Under-the-radar wrestling book recommendations

[WingedEagle]

 

 

Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling is now $6.99 on Kindle - the lowest price it's ever been, according to ereaderiq.com.

 

You're better off with back issues of the WON covering the figures featured in here.

 

What about it makes you prefer the Observer? I bought this book when it first came out and really enjoyed it myself.

 

 

I thought the Observer features generally went into a greater level of detail and context. Leaving content aside, as much as Dave could use some better editing, I thought this book had an unacceptable number of errors -- whether typos or poor grammar -- generally a lesser quality of writing.

[SPS]

 

 

 

Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling is now $6.99 on Kindle - the lowest price it's ever been, according to ereaderiq.com.

 

You're better off with back issues of the WON covering the figures featured in here.

 

What about it makes you prefer the Observer? I bought this book when it first came out and really enjoyed it myself.

 

 

I thought the Observer features generally went into a greater level of detail and context. Leaving content aside, as much as Dave could use some better editing, I thought this book had an unacceptable number of errors -- whether typos or poor grammar -- generally a lesser quality of writing.

 

Those are fair points, I didn't seem to notice but I'm not one to notice outside of major errors so everyone has their preferences. Thanks for clarifying.

[C.S.]

I ended up buying the book before seeing the responses in this thread. I really hope the grammar/typos have been fixed, as that bugs the hell out of me.

 

I also bought this (non-wrestling): Back to Brooklyn: Book 1 of the My Cousin Vinny Series - Yes, a book sequel to the movie "My Cousin Vinny." Only 99 cents.

[JaymeFuture]

Got Jericho's book last week. There's some interesting stuff, talking about how he himself knew his "Rooty Tooty Booty" period when he came back to work with the New Day was trash, and him looking for answers. Kind of notable how it parallels his whole "second coming" period when you're finished reading - comes back feeling like a nostalgia act and has to change. Of course there's a lot of non-wrestling stuff that, in truth, isn't as interesting to me. Closest comparison I can draw is how Foley's "Hardcore Diaries" felt in comparison to his previous efforts.

[C.S.]

I'm reading through Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling now, and while I thankfully haven't noticed any typo/grammar issues, it is a pretty dry read overall. Plus, in a chapter about a specific wrestler, the author will spend several pages going on a tangent about another wrestler entirely. The two do eventually intersect, but I wish the other wrestler had just been given his own chapter instead.

 

It's interesting so far though, especially the way it shows wrestling transitioning from a shoot to a work. IMO, 90% of wrestling matches - even with shooters - were works (and 90% is probably a low number).

[C.S.]

Major Kindle sale on WWE books:

99 cents

- Big Apple Takedown

$1.99

- 10 Count Trivia: Events and Championships
- Andre the Giant: A Legendary Life
- Are We There Yet?: Tales from the Never-Ending Travels of WWE Superstars
- Batista Unleashed
- Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash
- Have More Money Now: A Commonsense Approach to Financial Management
- Hollywood Hulk Hogan
- Lita: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D.--The Reality of Amy Dumas
- My Favorite Match: WWE Superstars Tell the Stories of Their Most Memorable Matches
- Rey Mysterio: Behind the Mask
- Rumble Road: Untold Stories from Outside the Ring
- The Unauthorized History of DX
- The WWE Championship: A Look Back at the Rich History of the WWE Championship
- WWE Legends - Superstar Billy Graham: Tangled Ropes

$2.99

- Adam Copeland On Edge
- Ted DiBiase (WWE)
- Walking a Golden Mile (William Regal) - Note: One review mentions bad typos and formatting issues in the Kindle version.

$3.99

Note: This has been $2.99 in the past.

- Cross Rhodes: Goldust, Out of the Darkness

As tempting as it is to splurge on all of these, 1. I already own most of them in hardcopy, and 2. I worry is that all of these will end up being like the Kindle version of the Regal book with typos, formatting issues, etc. (according to one review).

I did buy Big Apple Takedown for 99 cents despite already owning the paperback because it's batshit crazy in a good way - it throws Attitude Era WWE stars into the middle of a wonderfully terrible action movie/cop/crime scenario.

How is the DiBiase book? Worth it if I've read his previous book? (Every Man Has His Price: The True Story of Wrestling's Million Dollar Man) I'm worried it'll just be a WWE-published rehash.

[Al]

That Andre book is still overpriced.

 

Let me add that I also have the Regal book and while it's not perfectly laid out (at least to my recollection), it's certainly readable. For that price I would bite.

[SPS]

That Andre book is still overpriced.

 

Let me add that I also have the Regal book and while it's not perfectly laid out (at least to my recollection), it's certainly readable. For that price I would bite.

 

Yes the Andre book was not good as it was filled with segment play by play of his famous WWF feuds and match reviews which I did not want to rea about. So once you skip those then there is very little to read that you couldn't get from his wiki page. I was very bummed after buying this one hard copy when it came out at my local book store.

 

I have the Regal kindle and it's very readable and the formatting errors are here and there but don't take away a ton from the overall quality of the book. So for such a low price I'd too recommend it to any wrestling fan.

[BrianB]

Billy Graham's book is also worth it at that price.

[JaymeFuture]

I loved Billy Graham's book, that's an absolute steal for $1.99. His memory was good, his self-analysis (read: criticism) was far more honest than most, and it's just a generally interesting story.

[Al]

I'm two chapters into Graham's book. The one criticism I have is that it's so obviously ghostwritten. It doesn't ruin the story, it's just a bit distracting. The stuff about some Christian sect finding him in a magazine and recruiting him is batshit crazy.

[C.S.]

I just finished The Power Slam Interviews Volume 2:

https://smile.amazon.com/Power-Slam-Interviews-2-ebook/dp/B06XQQ8KJW/

It's a long, fun read. Volume 1 is good too.

The author also wrote Pro Wrestling Through The Power Slam Years: 1994-2014, but as someone who never read the magazine and doesn't live in England, I'm not sure how much interest that holds for me. Interview books though? I could read those all day long.

I tweeted Wade Keller to turn his Torch Talks into a book - seems like a major missed opportunity - but of course he ignored me (or doesn't know how to use Twitter, which is probably more likely considering his age). I realize there were Torch Talk "Yearbooks" once upon a time (or something like that), but those have been out of print for decades. Pushing them all on Kindle seems like easy, instant money to me - but what do I know? Maybe he feels the need to keep them exclusive to the PWTorch site as a subscriber incentive? I have no idea...

[C.S.]

Amazon code for $5 off $15 on any print book:

 

BOOKGIFT17

 

Works perfectly with the Pillman book, which I just ordered.

[Migs]

If you're interested in the world of shoot interviews, I'm quite enjoying Sean Oliver's book. Not too heavy, but some fun behind the scenes stories.

[C.S.]

Free book: The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever

 

http://augustafreepress.com/worst-wrestling-pay-per-view-ever-new-book-chris-graham-offers-look-behind-scenes-pro-wrestling-business/

 

The entire book is on the website, with each chapter in a separate link.

 

I read it the other day. It's short but fun. I'm definitely NOT complaining about something that's free, but I have no idea why he didn't just link to ebook files in various formats. It was easy enough for me to cobble everything together in one file with Calibre and then send it to my Kindle, which is how I read it.

 

 

If you're interested in the world of shoot interviews, I'm quite enjoying Sean Oliver's book. Not too heavy, but some fun behind the scenes stories.

 

I'm reading this now. His humor can be very crude and shocking, but he has an undeniable lowbrow wit about him that's perfect for the carny world of rasslin'.

 

One example: Early on, he mentions wrestlers using wrestling terms for real life - for example, "kicking out" of a bad situation. He follows that up several chapters later by talking about the Verne Gagne nursing home incident. Gagne, who was in the late stages of Alzheimer's and/or dementia, attacked and ended up killing another patient. That patient was a Holocaust survivor. Oliver's quip was something like: "He kicked out of the Holocaust but couldn't survive Verne Gagne." Wow. But as jaw-dropping as that line is, it speaks for how well the book is written and constructed that he wrote something early in the book and gave us the unexpected punchline/payoff several chapters later.

 

This is a great read even if your only exposure to Kayfabe Commentaries - like mine - has been clips on YouTube.

 

BTW, if you're an Amazon Prime member, this book is now available to borrow for free - even without a Kindle Unlimited subscription. That definitely wasn't the case a month or two ago, where it was only (and still is) available through KU. The Kindle Lending Library for Prime members is more limited - only one book a month, a smaller selection, and you have to borrow it through the device.

[Migs]

 

 

 

If you're interested in the world of shoot interviews, I'm quite enjoying Sean Oliver's book. Not too heavy, but some fun behind the scenes stories.

 

I'm reading this now. His humor can be very crude and shocking, but he has an undeniable lowbrow wit about him that's perfect for the carny world of rasslin'.

 

 

 

That's a very good way to put it. I found him kind of off-putting at times but appreciated that he felt he sort of needed that gear to get by in the world of wrestling, particularly when dealing with the older talent.

[C.S.]

I recently signed up for another Kindle Unlimited trial, and while the glory days of great wrestling books being on that service is long gone, there are still some good ones.

I just finished Dusty Wolfe's book.

(Dusty Wolfe, for those who may not remember him, was a "journeyman" wrestler - jobber - for the WWF and WCW in the '80s and '90s, but he did a lot more than that and actually wrestled all around the world. You might remember him as "Dale" Wolfe if Dusty Rhodes happened to be there while he was.)

Hoo boy, while the book is badly in need of an editor and way too long and dry at points, it's actually a pretty interesting look at several eras of wrestling from a guy who's been everywhere, wrestled everyone, and seen everything. It also doubles as a travelogue of sorts. My favorite part are his little "ADD" observations at the end of each chapter. They're one or two sentence mic drop statements. There's one about Jerry Jarrett always having to bail Jerry Lawler out of jail because of The King's "preferences" when it comes to the opposite sex. Wow!

[shodate]

sakuraba's two books

[SPS]

sakuraba's two books

 

You read Japanese?

[shodate]

 

sakuraba's two books

 

You read Japanese?

 

its helps i was born there lol

 

there very good books indeed they are

[SPS]

 

 

sakuraba's two books

 

You read Japanese?

 

its helps i was born there lol

 

there very good books indeed they are

 

 

Neat, I would love to learn to read Japanese just due to the great books I've heard they have covering wrestling. If you still have those books maybe you'd consider doing a book review thread or something on this site where you could share some the bullet points and overview of some Japanese wrestling books for those of us who can't read them.

[shodate]

 

 

 

sakuraba's two books

 

You read Japanese?

 

its helps i was born there lol

 

there very good books indeed they are

 

 

Neat, I would love to learn to read Japanese just due to the great books I've heard they have covering wrestling. If you still have those books maybe you'd consider doing a book review thread or something on this site where you could share some the bullet points and overview of some Japanese wrestling books for those of us who can't read them.

 

the biggest things o got form hos 2nd book is how much he hated KINGDOM witch i found odd it irked me that i never saw sakubara in RINGS

[C.S.]

I'm reading this now:

Development Hell: The NXT Story

This is about the history of the WWE developmental program in general (OVW, DSW, FCW, etc.), not just NXT.

There probably won't be any new information if you've regularly followed "insider" wrestling news over the years, but it's fascinating to see it all researched and put into one place.

The author really digs in though and includes commentary quotes from the obscure early NXT "reality show" seasons.

One thing that struck out at me was CM Punk burying Layla on commentary by calling some nonsense on the show "the first good thing she's ever done" or words to that effect. I won't pretend I was ever a major Layla fan, but I thought LayCool was a pretty effective act, and this really exposes both Punk and WWE back then as misogynistic and bullying. For how heavy-handed the "Divas Revolution" and "Women's Evolution" are, it really is amazing to see compared to the way women were treated in the company only a few years ago.

But seemingly everyone was buried on the reality show abortion those early NXT shows were - including, obviously, Daniel Bryan at the hands of Michael Cole. What a bizarre, counterproductive, and downright stupid concept and waste of money and airtime that was. It's no accident that almost no one from those seasons of NXT became a real star.

Where I've reached in my reading: Triple H is about to take over the developmental program and establish the "real" NXT (Chapter 14).

The book is "free" with Kindle Unlimited if you want to give it a try.

[JNLister]

Hope nobody minds a cheeky plug for my new book Purodyssey: A Tokyo Wrestling Diary. Blurb's below and you can get it in print and Kindle at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C8L3DFG or on your local Amazon).

 

 

Twenty years after his first voyages to watch wrestling abroad, writer John Lister finally made it to Tokyo. Purodyssey shares the experience of seeing 14 shows from 11 promotions in just eight days, visiting venues from the Tokyo Dome to a converted pharmacy. It also details encountering Japanese culture in person for the first time.

 

The book also includes a comprehensive yet concise guide to the practicalities of visiting Tokyo for wrestling, including ticket buying, transport and key Japanese phrases.

 

About the Author:

 

John Lister is a professional freelance writer who has been writing for wrestling publications since 1990. Author of Slamthology and Turning The Tables: The Story Of Extreme Championship Wrestling, he formerly worked for Power Slam and The Fight Network and is now a regular contributor to Fighting Spirit Magazine.

[SPS]

Hope nobody minds a cheeky plug for my new book Purodyssey: A Tokyo Wrestling Diary. Blurb's below and you can get it in print and Kindle at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C8L3DFG or on your local Amazon).

 

 

Twenty years after his first voyages to watch wrestling abroad, writer John Lister finally made it to Tokyo. Purodyssey shares the experience of seeing 14 shows from 11 promotions in just eight days, visiting venues from the Tokyo Dome to a converted pharmacy. It also details encountering Japanese culture in person for the first time.

 

The book also includes a comprehensive yet concise guide to the practicalities of visiting Tokyo for wrestling, including ticket buying, transport and key Japanese phrases.

 

About the Author:

 

John Lister is a professional freelance writer who has been writing for wrestling publications since 1990. Author of Slamthology and Turning The Tables: The Story Of Extreme Championship Wrestling, he formerly worked for Power Slam and The Fight Network and is now a regular contributor to Fighting Spirit Magazine.

 

 

Seems really cool, I'll have to check this one out. Thanks for posting about it