Wrestling books.

rovert

Naughties British Wrestling was as much about imports as the indigenous talent.

GTR63

I vaguely remember seeing Danielson in a fugly mask in the FWA.

rovert

GTR63 wrote: »

I vaguely remember seeing Danielson in a fugly mask in the FWA.

Danielson used to go on these funny muses at times. Bryan was Wrestling for Brian Dixon on British seaside towns under a mask at the time taking a break from ROH in order to freshen up.

Realistically wrestling under the mask and keeping it on in front of smarks was a great way to get heel reactions at a time FWA was trying to get Doug Williams over as their top guy.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

rovert wrote: »

http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000611299

fOverall I enjoyed this immensely. It was really well edited, was fairly objective on Alex Shane - moreso than I thought it would be and ends really well. If you ever cared for FWA attending the shows or followed them from a distance via UKFF or Powerslam or Talksport it will bring back fond memories.

Notes of interest:
FWA had no backer or money pit Alex Shane operated on blagging or asking other FWA staff to put money in.

FWA on the Wrestling Channel cost £2-3,000 per episode and only brought in £300 to FWA.

British Uprising 3 lost £24,000!

Listening to Alex Shane on Talk Radio ( as Talk Sport was known back then) circa 1999 got me into indie and non WWE wrestling for the first time. Good times.

Stereomaniac

I am guessing that this is a Satellite radio station that you were picking up on the internet then?

Hoozle

Found a copy of The Rock's bio if anyone wants it. Pick-up in city centre, preferably around Capel Street. PM me if you want it, first come, first served. Happy New Year!

Ando's Saggy Bottom

Stereomaniac wrote: »

I am guessing that this is a Satellite radio station that you were picking up on the internet then?

You used be able to pick up Talk Radio (as it was known then) on Medium Wave Radio back in the day. Pretty sh*t reception at times. 1053 and 1089 MW I think it used be.

rovert

Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds announced Tuesday on Figure Four Daily they have signed a deal with ECW Press to write a newly-expanded 10-year anniversary edition of the 2005 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Book of the Year, "The Death of WCW".
The original manuscript was significantly larger than the final product, largely due to the wrestling book market being significantly smaller at the time. Nearly everything that was cut out will be included in the revised edition, plus tons of quotes from the major players, a look at the ten years following the death of the company, a section debunking criticisms of the first book ("WCW died because of the AOL/Time Warner merger"), THE WOLFPACK and more.

The book (which will also be available in a limited-edition hardcover version) is expected to be released in mid-2014.

How You Can Contribute

If you have suggestions of topics to tackle or expand upon in this edition, email them to Bryan@wrestlingobserver.com. Both guys would also appreciate hearing from anyone who lived through that period (wrestlers, office staff, etc). Everything will be forwarded on to RD as well.

Thanks so much to everyone for all of the support. We hope that this anniversary edition will be a book that can be looked back upon historically as the definitive, most factually-accurate book detailing the death of what was, for a brief period, the biggest wrestling company in the history of the world.

Scary how much people even still or have come to believe the Russo, Bischoff or Nash versions of the history of WCW.

Lord TSC

Absolutely adored the original version of the book so this will be a day one purchase...

Ando's Saggy Bottom

Never got round to reading it so will look forward to an extended version. Hope they do it for Kindle.

Anyone know if the Hardcore Holly book is worth a purchase?

GTR63

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone know if the Hardcore Holly book is worth a purchase?

Its apparently pretty good. I haven`t read it but i`d say its worth a punt.

orestes

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone know if the Hardcore Holly book is worth a purchase?

There's a free sample for it on google books. I only found it yesterday while having a look for stuff about him getting fired after it being mentioned in the other Holly thread. Haven't read it yet but it looks like a few pages from the start of a few chapters so should give a pretty good idea of the tone and content of the book.

Linky: http://books.google.ie/books?id=F0rjMtd6IRMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

Reebrock

I read the Hardcore Holly book. Don't expect too much and it's fine.

Cianan2

Any idea if anywhere in Dublin has the 2 Jericho books to buy? My mate is dying to read them

jaykhunter

Reebrock wrote: »

I read the Hardcore Holly book. Don't expect too much and it's fine.

Any highlights/funny stories or is it a "let me set the record straight" affair?

Cianan2 wrote: »

Any idea if anywhere in Dublin has the 2 Jericho books to buy? My mate is dying to read them

Easons? Waterstones/Hodgis Figgis? That'd be my first port of call. You could always ring ahead to ask.

orestes

Cianan2 wrote: »

Any idea if anywhere in Dublin has the 2 Jericho books to buy? My mate is dying to read them

Might not be much use but I borrowed the first one from the library in the Ilac a while ago, it was in the sports section not the biography section.

QikBax

Heading on a long flight tomorrow. Is Death of WCW worth a read?

jamc

jamc wrote: »

Heading on a long flight tomorrow. Is Death of WCW worth a read?

Yes definitely!!!

Lord TSC

Just noticd Jimmy Korderas has a book out detailing his time with WWE. Anyone read it yet?

Adiboo

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Just noticd Jimmy Korderas has a book out detailing his time with WWE. Anyone read it yet?

Not read it, but I've been meaning to get a copy.

rovert

Has anyone bought this yet?



I am on the verge of. Liked Carrie's appearance on the Interesting People Talk Wrestling podcast. A female academic writing about Wrestling is an interesting hook.

sixfingered

Read the Hardcore Holly book last week and loved it. While not on the level of Jericho, Bret Hart of Foley's earlier ones, it's a million miles better than most of the WWE-produced books.

Very honest and open about himself as well as a lot of others and the wrestling business in general, and loads of fun and interesting tidbits from a lot of the last 20 years. Since it covers 1993 - 2008 that's a healthy chunk of my wrestling watching life so there was loads of stuff to enjoy.

gerrybbadd

sixfingered wrote: »

Read the Hardcore Holly book last week and loved it. While not on the level of Jericho, Bret Hart of Foley's earlier ones, it's a million miles better than most of the WWE-produced books.

Very honest and open about himself as well as a lot of others and the wrestling business in general, and loads of fun and interesting tidbits from a lot of the last 20 years. Since it covers 1993 - 2008 that's a healthy chunk of my wrestling watching life so there was loads of stuff to enjoy.

I agree. His theory into what really happened with Benoit really makes a lot of sense. His book is incredibly honest, on things like Montreal, the clique and how Bob rates talent, even his friends.

He never apologises for the Matt Cappotelli incident either, and explains why he did what he did. By the end, you'll agree with him as to why he did it.

Really enjoyable book.

Ape Lincoln

I read Jericho's second book 'Undisputed' and found it very boring. In a nutshell, his early WWF career tanked, dissapointed they didn't do anything with him, had a few of those 'we got a big push coming for ya' meetings with Vince, knew himself that his Undisputed title reign sucked, left to play music and returned...

Is the first one any better?


Am currently re-reading Bret Hart's book. It's hard to believe his memory is that good that he remembers specifics about some of the women he had sex with after shows. I'm up to WrestleMania 8/1992 now.

jaykhunter

The first Jericho book is far better. The second one is a lot of "look what celebrity/singer I hung out with".

As talented a writer Jericho is, it's a massive shame he didn't save these books until he was done with wrestling. Every time he goes into something juicy (i.e. backstage BS with H/Chyna) he just says "and they stared at me" and leaves it at that. Yeah, because glossing over backstage wrestling is why people bought this book. I know he's moved on but for a wrestling fan, it's disappointing. Lion's Tale is still a great read. I read it in 2 sittings, he's a guy who genuinely loves wrestling and enjoying everything he does.

Ape Lincoln

I read Undisputed in one sitting but skimmed over a lot of stuff and didn't read any of th Fozzy chapters. I'd disagree with you that he's a great writer though. A lot of it reads like they were his first thoughts that he put down, there's little detail and he uses sarcasm way too much.

The most interesting part was probably the stuff on Benoit and a few of those meetings with Vince. Thought it was ridiculous that in 2007 he still had to do that leaked "Jericho signing with TNA?" report to get a few extra quid.

I've not always been that big a fan of his anyway, for some wierd reason I always thought he was too level-headed for wrestling and wasn't as into it as others. I might see if I can get Lion's Tale out of a library or something.

chopperbyrne

Lion's Tale is probably the best pro-wrestler biography I've ever read.

Lots of detail and it's hilarious.

Bret doesn't have an amazing memory. He kept journals and tape recordings throughout his career. Seriously, he should have been Narcissus!

Ape Lincoln

Am nearing the end of Bret's book. It's earl 2000 and he's just wrestled his last WCW match. God the end of it is so depressing. Did anyone else notice the little factual errors arounds dates of events taking place post-Montreal? Like one sentence he's talking with Owen at Christmas '97 and then he mentions Sable's topless thing having just taken place even though it was 7months later at the July Fully Loaded PPV.

I never saw much Nitro from the final few years but some of the things they had him doing were stupid (always thought the automobile stunts that Austin did were equally stupid). The turmoil of the Hart family reminds me of my own in some ways.

Manning3000

This may be answered already but I am lazy. Has anyone read Cross Rhodes and is it any good