Review: Looking At The Lights: My Path From Fan To A Wrestling Heel By Pete Gas With Jon Robinson

Looking At The Lights: My Path From Fan To A Wrestling Heel
Pete Gas, w. Jon Robinson, Adam "Edge" Copeland (Foreword) & John Bradshaw Layfield (Foreword)
Sports Publishing, 2017
Hardcover, Ebook

Pete "Gas" Gasparino's Looking At The Lights is the story of one of the most atypical members of the WWE Attitude Era roster. A non-wrestler with a "regular job," Gas instantly became a high profile WWE personality when he appeared as a member of Shane McMahon's "Mean Street Posse" at the height of the Attitude Era. Despite having no previous training and no designs of joining the WWE Roster on a full-time basis, Gas (along with Rodney and, later, Joey Abs) remained roster mainstays for over a year. This is Gas' first book.

Released: Chief Jay Strongbow Is Real By Timothy Gager

Chief Jay Strongbow Is Real: Poems By Timothy Gager was released in July 2017.  While not a traditional wrestling book, this collection of poetry bares the name of the long time WWF/E Hall of Famer. As noted by Shaindel Beers on the book's Amazon page: "Timothy Gager realises that the actor who portrayed Strongbow, we are all fake... actor(s) within the theatre of our absurdity." 

The book is available in paperback and ebook on Amazon US CA

Newly Released: Looking At The Lights: My Path From Fan To Wrestling Heel By Pete Gas, Adam Copeland (Foreword) John Layfield (Foreword)

Pete Gas, best remembered for his role in the WWF Attitude Era's Mean Street Posse, released a memoir of his wrestling career today. Gas recounts his time as a fan, his entry into the business and his time as a roster member during one of the peak periods in the industry's history. Unlike the vast majority of those he worked with Gas was not a trained wrestler nor had he worked his way up through the independents and/or territories. Due to his long-standing friendship with Shane McMahon, Gas was plucked from "civilian life" and was immediately plugged into a high profile program. From Amazon:

...getting your foot in the door is one thing; staying is a completely different animal. With all eyes on him, knowing his lack of training and meal ticket being the boss’s son, Gas knew he had to win over all those doubters: from the fans and announcers to the wrestlers themselves. Knowing he had to prove himself, Gas took beatings, chair shots, and additional training to not only show that he could wrestle, but that he belonged with such superstars as The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and The Undertaker.

Looking At The Lights is available at Amazon US CA UK and Indigo

Announced: A Wrestling Life 2 by Dan Gable

A Wrestling Life 2 by Dan Gable has been announced with a June release. This is the follow up to the successful 2015 release A Wrestling Life also by Gable. Gable was an Olympic Gold Medalist and renowned amateur coach. While not a professional wrestler, Gable's had and enormous influence on the careers of several professional wrestlers and MMA competitors. The "prequel" was very well received by readers. The book is published by The University of Iowa press and is co-written by Kyle Klingman

The book is available for pre-order at Amazon US CAN UK

Note: Ali vs. Inoki Wins Wrestling Observer Book of the Year 2016

Josh Gross' Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment picks up the 2016 Wrestling Observer Award for Best Pro Wrestling Book. Runners up were: Accepted by Pat Patterson and Rowdy: The Roddy Piper Story by Ariel and Colt Toombs.

Review will be posted in the coming days.

Available at Amazon USA CAN UK