Review: The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and the Rush of Wrestling By Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis

Road Warriors: Danger, Death and the Rush of Wrestling
Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis w. Andrew William Wright and "Precious" Paul Ellering (Foreward)
Medallion Press, 2011
Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook

Author Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis was one half of the revolutionary pro wrestling tag team The Road Warriors. Along with his late partner, Mike "Hawk" Hegstrand and (more often than not) their manager "Precious" Paul Ellering, The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom dominated the 1980s pro wrestling tag team scene. Their hard as nails personae, along with leather spikes and face paint impressed promoters and fans alike as the team were awarded championships in every major promotion during their career. Laurinaitis' book chronicles the team's life in and out of the ring.  The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and The Rush of Wrestling is his first book.  It is co-written by Andrew William Wright (Booker T: From Prison to Promise and Booker T: My Rise To Wrestling Royalty.)

Review: Drawing Heat by Jim Freedman

Drawing Heat
Jim Freedman
Crowbar Press (Re-release) 2010 / Black Moss Press, 1988
Paperback, Ebook

In the early 1980s Jim Freedman, a college professor at the University of Western Ontario, began working on a book about professional wrestling. Unlike many others who had a specific subject to cover or personality to profile, Freedman allowed his book to be shaped by his experiences rather than pick and choose events that meshed with a pre-determined theme or thesis. The majority of Freeman's piece revolves around a series of tours run by Ontario based wrestler/promoter "Wildman" Dave McKigney.  McKigney, best known as the trainer of Terrible Ted the Wrestling Bear, allowed Freedman to be a part of some tours he ran in Ontario and to write about his experiences. The result of his gradual immersion into the world of professional wrestling is Drawing Heat.  

Review: Justice Denied: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentino's Death In Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's Motel Room by Irvin Muchnick

Justice Denied: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentino's Death In Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's Motel Room
Irvin Muchnick
Amazon Digital Services, 2013
Ebook

Irvin Muchnick has been one of professional wrestling's foremost critics since the late 1980s.  This book is a short collection of his writings dating back to 1992 regarding the death of Nancy Argentino in 1983. Argentino - the girlfriend of WWF Star (and later Hall of Famer) Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - died after suffering a severe head injury while touring with Snuka. While some claim it was an accidental fall, others have speculated that Argentino was the victim of abuse at the hands of Snuka and that the grappler was directly responsible for her death. Muchnick's works include: Pro Wrestling Babylon: Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death and Scandal (2007), Chris and Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death (2009) and Concussion Inc: The End of Football As We Know It (2015.) Muchnick operates the website http://concussioninc.net/

Review: Yes! My Improbable Journey To The Main Event of Wrestlemania By Daniel Bryan and Craig Tello

Yes! My Improbable Journey To The Main Event of Wrestlemania
Daniel Bryan and Craig Tello
St. Martin's Press, 2015
Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook

Daniel Bryan's Yes My Improbable Journey To The Main Event of Wrestlemania is an auto-biographical chronicle of the the career of WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan. The book, released in July of 2015, tells the story of Daniel Bryan (Byran Danielson) from his birth up to the point of his main eventing Wrestlemania XXX. Despite having a stellar independent career wherein he had developed a strong following due to his in ring skills and unrivalled ability to connect with audiences, Bryan struggled to be taken seriously as a top star in the WWE. The issue for Bryan was not if fans or even many of his co-workers would accept him as a top star, but rather whether or not the higher ups in the WWE would allow him to have the chance. The book is co-written by Craig Tello (Diary of a Heartbreak Kid, WWE: 100 Greatest Matches,)

Notice: Back From The Woods

After a short hiatus and a few technical gaffes, there will be some new posts and audio reviews in the next couple of days.  Thanks for the patience and the messages.

- Keith

Review: The History of Professional Wrestling Vol. 1: WWF 1963-1989 By Graham Cawthon

The History of Professional Wrestling Vol. 1: WWF 1963-1989
Graham Cawthon, Grant Sawyer (Editor)
Self Published, 2013
Paperback, Ebook

Graham Cawthon runs the website thehistoryofwwe.com.  According to the site's FAQ page, Cawthon began gathering live pro wrestling event results in late 2001 / early 2002 and founded the website in February of 2002. Over the past number of years, Cawthon's site has become one of the leading sources for all things wrestling having been frequently cited in shoot interview videos and numerous podcasts. This is the first of four (a fifth is due in June 2015) volumes of the many results compiled by Cawthon. Cawthon's site is an a as complete as possible collection of results from the world of pro wrestling. On the sites FAQ page, the author refers to himself as "just a devoted fan with time on his hands," but his work is (both the in the books and on the site) are regarded much more highly than perhaps any other pure fan work.

Review: Nick Gulas: Southern Wrestling Promoter By Bill Coleman

Nick Gulas: Southern Wrestling Promoter
Bill Coleman
Self Published, 2013
Ebook

Coleman's Nick Gulas: Southern Wrestling Promoter is a very short book concerning long-time pro wrestling promoter Nick Gulas and some of the talent that worked in his Tennessee based territory. Published in ebook format only, Coleman's book is very short (only 70 pages, many of which are half blank) and only devotes a few pages (~10) to Gulas while the remainder of the book touches, very briefly, on the careers of some of the wrestlers who worked for Gulas.

As it features some forgotten names from Tennessee wrestling, Coleman's book is suited for die-hard fans of area/era or hardcore wrestling book collectors.  There are some photographs in the book that, though uncredited, enhance the bits of text