Pro Wrestling Books

A hugely pleasant surprise, this is something of a sleeper hit on a subject that would not top most people’s lists of obvious wrestling book subjects. The Bahamas, specifically Nassau on the island of New Providence, was largely an outpost for US wrestling territories. Just 180 miles from Miami it was actually closer than many other stops on the Florida territory, albeit requiring a plane ride. Indeed, the bulk of its heyday shows were as an outpost for Eddie Graham’s NWA operations, albeit with its own angles and titles. Douglass covers this in full, along with attempts at a local independent scene and the brief revival in the late 1980s when Dusty Rhodes returned to the short-lived PWF promotion. The book skilfully uses a combination of contemporary newspaper reports and interviews with wrestlers from the period. Unlike with many such projects, Douglass has picked his quotes skilfully, clearly avoiding the temptation to use every fact and opinion his research threw up. It’s highly focused on the big picture story, with wrestlers speaking on topics where they had expert knowledge, insight or unique first-hand relevance. There’s also clearly labelled but informative speculation where Douglass explores why particular decisions were taken or…

A tale of two well-documented men, this brings together two entwined lives in a new form. Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks straddles the lines between multiple approaches — biographies of two individuals, a history of a wrestling era, a specific rivalry, and one high-profile event — in a way that has many of the advantages of each without becoming unfocused. The book brings together material from existing books and news articles, plus original interviews with Bret Hart, Tony St Clair and Mal Sanders among others. It’s weaved together well and uses relevant extracts to tell the story, rather than feeling too much like a “cut-and-shut” operations. There’s also a well balanced level of non-wrestling historical content to put things into context rather than padding, for example noting how Big Daddy’s match with John Quinn escaped an ITV broadcaster strike by a matter of weeks. (Said match is also a good example of the book not getting too caught up in the narrative, correctly identifying it as both the forerunner of, and in some ways bigger than, the Haystacks Wembley match.) It means there’s not much in the way of new revelations here, but rather a case of putting the pieces…

If you saw a WWF commercial in the 90s or 2000s, or a TNA/IMPACT video package in the past 20 years, it was probably produced by David Sahadi, who is good at his job and well regarded by his peers. Now you’ve read that, you don’t really need to read this book. It’s somewhat baffling who this is really aimed at. The first two-thirds covers his WWF run and it feels like 90% of it is simply a complete word-by-word, shot-by-shot breakdown of every commercial or spot Sahadi made, followed by a comment on how good it was and how people praised it. It would make a great YouTube playlist or the basis of a resume, but it doesn’t really work as a book. Beyond this we learn that most guys are great to work with, celebs are sometimes tricky, and the Rock was a bit of a dick once. And that’s about it. The remainder of the book is the TNA period and, save for a few stories that don’t bring much new information (there was a fire once; Jeff Hardy was in no state to perform), it’s mainly made up of score settling and the machinations of various…

Kesar is better known as WWE’s Karrion Kross, but this is not a pure autobiography. It’s somewhere between a life story and a self-help book, but it may be too much of a blend of formats to find wide appeal. Perhaps the most similar previous wrestling title is Bobby Heenan’s second book, but that was more explicit about tying life lessons to moments in Heenan’s career. This explores Kesar’s wider life story, including his time working as a bouncer and competing in martial arts and combat events of varying levels of professionalism. As a result, those looking purely for wrestling content will be out of luck, particularly as some of the more specific stories have names removed. The advice, or rather life philosophies, is often interesting and well thought-out, with a degree of levelheadedness and self-awareness that’s not always present in a wrestling book. The parts that do relate to the wrestling business may well be engaging to fans. There’s a particularly interesting observation by Kesar, who didn’t make his pro debut until 29, that he benefitted by gaining life experience first rather than growing up while navigating the unique world of pro wrestling. The main drawback is that the…

Think more the Channel 4 version of Fighting With My Family than the Hollywood remake and you’ll be closer to the feel of this no holds barred book. Explaining the movie to some non-wrestling fan viewers, I noted that while much of the story may have been fictionalised, everything that happened before Saraya/Paige’s move to to the US certainly felt like something that was believable, if not true. This book, which shows no signs of toning things down to appease a wrestling employer, reveals that this was quite the understatement. Knight appears to hold nothing back in her description of an extremely unorthodox childhood in a family which was, to say the least, not typical. It’s affectionate without being naive, highlighting the very clear realisation that what we each experience as normal is not always what the rest of society would see the same way. The movie of course ended with the dream moment of debuting on the main roster and winning the WWE womens title and wrestling fans will no that what happened next was far from a Hollywood dream story. Knight doesn’t shy away from discussing her subsequent highs and lows, the pressures of fame at a young…

A mixed bag by its very nature, this part-history, part-travelogue covers a wide range of aspects of the WWF’s national expansion. The book has its origins in the early 2000s when Balukjian began work ghostwriting the Iron Sheik’s autobiography before their professional relationship broke down. Two decades later he decided to adapt the project as a follow-up to The Wax Pack, in which he attempted to track down every player in a pack of baseball trading cards. For this book he attempted to do the same with six wrestlers who appeared on the card where Iron Sheik won the WWF title from Bob Backlund. Not only are these very different men to one another, but they allow Balukjian to explore different elements of the business. With Iron Sheik we get as close to a verifiable biography as possible of the real Khosrow Vaziri and the blurring with his character. With Bill ‘Masked Superstar’ Eadie, we get facts and figures about the finances of national expansion thanks to his lawsuit against the WWF for underpayment. With Tito Santana we learn that even the man seen as unsullied by the business and the great escaper has his secrets. Meanwhile Tony Atlas gives…

Many pro wrestlers have been told their life would make for a captivating novel – and many have written autobiographies with a healthy dose of fiction – but this is quite the twist on the concept of “inspired by a true story”. Long time British wrestling fans who skip the blurb will quickly recognise that both the character of Jonny Arnold and the details of his career and personal life and incredibly reminiscent of Adrian Street. That makes much more sense once you realise the novel’s author AD Stranik is in fact Street’s son. Given Street documented his life in extensive detail over no fewer than seven volumes of autobiography, it would require a different approach to cover this time period, the initial years after he moved to London. Stranik writes what he dubs “Brit Grit” crime drama, with the less salubrious side of London in the swinging sixties as much a character as Arnold himself. There’s plenty for wrestling fans here, capturing elements such as the Joint Promotions vs Independents setup, the bloodier and more violent aspects of non-televised shows, and the genuine aspects of competition between wrestlers that went far beyond who was booked to win a public…

This is certainly a diversion from the usual wrestling novel and its darkness and power may be a matter of personal taste. While most wrestling novels tap into the territorial era, this is set in the modern independent circuit. It’s a tale of weekend warriors for whom local titles are their world championship. How “big” the promotions actually are is not always clear and in some sense it doesn’t really matter. From a wrestling perspective, the real appeal of the story is how main character Mason Grady sees winning a title belt as vindication for his attempts to get his life back on track after injuries and a painkiller addition. It’s a desire wrestling fans will recognize as both ridiculously meaningless and completely understandable. The book is as much about Grady’s battles with what the wrestling business euphemistically calls “personal demons” as it is his in-ring ‘career’ and is extremely heavy on character and introspection ahead of plot. It’s an intentionally tough and uncomfortable read in terms of content. It’s also a very personal book: author Daniel Alexander was himself an independent wrestler who suffered injuries in and out of the ring, eventually making the decision to abandon his dreams…

An unusual tweak on the wrestling novel genre, this is a fun look at life after wrestling. The two Indians in question are characters of the Chief Jay Strongbow and Jinder Mahal variety respectively. Across the early chapters this appears to be the familiar format of a territory era wrestling novel which usually turns into either a fictional career bio or a crime drama. Instead we quickly jump forward to the modern day where Mohawk Jones and Cobra Tara Singh, former ring rivals, are now unlikely housemates and occasional convention circuit partners. They form a comedic pairing and there’s a definite air of WWE Legends House. Without giving too much away, the story goes through several turns before finding a creative way to return to the wrestling world despite the lead characters being long retired. It’s a breezy read and does a good job of explaining the workings of wrestling to non-fans while remaining plausible to more dedicated followers. On occasion it’s a little more tell than show, but Jones and Singh are an engaging duo and the book definitely leaves scope for future adventures. Disclaimer: The author provided a review copy. Read on Amazon

Appropriately enough this is a no holds barred view of pro wrestling from an outsider. The first half of this book (Rousey’s second volume of autobiography) covers her final two MMA bouts (both defeats) and the beginnings of her relationship with Travis Browne. It’s largely soul searching and won’t necessarily appear to wrestling fans, though her claims about the long-term effects of her repeated concussions raise some serious questions about medical screening in both UFC and WWE. The second half, covering both her WWE runs, is a notable parallel to the recently released autobiography of fellow WrestleMania main eventer Becky Lynch. While they cover many of the same events, Lynch’s WrestleMania dream was a lifetime obsession built on years doing the grind. Rousey comes to the business late and from a place of obsession. After transferring her legitimate fighting skills to TV drama and movies, she is clearly fascinated by the artform of live dramatic fighting with a 360 degree audience and no retakes. It’s clear that wrestling became the latest in a lifetime of periods dedicated to trying to master a task before moving on with her life. While the story of her adjustment to wrestling is a compelling…