Welcome back. Last week I talked about footballing autobiographies. This week I want to focus on another of my loves – wrestling.

So, off the topic of football and onto wrestling. WWE to be precise (or WWF as they were known at the time I read the books.) Mick Foley’s ‘Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks’ is a fun and captivating insight into the glitz and glory of professional wrestling through the eyes of a family man and one of the craziest people in the world (my opinion only). Mick is well known for his hardcore wrestling style and his willingness to take ridiculous bumps (remember when his tooth came out of his nose after being choke slammed off a stupidly high steel cage, courtesy of The Undertaker?) and this book reveals the background behind his alter-egos ‘Cactus Jack’, ‘Dude Love’ and ‘Mankind’. It is a heart-warming and insane look into the real life of someone who set the boundaries and raised the bar for every professional wrestler to come after him. Well worth a read.

Another extremely insightful wrestling book and one of my favourites is Eric Bischoff ‘Controversy Creates Cash’. Bischoff is hated by a great many wrestling fans and is blamed for single-handedly causing the demise of WCW but surely, even the people who dislike him have to admit the man is an absolute genius. I have never read a book like this and the shrewdness of his mind is clear to see in the pages as he describes his time in WCW and his plan to beat WWE in the Monday Night Wars. He is a businessman like you would expect a businessman to be. He does what is best for the company and screw anyone who doesn’t like it! He doesn’t care he is hated, hence the name of his book, and in his eyes any publicity is good publicity. The way his mind works is pure brilliance and I would love to see him involved in the wrestling business again. As a huge TNA fan I loved his stint at the company and I think he is too good to not be involved in the wrestling business somehow. Like him or loathe him, this book is a must-read for any wrestling fan.
There are so many other books I could have spoken about but in the interest of not going on too long I will just mention the ones worth reading here – ‘A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex’ by Chris Jericho, ‘The Rock Says’ by (yep, you guessed it) The Rock, ‘Hitman’ by Bret Hart,’ ‘Cheating Death, Stealing Life’ by the wonderfully talented and sadly missed Eddie Guerrero, ‘The Stone Cold Truth’ by Stone Cold Steve Austin and finally ‘Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker than Wrestling’ by Mick Foley.
Just on an end note, there are some wrestlers who I would love to see write an autobiography about their lives. The first one is Samoa Joe. An incredible wrestler, he is a man who speaks his mind and isn’t afraid to do so. I think a book by him would give the reader an in-depth look into the world of indie wrestling and the bigger stage of TNA. I would definitely buy it! Another I would like to see write a book is someone who tells it how it is; former WWE and TNA colour commentator Taz - as he has had years of experience and must have so many stories from ECW and the other promotions he has worked for, not to mention the wrestlers he has had the opportunity to work with. If C.M Punk were to write a biography I would certainly buy that one. Someone who I think would have brilliant stories to tell is TNA president Dixie Carter. She is a very intelligent woman who cares a great deal for her wrestlers and her fans (why else would she allow Bully Ray to power-bomb her through a table?!) and I would thoroughly enjoy reading about her life so far.
Well, that’s it for this week. I could have gone on and on and on but I had to call it a day at some point. I have a feeling that my wrestling chit-chat is not over for good though so stay tuned :)
Just on an end note, there are some wrestlers who I would love to see write an autobiography about their lives. The first one is Samoa Joe. An incredible wrestler, he is a man who speaks his mind and isn’t afraid to do so. I think a book by him would give the reader an in-depth look into the world of indie wrestling and the bigger stage of TNA. I would definitely buy it! Another I would like to see write a book is someone who tells it how it is; former WWE and TNA colour commentator Taz - as he has had years of experience and must have so many stories from ECW and the other promotions he has worked for, not to mention the wrestlers he has had the opportunity to work with. If C.M Punk were to write a biography I would certainly buy that one. Someone who I think would have brilliant stories to tell is TNA president Dixie Carter. She is a very intelligent woman who cares a great deal for her wrestlers and her fans (why else would she allow Bully Ray to power-bomb her through a table?!) and I would thoroughly enjoy reading about her life so far.
Well, that’s it for this week. I could have gone on and on and on but I had to call it a day at some point. I have a feeling that my wrestling chit-chat is not over for good though so stay tuned :)