Vince McMahon involved with ‘tell-all’ book on history of WWE

An oral history of WWE is in the works from the authors of “I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.”

Dey Street Books, which is part of HarperCollins Publishers, has announced that Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum will be writing a “tell-all” book about the history of WWE. The press release for the project noted that Marks and Tannenbaum will have “unprecedented access” to Vince McMahon.

A release date for the book hasn’t been announced, but Marks told ESPN.com that they’ll hopefully be done with it in two years. Current members of the WWE roster, legends, writers, producers, managers, business executives, WWE-related celebrities, and others who have worked with or against McMahon over the years will be interviewed for it.

“This will be an unapologetic look at the good, the bad and the ugly, and the journey that made WWE into the global phenomenon it is today,” McMahon said in the press release.

“I think that that was one of the negotiating points where the WWE knew that we were serious about writing a no-holds-barred book,” Tannenbaum told ESPN.com about the McMahon family’s involvement. “Sometimes when you’re trying to sell someone on an idea they’re reticent about, you underplay what you’re asking for. Craig and I, I think if anything, overplayed what we were asking for.

“We made it clear that we wanted access to Vince and to the entire McMahon family,” Tannenbaum said. “And that what we wanted was not a 15-minute phoner. We were going to need an ample amount of his time which in some ways is a dumb thing to ask for, because he’s got a lot better things to do than talk to two geeks about the history of the WWE.”

Marks told ESPN.com that they met with representatives from WWE about the project in 2012. They were eventually told that, while WWE thought it was a great idea, it wasn’t the right time for it. Marks said they checked in with WWE about once or twice a year after that and were informed nearly a year ago that WWE was interested in having further conversations about it.

Marks said the time period the book covers will probably start in the late 1960s or early 1970s and continue through the modern day.

“I Want My MTV” was released in 2011 and was a well-received oral history on the rise and transformation of MTV.