Best Wrestling Books

[Dylanis]

This may not be the right forum to post this in, so if its not feel free to move it.

I was wondering what the community thought on this question: What are the best wrestling books? Which have you read and liked? Which did you not like? What do you plan to read? Which gives the best behind the scenes look at the business? What is the best biography?

I myself haven't read any, and I figured that I could pick one or two based upon this discussion.

 

[wrestlingfan]

For kids and for someone who just loves good storylines the WWE Encyclopedia is good. For kids who were probably borin in 1997 to the present this gives them an insight in what happened in the early days.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated is goo dbecause its not on eof those WWE Jokebooks they call magazines and no pun on jokebook.(all their magazines are filled with weird stuff and literal jokes), Pro wrestling illustrated breaks kayfabe. sure they can be biassed but they give good speculations and yeah they're good.

 

[JuiceOS]

i enjoyed reading the mick foley and the rock books...the first mick foley one that is

 

[pessimism101]

I agree with Mick Foley's Have a Nice Day. It had a unique feel to it that most of the books released before or since can't hold a candle to. I think the main reason is because Foley literally wrote the whole thing himself while most others either ghost write or collaborate with someone (ie: tell their stories and someone else actually writes it).

 

[ashe draven]

well me personally ive read edges 'adam copeland on edge", jerichos 'a lions tale", and bret harts and shawns books. all were very well written and highly insightful into their personal lives and behind the curtain of the buisness.

 

[ARLO]

Definitely Mick Foley's books. I own and have read several times Have A Nice Day! and Foley Is Good, the first two, and both were excellent. For a first timer I'd recommend Have A Nice Day, as it's more wrestling orientated. Foley Is Good gives you more insight into the WWE and there angles and superstars.

I really want Edge's and Jericho's. If anyone has a copy or a PDF, fell free to send it to me

 

[Dyno Kid]

For you old schoolers:

J.J. Dillions book was great
Ole Anderson's book as well.
Same thing with Jack Brisco's book.
The History of Stampede wrestling was off the charts great !

But my favorite book and one I'd recommend was the Dynamite Kid's book ! Best wrestling book ever !

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I currently own

Bret Hart
Mick Foley (his 1st 3 books)
Shawn Michaels
Ric Flair
Chris Jericho

and cannot recommend them highly enough, they are all fantastic reads and really in depth. They offer controversial opinions on other wrestlers, interesting backstage gossip and great stories about getting a break in the business and working your way up.

I have also owned books by The Rock, Chyna, and Stone Cold and have read Edge and Kurt Angle's books as well. Apart from Austin and Edge, I wouldn't bother with those, they arent that good. The Rock's is good until he starts writing in his 3rd person "Rock" character after joining the WWE. His early days make for an interesting read.

If I had to pick just one though, I would say Bret Hart's. The amount of depth he goes into is incredible and you learn all about the drug problems in the business, Hogan refusing to do jobs, Shawn's backstage antics and Bret constantly cheating on his wife. Awesome read.

Buy it now man, you will not regret it.

 

[harrythem]

I would heartily recommend the Dynamite Kids book, although don't go looking for a happy ending there (his story makes "The Wrestler" look like the Care Bears) as he was one of the best of all time, but also one of the biggest ***** of all time and, sadly, his book shows this as it's a great read, but the bitterness just oozes off of the pages.

Bret Harts book was good.

Hogan's book belongs in the fiction section (only thing he didn't claim was making God popular by always putting the Brother upstairs over in his promos)

Flair's book is alright if you can stand the agenda he has (and his tasteless remarks towards Bret Hart about Owen Hart)

Foley's first book is top draw

Jericho's 1st book is class.

Austin's book was a let down (his whole feud with Vince gets one chapter and is summed up by "he's a helluva guy"). With what Austin went through to get where he got, there was so much more potential.

Stay well away from Kurt Angle's/The Rocks/Edge's/Chyna/Lita and The Hardy Boys books as they are all complete tripe

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Chyna's was one weird book. It just doesnt make any sense and is just filled with as many "motherfuckers" and "fucks" as she can possibly fit in.

I just remember 2 lines about her with Triple H.

"That night Hunter and I made love, he grabbed my tit and I thought he had pincers"

and

I was stood naked infront of the mirror....

"Hunter, look at this!"

"Yeah...nice!"

I thought that was pretty weird to have in a wrestling book lol

 

[Sparky]

I don't think I have read a bad wrestling book. (excluding the Benoit one because I thought it was going to be something it wasn't.) But out of the ones I have read the best was HBK's, Because he wasn't afraid to tell the readers about his past and all the mistakes he made along the way and maybe because he is my favourite wrestler I don't know. and the Edge one. Edge's book had a lot of humour in it, It was funny but it also covered alot about his past both wrestling and personal, It was interesting to see just how much he had changed. Out of the ones I have read, the worst would of had to of been Batista's. It just seemed like he was trying to sound cooler then what he was.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Has anyone read Mick Foley's latest book (Countdown To Lockdown), Goldust's, or Jericho's newest one? What are they like?

They all all books I wouldn't mind checking out. I am definitely going to pick up Jericho's on payday if it is in stock. If it is anything close to his 1st one it will be brilliant.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Jericho's current book has started out great. I got it last night at 7:30 pm EST and I'm on page 80 right now. It'll be done by next Monday. Loving it so far. It's extremely specific and has a great deal of interaction with him, McMahon, HHH, etc backstage.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Jericho's current book has started out great. I got it last night at 7:30 pm EST and I'm on page 80 right now. It'll be done by next Monday. Loving it so far. It's extremely specific and has a great deal of interaction with him, McMahon, HHH, etc backstage.

Great news, I expected it to be good. His 1st one was really interesting and funny, with him telling storied about how Vampiro tried to screw him over in Mexico and how strange it was working infront of the in-bred crowd at Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

I look forward to reading the new one as soon as I get the chance. Let me know how it is overall dude when you finish it!

 

[Jerichohlic]

Has anyone read Mick Foley's latest book (Countdown To Lockdown)

It's not only on his time in TNA, but he also writes about being turned from a wrestler to a commetator in WWE, at the start of the book. Which I found interesting. He also gives a great take on Benoit and steriods. Which was one of my favourite parts reading from the book.

It wasn't as good as Have a Nice Day (the only other book of his I read). And I wouldn't call it a must have, but nonetheless it's a good book.

 

[The Codebreaker]

I've read:
Both of Jericho's (got the new one a week early)
Edge's
Stone Cold's
Have a Nice Day
Hardcore Diaries

All were great reads (except Austin's which was a bit of a letdown), but my all time favorite has to be A Lion's Tale. Undisputed is a very close second, and I really recommend reading either ALT or Have a Nice Day as your first wrestling book.

 

[Craig-O-Mac]

Firstly, nice idea for a thread...

If I could only recommend ONE book, it would have to be Chris Jericho's A Lions' Tale. Chris has an amazing sense of humour that most guys 16-35 can easily relate to. He includes all kinds of crazy stories from his travels. Jericho has wrestled extensively in the Canadian Territories, Mexico, Japan, Smoky Mountain, ECW, WCW and WWF/E. He not only tells of his wrestling antics, but gives you a real insight into what each culture is like. An excellent writer.

*Foley's first 2 books were very good. (Have A Nice Day is the first book I think I've ever read). His 3rd book, The Hardcore Diaries feels somewhat forced and also has the creepiest undertones in it as he more or less mentions Melina every 3 pages. Its like an unrequited love letter.

*Flairs is a good read, especially for old school fans.

*Bret Harts was a long time coming but damn-well worth the wait

*HBK's is good, but I get the feeling he's not telling full stories from the KLiq days!!

*I've also read Batista's, Mysterio's, The Hardy's, Edge's... They're all pretty readable to be fair. But Jericho's wins by a country mile.

 

[UltimateHitman]

I have a little collection, looking to expand in the future.

I loved Bret's book. Just has the feeling of being genuine and straightforward with amazing stories.

Jericho's A Lion's Tale was also excellent. I loved the approach and can't wait to read the new one.

Angle's book wasn't bad at all. It was amazing to read some of the things he's been through.

I thoroughly enjoyed Roddy Piper's book too. In the Pit With Piper was a good read.

Also recommend the two Bobby Heenan books.

I haven't read many bad ones, really. So far I have the above, Lawler's, Mick's Have a Nice Day and Harcore Diaries, Rock's (alright), Broken Harts by Martha Hart, Chyna's (meh. Bought it way back when it first came out) and a couple of Ventura's political books. Jesse's always a decent read. I also have the Dynamite Kid book and Lanny Poffo Wrestling With Rhyme but haven't read those two yet. (Got 'em both for 2 bucks apiece. The Poffo one has signatures in it, but don't know if they're legit or not. Lanny's looks legit, but Randy's is in there too and it don't appear to be his from what I can tell.)

I want to get more of the older wrestler's books. I'd like to get hold of the Brody book even though it wasn't an autobiography. The ones Dyno Kid listed I'd like to get hold of too (Brisco, Anderson, Stampede, and Dillon). Heck, I'd even like to get Exotic Adrian Street's book.

I don't know about Flair and HBK. Those two don't seem like they'd be too humble IMO. I'll probably get them just to have, and will read them, but I'm not a big fan of HBK in a behind the scenes type aspect and I think Flair's would be a little too self-glorifying. But I'll try 'em.

Damn, the way I post, maybe I should get off the forums and write a book myself.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Thus far, Angle's has actually been my fave, but I want to turn folks on to JJ Dillon's Book "Wrestlers are Like Seagulls." If you wanta really solid look at the true transformation of wrestling from territories to what it is today, Dillon tells it best. His Horsemen stories are great and the insight he gives into classic matches and wrestlers i even better.

Actually, Angle, Dillon, and Jericho-1 are my top 3 in no order.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

In terms of the books, I do enjoy Lita's book, it was something for me to pass time when I recovered from pneumonia for a few days. But then, I did love Ric Flair's book. It was a pretty interesting read. His plane crash, his time growing up.

But then on another level, Stone Cold's book was amazing. I loved reading how he got emotional when his daughters were born. Who'd have thought the rattlesnake was all gooey when his baby girls were born. WHAT?! Just kidding. Eddie Guerrero book was good. I got a lot more insight into him. Edge's book was one for me that still is a favorite of mine, I always go to it when I need something with a lot of entertainment. I'm dying to get my hands on the Ted Dibiase book next. That will be on my b-day list.

However, my faves are still the Lion's Tale. Quite a bit of coming of age and sexual exploits and body humor. Would you expect anything less from Y2J? Then I got the Undisputed yesterday, and read it all in one freaking day, THAT DAMN good!! I stick to those books my friends.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Bret's book was great. A lot of info, told the facts (from his pov) about his career and several performers. One o f the best books I've ever read. It should be a movie. There was one I think it's called Dungeon of Death. If I find the name and author, I'll update this. It discusses all the deaths of wrestlers who were trained in the dungeon or worked for Stampede wrestling. It's staggering the number of performers gone in that time that are so closely associated to one promotion. I hardly ever read enough, but those books I just read like breathing air.

 

[Chill]

Oiginally Posted By The Natural:
Has anyone read Mick Foley's latest book (Countdown To Lockdown), Goldust's, or Jericho's newest one? What are they like?

I've read Goldust's book and I really enjoyed it. Yes, it's rather short but it's to the point. One thing I would say is that while it does talk about his early days in the business as well as the development of the Goldust character, this book mainly focuses on Dustin's relationship with his father, his drug and alcohol addictions and other personal problems including the breakdown of his marriage with Terri. I read this book in a day, it's very interesting and one I would recommend picking up. My only complaint is that I wanted more but for what it is, it is a great read.

 

[Dyno Kid]

Thus far, Angle's has actually been my fave, but I want to turn folks on to JJ Dillon's Book "Wrestlers are Like Seagulls." If you wanta really solid look at the true transformation of wrestling from territories to what it is today, Dillon tells it best. His Horsemen stories are great and the insight he gives into classic matches and wrestlers i even better.
.

What's also great about J.J.'S book is that he was there behind the scences in WCW when they were at thier heights but also when the ship went down! He has tons of stories and opinions on guys like Russo and Bischoff.

Also he's very open about his drug use and cheating on his wives and lots of stories on Dusty, Murdoch, the Crocketts, the Funks, Bruno, Eddie Graham, Vince Sr. and Jr. and lots more ! I was surprised at how great the book was !