The Green Meanie Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 The funny thing about that was then other then the initial reference, he kept saying that at the most random moments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petey Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Read Bruno Lauer's (Harvey Whippleman) book the other day. He ended up coming off as rather crude, crass, and honest, which I liked. He was blatant and unapologetic about his alcoholism, homophobia, and I was rather surprised about the people he really seems to like and dislike as they tend to run opposite of the common opinions in wrestling (Loves Kevin Dunn and John Laurinaitis, hates Paul Heyman and Bruce Pritchard). I honestly had no idea he was in the wreck that killed Joey Marella. He blames him for the accident and then spends most of the chapter putting him down as a loser. At the very end he pretty much admits he's a gopher and is the main reason he's still employed. Not entirely sure what I was expecting, but to be honest I was a little disappointed. There are some fairly strange Sid stories in there, but unfortunately no pictures whatsoever. So if you're looking for tons of road stories from the dying days of the southern territories, him being drunk, and being assaulted by larger wrestlers have at it. Otherwise, give it a pass. While the love for Kevin Dunn and Ace is a little out of the norm, there's plenty of people who hate Heyman and don't have love for Pritchard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Green Meanie Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 I should clarify on the latter, he REALLY hates Heyman and strongly dislikes both Pritchards. Has anyone else gone on record hating both of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Read Bruno Lauer's (Harvey Whippleman) book the other day. He ended up coming off as rather crude, crass, and honest, which I liked. He was blatant and unapologetic about his alcoholism, homophobia, and I was rather surprised about the people he really seems to like and dislike as they tend to run opposite of the common opinions in wrestling (Loves Kevin Dunn and John Laurinaitis, hates Paul Heyman and Bruce Pritchard). I honestly had no idea he was in the wreck that killed Joey Marella. He blames him for the accident and then spends most of the chapter putting him down as a loser. At the very end he pretty much admits he's a gopher and is the main reason he's still employed. Not entirely sure what I was expecting, but to be honest I was a little disappointed. There are some fairly strange Sid stories in there, but unfortunately no pictures whatsoever. So if you're looking for tons of road stories from the dying days of the southern territories, him being drunk, and being assaulted by larger wrestlers have at it. Otherwise, give it a pass. That kind of sums up my thoughts except I would've also mentioned him calling Rhyno a pussy for getting WWE-covered neck surgery. Kind of a funny out look for a guy who never regularly took bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Read Bruno Lauer's (Harvey Whippleman) book the other day. He ended up coming off as rather crude, crass, and honest, which I liked. He was blatant and unapologetic about his alcoholism, homophobia, and I was rather surprised about the people he really seems to like and dislike as they tend to run opposite of the common opinions in wrestling (Loves Kevin Dunn and John Laurinaitis, hates Paul Heyman and Bruce Pritchard). I honestly had no idea he was in the wreck that killed Joey Marella. He blames him for the accident and then spends most of the chapter putting him down as a loser. At the very end he pretty much admits he's a gopher and is the main reason he's still employed. Not entirely sure what I was expecting, but to be honest I was a little disappointed. There are some fairly strange Sid stories in there, but unfortunately no pictures whatsoever. So if you're looking for tons of road stories from the dying days of the southern territories, him being drunk, and being assaulted by larger wrestlers have at it. Otherwise, give it a pass. That kind of sums up my thoughts except I would've also mentioned him calling Rhyno a pussy for getting WWE-covered neck surgery. Kind of a funny out look for a guy who never regularly took bumps. He claims he's been in need of neck surgery for years for all of the apron to floor bumps he took in Memphis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGFanJay Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 So then he's basically just upset at Rhino for taking advantage of something he wishes he could've done. He should've claimed a neck injury in the snow bunny match. 'Vince, working as Hervina shaved years off my career - Kat broke my neck!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nature Boy Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I didn't even realize Harvey Wippleman was still employed until just now. I thought he had been released years ago. Good for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 So then he's basically just upset at Rhino for taking advantage of something he wishes he could've done. He should've claimed a neck injury in the snow bunny match. 'Vince, working as Hervina shaved years off my career - Kat broke my neck!" Well, he claimed he could have gone to whoever at WWE and they would've gladly paid for the surgery but he refused to "take advantage of them" when he did the damage pre-WWE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 He's an idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 He's an idiot. Yup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoychers Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I've just ordered "The Hard Way" - Don Fargo, "Hooker" - Lou Thesz, and "Drawing Heat" - Jim Freedman from Crowbar Press. I'll knock a review up when I'm done with them. Also able to get a reply from Philip Variale on the Gary Hart book situation, after cheekily asking if he had any spare copies laying round his house he could send me. Other than thanking me for the interest, he merely confirmed the printing situation and didn't make any effort to recognise that people still want this to be re-printed and that a demand for it exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Hooker is amazing. Yeah, Lou has his various personal biases (he HATED Antonio Rocca), but the book is almost more of a history textbook of wrestling all across the 20th century than it is merely an autobiography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwoy2j Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Hooker is amazing. Yeah, Lou has his various personal biases (he HATED Antonio Rocca), but the book is almost more of a history textbook of wrestling all across the 20th century than it is merely an autobiography. This. Thesz' book should be required reading for anyone trying to break into wrestling and IIRC, Cornette made OVW kids read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Guy Named Tracy Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I just finished Gary Hart's book. (Thank you ben.). I was impressed with how easy of a read it was, but yet filled with details. It is basically the opposite of Dusty Rhodes' book. The Al Perez NWA Title scheme was nuts. I think I may have heard that rumor before, but this was the first confirmation I had heard. Recently on one of his podcasts, Kevin Sullivan also confirmed the story. One story I had not heard was when the Missing Link attacked Gary Hart in a World Class locker room. Gary was blind in his right eye as a result of the plane crash and that was the side that Link approached him on. It sounds like Link got a couple good shots in on Gary. However, Gary always carried a razor with him going all the way back to his days working for the mafia in Chicago. The book made it sound like Gary sliced Link up pretty good. I tried researching the story on the Internet, but I couldn't find anything. Has anyone read The Missing Link's book? If so, was the incident covered there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 What was Link pissed about, a payoff? Now I want to read that book even more dammit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwoy2j Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Gary Hart is up there with Harley Race on the list of guys I would not fuck with no matter how old or dead they are. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 What was Link pissed about, a payoff? Now I want to read that book even more dammit... Someone told Link that Gary was the reason Link didn't get any better spots, as far as I can remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Guy Named Tracy Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Link was considered to be one of former World Class booker Ken Mantell's guys. Mantell actually became a minority owner of WCCW when Shaun and Steve Simpson's wealthy father bought into the company. Part of the agreement was that WCCW would merge with the competing Wild West Wrestling. Gary hated Ken Mantell and wasn't afraid to say so. (Mantell was responsible for the Fritz Von Erich heart attack angle.) Link believed Gary didn't like him because he lived in a nudist colony. This would be the same Gary Hart who loved and respected Jim Barnett and drug addicts like Gino Hernandez. Gary said he didn't like Missing Link because he had a big ego and was a jerk. Gary publicly admonished Link for disrespecting Bronko Lubich and telling him to retire. Link was also heard asking Kerry Von Erich's wife if the curtains match the drapes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 A huge thank you to a few anonymous benefactors for doing what we all need as far as the Hart book goes, you rule guys (one for providing it, one for in particular for typing out the damn thing). Be back with my comments later... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 http://www.slideshare.net/mobile/ZondervanBooks/wrestling-for-my-life-by-shawn-michaels Preview of HBK's new book. *Not sure why the link isn't showing up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdangerously Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Hooker is amazing. Yeah, Lou has his various personal biases (he HATED Antonio Rocca), but the book is almost more of a history textbook of wrestling all across the 20th century than it is merely an autobiography. This. Thesz' book should be required reading for anyone trying to break into wrestling and IIRC, Cornette made OVW kids read it. Corny also made 'em read parts of Bill Watts's book. Not the religous stuff, obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Well I certainly agree with those saying Gary's book is one of the best wrestling bios ever, and in a lot of ways it's maybe the best. Unlike any other autobio or bio, I believe that Gary is 100% a straight shooter and is not embellishing or covering up anything whatsoever. The stories are good, it's a brisk read, and he lays down the law on those that deserve it. It really is crazy just how much booking and work with different wrestlers that he was involved with, stuff I never knew about like booking the first Starrcade and inventing so many gimmicks entirely -- Kabuki, Muta, One Man Gang, the list goes on. The shit that he went through too, from all the wrestlers dying, the plane crash (which is just insane), being involved with the Outfit as a kid, he looks at all of them without blinking. Our mysterious .benefactor deserves great credit for typing this up and sharing it, thank you so much. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADCAP Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Just got done reading Hart's book(thanks Roman!). After hearing how Vince wanted to bring in Hart to manage Doink, ala an evil Ringmaster, I'm just envisioning how cool that would've been. They could've seriously been the one of the most evil/creepy duos of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I do think Gary was kind of full of shit when it came to payoffs starting with the Georgia run with Kabuki. All of the financial stuff in is clearly off from that point on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Just got done reading Hart's book(thanks Roman!). After hearing how Vince wanted to bring in Hart to manage Doink, ala an evil Ringmaster, I'm just envisioning how cool that would've been. They could've seriously been the one of the most evil/creepy duos of all time. Never heard that one. Didn't they want to bring him in with Youmanga at one point to manage a stable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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