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So where exactly does Jericho's book end?

So in HBK's book does it really delve into the Klique and stories from the 90's or is it kind of a "Hey we didn't do anything wrong!" accounting of things?
 
I've heard that Jericho is waiting for his retirement to finish and publish part two partly so that it will be complete and partly so that he won't have to worry about the WWE demanding any editorial changes.
 
Mattdotcom said:
I've heard that Jericho is waiting for his retirement to finish and publish part two partly so that it will be complete and partly so that he won't have to worry about the WWE demanding any editorial changes.
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Good. I'm not a big fan of the bios released under the WWE umbrella, with, of course, a few notable exceptions (Flair, Foley, etc.).
 
In the July 1 Observer it said that Jericho is planning to release another book sometime next year that would cover his WWF days and his hiatus.
 
Despite all the typos i'm enjoying the Ring Of Hell Book. Inoki is INSANE.
 
I read Bischoff's book on Sunday. It was certainly interesting, but I tend to believe that most of what Bischoff said was crap. Oh and dirtsheets this dirtsheets that dirtsheets this dirtsheets that dirtsheets reported this thing but how would they know they weren't there? DIRTSHEETS.
 
I was on vacation about 6 weeks ago and happened to stop into a Half Price Books and they had a copy of Pure Dynamite for like $8, so I figured what the hell. I've been slowly reading it for the last couple of weeks, mainly because the first few chapters are just boring as hell and all the typos and grammatical mistakes makes it tough to read. It basically just reads like someone typed up a shoot video but edited out the questions that were asked. I'm about halfway through it now (to the part where he just had the ruptured discs) and just don't really feel like reading any more.
 
Someone early in the thread asked about J.J. Dillon's book. Great stories and a pretty easy read, but I'd definitely rate it below Jericho, Foley's first two, and Heenan's.

Terry Funk's book was a fun read.
 
I'm looking for some recomendations. I'm not really after autobiographys but historical books. Books akin to Death of WVW and Wrestling's Sinking Ship.

Any suggestions?
 
I've read all of the usual suspects regarding autobiographies, and consider the holy trinity to be Foley's 1st book, Jericho's, and Bret's.

I have read some books written about the business by non-wrestlers (Sex, Lies, and Headlocks was bad; Broken Harts was decent; etc.), but the biggest task of that group was National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling by Tim Hornbaker.

First things first: the book is dry. There are colorful spots where certain promoters or wrestlers are quoted, but the majority of the information is given in Hemingway-like ham-fisted typing tone, with no real emotion attached, unless they use one of the aforementioned quotes.

However, that's really the primary flaw. I can't speak for the accuracy of every statement or tidbit, but it seems like research was actually done. However, I could be incorrect; I am not an expert on pre-70s NWA, so there could be tons of mistakes. Regardless, it doesn't seem that this is the case.

The section where each NWA champion is profiled is interesting, although there are many that get minimal coverage for various reasons (short reign, lack of popularity, etc.). I am also very interested in the origins of the NWA and the business itself at that time (and before), so I found a lot of the discussion of people like Orville Brown interesting. There is a lot of talk about the political maneuverings of the various promoters, which is to be expected, but after so many double crosses/feuds, they all start blending together after a while.

The point is that I would recommend the book if you're interested in the formation/early years of the NWA. Again, it's dry, but I can overlook that for what else the book contains, and there are many interesting bits within that help add to the overall "story" of the NWA.
 
Yeah, I liked Hornbaker's book. The problem is that it can be kind of a dry style, but it is worth delving into. It is pretty obvious where the primary sources lay. A lot of court and government documents.

The "Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame" series is interesting as well. A lot of profiles on individual wrestlers. Probably quite a few interesting ones you may not have heard of before.
 
Still haven't been able to get started on Hornbaker's NWA book. Maybe someday, but I keep going back to more familiar territory when I feel like reading a wrestling book.

SEX, LIES & HEADLOCKS: I have a hardcover edition, but I'm not sure about what factual errors it might contain. My copy may be a revised version, as I seem to recall it having an extra chapter. Haven't looked at it in a long time though. But I remember it being a decent enough primer to check out before getting more specific with other books. It's at least more accurate than Piper's autobiography, which I picked up at the same time.

AROUND THE WORLD IN SPANDEX: Highly entertaining. Loved reading about Mexico, Germany, and Japan. Remembering Jericho's obnoxious heel persona in WCW was making me laugh my ass off. Jericho obviously takes cues from Foley's books with his writing style and self-deprecation, but they both seem to come from the same place: two suburban dorks who would never be mistaken for macho tough guys, and knew it. And that's fine by me.

I read the Rock's book in about twenty minutes when it first came out. Terrible.

Jerry Lawler's book was surprisingly good considering that I have zero interest in following his career. Wasn't really buying any of his stuff about the amount of hot girls he'd slept with though.

The Stone Cold Truth and Hogan's book were both boring.
 
Yeah, Jericho's book was excellent. I finished it in two days, it was so entertaining and engrossing that I couldn't stop.
 
I've read..

Foley's 3 books
Hogan's book
Austin's book
reading Sex, Lies and Headlocks
have Jericho's to read next
 
As did you, Brody.

The first and third Foley books are very good, Foley Is Good is fine, but there is really no reason for it, and the PTC stuff is painful
 
BruiserBrody said:
Jaxxxson Mayhem said:
I've read..

Foley's 3 books
Hogan's book
Austin's book
reading Sex, Lies and Headlocks
have Jericho's to read next
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You failed at the discussion part.
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I realize this. I knew it when I posted it. I was going to come back later and expand on my post, but I guess I'll do it now.

Foley's 3rd book was boooooring.

Hogan's book was interesting and told me a lot about old organizations along with some great Andre the Giant stories. Such examples are him shitting on newspapers spread out on a bed in Japanese hotel rooms along with Andre fucking girls and calling Hogan during it and putting it on speakerphone and making Hogan listen to the girls scream.

Austin's book was cool. Knew a lot of it before from his DVD.

Sex, Lies, and Headlocks is cool. Gives a lot of info (although you guys are saying it's factually incorrect (I'm reading the hardcover version))
 
Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling is quite great.

Jimmy hart's is horrid.

Dibiase's 1st one is bad.

Ring of Hell was fun, if not numbing.

Meltzer's Tributes books are tremendous.

Tangled Ropes (Billy Graham) was very interesting.

Everybody up there hates me is quite dull...

I've read a ton more actually, I'll add more later
 
Jimmy Hart seems like he could write an interesting book, but he has that rep of never saying a bad word about anyone.

Ring of Hell is hilarious, but a lot of it seemed a little farfetched.
 
Finished Bret's book about a week ago and was actually sad it ended. Excellent read.

I'm going to re-read Jericho's on the plane to and from Vegas next week. That one never gets old.
 
The Midnight Express book is interesting if only for all the old pay stubs and interoffice memos it has. It also has fan letters Cornette got, both good and bad.
 
Ring of Hell's problem is that Randazzo, while he does have a lot of info and like him or not, has tons of sources, just tries to sensationize everything. And in a business as sleazy as wrestling, you really shouldn't have to stretch the truth that much. There is a lot of truth in the book particularly on what it's like to be on creative team under the tyranny of Stephanie, but he just tries to spice it up so much, you're left questioning all his credibility. He also wrote it in a rush, I believe, and didn't do enough fact-checking.


His writing for powerslam is so much better because he has a good editor and is a lot more controlled. If Ring of Hell has been written like that, I'm convinced it would have a lot more fans.

I also tend to believe Randazzo's main theory that all these claims from WWE and its wrestlers of "two Benoits" and that there was never any clue he was crazy until the last days of his life was bullshit, and there were probably a few warning signs, that people either ignored or didn't spot. Which I think was the main point of the book that he did get over well.
 
Anybody have any of the Wrestlecrap books? I've got the original on the way, I'm winning an eBay auction for the Book of Lists & I'm on the fence on Death of WCW.
 
The last wrestling book I read was Flair's. I finished it in one sitting. It's one of my all-time favorite wrestling books.

I can recall having read the following:

Foley's first 2 books
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Edge
Shawn Michaels
Ric Flair
The Rock
Kurt Angle
The Hardy Boyz
Lita

I just got Eric Bischoff's a few weeks ago for $1.98 from WWEShop. I plan to check out Hogan's from the library after I read that.
 
oldskool said:
Anybody have any of the Wrestlecrap books? I've got the original on the way, I'm winning an eBay auction for the Book of Lists & I'm on the fence on Death of WCW.
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Book of Lists was ok. Death of WCW may be one of the best wrestling books written because it goes so in depth.
 
(in order read) First Foley: ****1/2. This was my introduction to wrestling books, but showed a tendency I'd notice more and more: the detail and/or candor subsides a little closer to the published date. Still, a book I refuse to part with and it'll travel overseas with me. Rock: **3/4. Dumb, but funny as fuck in parts to 17-year old me. Fuck off. First Scooter: *. I'd devoured all of his writing online already so it was old hat. Dumb purchase. Cut and paste! Jesus! Angle: *** memorable for his pre-wrestling life, and a part talking about how to throw a pulled punch. I dug that. Chyna: *3/4. Anyone who's read it will get the following joke. Ahem. OMG BEEPERZ~! Seriously, I had no idea she'd led such a life of back alley beeper deals and other crazy shit. Kinda boring otherwise. Second Foley: ****3/4 I enjoyed the dry dissection of the PTC. It also followed my favorite phase of his career but only that so no *****. Tonight in This Very Ring: * Why did I do this twice? Ugh. The Death of WCW: ****1/2...
 
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