Wrestling books/autobiographies/etc.

[YoungFlyFlashy]

There are a ton of wrestling books out there for people to read, so what have you read, thinking about reading, recommend, don't recommend & why? I will give my two cents on some of the books that I have read...

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I have read this book 3 times already, and I highly recommend it for those fans that truly want a backstage look at the business. Shawn Michaels doesn't really skip any subject or any "on-line rumor" that has followed him throughout his career. He admits his wrongs but also stands by some of his answers that he has given in the past (Example: "I Lost My Smile", he still stands by his answer that he really did (or thought) he had a bad knee, and goes into details on that). Touches on his relationship with Sunny, with details, them together in the dressing room with one of the Kliq members being a look out while Chris Candido looks for her. Truly in-depth about the "Montreal Screwjob", and a ton more.

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This book I have read about twice so far, plan on reading it one more time, because there is so much to take in from this book. Bret Hart has been around the business his whole life, he has come across basically anybody and everybody you could think of. I recommend the book, but beware, Bret Hart is never the loser, never wrong, and has never been the bad guy in any situation in his life, or so he says in the book. Some stand out examples are Summer Slam where he lost to Bulldog, he says that even thought Bulldog thought it was his moment, it was really Bret's. Another, when he first won the World Title he felt he didn't deserve during the whole reign, and then he lost it at WM 9, and that was the day he realized he was the person worthy of being champion. You also get the feeling that he kept up with the "On-Line Rumors" and the opinions of the IWC was very important to him. Real emotional book, touches on EVERYTHING, and explains (denies, depending on your outlook) pretty much everything that has ever been said about him.

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Another book I recommend, Eric was such a big part of the wrestling boom in the 90's, and a big reason for the boom as well. As we all know he gets a lot of crap about "killing" WCW, he goes into a in-depth explanation of how WCW went under, and ever gives details of everything up to when Vince bought it, how he wanted to buy it, and was going to, but they took all the Network stuff away from it, so he was really just buying a library of wrestling versus an Organization. He admits a lot of his faults during his tenure in WCW, very open about his mistakes, so that was very intriguing.

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I was really disappointed in this book honestly, it basically just came down to just popping pills, cocaine, alcohol, and rehab. If you skip this book you really are not missing much. I felt Dustin could of given show much more, he teased a Scott Hall behind the scene rift, but never went into detail, hinted that the Goldust angle might of been the final straw to send Hall to WCW. But other than that, he failed the capture me with the excitement of the business that he was apart of.

[Rammsteinmad]

I haven't read many, but the ones I have I've enjoyed.

Jericho's first book is my absolute favourite, and I can't wait to get his second one.

I've read HBK's, Mick Foley's first one (which is old now, but still a good read), The Rocks and Kurt Angles.

Probably read a few others that I've forgotten, but these are the ones I own.

[whiteyford]

Terry Funks book is actually really good, interesting to hear about the way the business used to be. Also the Midnight Express book from Cornettes website.

[Nicky Fives]

I've Read Bret's & Jericho (both great) and Goldust's (not that great)...... I've got Foley's first and most recent books in PDF format, but haven't had the time to read them yet....

[whiteyford]

Ive got all of Foleys, havent even made it through the 1st chapter of his latest one, just seems a little forced now. Hes upto 4 memoirs now i think.

[dhellova guy]

I have read the first 3 Foley autobiographys, plan on getting the 4th one soon. His are by far the best of the lot, his personality really comes through.

Loved HBK's, really informative.

Flairs was pretty good, seems pretty honest, interesting info about the old days.

I thought Bischoffs came off as "i didn't do anything wrong, it was all other peoples fault!"

Jim Cornettes Midnight Express scrapbook was awesome, highly recommend to anyone who remembers them.

[wwe2222]

Finished Jericho's first book last week and thought it was phenomenal. Downloaded his second book late last night when I couldnt sleep and Im about halfway through.

Part of the book is as good as the first one, but I find myself a little bored when he goes into the parts about Fozzy. Not that some of it isnt interested, but its not something I really care to read about.

The WWE stuff has been great.

[seapig4]

I've got and read Foley's first 2 (Both very good) and i've got but still need to read hbk's and austin's. I wanna get Bret's, Ric's and Jericho's.

[ron the dial]

outside of the autobiographies (the majority of which i've read so i won't list them all), i love reading irv muchnick's work. chris & nancy was an extremely interesting read.

[Innovator]

I'm about 100 pages into Jericho's 2nd book, totally awesome so far.

[RiX1024]

I want Jericho's 2nd book, I couldn't stop laughing at his first one (his encounter with Sika was super hilarious).

[Fignuts]

Read Foley's first three I'm over halfway through Countdown to Lockdown now. Feel like each book is good, but not as good as the last.

Edge's and Michaels' were good.

Terry Funk's was one of the best I've read. The ghost writer does a phenomenal job of capturing terry's personality, to the point where you might think the funker had written it himself. Very good book, and you get a lot of insight into quite a few japanese legends, which not many other books, if any, have touched on.

Regal's, Jericho's, and Flair's were all on the same level as Foley's

[Seth82]

Goldberg's book was alright but def. worth avoiding as he talks a bunch about his football career

Fabulous Moolah - absolutely awful and thankfully I bought it for only 5 dollars

Ric Flair - His was really good and a great insight into was going on during the glory days of Jim Crockett Promotions in the 70's and 80's

The Rock - awful

Bruiser Brody book by his wife - really interesting read into the personal life of Brody

I've read most all of Mick Foley's books but his latest one wasn't that great

Hulk Hogan's 1st book - full of revisionist history

Terry Funk - I thought his really good

[CSL]

Bret, Rock, Foley's first two and half of the 3rd, Regal, Angle, Hardys, Goldberg, Hogan, Flair, Lawler, HBK, Edge, Austin, Triple H's workout/bio book but most of those appear to have been covered. Foley's first two, Bret and Edge's are probably the best out of them. I've had Jericho's 1st, Rey's and Eddie's for god knows how long but I still haven't read them. Haven't seen Pure Dynamite mentioned. That's excellent, on the same level as Bret's and Foley's. Might be awkward to get hold of now, not sure. Want Batista's because I bet it's brilliant on the account of the fact that he doesn't give a fuck who he upsets in life, Jericho's 2nd and Goldust's.

[XL]

I read Foley's 1st and 2nd years back. Both good but I'm not interested in his later works.

I read The Rock's and wasn't impressed.

Most recently I read Jericho's first which was awesome. Ordered #2 yesterday.

I have avoided the books of HBK, Hogan, Bischoff, etc as I don't expect them to be honest re-tellings of what actually happened.

[Shadrick]

oh my god the picture in your sig has me in TEARS

[FourFifty]

No love for JBL's book? :(

[whiteyford]

. Haven't seen Pure Dynamite mentioned. That's excellent, on the same level as Bret's and Foley's. Might be awkward to get hold of now, not sure. Want Batista's because I bet it's brilliant on the account of the fact that he doesn't give a fuck who he upsets in life.

Dynamites book goes for between £40-80 on amazon now. I bought Batistas for that reason, wasnt as controversial as it was getting made out to be before it was released, fucking Melina was probably about it.

[Fignuts]

oh my god the picture in your sig has me in TEARS

Really?

[wwe2222]

Finished Jericho #2 last night. Great read, though I felt like he didnt get into as much detail about wrestling/matches as he did in the first book.

Some cool stuff in there about him wrestling with Rock, Hogan, etc. I was in college during this time and didnt get to see alot of the 2001-02 feuds.

Alot on Fozzy which is obviously a big part of his life, but not really why I wanted to read about.

[Innovator]

How can you not be entertained by Zakk Wylde and Jericho playing baseball in a parking lot only to get scolded by Sharon Osbourne?

[Majunior]

Foley's first three are great, although the first is still the best.
Jericho's first cannot be praised enough.
Flair's is top-notch, and should be one fans make sure to read.

Those are the ones I've thought were, hands down, worth every moment of time I pured into them.

[CSL]

Dunno, was kind of disappointed by Flair's. With how long he's been around, I was expecting more 'depth' I guess and he's got a million stories to tell. I'd like to see him do another non-WWE one, he could fill a book as long as Bret's with road/bar stories and anecdotes alone.

[Schlomey]

One book that rarely gets a mention is On Edge by Adam Copeland. I really enjoyed this quick read. Good history and stories about growing up in the business with Jay Reso & his homeboy Rhino.

[Dorkchop]

Foley's first 2 are great, but the second one kind of goes off on rants every now and then. I started his third one and didn't like it.

I love Bret Hart's book. His family is pretty messed up. He does put himself over quite a bit, but he seems to be quite honest with himself. If you're one of those "I hate Bret hart" guys you won't like his self praising, but you'll enjoy the stories he has. The best parts are before he wins the world title. Wrestlers did some pretty messed up things in the 80s.

For Christmas gifts over the years I've received Hogan's first one, Goldberg's, and Eddie's. I read the first two and they were pretty bad.

Jericho's first book was so good that my wife actually read it and she doesn't care about wrestling. She has a general idea of what's going on since I watch it, but she doesn't watch any wrestling programming. I can't wait to get his second.

I have Edge's and it's decent. I like that he kept it short. It's a little project he took on when he was healing from neck surgery. It's a decent weekend read.

I really don't have any interest in any other wrestling autobiographies though. Most just seem like they're putting themselves over one way or another.