The gimmick of this being a photography book by Killer Kowalski is not enough to make it worth seeking out. After a brief background piece on Kowalski’s interest in photography, the book goes straight into 36 pages of portrait of wrestlers, a mixed bag from superstars like Andre the Giant and Bruno Sammartino to lesser-known performers like Moose Monroe and the Pink Assassin. The problem is that the pics are all very samey: posed portrait shots of the wrestler against a white background, with only a few capturing the wrestler’s character or gimmick. The rest of the book is non-wrestling material, split into the western world, eastern world (from Kowalski’s trips to Asia) and nature. I can’t profess to be a photography expert, but while the shots all seem technically competent, there was nothing that stood out as an image I’d want to return to again. At best this would be a nice novelty for somebody who wanted to collect relatively rare wrestling titles, but given the prices it goes for today, it’s impossible to recommend even in that context. Buy on Amazon
A storied career is somewhat let down by a lack of depth in this autobiography that falls short of its potential. Race has an eventful and distinctive history to tell: not just his multiple NWA title runs, but also being trained by the original Zbyszkos (upon whose farm he worked) and even working the carnival circuit where betting scams were as key as drawing crowds. The book has plenty of stories, with an unusual encounter with Vince McMahon a highlight, but it’s certainly not a comprehensive career history. The chronology jumps around a little with some chapters being more thematic. There’s also relatively little insight into Race’s thinking and why he made particular decisions. Despite the book being relatively brief, there’s still some sections that feel like padding: for example, when talking about his time managing Lex Luger, the book includes several paragraphs on Luger’s subsequent WWF run. The overall effect is somewhat like reading a transcript of a poorly conducted shoot interview rather than a fully-fleshed life story. It’s still worth your time reading if you can get a good price, but it’s the subject rather than the content which carries the book. Buy on Amazon
If this blog’s opinion is one you respect Get this in print only to collect Read this once and amuse yourself But then it will gather dust on your shelf It’s not autobiography but rather just rhymes About wrestling, life and other pastimes It names Rita Marie, Mel Phillips and other folks But sadly lacks any mention of insider jokes Though if you have a Kindle, there’s little expense And it’s probably worth it at ninety nine cents (The price listed above was correct at the time. Since then it’s gone up to a buck thirty-nine.) Buy on Amazon
This is a great story, told well. It’s a particular treat for those used to official WWE material downplaying a wrestler’s career working elsewhere. Other than Jerry Lawler’s book, this is one of the few WWE-published autobiographies to give the majority of the book over to pre-WWE content. Indeed, while the book runs 269 pages, it’s not until page 169 that Blassie even makes it to New York aged 53. There’s plenty to tell beforehand though, from Blassie’s time on the carnival circuit (where he saw a performer with a slender neck biting the heads of animals, inspiring his “pencil neck geek” catchphrase), his work in the early days of wrestling on TV, his matches with Rikidozan, his involvement in the Muhammad Ali-Antonio Inoki bout and, most memorably, his bitter feud with John Tolos that culminated in a match at the LA Coliseum. Ghosted by Keith Elliot Greenberg, the book no doubt includes some of Blassie’s more colourful recollections of reality, but for the most part it appears accurate, with Greenberg having verified dates and times with historians such as Steve Yohe. Unless you have no interest whatsoever in the territory era and vintage Japan, it’s hard to imagine anyone not…
A comprehensive biography of Maurice Vachon, this will appeal to fans of the territorial era. The book, originally published in French, has been flawlessly translated by George Tombs. It’s well researched and, unlike some bios, the details that are included — particularly about Vachon’s youth — are there to give context and explain Vachon’s character, rather than shoehorned in for the sake of it. The detail is in the stories and accounts where it matters, rather than through excessive inclusion of dates and locations that don’t contribute to the narrative. It’s also very balanced, presenting Vachon as a rounded character and not being afraid to highlight shortcomings in his family life or his less successful spells in the wrestling business. It’s perhaps a step below the top-tier historical wrestling biographies such as those of Gorgeous George or Mildred Burke, though that’s more because Vachon’s career was less revolutionary or era-defining than it is the quality of the writing. Even with that said, it’s definitely worth a look if you have any interest in Vachon and his era. Buy on Amazon
This isn’t strictly a wrestling book, but it does detail the biggest financial bloodbath any wrestling promoter has ever suffered. It’s the story of the XFL (perhaps tellingly, the X stood for nothing at all), the joint venture by the WWF and NBC to run a springtime football league. As with so many other challengers to the NFL, it bit the dust, but did so quite spectacularly. Folding after just one season it lost a reported $70 million after taxes, split between the two sides. Indeed, it was such a disaster that Vince McMahon’s company managed to lose money during the financial year when its wrestling business was strongest, averaging a ridiculous 531,000 buys for every pay-per-view show. Long Bomb is an unauthorized account of the XFL’s brief history: though receiving no assistance from WWF or NBC, author Bret Forrest interviewed numerous sources, most notably the players of the Las Vegas Outlaws team. He has an engaging and lively style, but still covers all the bases in telling the story. In particular, the book makes clear that the league was by no means dead on arrival. It’s debut broadcast did a 9.5 rating, double what the league had targeted when selling…
Published in 1979, this used to be one of the regular results when, in a pre-Internet age, you’d sheepishly ask bookshop owners to search their catalogues for “wrestling.” That’s no longer the case and thus this is no longer a must-read. It’s a fairly standard format with brief sections on promoters, match types and wrestling histories, but the bulk of the book being profiles of wrestlers of the day. It’s clear the author set out to try to put the profiles together in a similar way to “legitimate” sports coverage and has included detailed quotes from most of those covered. The drawback is that either Morgan has made the quotes up in the style of certain wrestling publications of the era, or that the wrestlers she interviewed remain entirely in character. Either way, there’s little insight for modern readers. Perhaps the most amusing part of the book is discussing the formation of the NWA, with Morgan (or at least the promoters she spoke to) arguing that the territorial system was needed because promoters running in other promoter’s territories was “a form of unfair competition with other promoters who were then not able to get wrestlers in their own areas.” Oddly…
Mention Montreal to a modern wrestling fan and the chances are the first thing they think of is “screwjob” – as in the 1997 Survivor Series. But not only was the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels incident far from the only noteworthy moment in Quebec wrestling history, it wasn’t even the first Montreal screwjob. Back in 1931, Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis was defending his version of the world title in the city against Henri DeGlane. Lewis lost the match and his title by disqualification after DeGlane revealed bitemarks. However, most accounts suggest the marks were actually inflicted in DeGlane’s locker room during a break between falls and were a deliberate scam to relieve Lewis of the belt, contrary to the planned finish. As Mad Dogs… recounts, Montreal is arguably among the most undersung territories historically. Fifteen times the city has played host to the biggest wrestling crowd of the year across the entire planet. As late as 1985 the local promotion drew 21,500 for a show headlined by a heated feud pitting brothers Jacques & Raymond Rougeau against “brothers” Ronnie and Jimmy Garvin. The book itself is more of an encyclopaedia format than a straight historical narrative. There are brief overviews of the…
This is an entertaining enough read, albeit on the short side and with much more emphasis on Missy’s romantic encounters than on her insight into the wrestling business. However, Missy herself says she was unhappy with the book, which was ghostwritten, a process she believes means it’s not a full and accurate account of her life and career. She’s working on a second book which she will have written entirely herself and based on her contributions to my articles for Fighting Spirit Magazine I suspect this will be one well worth looking out for, and surprisingly insightful and perceptive. Buy on Amazon
Any serious wrestling fan would likely love a chance to spend a few hours to Terry Funk telling stories. This is the closest thing to doing so. Ghost writer Scott Williams does a great job of capturing Funk’s distinctive tone of voice while still making for a clear flow of sentences. It comes across very much as a collection of anecdotes that have been shaped into a relatively logical order. It most definitely is not a comprehensive chronological account of Funk’s entire career. It’s not quite as brief as the 242-page count might seem — the text is relatively small with no visual padding — but it could never begin to come close to a complete history. If you’re hoping to dip into it to find Funk’s recollections of a specific incident, you may be out of luck, but he covers most of the key moments. Instead the real treats come when the story goes off track and Funk shares his insight into a particular wrestler, booking style or tricks of the trade. That gives it a very personable feel, helped by the fact that Funk is almost relentlessly positive and doesn’t give the impression of wanting to settle scores. While this isn’t…