What's the best wrestling autobiography you ever read?

[Chrome]

Which wrestling autobiography did you learn the most from and enjoyed the most out of?

I have read The Rocks, Kurt Angles, Mick Foleys, Eric Bischoff autobiographies. but the one I have to say I learned a lot from is probably Bret Harts: real life in the cartoon world of wrestling..

I learned a lot from Eric Bischoffs book too,.. but Bret Hart for having a lack of Mic Skills.. doesn't lack in Humor.. i found myself laughing at a lot of the ribs he pulled on people.. while also his point of view on things and stuff that isn't public knowledge... I was shocked to read that hart took an instant liking to The Rock and that HBK/HHH hated him in the begining.. he goes over how he and Jim the Anvil escaped almost being fired.. seeing Vince Drunk from time to time.. and challenging everyone and how he performed the hart attack on him.. He goes over the REAL reason why Vince and Macho Man don't talk till this day.. (over Slim Jim)

Lots and lots and lots of stories.. it was a great book.. was great hearing about the old days..

Whats your favorite wrestling book and why?

 

[Murphy]

Jericho's two books are the best I've ever read. With Bret Hart's and Foley's are also up there. The only other I've read was The Rock's which was dissappointing.

 

[Chrome]

I am curious has HBK, Nash/Hall, and HHH wrote a book? I would love to read theirs.. I have fallin in love with Bret Harts book.. its so open and a lot of inside stuff being shared that not many know..

Was Jericho's book like that as well? I am curious how Roddy Pipers book is.

 

[RavenChaos21]

The only book I have ever read is Mick Foley's "Have a Nice Day" book that he released way back. It was the only book that my mom could get me to read from cover to cover when I was younger. It is one hell of a read. I definitely wanna pick up Jericho's new book and I wanna pick up Mick's book "Countdown to Lockdown."

 

[Murphy]

I am curious has HBK, Nash/Hall, and HHH wrote a book?

They haven't writen any yet. Unfortunatley.

Was Jericho's book like that as well?

The only books I have ever read have been autobiographys. And this is probably my favourite overall. Of course he has two the first leading up to his debut in WWE and his second from then onwards. The books tell a similar story with the same level of storytelling ability and the personality of the author shining through on each page. If I had to pick which one was better, I might need to flip a coin because they are so close in quality. I give this book my highest recommendation.

 

[Carpathian Florist]

I am curious has HBK, Nash/Hall, and HHH wrote a book?

Triple H kinda has a book out, called Making The Game I think. I have it somewhere, it alternates between work out tips and some autobiographical information about himself. There is some interesting stuff in there, but nothing on the scale of a proper autobiography.

I remember in an interview Nash said he'd never write a book because it would be pointless if it wasn't truthful and he doesn't wanna tell the whole truth because one day his kids are gonna grow up and read it and he doesn't want them reading that kinda stuff.

 

[Pbenglish]

I am curious has HBK, Nash/Hall, and HHH wrote a book? I would love to read theirs.. I have fallin in love with Bret Harts book.. its so open and a lot of inside stuff being shared that not many know..

Was Jericho's book like that as well? I am curious how Roddy Pipers book is.

HBK does have a book out, and it's a pretty good read.

http://www.amazon.com/Heartbreak-Tr...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302365011&sr=8-1

I've found that the best wrestling books are the ones written by the wrestlers themselves (Hart, Foley, Jericho), while the weaker ones are obviously ghostwritten (Hogan, Rock, China)

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Bret Hart's is phenomenal. I thought I had read the best one when I picked up Naitchs but once I read Bret's it blew me away.

It really is so detailed, informative and lifts the lid on so many secrets in the business, like the drugs, steroids, sex and politics that go on in the wrestling world.

Bret has strong opinions on so many of his former colleagues and I must have read the book 5 or 6 times now.

Jericho's is also brilliant (the 1st one) and I will be getting the 2nd one soon

 

[Nate DaMac]

Whoa. Did you guys know Edge has a book out? I might give that a shot.

My bad, I thought this was in the Spam section.

Anyways, the only Autobiography I've ever read on a wrestler was The Rock's. It was an entertaining read, but there wasn't a whole lot of information that I hadn't known beforehand. It's kind of funny though, just because he goes back and forth between being in character and being himself. He went into character while describing some of the matches he had been in.

 

[Chrome]

Well I am currently reading Rowdy Roddy Piper-In the Pit with Piper -Roddy Gets Rowdy.

Its been a fun read thus far... the pranks/ribs he talks about are funny,.. but he tends to not go into a lot of detail on things the way Bret hart did.. however the book is foreworded by bret hart explaining that Roddy and the Hart's are related but no one knows how.. so they call each other Cuz..

I have to say Roddy was a WILD man in his hey day.. this is if anything a funny book.. lots of ackward moments for him.

 

[JGotzDaRemedy]

I'm a fan of Ric Flair's autobiography "To Be The Man". I think both the book itself, which has a lot of interesting and funny stories and the way in-which WWE promoted it on Monday Night RAW with the Foley/Flair angle about Ric calling Foley a "stuntman" was all very well done.

He takes a lot of shots at people in his book. Mick Foley, Bret Hart, Jim Crockett, Eric Bischoff and even goes into Shane Douglas, saying that Douglas is, "the defintion of someone with no talent, getting some light due to excuses he has as to why he failed."

Rey Mysterio also has a book out, which I have but am yet to read and I've also bought Chris Jericho's Undisputed book. I'll let you know what they're like once I have them read.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

I've only read one. That was Bret Hart's. Tbh, I hardly ever read. I mean I'll read stuff on the net and newspaper articles, but books are another story. I have tons of books around me that I've owned for years and never read. I picked up the Bret Hart autobiography as soon as I could buy it, brought it home and I could hardly put it down. This isn't a small book, has maybe 700 -900 pages, talks about more than 20 years of his life and is so honest a look at his and his family's life, that I couldn't put it down. I mean I'm a Bret Hart fan so maybe I'm just biased, the amount of detail, the honesty and the way the story unfolded in this book, it was really a great read. I highly recommend it. If you think you know Bret, read this and you'll realize how little you really know. I'd like to read more, the Mick Foley books might be next on my list, I'm not a fan of HBK or Flair, but I'd like to read theirs just to see how honest they are about their careers and themselves.

 

[Chrome]

I just started reading Chris Jericho:Undisputed. Good stuff so far..

Has Sting, Sid Viscious, Undertaker, Jesse Ventura ever written a book? Any good?

I also have Bobby The Brain Heenans book, but I haven't started to read it yet.

 

[Post]

Bret Hart's is phenomenal. I thought I had read the best one when I picked up Naitchs but once I read Bret's it blew me away.

It really is so detailed, informative and lifts the lid on so many secrets in the business, like the drugs, steroids, sex and politics that go on in the wrestling world.

Bret has strong opinions on so many of his former colleagues and I must have read the book 5 or 6 times now.

Jericho's is also brilliant (the 1st one) and I will be getting the 2nd one soon

Totally agree about Bret's book and Jericho's.

Angle's autiobiography was a good read, as was HBK's.

My favorite was Foley's "Have a Nice Day." So relatable as a person and revolutionary...I've read it more time than I could count

Flair's was good, but his ADHD really showed and had my mind jumping too much.

Martha Hart wrote a pretty good book about Owen's death and the following law suit vs WWE, life after, and recovering...it was very powerful. I know a lot of people have strong feelings toward Martha Hart and the death of Owen, but it is well worth the read.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Whoa. Did you guys know Edge has a book out? I might give that a shot.

My bad, I thought this was in the Spam section.

Anyways, the only Autobiography I've ever read on a wrestler was The Rock's. It was an entertaining read, but there wasn't a whole lot of information that I hadn't known beforehand. It's kind of funny though, just because he goes back and forth between being in character and being himself. He went into character while describing some of the matches he had been in.

I think Rock's was the first wrestling autobiography I ever read, and I LOVED it when I first got a copy of it, I just read it over and over. However, once I picked up Mick Foley's first book, I realised the difference in quality between the two, as Rocky's is clearly meant for the younger wrestling fan with his "in-character" chapters, while Foley's is for the more serious grappling fan with alot of stories about his early days in the business and more revealing secrets about the business, his days in the death matches in Japan and alot of backstage info.

I have already said I think Bret Hart's is the best I have read, but Foley's 1st book, Jericho's, Ric Flair's and Shawn Michaels are all excellent books too. I recommend you get hold of all of those if you can, and avoid Rock's, Chyna's and Angle's

 

[Chrome]

Anyone read Gold Dusts new book from last year? I was curious about that one as well... I love reading about second generation wrestlers since they have a unique perspective on things..

Chris jericho's undisputed and bobby the brain heenan books are pretty good reads so far.... nothing near the level of detail in Bret Harts book though...

 

[The Hawk]

So what does Bret say about it then so the whole Macho banged Steph thing can be laid to rest.

I don't remember the slim jim stuff coming up, but here are the passages (that I can remember) that relate to Macho's last days in the WWE in '94....the first one obviously shows how disrespect was eating at Randy...

(page 345 - hardcover)
(speaking on a tour/show in Japan, early summer '94)
...it wasn't such a bad house after all. I was working a title match with Macho Man. Even though he'd never worked Japan, his exposure on Vince's TV had made him a legend over there. He saw me as the ideal oppenent to, in a sense, restore him to his proper place: Vince hadn't done anything with him for so long that it was beginning to eat at him. All Randy wanted was a little respect. When jack lanza came to us and flatly said to me, "Catch something quick on 'im," it wasn't hard to read the dejected look on Randy's face. It showed Randy how little the office cared. Not so long ago, Lanza would never have spoken to Randy like he was a jobber. So I told Randy, "Let's just do it for us." We went out that night and had a beautiful match, although I did give him a small spud when he caught a boot in his face, opening a gash in his eyebrow. The blood only added to the drama, and the usually somber Japanese fans came to their feet when I slapped on the sharpshooter and Randy tapped out.

"Sorry about your eye," I said back in the dressing room. It was a deep cut, but he smiled and said, "That's okay, it's good for business."
Lanza came up to us, his bad eye looking like a burned out headlight, and swatted us on out asses with is clipboard, "Great guys!" Randy shot back, "Save it, Lanza!"


(later on, page 358, early Nov '94 shortly after Bret learns he's dropping the title soon and it's going to be Shawn/Diesel at WrestleMania XI)
By the time I got to TV's in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, on November 8th, the news was only just hitting, and hitting hard: Randy had jumped to WCW. Jack Lanza told me how Randy called Vince at four in them morning, drunk, to tell him he'd signed: "Randy never even gave Vince a chance to make a counteroffer." I found Vince in his office, and I could see he was shaken. I told him, "I've only really worked for two people in my life, you and my father. I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'm loyal to you." Lanza came up to me later to thank me for being so supportive.

 

[The Wrestler`s Wrestler]

I guess there had to be more to that drunk call at 4:00am because Savage is almost completely erased from wwe wrestling history as much as Beniot is.

 

[longlivetheBrood]

The best read I've come across was Have A Nice Day...full of fun stories of travelling the roads. A close 2nd was Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's mainly because I'm such a fan and it was fun to relive the good old days. Biggest disappointment? Pure Dynamite. To listen to this guy, he carried the Bulldogs and invented wrestling. There wouldn't be a WWE without him if you believe what he wrote.

 

[michael0801]

i read eddie guerreros autobiography lie cheat and steal, it was an amazing book, took a real in depth look on mexican wrestling and about his wrestling family. then he talks about being in japan, ecw, wcw, wwf, wwe... talks about the darkside of wcw. his drug habits, injuries and rey mysterio

 

[Psyclone]

I have now read all 4 of Mick Foley's books, Both of Jericho's books, Rock's book, HBK's Book, Ric Flair's Book Bret Hart's book, and Goldust's book.... I will give you my ranking's for all of them now..


1) Have a Nice Day..... This was the first "wrestling" book that I read, and it's a damn interesting read.. Following Mick's career to this point was exciting and entertaining, and if you were a fan of the WW(F)E in this era, you will LOVE this book... It's got everything you would want in a wrestling book, from funny stories to behind the scene's insights into wrestlers...

2)(tie) Chris Jericho "Undisputed" Chris Jericho "A Lion's Tale" I couldn't pick between both of these as they both are pretty damn exciting (and I'm hoping that Jericho comes out with a 3rd if/when he comes back to the the WWE...) The first book (Lion's Tale) contains a bit more actual wrestling related things detailing everything in his life up to the point where he is about to make his debut in the WWE.... "Undisputed" details everything from his debut in the WWE to just after his return after his time off... Both books are well written, and give you a greater insight into a damn good wrestler, and truly let you know who Jericho is..

4) Foley is Good... This would potentially be higher on the list of wrestling books, if not for the extensive diatribe against the PTC in the back of the book... This was Mick's 2nd book and his first foray into personal statements instead of autobiographical insights... He uses a few chapters after the continuation of his story after Have a nice day ended, and used it to fight back against wrestling's detractors at the time (Mostly the parents television council..) Still the wrestling parts are pretty damn good and it's a damn good read..

5) Ric Flair's Book.. This book was a pretty darn good biography, and has a lot of backstage stories that you probably won't hear anywhere else... you'll get plenty of backstage things and Ric's feelings on other wrestlers in here some of which that will surprise you...

6) HBK's book... This one was also pretty enlightening about what HBK went through, and just how big of a dick he was in the early part of his career.. You'll be laughing at time's at what he says/does and also shocked at how low he truly sunk... still overall a good read..

7) Hardcore Diaries- Mick Foley... This one is Mick's first "Diary" format book... basically details his life and feelings about things leading up to ECW one night stand, and beginnings of his leaving the WWE... This book is entertaining of a read, but at the same time some of the journal entries fall short..

8) Bret Hart's Book... This book is entertaining for the most part, but it is a clearly biased book written at the worst of times by Bret... yes I was entertained at hearing about all of the inside feelings of Bret.. Yes I'm shocked by the amount of girls he was banging while married... I do however take issue with a lot of the distorting of facts in this book when going over what happened with him and Shawn (based on the stories I read in Flair's book, Foley's book, and Shawn's book..) This book is heavily anti Vince and Bret does have a tendency to blow smoke up his own ass about how good he is/was but still it was a pretty good read..

9) Countdown to Lockdown- Mick Foley.. This one was a pretty good book and a decent read. It's another journal entry book, this time detailing the split from announcing in the WWE and his arrival to TNA for a match at lockdown with Sting... It's interesting at times, but again has some other parts that aren't as exciting (This one does have a "wrestlemeter" for each chapter that details how much it actually pertains to wrestling..) If you're a foley fanatic or a big wrestling fan pick it up..

10) Crossroads (Goldust's book).. This one was pretty decent to read and also somewhat shocking the amount of drugs and alcohol that Dustin was on at the time... However since he's not exactly as large a name as anyone else on this list it's also somewhat lacking in truly detailed "moments" that stick out to you...

11) Rock's book This book actually let me down a large amount... It's a pretty good book, but halfway through it the voice changes.. literally "the rock" starts speaking in character for a few chapters and therefore portions of his story just get glossed over... The rest of the book is CLEARLY not written by him (he does have a co-author, but at least in the other book's it does seem like the person in question wrote or approved of it..).. It also doesn't go into detail in terms of the wrestling portion of the book... Literally all of the things you would want to know are skipped over, and instead you are treated to the thing's you probably don't really care to much about...

Anyways, those are the one's I've read so far (and in most cases for at least the ones nearer the top of my list, read multiple times whenever I get bored)...

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Kurt Angles. It ended before 2003 (the book) and I would like to read up until he left the WWE. Holy shit what a life that guy has had. his in ring skills have deteriorated like crazy but he's been though a lot.

Flair's was pretty fun, Harley Race's, Hogan's, The Hardy's, I even read Lita's, they're all pretty entertaining and give you an added insight to their lives. I haven't read one since I started college but I think once I graduate and get a real job that I will.

 

[OWWRadioGuru]

Any of the Foley books he wrote working for WWE. The bio on Georgeous George Wagner was excellent. I have Brock Lesnar's new book on the way soon. Some of the others mentioned are great as well.

 

[Merwin]

Personally I loved "Have a nice day" i read it ike 3-4 times when i hardly re rad a book, Also Y2js new book was a good read interesting and very funny.
The rock's book was the worst, Y2j's other book was good
I read a biit of DX's book I loved the reveiws they had on back,
From what i read Bischoff's book is informing.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Controversy Creates Cash by Eric Bischoff

As a WCW fan growing up, being able to read about the rise and fall of my favorite wrestling company of all-time by the man who took it to it's absolute pinnacle was as good as it got IMO.

While Jericho's was entertaining, I wasn't nearly as captured as I was by Bischoff's.