Get behind the mask and into the head of one of professional wrestling's most famous masked men. This autobiography of Joe "Jody" Hamilton takes the reader behind the scenes for a personal glimpse behind the mask of one of pro wrestlings hottest attractions:The Assassin!When Joe Hamilton was just 19 years old, he and his brother, Larry, headlined a show at Madison Square Garden, drawing a record 20,335 people to see them wrestle Antonino Rocca and Miguel Perez. To this day, Joe remains the youngest wrestler to ever headline a main event in the Garden.In 1961, Joe hooked up with veteran wrestler Tom Renesto to form a team called the Assassins, and for the next eleven years, they were considered to be one of wrestlings hottest attractions, drawing sellout crowds to arenas in California, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, in addition to foreign countries like Japan and Australia.Joe takes readers on a journey as he tells about life both in and out of the wrestling ringbeing attacked, stabbed, and shot at by angry wrestling fans; wrestling under a mask and trying to keep his identity a secret; legitimate fights and confrontations behind the scenes in the dressing rooms; a war between two wrestling promotions in Atlanta, Georgia; and never-before-told stories about legends like Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Giant Baba, Toyonobori, Pedro Morales, Bill Goldberg, Ray Gunkel, and their biggest rivals, the Kentuckians.

十九歳で聖地の頂点に立った天才が、なぜ素顔を隠し「暗殺者」となったのか。本作は伝説の覆面レスラー、ジ・アサシンの歩みを辿る濃密な人間ドラマです。仮面により己を消し、怪物として再生する「匿名性の美学」が全編を貫き、単なる回顧録を超えた文学的な深みを湛えています。 描かれるのは、観客の襲撃や舞台裏の抗争といった、虚構と現実が交錯する世界です。伝説たちとの秘話を通じ、男が守った誇りを浮き彫りにする筆致は圧巻。仮面の奥に秘めた情熱と孤独に触れるとき、読者はプロレスという名の壮大な叙事詩の真髄を目撃するでしょう。