction where appropriate. The result is a story that's a must-read for fans of pro wrestling, although I'm not sure how appealing it would be to others.