Book picks similar to
Living the Gimmick by Ben Peller
coming-of-age
pro-wrestling
wrestling
young-adult
Bobby the Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All
Bobby Heenan - 2002
He tells all about his experiences with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon, and all the other personalities that every wrestling fan knows like a relative. Just like his career, this tell-all has no holds barred.
Brody: The Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling's Rebel
Larry Matysik - 2007
Most wrestling promoters portrayed their top talent as exactly that kind of free-spirited, take-no-guff personality. They didn’t mean it, though — which explains why so few would admit to respecting Brody even as they featured him time and again. So why did they give him work? Simple. “Bruiser” Brody delivered the goods in the ring and at the box office. In the 1970s and early 80s, Brody was one of the few performers, along with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, to be recognized as a national star. With his fiery personality, Brody also conquered the international market. Nearly two decades after his murder in Puerto Rico, Brody: The Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling’s Rebel delivers a complete portrait of Brody’s remarkable life. Co-authors Barbara Goodish, Brody’s widow, and Larry Matysik, a close friend, offer a first-time opportunity to truly understand one of the sport’s most complex and controversial human beings. Goodish’s account of her husband’s horrific murder and its aftermath is both heartbreaking and compelling, while Matysik’s insider knowledge of the business puts Brody’s place in wrestling history into perspective. With a foreword by WWE announcer Jim Ross, Brody offers readers the unvarnished truth about one of the greatest wrestling legends of all time.
The Hurting Circus: Blood Red Turns Dollar Green Volume 3
Paul O'Brien - 2014
Twelve years since millions of dollars were lost because of a single bullet. Twelve years since Lenny Long last saw his family before being thrown in jail for killing Danno Garland. Now, Lenny has walked out of jail a changed man.Back on the outside, things haven’t gotten any easier. Danno’s death has made the spotlight shine on the world of professional wrestling a little too brightly for the comfort of many. Senator Tanenbaum is leading the charge to shut the whole thing down, while the other wrestling bosses haven’t wasted any time in trying to consolidate their territories and grab new ones. But Danno’s old crew isn’t about to let the other promoters take what is rightfully theirs, at least not without a fight. And, try as he might to get home, Lenny’s role in it all isn’t over.In this thrilling final chapter of Paul O’Brien’s gritty Blood Red Turns Dollar Green trilogy, it all comes down to Lenny. And twelve years is a long time to think and to plan.
A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex
Chris Jericho - 2007
He tells the story of his journey from wrestling school in Canada to his time in leagues in Mexico and Japan to his big break in the WCW. He'll dish the dirt on how he worked his way through the ranks alongside major wrestling stars like Chris Benoit and Lance Storm to become a major superstar.
Rey Mysterio: Behind the Mask
Jeremy Roberts - 2009
His high-flying acrobatics have thrilled fans on every continent. He's been crowned champion of the world's greatest wrestling promotions, from Mexico to the U.S. But he's never revealed the inside story of who he is. Until now. Wrestling fans know him as Rey Mysterio, an American luchador of unparalleled talent, the ultimate proof that good things come in small packages. Now for the first time, Rey adds the personal side to the story: • How he had to fight to get a tryout in the ring • Who he was before Rey Misterio Jr. -- and even before Colibri, usually noted as his first identity • What it was like to wrestle in Mexico -- from the bullrings to the riots • How he fought plans for his unmasking in WCW -- and why he wishes he hadn't succeeded • The inside story of the 619, the West Coast Pop, and his other signature moves • The impact of Eddie Guerrero on his career in WWE • The personal struggle that cost him ring time in 2008 but ultimately made him a stronger man • His real passion in life as husband and father In Rey Mysterio: Behind the Mask, Rey talks candidly about his twenty-plus-year career, from the days of sneaking into bars as a fourteen-year-old to his most recent showdowns in WWE. He speaks of the emotional moments in the ring with his uncle Rey Misterio, and the dark days when he went under the knife to repair his damaged knee. Along the way, Mysterio introduces American audiences to the mysteries of lucha libre, the high-flying, anything-goes Mexican wrestling style that he has done so much to popularize in the U.S. He also talks about the debts he owes to wrestlers such as Konnan, known as the Mexican Hulk Hogan, and dishes some behind-the-scenes dirt on the collapse of WCW at the height of the Monday Night Wars. Mysterio talks tenderly -- but realistically -- of his friend Eddie Guerrero, providing a well-rounded picture of one of the most beloved wrestling figures of recent history. He also details his march toward the Heavyweight Championship, and his mastery of the WWE Triple Crown -- a feat that placed him in an elite group for all time. Behind the Mask is the intimate portrait of one of wrestling's all-time greats, a story wrestling fans of all ages won't want to miss.
Scooter
Mick Foley - 2005
His father, Patrick Riley, is a New York City cop. His grandfather, a fireman for thirty years, is a man who firmly believes that all of life’s great lessons are explained in baseball lore. In the wake of the assassinations of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, as the neighborhood changes around him, Scooter is forced to see that life, like baseball, is a game in which a few extraordinary moments–moments of either courage or cowardice–will define the man he becomes.
Turning the Tables: The Story of Extreme Championship Wrestling
John Lister - 2005
Turning The Tables is the first published history of the company which grew from a run-down bingo hall to become a national pay-per-view competitor... then crashed in a sea of debt. John Lister (author of Slamthology) gives an independent, objective and informative account that reveals hidden secrets and shatters common myths. From a little-known truth about ECW's most famous feud to a blow-by-blow account of what really happened in Revere, this book will give you the true story behind America's most controversial wrestling group.
Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story
Eddie Guerrero - 2005
This is the autobiography of one the top superstars of the WWE - offering a full and frank account of the charmed life of one of the most controversial characters in wrestling.
Are We There Yet?: Tales from the Never-Ending Travels of WWE Superstars
Robert Caprio - 2005
Your favorite WWE Superstars have more road trip stories to tell than they have frequent flier miles. Travel more than a million miles with The Big Show, Triple H, Lita, Stone Cold, and the rest of the WWE roster. Read all about their crazy and hilarious misadventures—Big Show being too large to fit into the shower, Triple H’s hilarious run-in with over-enthusiastic fans, and many more. Also telling their stories are John Cena, Mark Henry, Teddy Long, Shannon Moore, Matt Hardy, The Hurricane, Dr. Tom Prichard, Molly Holly, Dave Hebner, Rico, Brooklyn Brawler, Kane, Jim “J.R.” Ross, Ivory, Victoria, Goldberg, Tommy Dreamer, Al Snow, Steve Richards, Ric Flair, A-Train, Dean Malenko, Sgt. Slaughter, Chris Jericho, Edge, Chavo Guerrero, Coach, Rey Mysterio, D-Von Dudley, and Jackie Gayda.
WWE Legends
Brian Solomon - 2006
They were fan favorites: “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, Chief Jay Strongbow, and Andre the Giant. They were the villains everyone loved to hate: Killer Kowalski, Ernie Ladd, and the Fabulous Moolah. They were ethnic heroes, someone just like you that you could cheer for: Ivan Putski, Pedro Morales, Peter Maivia. They were the stars that shined the brightest, and left an indelible mark on the memories of countless fans. In a time when professional wrestling was divided into territories, no place created bigger Superstars than World Wrestling Entertainment. From the company's centerpiece in Madison Square Garden, legends were born. WWE Legends is the every fan's guide to the legends of the ring. They are all in here, from Andre the Giant to George “the Animal” Steele, with quick stats and descriptions of their most famous matches. No true wrestling fan should be without this book.
Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide & Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death
Irvin Muchnick - 2009
It laid bare the devastating prevalence of steroids and its effects on users. In order to tackle the whole story, dig up the facts, and connect the dots, Irvin Muchnick gives the most sensational scandal in pro wrestling history the full true-crime treatment in Chris and Nancy. Muchnick – the author of Wrestling Babylon and a co-author of Benoit: Wrestling with the Horror That Destroyed a Family and Crippled a Sport – has parsed public records and interviewed dozens of witnesses, inside and outside wrestling, to put together the first thorough and authoritative events of the gruesome June 2007 weekend in Fayette County, Georgia, during which World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Chris Benoit murdered his wife Nancy and their seven-year-old son Daniel, before proceeding to kill himself. But this book goes beyond the crime itself to answer some of the most important questions behind it. The biography of Benoit, a wrestler’s wrestler, makes it clear that his tragedy was a microcosm of the culture of drugs and death behind the scenes of one of North America’s most popular brand of sports entertainment. The author probes the story of the massive supplies of steroids and human growth hormone found in his home – all prescribed by a “doctor to the stars” who got indicted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and all dismissed by a WWE “wellness policy” that promoted everything except its talent’s wellness. The Benoit case led to unprecedented scrutiny of wrestling’s overall health and safety standards, by Congressional investigators and others, and this book is the primary source of what they found and what they should continue to look for. The ebook edition includes a new introduction that looks at recent events in sports, and further contextualizes the story of Chris Benoit and the figures surrounding his career.
Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution
Keith Elliot Greenberg - 2020
For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Centre Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT.Acclaimed wrestling historian Keith Elliot Greenberg's Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution takes readers back to the beginning, when a half century ago outlaw promotions challenged the established leagues, and guides us into the current era. He paints a vivid picture of promotions as diverse as New Japan, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro, Progress, and Chikara, and the colorful figures who starred in each. This is both a dynamic snapshot and the ultimate history of a transformational time in professional wrestling.
Cross Rhodes: Goldust, Out of the Darkness
Dustin Rhodes - 2010
Inside the ring, Goldust is as tough as they come, known for using outrageous mind games and taking down his opponents with unparalleled ruthlessness. It’s no surprise, then, that wrestling is in his blood; Goldust is the son of Dusty Rhodes, “The American Dream.” What is it like to be the son of a wrestling icon and follow him into the same profession? In this no-holds-barred account, Dustin Rhodes speaks frankly and openly about his journey. He talks about being a young boy who desperately missed his dad. A young man who only wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and threw aside a football scholarship to eke out a meager existence in regional wrestling. A green wrestler struggling to prove to his peers that his work, not his name, had gotten him to where he was. Rhodes describes how, in the midst of a painful five-year estrangement with his father, he finally made a name for himself as Goldust and then let it all go, tumbling into a descent of self-medication that led him away from a red-hot career as a WWE Superstar and nearly cost him his life. When he finally hit bottom, Rhodes knew where to look for help from the family he always had: his father and World Wrestling Entertainment. When he got clean and sober and was offered the chance to wrestle for WWE, he snapped up the offer. The everyday existence of life on the road, working with and watching the new Superstars— like his brother Cody Rhodes—has reminded Rhodes of why he loves being a wrestler. Cross Rhodes is an intimate portrait of one man’s road to redemption and a unique glimpse into one of the most famous families in WWE.
Wrestling Reality: The Life and Mind of Chris Kanyon, Wrestling's Gay Superstar
Chris Kanyon - 2008
One of the most popular wrestlers of the late 1990s, Kanyon kept his personal life private from his fans until finally revealing his biggest secret in 2004: he was gay. Going through the various roles that Kanyon played, both in the ring and out of it, as well as his battle with manic depression, this book explores the factors that led to his suicide in 2010. In his voice and the way he wanted it told, these are Kanyon’s last words about his experience rising through the ranks to the top of the professional wrestling world while keeping his sexuality hidden.
Hooker: An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling
Lou Thesz - 2001
Like the arguments over any effort to crown "the greatest," "the best," or "the worst," that answer is unlikely to ever be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. One fact is indisputable, though. For those who watched wrestling before it became "sports entertainment," there is only one answer — Lou Thesz.The son of European immigrants, Thesz discovered his love of amateur wrestling as a shy eight-year-old, scuffling with his father at night on the linoleum floor of the family's kitchen in south St. Louis. He was a natural at the sport, blessed with lightning-fast reflexes and a determination to succeed. He was obsessive about conditioning and hungry to learn, and those qualities eventually led him, as a teenager, into the closed and secretive world of pro wrestling, the only place where he could continue to compete on the mat.This is Thesz' story — an adventure that took him to the heights of his chosen profession at a very young age and eventually into rings throughout the world. A devoted fan of pro wrestling, he won the respect and friendship of many of the legends. In the 1940s, when television demanded more action and a flashier style of wrestling, he became the transitional figure, the link to the past. Thesz decried the rise of "gimmick" performers like Gorgeous George and Buddy Rogers, who diminished the importance of the authentic style of wrestling he loved and practiced, but he adjusted because the bottom line of pro wrestling, as with any pro endeavor, was making money, and he could see where the future lay.In the late 1940s and well into the 1950s, he was the world heavyweight champion of the National Wrestling Alliance, its standard-bearer, and he carried those colors with dignity and class. "My gimmick was wrestling," he said, and it was evident to anyone who ever bought a ticket to see Lou Thesz that he was the real thing."Hooker" was something of a sensation among wrestling fans when it was first published in the 1990s because it was among the first accounts ever published by a major wrestling star that discussed the business with candor from the inside. Academics praised the book, too, for its clear depiction of an era and the rise of a cultural phenomenon.This is a book for everyone with an interest in professional wrestling. This new edition published by Crowbar Press contains pages and pages of new material — stories and anecdotes — none of which has been published in any previous edition and all in the voice of one of the legendary figures of the game. Every sentence has been thoroughly combed over and vetted in order to answer any questions previously asked by readers, or to correct and/or re-order the "facts" as Lou recalled them, and each chapter now has detailed endnotes to further supplement the text. Combine all those ingredients with all-new, spellbinding forewords by Charlie Thesz and Kit Bauman (comprising 26 pages), an extensive 32-page "addendum" in Lou's own words, and a comprehensive name-and-subject index, and you have the definitive tome devoted to wrestling's golden era.This is "no holds barred" material — far more open and truthful than anything ever written about professional wrestling.