Calgary s Stampede Wrestling spawned some of the biggest wrestling stars in history from mat kings of the past like Gene Kiniski and Superstar Billy Graham to modern idols like Bret \ Hitman\ Hart the British Bulldogs and Chris Benoit. Pain and Passion tells how a small family-run wrestling business profoundly influenced the world of professional wrestling as we know it today. Pain and Passion takes readers on a rowdy ride through the evolution of Stu Hart s Calgary promotion from its meagre beginnings in the 1940s its peak in the 1980s and its fall as Vince McMahon s World Wrestling Entertainment changed the face of wrestling forever. But this is more than a wrestling story -- it s a tale of family and of human tragedy. The Hart family lived for the wrestling business and like Starbucks mowing down a mom-and-pop coffee shop the emergence of McMahon s media colossus ran Stampede into the ground. The wrestling game lost its innocence and western Canada lost a staple of its pop culture. As for the Hart family the once-mighty clan was nearly destroyed by the business it loved. The Stampede Wrestling story is a wild blood-on-the-mat saga over fifty years in the making. It s sure to captivate not only wrestling fans but anyone who appreciates a powerful drama.