YOUR ALL-NEW WRESTLING BOOK THREAD

[zendragon]

Stuck in The George Bush international airport for 12 hours due the US having money to bomb Iran, but not keep the airports workers paid... yes the brown shirt stasi are milling about but doing fuck all about situation. United folks couldn't be more helpful making sure everyone gets rebooked though.

Anyway that gives me time to finish up my vacation reading of 

THE THREE COUNT My Life in Stripes  By Jimmy Korderas Forward by Adam "Edge" Copeland 227 pgs. (Sorry @SirSmUgly nothing to do with Evan Kourageous or Sugar Shane)

The story of WWF/WWE ref Jimmy Korderas, one of my favorite types of wrestling book a view from someone other than a superstar. His story goes from WMIV to WMXXIV, started in the 80's breaking in as a bit of a gopher for Jack Tunney doing everything from Chauffeuring him around to driving the ring truck before becoming the WWF's cancon ref (the whole bit about Jack Tunney being head of WWF Canada and all the taping they would do up there had to do with Canada's Canadian Content laws).

Kind of a breazy read at a bit over 200 pages, but doesn't spend too much time talking about anyone subject. Storys about taking bumps from OMG and Undertaker, working various Wrestlemanias, his friendships with Owen Hart (he was in the ring when Owen fell), Eddie and Benoit. Nearly getting run out of the business by Terry Garvin, crazy travel stories including plane trips, and going to Iraq for tribute to the troops. He also gives his vantage point on Montreal, even talks about contributing ideas and finishes for matches. (He came up with the name Perfectplex). And there's an interesting  chapter on his views on ref psychology.  

Again not the deepest book as it covers a lot of territory but he really was around for a long time and saw a lot of things.

[The Green Meanie]

His book was alright (at the time) but now he's just insufferable.

[SirSmUgly]

I got the Barry Darsow book, and it is a very quick read. It's a great book for long-lapsed fans who haven't watched wrestling since the turn of the millennium and are looking for something to read. This is a good Father's Day gift. Pretty breezy read with a few good stories (like Ernie Ladd taking a bump into a creek to get out of a ticket). 

[Side note: As soon as Darsow mentioned getting Stu Hart's number, I knew where the story was headed. My only mistake was guessing that it was Bruce Hart who was going to send him to a booking that didn't exist and not Dean Hart.]

As a pro wrestling sicko, though, this book needed to be about 250 pages longer. For example, he mentions touring the South Pacific and working for Steve Rickard in New Zealand, but doesn't say a word about the specific events of that tour. I was happy with the amount of Mid-South talk, but he pretty much races through the post-Demolition years. It's a slight book, but again, it's probably great for lapsed fans who thought that the Demos ruled or who remember hating the Russians in JCP. 

[odessasteps]

Hawks bee and Jacobs had a guy on their show today who wrote a book on British wrestling. Didn’t listen as of yet. 

[driver]

Brisco & Bradshaw just had Steven Bell on and he was promoting a book about Big Daddy and Shirley Crabtree. Fun episode.

 

Edited April 22 by driver

[zendragon]

You know I read a lot of wrestling books, (when I was a kid my dad predicted I would grow out of wrestling but not of reading, jokes on him) and sometimes I'll say something like "this book is a fun trip down memory lane but you probably know the story of ECW or WMIII or not a lot of new ground being broken", today I have a book that breaks a ton of new ground and I'm damn sure you know nothing of the stories with in!

BAHAMAIN RHAPSODY: The Unofficial History of Pro Wrestling's Unofficial Territory 1960-2020 by Ian C. Douglas foreward by Steve Keirn afterward by Kevin Sullivan 304pgs.

First off obvious contender for best wrestling book title of all time, this is what it sounds like the history of pro wrestling in the Bahamas starting in the 1960's as an outpost of Eddie Grahams Florida NWA promotion. Graham brough in pretty much every big star in the NWA over the years from Jimmy Garvin, to Dusty, to Barry Windham to Bill Watts to Kevin Sullivan. Payoffs could be spotty but most of the boys seemed to view it a working vacation, even the NWA title was defended by Ric Flair, Gene Kiniski, and Dory Jr (Four times). There was an NWA Bahama's title that would usually beheld by a black wrestler (who may or may not have been a shoot Bahamian, there are stories of several Kofi Kingston type situations) who would lose to a white heel and win it back.

In addition to the Grahams (Both Eddies Championship Wresting From Florida and Mikes Florida Championship Wrestling), the Malenko's ran cards on the island frequently  as did an upstart local promotion featuring authentic Bahamian talent, Vinnie Torelli (Ken Shamrock) who a title on the island in a phantom title switch. And most recently the formation of The Elite that gave birth to the AEW came together on one of Jericho's cruises, and Kenny Omega and Hangman Page won the AEW tag titles in Bahamian waters defeating the Bucks.

The Book describes the territory as similar to Puerto Rico, with extremely hot local crowds who still believed what they where seeing was real calling for blood when say Jimmy Garvin would underhandedly defeat local hero Tyree Pride for the top title. Lots of stories of heels having to bar the door to the locker rooms and get police escorts out (often the police hated the heels as well) including one of the most insane territory angles I've ever heard. first off Kevin Sullivan would get massive heat doing the "satanic" gimmick with local trying to put Voodoo Hex's on him, but in one match Kevin HUNG A BLACK MAN FROM THE TOP OF A CAGE IN AN ARENA FULL OF BLACK PEOPLE. He's lucky he got off the island alive, he says he new it would get too much heat but it wasn't his idea it was local promoter Charlie Pride's idea. And yes because the local audience was almost entirely black this was a promotion which always featured a healthy dose of @SirSmUgly favorite subject BIG MEATY BLACK MEN SLAPPIN MEAT!

So in closing if you want to read fascinating story about a great forgotten territory (personally I love hearing about the lesser know territories as opposed to Texas, JCP and New York) this is a book you should consider picking up.

Edited April 25 by zendragon

[bobholly138]

4 hours ago, zendragon said:

You know I read a lot of wrestling books, (when I was a kid my dad predicted I would grow out of wrestling but not of reading, jokes on him) and sometimes I'll say something like "this book is a fun trip down memory lane but you probably know the story of ECW or WMIII or not a lot of new ground being broken", today I have a book that breaks a ton of new ground and I'm damn sure you know nothing of the stories with in!

BAHAMAIN RHAPSODY: The Unofficial History of Pro Wrestling's Unofficial Territory 1960-2020 by Ian C. Douglas foreward by Steve Keirn afterward by Kevin Sullivan 304pgs.

First off obvious contender for best wrestling book title of all time, this is what it sounds like the history of pro wrestling in the Bahamas starting in the 1960's as an outpost of Eddie Grahams Florida NWA promotion. Graham brough in pretty much every big star in the NWA over the years from Jimmy Garvin, to Dusty, to Barry Windham to Bill Watts to Kevin Sullivan. Payoffs could be spotty but most of the boys seemed to view it a working vacation, even the NWA title was defended by Ric Flair, Gene Kiniski, and Dory Jr (Four times). There was an NWA Bahama's title that would usually beheld by a black wrestler (who may or may not have been a shoot Bahamian, there are stories of several Kofi Kingston type situations) who would lose to a white heel and win it back.

In addition to the Grahams (Both Eddies Championship Wresting From Florida and Mikes Florida Championship Wrestling), the Malenko's ran cards on the island frequently  as did an upstart local promotion featuring authentic Bahamian talent, Vinnie Torelli (Ken Shamrock) who a title on the island in a phantom title switch. And most recently the formation of The Elite that gave birth to the AEW came together on one of Jericho's cruises, and Kenny Omega and Hangman Page won the AEW tag titles in Bahamian waters defeating the Bucks.

The Book describes the territory as similar to Puerto Rico, with extremely hot local crowds who still believed what they where seeing was real calling for blood when say Jimmy Garvin would underhandedly defeat local hero Tyree Pride for the top title. Lots of stories of heels having to bar the door to the locker rooms and get police escorts out (often the police hated the heels as well) including one of the most insane territory angles I've ever heard. first off Kevin Sullivan would get massive heat doing the "satanic" gimmick with local trying to put Voodoo Hex's on him, but in one match Kevin HUNG A BLACK MAN FROM THE TOP OF A CAGE IN AN ARENA FULL OF BLACK PEOPLE. He's lucky he got off the island alive, he says he new it would get too much heat but it wasn't his idea it was local promoter Charlie Pride's idea. And yes because the local audience was almost entirely black this was a promotion which always featured a healthy dose of @SirSmUgly favorite subject BIG MEATY BLACK MEN SLAPPIN MEAT!

So in closing if you want to read fascinating story about a great forgotten territory (personally I love hearing about the lesser know territories as opposed to Texas, JCP and New York) this is a book you should consider picking up.

Got that one in early last year and read it in a few a days. Great book and full of stuff I had never heard before.

[No Point Stance]

Amazon have an Eddie Gilbert book, ("Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert - The Uncrowned King of Professional Wrestling) by Doug Gilbert and Gene Jackson, which is touted as a '30th Anniversary Edition' - which, if true, would put it among the earliest wrestling bios published and written not long after Eddie's death. How have I not heard of this book? And is it any good? For some reason, Doug's involvement feels like a red flag to me.

[odessasteps]

Gene does a lot of Southeastern/Memphis content. He also does/did a pod with Doug/Tommy 

[Happ Hazzard]

Has anyone read Dan Spivey's book? I'm put off by the fact that it's only 234 pages and not available on kindle.

The Dangerous Truth: A Life of Chaos, Consequences and Sobriety: Amazon.co.uk: Spivey, Dan: 9798251972641: Books

 

Edited April 29 by Happ Hazzard