Wrestling Books

[Egg Shen]

ahh no worries, i'll probably pick up the hard back then.

[Really Big Shoe]

From yesterday's F4W/WO daily update

I 

want to mention that I just got a copy of the book "Crazy Like A Fox: The Definitive Chronicle of Brian Pillman 20 years later," by Liam O'Rourke and this is the best biography, probably because of the nature of the subject, as far as real in-depth and honest of any wrestler that I've ever seen. It's not really a wrestling book, but it has tons of wrestling, but a look at a fascinating character with all the good and bad put in. I promise you, nobody has ever worked harder to get an interview with me than him and the story is completely different from any pro wrestling book out there. It's as accurate as accurate can be with extensive interviews with his family and friends.

[BomberPat]

Top work!

I'm really enjoying the book so far - just got as far as Bill Watts coming in to WCW. Despite having no knowledge whatsoever of American football, even the chapters prior to his wrestling career were enjoyable, and it's only picked up since. There's a lot of backstage stories and rumoured booking plans that I'd never heard before, all very interesting. A lot of the stories of "ribs" and backstage pranks and everything make me feel a bit uncomfortable, but they always do - and I certainly wasn't expecting to come out of this thinking Pillman was the nicest guy in the world anyway.

[NoUseforaUsername]

Anyone ever read Sex, Lies and Headlocks?

[Really Big Shoe]

6 hours ago, NoUseforaUsername said:

Anyone ever read Sex, Lies and Headlocks?

Yep, it's not a bad book but from a 2017 perspective there's not much you wouldn't already know. Podcast Review here which may contain spoilers 

https://player.fm/series/awesome-truth-a-wrestling-book-club/episode-4-sex-lies-and-headlocks-the-real-story-of-vince-mcmahon-and-world-wrestling-entertainment

[Liam O'Rourke]

On 01/12/2017 at 10:14 AM, BomberPat said:

Top work!

I'm really enjoying the book so far - just got as far as Bill Watts coming in to WCW. Despite having no knowledge whatsoever of American football, even the chapters prior to his wrestling career were enjoyable, and it's only picked up since. There's a lot of backstage stories and rumoured booking plans that I'd never heard before, all very interesting. A lot of the stories of "ribs" and backstage pranks and everything make me feel a bit uncomfortable, but they always do - and I certainly wasn't expecting to come out of this thinking Pillman was the nicest guy in the world anyway.

It is what it is - love reading what you think though, going be really interesting to me to see how people take the book and what they think of everybody coming out of it. Certainly Meltzer's endorsement that @Really Big Shoe quoted took me aback.

I've read Sex, Lies and Headlocks. It's interesting, but at times it feels like it doesn't really know what it wants to be. It's kind of trying to be a broad look at the business, honing in on Vince. It was funny because I only got the book a few years ago, but re-read it after Kim Wood told me to check out how Sean Assael, the author, covered Brian. "He fucked it up, but you're going to want to look at again to see how he fucked it up."

[BomberPat]

@Liam O'Rourke, I ploughed through a few chapters yesterday - as soon as it got into the nuts and bolts of how the Loose Cannon gimmick came to be, I just couldn't put it down, bloody brilliant stuff. A really compelling story that just made me appreciate Pillman even more than I already did, and brilliantly communicated by yourself - and it's clear you've done a shitload of research, that comes through the entire time.

One of my favourite things in the book, though, has been the nods to "what could have been" booking - I've always loved the idea of Pillman forming the "Generation X Horsemen", but don't recall having heard about him floating Jericho and Finlay as potential members, and the thought of a Paul E. Dangerously managed Hollywood Blonds is amazing. I'd never heard that Steve Austin and Dustin Rhodes were potentially going to be Horsemen either - early '90s Austin would have been such a perfect fit, and the thought of Dusty's kid as a Horseman is fantasy booking gold, a story to really get your teeth into.

[Really Big Shoe]

If I'm correct these were released as part of a tribute CD to Brian

http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2006/08/28/pf-1781382.html

They have yet to add the rest unfortunately.

[C-Rock]

Anybody know when Brutus Beefcake book is released and heard of any others?

[Really Big Shoe]

There's a new Four Horsemen timeline book

https://www.amazon.com/Four-Horsemen-Timeline-Dick-Bourne/dp/1545468540

He's also wrote The Big Gold, 10 LBs of Gold and one about the Minnesota Wrecking Crew and the kayfabed Anderson wrestling family too.

[Ambulance Chaser]

Liam Todd Martin has done an in depth review on his PWTorch podcast with wade keller this week. He does all the book reviews for the site so i tweeted him a few weeks back and told him it was out and to get on it, he gives it a massive thumbs up and highly recommends.

[Liam O'Rourke]

2 hours ago, Ambulance Chaser said:

Liam Todd Martin has done an in depth review on his PWTorch podcast with wade keller this week. He does all the book reviews for the site so i tweeted him a few weeks back and told him it was out and to get on it, he gives it a massive thumbs up and highly recommends.

Just checked it out this morning - thank you so much for playing a part in getting the word out, I owe you one! The positive words from him were cool to hear. 

[Liam O'Rourke]

On 04/12/2017 at 5:05 AM, BomberPat said:

@Liam O'Rourke, I ploughed through a few chapters yesterday - as soon as it got into the nuts and bolts of how the Loose Cannon gimmick came to be, I just couldn't put it down, bloody brilliant stuff. A really compelling story that just made me appreciate Pillman even more than I already did, and brilliantly communicated by yourself - and it's clear you've done a shitload of research, that comes through the entire time.

One of my favourite things in the book, though, has been the nods to "what could have been" booking - I've always loved the idea of Pillman forming the "Generation X Horsemen", but don't recall having heard about him floating Jericho and Finlay as potential members, and the thought of a Paul E. Dangerously managed Hollywood Blonds is amazing. I'd never heard that Steve Austin and Dustin Rhodes were potentially going to be Horsemen either - early '90s Austin would have been such a perfect fit, and the thought of Dusty's kid as a Horseman is fantasy booking gold, a story to really get your teeth into.

Thanks dude, I'm glad you're enjoying it. And yeah, it really is amazing how many plans fell through during the course of his run that would have been fantastic. To be honest, given the pattern of Dusty's booking it's remarkable to me that Dustin didn't make the group in 93.

[NoUseforaUsername]

Fair dues for writing a book on a subject your passionate about.

I'd have the same problem as Stephen King and not know when to rein it in and edit stuff out.

I haven't seen enough of his work to comment on it, but I will say the way Vince exploited his grieving widow less thAn 24 hours after his death was deplorable even for him.

[King Pitcos]

Quite a lot about Liam's book in the Observer this week. Here's a bit:

I want to make mention of one of the best wrestling biographies I’ve ever seen, called “Crazy Like A Fox: The Definitive Chronicle of Brian Pillman 20 Years Later,” by Liam O’Rourke. I may be biased on this because I know the subject matter better than most and the accuracy is spot on, but many others have echoed my belief that this is the best biography (as opposed to an autobiography) ever done on a wrestler and probably the best book ever written that fully described the political issues of WCW in the 90s.