Tod Is God

The Authorized Story of How I Created Extreme Championship Wrestling

By: Tod Gordon, Sean Oliver, Terry Funk - foreword

Narrated by: Sean Oliver

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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.

©2023 Tod Gordon and Sean Oliver (P)2023 Tantor

Must Have for 90s Wrestling Fans

The definite REAL story of the Rise and Fall of ECW . 5 stars

ECW goldmine

This is a treasure trove of ECW stories. Great book. Highly recommend. I couldn’t get enough.

Required book for ECW fans

I’ve been a hardcore ECW fan for longer than I can remember. I ran a podcast for over a year dedicated to the history of ECW and this book gave me insight to the company, Tod Gordon especially, that I had no idea about. I laughed hard and cried almost as hard. Excited to listen to it again, and I just finished it. Now I’m hoping I have the chance to meet and hug Todd Gordon at the next convention.

ECW, What a legacy

The stories Tod shared were great, loved the behind the scenes stories he shared and really enjoyed the book all around. oh and F**k Paul Heyman

Worth A Listen

Wow, great book. Sean did a great job reading it too. Learned a lot.

Great listen

Tremendous book start to finish. Sean delivers great book after book telling the true story of ECW from the ground up.

A great read for fans of ECW

As a wrestling fan who stayed up late just to watch ECW on the sunshine network I’ve always been drawn to stories related to its history. This is one of my favorite so far.

It’s a contrast to what I’ve read and a deeper view into what was going on behind the scenes. Truly a great read.

Great story if your an ECW fan

Absolutely awesome story...Sean is a Fantastic narrator........Sean's other books are fantastic as well 😀

great story

This story goes into detail about the formation of e c w from the standpoint of todd gordon. You're right, he goes into details of what happenEd behind the scenes. 1 This provides other insight other than paul hayman and the W w e Washing and portrayal of history.

The definitive book about ECW

Todd Gordon hasn't talked about his story until now, he's been out of the wrestling business for well over 15 years, and has no agenda or is out to please anyone or bury anyone. He wanted to write his story of being the founder of ECW, the good, the bad, and very much the ugly. There's plenty of wild stories of sex, drugs, and barbed wire.

I've heard the audiobook Hardcore History a couple years ago, it was a very neutral telling of ECW, no nostalgia, just sticking to the facts as the author researched. Tod Is God really was a more entertaining book, especially how much Tod Gordon still has love for ECW, it was his baby. He's still a wrestling fan and knows what wrestling fans want to read about, he does get personal when necessary, but 95% of the book is about wrestling or how wrestling ties into his life. He isn't out to write about his childhood for 20 chapters.

There's a great series of chapters that focus on individual wrestlers, and some of the best stories he remembers, as well as one chapter on wrestlers who had short runs with ECW. There's a lot I learned, and some praises for the guys nobody really talks about like the workers who kept their heads down and worked their butts off like JT Smith.

Tod also does humanize Paul Heyman, some fans, especially those who only know the WWE narrative, will see it as a jealous burial without reading this. For Tod's perspective, Paul was this introverted guy who lived with his parents into his 40's and became that scheming hustler, but for much of their time working together, they were like brothers, and Paul had his finger on the pulse of pop culture like no one else in the business.

Also, the narration is top notch. I've heard my share of wrestling audiobooks like Too Sweet about indie wrestling and the old man narrator couldn't be bothered to get names right, especially Japanese names. Sean Oliver, foubder of Kayfabe Commentaries is a professional, he was doing shoot interviews where he sat with the wrestlers, not just behind the camera like RF and other companies, and Oliver did the narration for two books he wrote himself. He also had the best impression of The Sandman I've ever heard. His impressions are spot on, it's the best narration I've heard since The Disaster Artist.