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YOUR ALL-NEW WRESTLING BOOK THREAD


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B. Brian Blair never looked cooler.

I am interested if it’s any good. I’ve never been much of a fan, and while I know he’s been friends with so many top stars who’ve had their own set of issues, I don’t remember much drama in his personal life.

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
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20 hours ago, LoneWolf&Subs said:

B. Brian Blair never looked cooler.

I am interested if it’s any good. I’ve never been much of a fan, and while I know he’s been friends with so many top stars who’ve had their own set of issues, I don’t remember much drama in his personal life.

What, and living in eternal fear of being stalked and humbled by The Iron Sheik doesn't count?

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On 10/10/2020 at 2:18 AM, Hagan said:

Has anyone read the Scott Norton book? Curious how detailed it is with the puro scene? 

@Happ Hazzard also asked about this. 

I finally decided to try out Kindle and am well into a major wrestling bio binge.

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Scott Norton's book Strong Style gets my highest possible recommendation, particularly for anyone interested in 90s New Japan. He goes into tremendous detail and the tales of his time there are filled with great, funny, insane, interesting stories. 

Also I was very surprised to learn that the co-author is a very nice and very intelligent guy whom I've had the pleasure of drinking and watching wrestling with in Osaka: Adam Randis (who used to post here and there as Dynamic A back in the day). Adam does a great job of capturing Norton's voice and making everything flow. It's the only wrestling book Adam's done. He is a close friend of the Norton family.

Seriously, no fooling: One of my all-time favourite pro wrestling books. 

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Adam, Russell, Jonathan, Ebessan, D.J and I at Minami Move On Arena in Osaka in 2009

Edited by Gordberg
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  • 2 weeks later...

I read The Traveller and the Gate Checkers by Ted Lerner, which is a travel book about an American guy (who lives in the Philippines) visiting various countries in Asia in the mid to late 90s. He goes to India, Vietnam, Laos, Hong Kong (before and after the handover), and at the end there's a bit about seeing Frank Sinatra perform live. But the meat of it is where he goes to Japan and watches loads of wrestling. He's at the FMW show where Onita loses to Tenryu, doesn't get that Onita said he'd retire if he lost and finds it all a bit overwrought. Watches Deathmatches and laughs hysterically during them for no apparent reason. Blags his way into a sold out AJPW show by claiming to be a journalist, despite not having a Japanese press pass. Befriends Gentleman Chris Adams from Texas (sic) and Masanori Horie. He also meets FMW gaijin Big Titan (who says his real name is Rick Titan) and AJPW foreigners Johnny Ace, Danny Crawford (presumably Kroffat), and Zinc. I have no idea who Zinc is, so I'm assuming the name was a rib or something.

It's an interesting book, but he comes across as a really annoying guy. Kind of a snob. Looks down on people. Castigates other tourists for their entitlement and habit of playing the Ugly American stereotype, and then does something even more entitled and ugly American-ish half a page later. Really wants everyone to know what an intelligent, impressive, hilarious cool guy he is. And keeps randomly praising Filipinos, only as it turns out he's journo with a column in a Filipino newspaper, so that's who he was originally writing for.

It's an OK book. Worth reading if it's free, but i wouldn't recommend paying for it.

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I've seen some Zenk in 89 AJPW (and earlier; I really love the Funks vs Zenk/Martel match for instance), but I'm curious if he's more of an overt heel during 94. He's really not in 89 and I swear that Zenk was probably the most natural heel in wrestling history that never actually got to play heel.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: Mox. I'm 22% in and you know what you're getting into pretty early. I've never had a book tell me to F off more. There aren't chapters. There seems to be some sense of forward progression, maybe, but almost by necessity as he runs out of stories. I just had a few pages on FCW and the feud (and ironman match) with Rollins but I haven't had a lick of him in CZW really, but we have had him in Japan and towards the end (and beginning) of his main roster run. I distinctly get the sense that the sum will cover mostly everything and you'll unpack it in your brain.

The best part so far has been a few page span of Mox reviewing Highlander and then teaching me that I've been using measuring cups wrong my whole life.

One thing that bleeds through more than anything else is his love for Renee. Just jumps off the page again and again.

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7 hours ago, Matt D said:

Re: Mox. I'm 22% in and you know what you're getting into pretty early. I've never had a book tell me to F off more. There aren't chapters. There seems to be some sense of forward progression, maybe, but almost by necessity as he runs out of stories.

I flipped though the book once it got delivered, and I saw a (chapter) about sandwiches, and I just knew this was the book for me.

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There's no clear-cut progression throughout, only knowing that three or four chapters from the one you're reading will probably continue his story in some loosely connected fashion. It's great. I'm about a third of the way through. 

Just his thoughts on some totally random things throughout, and he's pretty entertaining, with a unique voice. A lot of the stuff (i.e., the art of mastering the sandwich) feels like I'm next to him and we just struck up a conversation about something he's passionate about. 

You have his thoughts on the original TNMT movie, followed by a Brodie chapter, followed by a joke Cesaro told him, followed by a sandwich chapter (with lists and diagrams), followed by two New Year's Eve stories with Renee. It's probably the perfect representation of who he is as a person, I would guess. 

Also, he's clumsy as f*ck.

 

 

 

 

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On 10/4/2021 at 11:33 PM, Happ Hazzard said:

Speaking of the Killer Bees, anyone read Jim Brunzell's book?

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Haven't read the book, but one of the first long shoot interviews I ever read was by Jim Brunzell and his stuff about the end of his WWF run ('88) was really interesting, so I think this should be pretty cool read!

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Over 40% through now. My favorite so far is probably what I just read, about him discovering HWA and first showing up to meet Thatcher, and getting the ultimate question (you know, adjacent to the one that Ariane/Cameron got brutally wrong on Tough enough) and answering it right. It's also funny to think that as a teenager in 2003 he was completely off the internet and entirely reliant on magazines and flea markets to learn about wrestling.

EDIT: 53% now. The HWA into Roadblock 2016 section is really good. 

Edited by Matt D
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On 11/5/2021 at 9:58 AM, Matt D said:

Over 40% through now. My favorite so far is probably what I just read, about him discovering HWA and first showing up to meet Thatcher, and getting the ultimate question (you know, adjacent to the one that Ariane/Cameron got brutally wrong on Tough enough) and answering it right.

I'm at about the same section. It's easily becoming my second favorite wrestling book.

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