Kayfabe: An Inside Look at Professional Wrestling from the Perspective of a Production Company Owner

Dale L. Roberts: I've watched clips of Kayfabe Commentaries on YouTube for years now and enjoy Sean Oliver's ability to share the real side of professional wrestlers. I've spent hours watching his interview clips and have yet to buy a full interview, but it doesn't stop me from appreciating Sean's content.

In this memoir, Sean shares the turbulent journey of building and growing a world-recognized brand in Kayfabe Commentaries. You get a peek into how he acquires guests, what happens when guests are uncooperative, and where he has to go to source his interviewees.

I'd give this book a perfect rating, but it needs another round of copy editing. I highlighted over twenty-seven typos and grammar issues. Based on Sean's undying need to be the most professional shoot interviewer on the market today, I found it rather disappointing he couldn't get this manuscript cleaned up a bit better. Do the mistakes ruin the reading experience? No, but seeing double adverbs, missing words, or wrong word choices gets a little annoying after a bit.

The book was the perfect length and finishes on a high note. I would love to see an updated version or second book expanding on where he's at now since...

United States on May 02, 2023

Ciaran Murphy: Great to read all the work that goes and the pain points
Sean is a great story teller
Must for fans of this fringe form of showbiz

United Kingdom on Dec 26, 2022

Kristie Bradley: I think I went into reading with the wrong expectations; what I thought would be a collection of funny anecdotes about wrestlers turned out to be about 50% that, and 50% "why I and my company are responsible for everything cool in the world and everyone else is, like, a total butt bag." Don't get me wrong, Sean Oliver isn't a completely insufferable douche. I actually find him likable in KC interviews I've seen. There's just something about the shameless humble brag way he writes that kills the book for me. To be clear, I found the content to be quite interesting, and probably worth a read for the people who would recognize the names. Just be prepared to be periodically interrupted by an autobiography by a man who does not know how to write in a likable voice.

United States on Jul 05, 2020

Ramraider: As a fan of the wwf during the golden/cartoon era, I'd kept a distant appreciation and occasionally ventured back into my childhood by checking out behind the scenes videos and the occasional book. While this book didn't detail too many of my old favourites, it was still a fascinating insite into how parts of the business and KC work and the characters behind the fictional characters.

Thoroughly enjoyable read but needed it to be a few chapters longer, and was disapointed it had to end! That's a big positive for the book. More of the same please Sean!

United Kingdom on Aug 13, 2018

Benny: Do you want an inside, in-depth look at the formation of Kayfabe Commentaries at it's earliest stages? Do you want to know how they continue to stay at the forefront of the shoot genre? Do you want to know who was a pleasure to deal with and who was less than professional? This book has those answers and so many more.

I am a huge fan of the sport and the shoot genre as a whole and I watch as much content as I possibly can. There are countless companies that put out shoot interviews and there's a new podcast coming to market seemingly every week. I listen and watch a lot of that content, but there is only one company that I give my money to by purchasing their product- Kayfabe Commentaries.

I have been a KC Commando since their inception, over a decade ago. At last count, KC has released 168 titles in their library. I own 116 of those releases on DVD-- but this book, Kayfabe: Stories You're Not Supposed to Hear From a Pro Wrestling Production Company Owner by Sean Oliver, is the piece de resistance of my entire collection. I was so looking forward to this book, and it went above and beyond even my own expectations.

There are tremendous stories of the all time...

United States on Feb 19, 2018

Nick Howard: I loved this book.

Having become increasingly interested with shoot interviews, having followed WWE and wrestling as a whole for most of my life, I gravitated towards KC and loved their Guest Booker and YouShoot shows. It was natural that the next step was buying this book, and although I had high expectations with KC already, Sean Oliver's book surpassed them. Of course having... unique... subjects in front of camera(workers/bookers) there was bound to be a tale to be told, and Sean's told it brilliantly. Both sympathetically and from a business co-owner's point of view simultaneously. I took my copy to accompany me whilst I moved from England to Spain, and I'm still re-reading anecdotes to fully digest them. Thank you Sean.
I'm definitely a Kayfabe Commando now, having been on the fringes of being one before this

United Kingdom on Feb 06, 2018

Peter: The wrestling world is more than seeing the athletes in the ring, it is the outside of the squared circle that fans are also interested in hearing about. Wrestling entrepreneurs over the years have found ways to make money by catering to the public's need for information on their favourite stars, be it through books, magazines and the occasional documentary.

In the 1990's, the widespread use of videotapes allowed the creation of the shoot interview concept, where the wrestlers are sat down in front of a camera and interviewed on their career and perhaps occasionally their non-wrestling lives. These interviews were excellent vehicles in hearing about the athletes but some of them were quite poorly produced and rarely could the word 'investigative" be used to describe them.

Enter Kayfabe Commentaries, a company co-founded by Sean Oliver and created with the aim of giving the wrestling fan that bit more than just a wrestler being placed in front of a camera and asked the same old questions. This company aimed to give us a true indepth look at the legends of the business by asking them deeper questions and creating shows that were different in aim and different in...

United States on Dec 18, 2017

First Row Collectibles: Sean Oliver takes you behind the scenes on how the wrestling business works on the independent level. This book offers great insight on the inner workings of an entrepreneur trying to make it in the Wrestling business. If this book or Sean Oliver’s Kayfabe Commentaries video collection is any indication, Sean has more than just made it, he has solidified his name as a true pioneer in the wrestling industry.

Canada on Dec 07, 2017

Paul Rogers: Sean Oliver is a pioneer in digging within the inner workings of the wrestling business. More than just about a man being interviewed in front of a shower curtain, Sean and his team developed the genre with high production values, professionalism and creative depth. I love his story of developing an idea and seeing it through to become an immensely popular finished product. This book is another string in the bow for the Kayfabe Commentaries company and I look forward to seeing what Sean does next.

United Kingdom on Nov 22, 2017