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

Review: The Squared Circle: Life, Death and Professional Wrestling by David Shoemaker

The Squared Circle: Life, Death and Professional Wrestling
David Shoemaker (AKA The Masked Man)
Gotham, 2013
Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook

David Shoemaker (AKA The Masked Man) is known for his contributions to Deadspin - Dead Wrestler of the Week - and Grantland (Cheap Heat Podcast.) The Squared Circle: Life, Death and Professional Wrestling is his first book.

Shoemaker's book, which is essentially a spin-off of his Dead Wrestler of the Week article, is a well written and well researched book.  Most chapters focus on the life and death of a deceased professional wrestler. Shoemaker does a very good job giving the reader a complete and concise picture of the wrestler's life and career. In all cases these become a microcosmic look at the culture of the professional wrestling industry.

Review The Story of the Development of NWATNA: A New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming By Jerry W. Jarrett

The Story of the Development of the NWATNA: A New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming
Jerry W. Jarrett
Trafford Publishing, 2004
Paperback

Jerry Jarrett's The Story of the Development of the NWATNA: A New Concept in Pay-Per-View is virtual reprint of Jarrett's 2002 personal journal excluding matters not directly concerned with the wrestling business. The journal was written as Jarrett - a long time wrestling promoter based in Tennessee - and his son Jeff were establishing NWA-TNA Wrestling. This is Jarrett's first book. He released his autobiography The Best of Times in 2011.

Jerry Jarrett, though he has his detractors, is widely regarded as one of the most respected and successful wrestling promoters in the history of the industry.  He founded CWA (Memphis) which was a thriving promotion and that was one of the few American based promotions - if not only depending on one's view of Turner's acquisition of Jim Crockett

Review: The Death of WCW (10th Anniversary Edition) By RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez

The Death of WCW 10th Anniversary Edition
R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez, Dave Meltzer (Foreword)
ECW Press, 2014 - Revised Edition of 2004 Release
Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook

A little over a decade ago Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly's Bryan Alvarez and Wrestlecrap's R.D. Reynolds paired up to write the definitive guide to the rise and fall of the WCW.  In 2014 the pair released an updated and expanded edition. Reynolds, the co-founder of the Wrestlecrap website, is also the author of Wrestlecrap: The Very Worst Of Pro Wrestling and The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists! Alvarez is the founder of Figure Four Weekly newsletter, has written for Fighting Spirit magazine and is the host/co-host of several podcasts under the Wrestling Observer / Figure Four Weekly banner. This is his only book. The both versions of the book (2004 and 2014) won the Wrestling Observer Book of the Year Award.*

Notice: Wrestle Book Review on OSW Podcast Network

Wrestle Book Review is now available in podcast format on the new OSW Podcast Network at piledriverwrestling.net. The network features an amazing collection of independent fan made and free podcasts that delve into current news and past events from the pro wrestling galaxy. Always enjoyable, perpetually informative and insanely funny, it's a very worthy stop while you wander the web. Come on by and take a listen.

Wrestle Book Review Podcast.

Review: Booker T: My Rise To Wrestling Royalty By Booker T. Huffman

Booker T: My Rise To Wrestling Royalty
Booker T. Huffman w/ Andrew William Wright, Foreword by John Bradshaw Layfield
Medallion Press, 2015
Hardcover, Ebook

Booker T. Huffman and Andrew William Wright (co-author of The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and The Rush of Wrestling) return with their second book chronicling the life of one of the wrestling industry's most decorated performers.  My Rise To Wrestling Royalty (2015) picks up where the first book, From Prison To Promise (2012) left off. While his first book detailed his young life prior to entering pro wrestling, this one extensively covers his career from his early days in WCW through his 2012 entry into the WWE Hall of Fame. 

Huffman gives readers a very complete picture of his active and prolific in ring career. He (and Wright) pay great attention to detail with regards to dates, locations and elements of specific matches and angles. There are no major peaks in Booker T's career that are omitted.   Huffman also gives the reader a lot of thoughts and insight into many of his angles,

Booker T: From Prison To Promise by Booker T Huffman

Booker T: From Prison To Promise: Life Before The Squared Circle
Booker T. Huffman w/ Andrew William Wright
Medallion Press, 2012
Hardcover, Ebook

Booker T's From Prison To Promise chronicles the tumultuous early life of one of professional wrestling's most decorated competitors.  Booker T rose to prominence in the mid 1990s as one half of Harlem Heat.  While the pair were celebrated as a tag team, few were surprised when Booker T. eclipsed his tag team success and became one of the top performers in the industry.  From Prison To Promise chronicles Booker T's life from childhood through to his run in the Global Wrestling Federation. From Prison To Promise: Life Before The Squared Circle is Booker T's first book. My Rise To Wrestling Royalty was released in 2015. Both books were co-written with Andrew William Wright co-author of The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and The Rush of Wrestling.