Your favourite Wrestling Biography

[AwesomeRko]

I am a big wrestling fan and love to read hence I have read a few auto/biographies in my time. I haven't read many I currently stand at Rock, Austin,Edge, Foley (Have a Nice Day) and Y2J (both) yet I find they are often fascinating and add another dimension to the superstar portrayed, particularly when actually written by them.

My personal favourites have been Jericho's (beating off stiff competition from Foley and Edge), I just find his story absolutely fascinating, with tales from his travelling in Japan, Germany and Mexico before making it and thought it provided a great insight into pro-wrestling in general outwith the WWE. His diatribe of himself and guys like Lance Storm, Ultimo Dragon, Rey, Eddie and Benoit experiencing and learning the nuances of wrestling in such distinct ultures really made me realising how much a lot of the gus currently coming through WWE's FCW etc are missing out on.

I also loved his complete, frank honesty he conveyed emotions about his mother who was tragically crippled, Benoit (one of his best friends) etc which could not have been easy to write but he to his credit inluded. He was also very honest in his depiction of superstars showing no hesitation in criticising renowned and established guys like Hogan, Hall, Nash, Mascaras and even HHH which is unusual for a current WWE employee. His view on the WWE in particular upon his first entry was intriguing and really highlighted the extent and significance of backstage politics. The fact that all of this was written as part of a hilarious monologue accompanied by some great stories of drunken exploits etc and I thought it was all in all an incredible portrait which I would recommend to anyone.

So what are you guys favourite wrestling biographies and why?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Chris Jericho: Undisputed was a great read. I like reading autobiographies as well, for the same reason anyone does, to get an extra glimpse into the world of those you support now and did growing up as a kid, Jericho's has a bit more fanfare to it because you can see how much he respects the business and how passionate he is about wrestling, even to now, the guy is just a fan of it all, and I love the humor he shows in the book. His chapter on Chris Benoit was an interesting perspective into how Jericho felt when Chris' life finally came to a tragic end and I enjoyed his look on how he was treated in WWE once he first arrived.

I'm also 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, and the continuing that into the angle with Edge brought out some great stuff in Flair.

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." Which is basically my own opinion on Douglas, who I have about as little respect for as one could have, great book and some very funny stories in it.

 

[HBsam31]

Chris Jericho: Undisputed was a great read. I like reading autobiographies as well, for the same reason anyone does, to get an extra glimpse into the world of those you support now and did growing up as a kid, Jericho's has a bit more fanfare to it because you can see how much he respects the business and how passionate he is about wrestling, even to now, the guy is just a fan of it all, and I love the humor he shows in the book. His chapter on Chris Benoit was an interesting perspective into how Jericho felt when Chris' life finally came to a tragic end and I enjoyed his look on how he was treated in WWE once he first arrived.

I'm also 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, and the continuing that into the angle with Edge brought out some great stuff in Flair.

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." Which is basically my own opinion on Douglas, who I have about as little respect for as one could have, great book and some very funny stories in it.

Had to comment on yours because Jericho's second is my favorite to. I have commented in other threads on the effect his chapter on Benoit had on me. Was just a great all around book, and his chapter on Benoit actually broke my heart. Jericho has wrestled everywhere. Pretty much the last of his kind in that respect.

 

[Psyclone]

I've read flair's bret's shawn's goldust's all of foley's both of jericho's the rock's William Regal's and i'm sure im forgetting others but yeah I've read a lot of wrestlers biographies.. my current listing would be this

Foley "Have a nice day (his first)"
Jericho "A lion's Tale" (his first)
Jericho "Undisputed"
William Regal's
Ric Flair's
Foley's 2nd
Shawn Michael's
Goldust's
Foley's 3rd (i believe that was hardcore diaries)
Foley's 4th (Countdown to lockdown)
Both the Rock and Bret Hart's are tied here..


I loved Mick's first biography as it riveted me from beginning to end with his trips around the world and ended with his WWE Championship... Jericho's first book also took me around the world with some great stories, but I feel it lacked that big "BOOM" at the end (even though it ends with him about to start for the WWE(F).. It was just as funny as foley's but lacked that big win at the end...

Jericho's 2nd book is clearly better than foley's as I felt foley delved too deep into the PTC chapter at the end (However remembering that time, I know what he was feeling..)

Regal and Flair both had amazing biographies with regal's getting the nod ahead of flair's just due to the trials he went through to get back to where he is now... They were both great read's (however I marked flair off a little bit for nothing more than personal opinion)

Shawn Michaels and goldust's books were also entertaining for all the right reasons, both of them overcoming some serious crazyness (with goldust's crazyness being really out there) but giving the nod for shawn just due to his stature in the world of pro wrestling, and marking goldust a bit just because he's not a "legend" like shawn... that is the only reason i mark it off, and i highly reccomend both books..


Foley's 3rd and 4th books are both less entertaining reads than the others mentioned... The 3rd book is just highly critical about the WWE process and foley's feeling that his "idea" was hurt and thus he wouldn't have done it had it been originally presented as such, however it still is entertaining at times... His 4th books i much the same, however its more "it came off as i thought it would, but in the end it didn't change any of our numbers and thus didnt mean as much as i thought it was going to." Both are good enough books especially for fans of wrestling in general..

Now comes to my 2 least favorite books, both by wrestling legends... the Rock's book and Bret Hart's book..

first we'll tackle the rock's book... Unlike the other books on this list (including bret's) I've only read this book time's.. Once when it came out, and once a few month's ago.. Neither time was I satisfied (the first time because it came out after foley's and I expected every book to be as entertaining..) The 2nd time because I hated that he went from Dwayne, who was writing it, into "the Rock" and basically gave promo's in his biography... I understand that he was "the Rock" but really if its your autobiography, write as dwayne, tell us as Dwayne what you liked, didn't like, felt etc... That just took me out of the book..

the other legend of course is Bret Hart... I liked Bret's book for the most part as I felt he really came through the pages and told HIS story... However I also felt that he had to much of a "this is how they screwed me" mentalitity about everything... he did no wrong (he blames the fans for cheering for the heel (I think it was sid at the time) instead of cheering for him.. Amongst all that theres the battles with his family over Owen, battles with Vince (before the reconcilliation) and battles with Shawn (painting him horribly in every way imaginable which at times contradicts what others have written in there books..) Bret's book is informative and full of some good stories, but It's just written at a really really bad time in Bret's life (recently divorced, recently retired, recently with a stroke, still ticked at WWE for montreal) and thus it clouds everything said in the book..

anyways thats my list

 

[Defekt]

I've read about a dozen or so of them.

Best: Bret Hitman Hart: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling
A 500 page epic covering pretty much every event worth mentioning in Bret Hart's career. A really interesting and comprehensive read.

Runner Up: Both of Chris Jericho's Books
Very entertaining and goes into great detail. The second book has a few chapters on Fozzy, which I wasn't into.

Worst: Vince Russo's Forgiven
Just flat out terrible. Skips around chronologically too much and is hard to follow. The gimmick of the book is that Russo wrote it before he was "saved" then went back and wrote tons of footnotes about his frame of mind then. He should have just rewrote this piece of shit completely.

Other Quick Thoughts:

In The Pit with Piper: Fun to read, but reeks of hyperbole and bullshit. Wouldn't recommend.

Goldust - Cross Rhodes: Covers his career pretty well, but leaves out alot of details. Focuses on Dustin's drug abuse and relationship with his father alot.

Controversy Creates Cash: Great book. Bischoff gives a great behind the scenes history of WCW.

Brock Lesnar - Death Clutch: Only read the parts about wrestling. Brock kinda comes off as a complainer, but I liked the book.

Rey Mysterio - Behind the Mask: Not many details, very short chapters. Didn't enjoy it.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

I agree about Bret's biography. I could read it over and over again. Bret is so detailed, that I like to go back and watch the matches or moments on youtube to see what he was referring to. Even in my late-20s, I feel like a kid going back through forgotten matches and reading how much Bret truly thought it was a great moment / match (Bret v. Bulldog for the title at In Your House 5 comes to mind). A lot of time, Bret was 100% spot-on, and he had no fear calling out things he found to be bullshit (Davey intentionally knocking Diana over the railing to get her on TV during his cage match with Owen).

I can't wait to read Jericho's and Foley's, but I also want to read Bischoff's because of how bad I heard WCW's backstage really was.

 

[vampireblade]

I honestly have not read too many biographies or autobiographies of wrestlers but I would have to say i did rather enjoy Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash it did open my eyes to alot of truth behind WCW and its demise, However before people start bashing i still partly blame him for the demise of WCW but I no longer blame him alone.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Jericho's books were both very good, lost of interesting behind the scenes stories and backstory on some his more important matches. Flair's book had great info on the war between Crockett & McMahon for control of the industry in the 80s, the similarities between them, where Crockett lost the war, plus stories about dealing with the biggest names in wrestling in the 80s & 90s (Hogan, Rhodes, McMahon).

Both these guys even when being critical of a personality were willing to give credit for the things they did well, especially Flair (Hogan's star power & Make A Wish Foundation work, Dusty's in ring work and creativity, etc). The behind the scenes stories in Jericho's book are almost as good as the after the show stories from Flair (nice how he wraps up those stories in the end with regrett as they become known to his kids, he doesnt glorify those instances without shoing some consequence).

All of Foley's books are entertaining but the subject matter was better in his first two. Im not a Bischoff fan but his book was a good read, wether you agree with his assessments or not he explains things fairly well and takes some blame for later failures.

 

[Andreson]

For years, Sid Eudy has been one of the most feared wrestlers in the game, becoming one of only a few wrestlers to have competed in all three major organizations at or near the top of the ladder. Although one of the powerhouses in wrestling history, Sid still lacks the respect of the fans. But true wrestling followers know the great skills of this man.

Sid enetered the wrestling business after meeting with “Macho Man” Randy Savage, who saw the man’s potential. After some training, Sid began his career in the CWF, where he wrestled as Lord Humongous. He wrestled well, earning the World Title there. He went on to the CWA in ‘88, and again worked his way to the top, defeating Brian Lee for the CWA Heavyweight Title. He held the belt for a month before losing to Wendall Cooley. Soon after, Sid decided to head to the big time, and went to WCW. He became Sid Vicious, a man feared for the way he could destroy his opponents. Sid first teamed with Vader, calling themselves the Masters of the Powerbomb. This team was short-lived, and Vicious soon teamed up with Dan Spivey instead, to create the Skyscrapers, a very dangerous tag-team. The duo fought together against many opponents over the next few years, including winning the King of the Hill tournament at the Great American Bash ‘89. Sid also started becoming known as a good heel singles wrestler, feuding with El Gigante, Sting, and others. Still, big wins over major wrestlers were few and far between, until Sid became involved in the biggest stable in the industry.

At Halloween Havoc ‘90, Sid Vicious was slated to face the NWA champion, Sting, in the main event. Through the event, Sting seemed to have the advantage, eventually chasing Sid backstage, while the Four Horsemen, who were feuding with Sting, came to the ring. When “Sting” and Sid returned to the ring from backstage, Sid apparently pinned the champion to win the title. However, a few minutes later, the real Sting ran to the ring, showing that the “Sting” who had been pinned was actually Barry Windham. Sting then pinned Sid to retain his title. Still, Sid’s name was now intertwined with the Four Horsemen, as he officially came to be with them. Sid would stay a member of the Horsemen for the next few months, wrestling with them in the first Fall Brawl Wargames match, before leaving WCW. He went for most of ‘91 to different organizations, including the CWA once again, where he won the Texas Heavyweight Title from Tom Pritchard (once again known as Lord Humongous). Only a week later, Pritchard reclaimed the title, and Sid left again.

Sid next appeared in the WWF as Sid Justice, and at first was thought of as an honorable wrestler. He seemed to befriend Hogan, and aided him occassionally. But when Hogan eliminated Justice from the Royal Rumble ‘92 (from the outside), Sid began a major feud with him. At Wrestlemania VIII, they met in the main event, with Hogan winning via DQ when Sid couldn’t control his rage. This was Justice’s big moment in the WWF for the time being, as he soon departed them and again wrestled in smaller organizations for a time. Justice soon returned to “Vicious-ness” in WCW.

Sid Vicious joined up with Big Van Vader once again, and the two fought with various partners against Sting and his factions. The two groups met at consecutive PPVs, with Sting’s faction normally coming out on top. Sid Vicious was still gaining ground in the world of wrestling, though, until an ugly incident in October ‘93. It was soon after the Halloween Havoc PPV, where Sid had lost to Sting. By all reports, Sid went to Arn Anderson’s hotel room one night, to settle an ‘argument.’ Unfortunately, a pair of scissors were nearby. Both men suffered multiple stab wounds in the battle, although Arn’s wounds far exceeded Sid’s (20 to 4). Sid was quickly dropped from WCW, his career forever tarnished. This brawl showed that “Vicious” was a very good nickname for the 6′9″ monster.


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