evilclown

My Stan Hansen book review for the WON. Has anyone else read this book? Thoughts? By January, 28, 2001, All Japan Pro Wrestling had fallen on hard times. The core group of talent which had dominated the industry in Japan for a decade, selling out Budokan Hall routinely for years, had moved on to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. All Japan, in truth, had no business running a show in the Tokyo Dome. But they did, largely to honor one man - the most legendary gaijin in Japanese wrestling history, the incomparable Stan Hansen. Thirty thousand fans chanted his name as Hansen made his way to the ring. In 1982, he would have been mortified. He was a heel and one of the best; it was a different time, and a crowd cheering him on would have meant an epic failure on his part. A generation of fans, however, had grown up watching Hansen, grown to respect, admire, and appreciate him. It was a fitting tribute. Hansen, one of the very best wrestlers in the world for not just one, but two decades, has written the most interesting book ever printed about the industry in Japan. The Last Outlaw isn't your standard wrestling memoir. You know the kind I mean - a few road stories which may or may not have happened, a few shots at political enemies, and a passel of inaccurate information. This is more akin to Bret Hart's excellent book Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Like Hart, Hansen goes into great detail about his life on the road. It's interesting when he's discussing Amarillo or Mid South, but business, as they say, really picks up when Hansen arrives in Japan in the 1970's. I've always been curious about what life is like for an American wrestler in Japan. What are interactions with the native talent like? How do the fans respond outside of the ring? What is it like to travel to obscure parts of the country, places not often seen by foreigners at all? Hansen tackles all of these issues and plenty more. And he does it from a unique perspective. He worked for both Inoki's New Japan and for Baba's All Japan as a top foreign talent. Very few men can make the same claim. It's compelling stuff. Stan covers the differences between the two groups behind the scenes and shares his memories of all the great wrestlers to come through Japan in the 1980's and 1990's. The book is not without it's flaws. Written with wrestling historian Scott Teal, it's strong with dates and the facts. But at times the narrative loses its flow as Hansen jumps time periods. There are also a handful of stories repeated almost word for word in various parts of the book. It doesn't detract much from the experience. It's similar to talking with your grandfather about World War II - sure he may tell the same stories over and over again, but there's some comfort in the familiarity. In the end, Hansen delivers one of the best wrestling books to date. He talks openly about his successes and his failures. He doesn't give himself or his friends a pass for irresponsible behavior. Like most in the industry, Hansen has experienced loss, and you can sense how hard it was for him to write about fallen friends like the great Bruiser Brody. But Hansen is unflinching. He tells his story and it's a great one. Well worth seeking out this hidden gem of a book.

Has anyone written about the weird matches in 1999 between Hashimoto and Ogawa? It seems to me that this was part of Inoki's plan to capitalize on the growing popularity of MMA and worked just about as well as sending Nagata to be massacred. It seems like something John Williams may have written about, but internet searches are letting me down. Any one have thoughts on these matches? I remember them being very exciting, but they kind of destroyed one of New Japan's big draws for little long term benefit.

Bret Hart and and Chris Jericho made the NY Times' Best Seller List. Jericho did it twice. That's fairly meaningless. There are books in the genre that made the NYT list that Alvarez has sold 10 times more than. Lots of major publisher releases sell a few thousand copies in the first week, make the tail end of the NYT list and are never heard from again.

His is the best selling book in the history of the company. He's done very well.

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/11271/145/ http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/17300/ http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/17323/108 Coughlin's review of Total MMA where he found errors thus proving more knowledgeable?: http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/8770/ The reviews from the Meltzer community have been interesting (though positive). Coughlin made a bizarre claim that Total MMA, supported by more than 100 interviews, didn't feature any original interviews. Dave even woke up long enough to make him fix it. The Babinsack review of my most recent book talks about Mitsuyo Maeda as a 1950's wrestler and then continues to "correct" various entries based on his unique understanding of the world. Very entertaining.

Long and short of it, this guy got banned from our website and has escalated it to the point that it can only be addressed through our attorney. Pretty typical wrestling board nutjob, but we aren't fucking around with those kinds of people.

How will they sell this? MMA guys do hundreds of interviews and Bas has especially been open about all kinds of lurid shit.

That was funny...

November. Trying to buy photos now and Zuffa making it very hard. But I'm really happy with this one. And, looking to sign a contract for two more. What a world.

That was written by the co-author of my new MMA Encyclopedia. Tremendous.

Yeah, ECW Press turns a profit.

Interest in this book plummeting. Only chance of major publisher taking a gander on this is Simon and Schuster via WWE. Otherwise I just can't see it.

Take it from a subject matter expert: this guy is trolling the hell out of you.

I think the Spike deal has proved that they don't need to be on ESPN to do well. Don't know if Dave talked about this or if Jon has run into anything on it, but I wonder if a potential outsider in the bidding would be TNT/TBS. The just made a major move to get the NCAA Tourney, including eventually getting the Championship Game on cable (which will be a first among major sporting events). They went balls out to get MLB, including cutting the cord with their *own* team broadcasts. The NBA is a massive part of the network. They appear to be very much angling to be a major player in the sporting world... that NCAA thing isn't any lightweight deal. John I have never heard anyone mention the possibility of going to TNT/TBS. Maybe the sport still reaks too much of pro wrestling to be a good fit? I agree that they don't need ESPN and it may not even be a great fit. ESPN runs a ton of niche sports programming, but besides poker, I can't think of anything that they've taken to great heights.

I missed one of your questions. The UFC deal with SPIKE runs through 2011. They are very proactive though and have extended and altered their deal pretty regularly, so they may sign something well before it expires. I remember the initial deal called for just one season of TUF this year and one next year. They've added a season to each calender year in the meantime. It's really a partnership both sides seem happy with. SPIKE loves being associated with the UFC and Zuffa likes having the ability to be flexible and air their little "Clash of the Champions" type shows any time a competitor has an event. That's why it will be so interesting to see what they do. They may stay, even if it limits growth. Which, frankly, is probably for the best. I think they are close to saturating the market and may end up being their own worst enemies.

I wrote something last week that discusses this subject: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/4/30/14396...7-5-why-merging Right now I am writing articles for UGO.com, but the intent is to try and target casual fans, so it isn't as in depth as I'd like. I also ghostwrite a blog for a prominent MMA fighter, but can't really say much more about that. I'm looking for a new home for writing aimed at hardcore fans, but time is at a premium and money talks. I'd probably rather write a different kind of article, but business is business. My new book is due out in December, an MMA Encyclopedia. After that, who knows. I am hoping to sign a new two-book contract shortly.

The thing with Shields is simpler. I don't think anyone but Dana thinks it is worth the effort to make some giant statement by beating "their" champion. In reality, most people don't even know they have competition, and less would if Dana didn't constantly bring it up. When they try to prove the other guy isn't in the UFC's league, they are still competing with PRIDE. Takanori Gomi was brought in for the express purpose of fighting the everlasting battle with PRIDE's legacy.

I think it would be a great time. The bottom line is that TV contracts don't allow it right now. Too many fighters under contract and no place for them to compete. SPIKE doesn't want to pay for additional live events, but does want to maintain their exclusivity (except for the contracted exceptions). Basically Zuffa needs the seven or eight WEC shows to keep the fighters active and to make sure they meet contractual obligations to the fighters. All bets are off for the WEC when they renegotiate tv deals. That will be tricky. SPIKE pays a premium to be THE UFC station. They don't want to share, but Zuffa will have to decide if they are being too tightly constrained by SPIKE.

Shields will fight at welterweight in the UFC.

I never understood how that worked. Bands don't get paid that much for other TV appearances. Would that include some licensing fee for the Kiss Demon gimmick?

I can tell you for a fact that the UFC is taking a hard line with people reporting things they have requested no one speak of. There is not much being written by an accredited source that even approaches controversial.

What happened there? Also, has anyone ASKED him about a Doc bio? I asked him about it when we were at UFC 109. He was already on to Jack Brisco and things didn't seem promising.

That's what is so interesting about the Observer. Look at the stuff he did at the time and compare it to the occasional historical retrospective he puts out (like the history of WCW). It's like night and day. The Observer he DOESN'T write every week is much better than the one he does!

I am starting to think it must be a rib. Yesterday Dave admitted he was consulted on the Coleman-Takada "finish" in PRIDE. Can you imagine Brett Favre asking Peter King for suggestions about how to fix the Super Bowl and then writing about it 10 years later like it was no big deal?

My fondest desire involves John reading my book and breaking it down, sentence by sentence, to prove my utter incompetence. Can this happen?