A suggestion of a good Wrestling book to read?

[wrestlemaniacx]

Y'know, i have a decent collection of wrestling books going and i must say i really enjoy most of them, each on is unique in its own little way, loved Hitmans book and foley's books ( i got the first 3) and all the other well known ones, so i'm going to mention a few that i've read that are not that well known or somehow seem to fall under the radar so to speak.

 

William regals book was tremendous imo, i almost never see anyone else mention it anywhere when topics like this pop up and i wonder why....he was one of those guys that never really grabbed my attention on tv untill i read his book and it really gave me a very diffrent look/appriciation of the man, some pretty wild years in there filled with drugs and lunatic stories, i honestly would've never guessed he was so messed up just by watching him on tv...well worth whatever the price is.

 

million $ man's book was surprisingly good too, again, i was never that big a fan of his but the book really made me respect him and he went through some hard times pre wwe,intresting read.

 

Ring of hell, which was basiclly a benoit biographie but it included nasty stories on loads of other wrestlers throughout as well, i know this one's a bit of an controversial choice and i've heard rumors that it has it's fair share of lies but still, even if only half of what's in there is true you'd still be shocked and disgusted,i know i was...

 

Chyna, "if they only knew" , yeah this one is very old by now so it probably feels weird for first time readers but still, i found her story well worth the read and felt really sorry for her multiple times,she went to a pretty harsh upbringing and stepping into the world of bodybuilding and then wrestling only made her life more crazy.

 

Kurt angle it's true it's true, yep, another oldie but man was it well worth a read, it really illustrates how tough he is, i loved reading about his amateur years and the olimpics period and the training involved,it's unreal...specially given his neck injury, the man is a machine...offcourse everyone knows what happened already and how his pro career took of so it probably isn't a must buy but at least i enjoyed it a lot and i really hope he writes a follow up someday altho the tna dvd champion sorta felt that way for me,but again, if your intrested in his early years, read his book !

 

laslt, for people intrested in lucha libre but who have little knowledge, i really suggest picking up mondo lucha a go go, it's one of the few good english books on lucha libre and it's rich culture, it covers a lot, and i mean a lot...from well known wrestlers to the rules to the history to the cheesy santo films to everything...very good read for newcomers to the crazy world of lucha.

[Bus Surfer]

I just got done reading Jerichos book today. A good read but I'd have liked more stuff on his WWF run. Someone once pimped it to me as being on the same level as Bret's book. It's worth a look but doesn't come close.

[air_raid]

A good read but I'd have liked more stuff on his WWF run.

 

Then it's his second book you want.

[Tommy Atkins]

I read Gary Hart's book, best wrestling book I have ever read.

[Icon]

How much did you pay for that gary hart book heard its qutie rare nowadays?

[Tommy Atkins]

You can get it from his website again. It's run by his son.

[Hugh Thesz]

I have a copy of "Whatever happened to Gorgeous George" which I still enjoy reading once a a year or so. Similarly I will always be indebted to Glen Radford for getting me a personally signed copy of Lou Thesz's Hooker which is a fascinating read; if sad at times due to his bitterness especially considering his marriage.

 

Both well worth tracking down.

 

I can't wait for Austin Idol's autobiography to come out. Loved his shoot interview.

 

Shuggy

[Bus Surfer]

A good read but I'd have liked more stuff on his WWF run.

 

Then it's his second book you want.

 

How many does he have that are currently available? I've preordered the one due out Oct 8th. Are there any others?

[Vipes]

A good read but I'd have liked more stuff on his WWF run.

 

Then it's his second book you want.

 

How many does he have that are currently available? I've preordered the one due out Oct 8th. Are there any others?

 

 

He has two out at the mo but I'm pretty sure he is planning on writing a third from the time of his return up until the present.

[big mickey]

I read Gary Hart's book, best wrestling book I have ever read.

 

Totally agree!

 

Goldusts book is a good read as are Jerichos

[LaGoosh]

A good read but I'd have liked more stuff on his WWF run.

 

Then it's his second book you want.

 

How many does he have that are currently available? I've preordered the one due out Oct 8th. Are there any others?

 

2 currently. The first is his career up to his WWF debut. His second is his WWF debut to him leaving, the rise of Fozzy and finishes around the time of Chris Benoit's death. I can only assume he will be writing a third one which will be about his second WWE run.

[Icon]

Has anyone ever read fritz von erich master of the iron claw?

[Richie Freebird]

Has anybody read that Missing Link book?

 

I

[britishwrestlinglegends]

Smarten up, Say it right

 

Brian Blair's "Smarten up, Say it right" is a great book that teaches you how all of the terminology is really used amongst those in the business, not in the way that Lou Albano and Bert Sugar's "Idiots guide to pro wrestling" does though, thankfully. I've never considered myself an "insider" or anything like that, but I think that I have had a deep understanding of the business from all aspects for about 13 years now, but reading this book made me realise that I wasn't as "clued up" as I thought. Of course, though, it was written ten years ago, a little while after the watershed moment of Vince's "coming out" speech on Raw, so even though it has lost a little of it's novelty factor now that everything is really out in the open and everyone knows how the tricks are done, there is still a lot of good content in there which make this a fun and interesting read. Especially if you can manage to get a copy that still has the original audio cassette tape that they were released with, which was essentially a tutorial on how to speak Carney and has some examples of wrestlers using it amongst eachother. It goes into detail about things which aren't so obvious and doesn't spend much time, if any, on obvious terms such as "Mark" "over" etc, and origins of much of these terms are discussed.

 

Thanks to Lister for recommending the book to me, which is a good few years ago now.

 

Speaking of Mr. Lister, I couldn't mention him in a thread regarding wrestling books, without mentioning his account of ECW from start to finish in "Turning the Tables", it's a brilliant read and is right up there with anything I've read in the wrestling genre. I haven't read Slamthology yet, but from what I've heard it's also very very good.

I bought a tonne of books out of my birthday money & have to say Brian Blair"s was the worst, It was Shizzit

[bobby dazzler]

I have just finished reading Bruce Hart - Straight from the Hart and it is everything you would expect from Bruce Hart...

 

Bruce pretty much tries to take credit for every great idea, angle and gimmick every invented, every good thing in wrestling was based on something he done back in Stampede. Brucie would like us believe that most of Bret's success was down to him also, from the sunglasses and the leather jacket look which Bruce invented to the success of Bret's column in the Calgary Sun newspaper which Bruce ghost wrote. Yes, Bruce claims that it was not until Bret's (his) column appeared in a Calgary only publication that The Hitman's career really took off. He claims he ghost wrote this stuff for Bret for years which may be true but to claim that column as a significant factor in Bret's rise is ridiculous.

 

Speaking of Bret, Bruce writes that after Owens death he received a call from Bret and Bret claimed that Owen's accident was orchestrated by Vince McMahon to get back at Bret for Montreal. Yes, Bret claims that Vince deliberately had Owen killed. Has anyone EVER heard this claimed before? We all know how bitter Bret was at the time but would he REALLY claim Vince had Owen killed?

 

Bruce states that HE named David Smith "Davey Boy Smith". Was this not a mess up on Davey's birth certificate or is that the urban legend?

 

I couldn't help laugh when Bruce said that Bret Hart Vs Davey Boy Smith at Summerslam 91 "lasted nearly one entire hour". I thought Bret's exaggeration was bad!

 

Bruce takes many unnecessary pot shots at Vince and the WWE whilst also showing how completely out of touch he is with today's product, for example he talks about when one of his brothers was booking Stampede (business was ALWAYS down without Bruce in charge) and how the fans were getting totally burnt out by excessive blood loss every week and how today's WWE should take this as a warning. Bruce obviously doesn't realise that WWE has not had excessive blood loss in what, 3 or 4 years?

 

Anyone else read it?

 

EDIT

 

Just remembered, Bruce also had 2 or 3 runs in WWF/WWE nixed by his beloved brother Bret. The last one was after Canadian Stampede PPV, Bruce was scheduled to be on RAW the following night to start a programme with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin but Bret talked Vince out of it. The reason? Bret was annoyed that Bruce allowed all the Hart family members into the ring at the close of the Stampede PPV. Bret was supposedly pissed that they stole his thunder. Yep.