10 Recent Wrestling Books You Must Read

5. Development Hell: The NXT Story

NXT Story Cover
shop.whatculture.com

What's this!? Another WhatCulture book. Oh, go on then.

Chronicling the entire history of WWE's developmental brand that has come to mean so much to fans, Development Hell is (rather ironically, given the title) a blissful read from cover to cover. This is the book you need on NXT, not WWE's own self-aggrandising tale.

Going right back to the roots that helped grow NXT, WhatCulture's own Michael Sidgwick also examines the old WWE developmental farm systems such as Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling. In doing so, he lays the foundations for what was to come, and follows up by offering a unique take on WWE's management style.

The cover itself is eye-catching, but not as colourful as the images painted within. An exhaustive examination of how WWE had to change their own way of doing things in order to build for the future, Development Hell is one of the most essential wrestling books in years.

Buy it here from shop.whatculture.com.

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.