The gladiators are different, but Buffalo's electrifying wrestling legacy lives on. Two decades before the Buffalo Bills kicked off a football, and 30 years before the Buffalo Sabres lined up for a face-off, Memorial Auditorium opened its doors to welcome 6,267 spectators to the Aud's first sporting event - pro-wrestling. But long before the Aud, makeshift promoters set up weather-beaten boxing rings in the old Broadway Auditorium and in local bars and gyms. The region's rich wrestling history has been all but forgotten, lost in a labyrinth of promotional politics and a generation gap between the "'rasslin'" fans of yesterday and the sports entertainment fans of today. Now, Dan Murphy takes readers on a roller-coaster ride across Buffalo's wrestling landscape. From Ilio DiPaolo and Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer, to Adorable Adrian Adonis, Murphy chronicles the magic that occurs in the darkened arena. The book includes many vintage photographs and special pages that highlight key wrestling moments in Buffalo.