Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Tod is God: The Authorized Story of How I Created Extreme Championship Wrestling, the official memoir of ECW founder Tod Gordon will be officially released on 7/25/23.
Gordon's memoir, co-authored by Sean Oliver, will be published in hardcover by Permuted Press.
Promotional material for book notes:
The uncensored inside story of ECW’s founder Tod Gordon’s journey from jewelry store owner to one of the three most powerful promoters in pro wrestling.
Extreme Championship Wrestling was the revolutionary, industry-redefining wrestling federation of the ’90s, and founder and owner Tod Gordon is telling his story for the first time. Gordon went from local Philadelphia businessman to the third most influential man in wrestling as ECW became the fiery challenger to WWE and WCW. ECW’s young roster featured inventive risk-taking talent that both major federations sought to emulate but could never duplicate. Chants of “E-C-W!” rang out in wrestling arenas across all federations for decades.
In Tod is God—so named for a chant the ECW fans created to honor the founder—Gordon chronicles each step of the company’s meteoric rise to prominence, as well as the elements that led to his removing himself from the company before its demise. Gordon’s former partnership with ECW booker Paul Heyman made for magical TV and in-ring moments. The friendship between Gordon and Heyman, both a blessing and curse, was the once-in-a-lifetime bond responsible for so many of history’s greatest teams, bands, and partners. Gordon has stayed silent on the causes for the split and, by doing so, assumed blame for it. Until now.
Tod is God is the closest you’ll ever get to living ECW’s ride to the top. Come sit beside Sandman, Sabu, Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, and other ECW stars as Gordon brings you inside the locker rooms, hotel rooms, and car rides. From the triumphs and breakthroughs to the frustrations and tragedies, you’ll live it all alongside the man who started it all.
At age thirty-seven, Tod Gordon had a mid-life crisis and, instead of buying a sports car, founded ECW. The federation was quickly seen as the third wrestling organization, a younger and hipper alternative to WWE and WCW. ECW and its revolutionary effect on the business has been the subject of books and documentary DVDs for nearly three decades. Gordon is also the owner of Carver W. Reed, the Philadelphia jewelry and pawn institution founded in 1860. He has also served as president of both the global charity The Variety Club and the Pennsylvania Pawnbrokers Association. Gordon lives in Philadelphia with his wife Adrienne. This is his first book.
Sean Oliver is the author of six books, including three Amazon bestselling wrestling books as well as three novels in the supernatural thriller genre. He has also written for the screen and is a 2021 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition winner in the script category for a TV pilot called Trixie. Oliver is also an actor and voice artist with over a hundred major motion picture and TV credits and has directed national television commercials. He co-owns the wrestling production company Kayfabe Commentaries and co-hosts the Kliq This podcast with Hall of Famer Kevin Nash. Oliver is also a teacher in New Jersey where he lives with his wife and two daughters.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
