Wrestling the World captures Jack Roddy's contentious upbringing with a hard driving Irish father who forbade his rodeo dreams. After recounting Jack's first failed go at pro rodeo, Cooney sketches Roddy's collegiate rodeo career and how he soared to capture the 1959 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association title and two world steer wrestling championships at the National Finals Rodeo in 1966 and '68. Roddy ran bars in San Francisco and San Jose while managing ranches, partnering in a rodeo stock company and fighting the Dairy Diversion Program that nearly broke the US beef industry. Roddy fought the rise of eco terrorism in the 80's and found himself on a terrorist hit list. He never let up on educating cattlemen and protecting ranchers, livestock and the Western way of life. "Lions of their time", Roddy and Rodeo Cowboys Association board members turned professional rodeo into a multi-million dollar sport. Cooney recounts the days Roddy served on the board and the tension between rival cowboys. Arena wrecks and broken bones, were nothing compared to the tragic death of friend Malcolm Baldrige at Roddy Ranch, a bad bail bonds scheme that almost cost him everything and the ultimate double-cross of a trusted partner. In Wrestling the World, Cooney takes the reader on a ride that portrays the forces that shaped a champion and how he used those experiences to protect and promote the virtues and beliefs of Western life.