YOUR ALL-NEW WRESTLING BOOK THREAD

[Michael Sweetser 2,927]

The wrestling parts of Jericho's fourth book were good and illustrated his points well, but damned if I can remember any of it.  Decent enough read but not required.

I'm up to JYD leaving Mid-South in Jim Ross' book and it's been fantastic so far.  Definitely a different perspective into that period of wrestling.  I had no idea Ross actually promoted shows in that area for a while.

EDIT: My only complaint is that the book just doesn't seem long enough - but part of that is because I'm enjoying the content so much and just devouring the book, and I want there to be even more of it.  Seriously one of the best wrestling books I've read in a long time.  Since the book ends in 1999, I hope there's a second one on the way.

[mattdangerously 6,281]

8 hours ago, Michael Sweetser said:

EDIT: My only complaint is that the book just doesn't seem long enough - but part of that is because I'm enjoying the content so much and just devouring the book, and I want there to be even more of it.  Seriously one of the best wrestling books I've read in a long time.  Since the book ends in 1999, I hope there's a second one on the way.

One of the many disagreements between Scott and JR was over the length of the book.  Scott's favorite wrestling book was Bret Hart's, and wanted JR's book to be similar to that.  JR didn't think anyone would want to read a book that thick, though.  From the beginning they were planning to continue the story in a second book, so I would imagine that's still the plan.

[Tromatagon 8,246]

Great.  Even JR thinks us rasslin fans are too dumb to read long books.  Hur yuck durrr

[Nice Guy Eddie 19,968]

13 minutes ago, Tromatagon said:

Great.  Even JR thinks us rasslin fans are too dumb to read long books.  Hur yuck durrr

the effects of being around Vince too long

[Oyaji 7,799]

Ever since Ross started appearing on Off the Record, he struck me as somebody who loathes most of pro wrestling and the people associated with it. Maybe it was because of the constant hazing from Vince but his podcast only reinforced that, so for him to think not very highly of wrestling fans isn't surprising. 

Saying that I will still almost assuredly read his book.

[BurningBeard 3,944]

Is it yet another poorly ghost-written wrestling book that skimps on details or an actually interesting and well-written read ala Bret Harts and Gary Hart's?

[Victator 4,635]

21 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

Ever since Ross started appearing on Off the Record, he struck me as somebody who loathes most of pro wrestling and the people associated with it. Maybe it was because of the constant hazing from Vince but his podcast only reinforced that, so for him to think not very highly of wrestling fans isn't surprising. 

Saying that I will still almost assuredly read his book.

I think its the Bells Palsy. It makes him sound like he is always upset. Or it could just be his nature.

[Pete 13,983]

3 hours ago, Victator said:

I think its the Bells Palsy. It makes him sound like he is always upset. Or it could just be his nature.

You'd be upset too if you literally couldn't smile anymore.

[NikoBaltimore 3,428]

On 10/6/2017 at 10:05 AM, Pete said:

You'd be upset too if you literally couldn't smile anymore.

That's the main reason why I tend to be awfully forgiving about his general demeanor.  I can't imagine not only losing one's mom years ago but then also losing a wife so suddenly.  I feel terrible for the guy and still can't believe he was able to make the shows during Wrestlemania weekend.  The one time I met him before his show he seemed like a nice enough guy, just don't be a jackass and all is well.

[Victator 4,635]

On 10/6/2017 at 9:05 AM, Pete said:

You'd be upset too if you literally couldn't smile anymore.

I just meant it effects his voice not that he was upset.

[Michael Sweetser 2,927]

It does affect your voice, though, and more - even though my bout healed in eight weeks, my voice and hearing were fucked up for far longer.

[cwoy2j 3,454]

On 10/6/2017 at 11:25 AM, NikoBaltimore said:

That's the main reason why I tend to be awfully about his general demeanor.  I can't imagine not only losing one's mom years ago but then also losing a wife so suddenly.  I feel terrible for the guy and still can't believe he was able to make the shows during Wrestlemania weekend.  The one time I met him before his show he seemed like a nice enough guy, just don't be a jackass and all is well.

I met him a while back at the NWA Legends convention and he was super nice. Had a beer with him in the bar the night before the event and he chatted with me and my group of friends about football and wrestling for quite a while. Ross, Gerald Brisco and Terry Funk were all awesome and went out of their way to talk to anyone who wanted to chat.

[cwoy2j 3,454]

I picked up Justin Roberts' book b/c it was on sale. Pretty good read. I'm convinced that to work in WWE and be successful you have to be equal parts robot, masochist, sociopath, bully, yes man, ass kisser and psychopath. The environment there would drive me nuts. 

[Michael Sweetser 2,927]

4 hours ago, cwoy2j said:

I'm convinced that to work in WWE be in wrestling and be successful you have to be equal parts robot, masochist, sociopath, bully, yes man, ass kisser and psychopath. 

As the kids say, FTFY.

[cwoy2j 3,454]

One thing that people always point to as one of the reasons WCW died is that they had tv people/corporate execs running it like it was a tv company instead of a wrestling company. One of my takeaways from Roberts’ book is that WWE has the exact opposite problem. They have wrestling people trying to act like corporate execs but still applying lots of old school carny shit to it. Vince, HHH, Kevin Dunn and Stephanie basically do everything you’re not supposed to do in order to create a healthy work place environment. Employees are given vague directions, who reports to who isn’t clear, the bosses rule through fear, certain employees get massive amounts of preferential treatment, etc. There's a lot of "damned if you, damned if you don't" where you get in trouble for doing something or you could get in trouble for doing nothing. As someone who works in the corporate world, it’s like a massive “how not to run a successful company” manual.

[Pete 13,983]

17 hours ago, Michael Sweetser said:

As the kids say, FTFY.

Sweetser's meme game on fleek.

[Michael Sweetser 2,927]

8 hours ago, Pete said:

Sweetser's meme game on fleek.

[Curt McGirt 8,634]

What the hell is that Buscemi meme from? I should know and don't.

[Brian Fowler 13,555]

30 Rock, I think.

[mattdangerously 6,281]

Yes, it's 30 Rock. Buscemi played a weird as hell but strangely competent P.I. in a few episodes.

[Hagan 1,169]

Sped read through JR's book. So disappointing. Very, very short for such a long career and blows over a lot of interesting stuff (especially Mid-South and UWF). Some of the anecdotes are funny enough but you're not going to learn anything you didn't already know. It's just not very detailed. It stops at '99, which is fine, though, I can't imagine the next book covering 2000 - 2017 or whatever will be any more interesting. Ross is also VERY diplomatic in this book, even by standards of WWE employees. 

I guess I expected a book on par with Foley's 1st and Bret's and it's definitely a second-tier level.

Also, I'm speeding through Jericho's book, which is a fun quick read. You can easily glaze over the music/Hollywood stuff and find enough funny wrestling anecdotes to make it worth a while. For a fourth book, it's not bad at all. 

[Happ Hazzard 391]

Is Bret Hart's book the best selling non-WWE wrestling book of all time? Or has one of Jericho's sold more?

[Nice Guy Eddie 19,968]

On 10/22/2017 at 1:43 PM, cwoy2j said:

I picked up Justin Roberts' book b/c it was on sale. Pretty good read. I'm convinced that to work in WWE and be successful you have to be equal parts robot, masochist, sociopath, bully, yes man, ass kisser and psychopath. The environment there would drive me nuts. 

Depression, anxiety, history of addiction...working for a company like WWE would kill me.

[PetrolCB 7,675]

40 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Depression, anxiety, history of addiction...working for a company like WWE would kill me.

You might get the Warrior Award though.

[odessasteps 11,460]

2 hours ago, Happ Hazzard said:

Is Bret Hart's book the best selling non-WWE wrestling book of all time? Or has one of Jericho's sold more?

My first thought was Death of WCW.