So, "Ring of Hell"...

[geniusMoment 0]

Yeah, Jason Powell said that Lagana approached Thorn in the shower and told him he'd blow his mind with a blow job. Thorn was nervous (if not a little intrigued) and went to Undertaker. Taker thought it over (he also was a bit intrigued) but ultimately decided to go to talent relations.

 

Lagana asked Thorn "Would he like to fuck his face" while rubbing his nipples. Thorn told Taker, Taker went to the office with it. It says nothing about Taker being "intrigued".

 

 

Christ, I was just joking dude. I figured that was obvious.

[fazzle 0]

So how much is everyone paying for this book? I want to get it, but everyone says it's a "quick read" and I'm not really wanting to pay 30 bucks for a quick read.

 

 

$30 for a book? Whaa? Who the fuck pays anywhere CLOSE to that for any book? (other than a book for school, obviously)

 

 

Be patient and pick it up for like $5 in a used book store in a year or so.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

$30 for a book? Whaa? Who the fuck pays anywhere CLOSE to that for any book?

 

People who buy brand-new hardcover books.

 

Seriously, the things can be fucking expensive. That's why I always wait for paperback.

[fazzle 0]

That's just crazy. I haven't paid more than $3 for a book in YEARS.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

3 dollar books and 10 dollar computers. TSM - the economic wave of the future.

[Bix 0]

My review is up at Adam Lash's IndyWrestlingNews.com.

[bob_barron 0]

I finished it.

 

It was a good read, though it was really poorly written at times. He was too descriptive on everything, and I felt once he got to the WWE section, it lost me. HHH, Steph and Vince are evil, yawn, been there done that.

 

What's the point in saying Randy Orton has a look for gay porn? Stuff like that really lost me.

 

Seriously though...did we need the thoughts of Billy Gunn? Probably not.

 

But I always get a kick out of reading about how fucked up wrestling is, so I enjoyed it.

 

I also marked out seeing Bix's name in the acknowledgements.

[claydude14 0]

I tried to pick this up in Border's today. They had one copy in stock and the person helping me couldn't find it. The wrestling sub-section of sports looked horrible, books upside down, books obviously read and put back on the shelf, all out of any kind of order. The employee helping me said the section was always like that.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

It wasn't in the wrestling section at my Barnes and Nobles. It was True Crime.

[claydude14 0]

Yea, I told the associate who offered to help me that it was either in True Crime, or Sports. She typed it in on the computer and it came up in the 'Pro Wrestling' section of Sports. I really did not want to seem like I was buying a wrestling book.

[Ultra Violence 0]

I've just got up to the part on Guerrero. I had no...fucking...idea about the NJPW dojo.

[Jonathon 0]

I had no idea Dino Bravo had Mafia ties, and was executed gangland style...

[Zack Malibu 0]

That's actually fairly common knowledge.

 

I've picked up the book, and like IIRC Bob mentioned, I love reading about the messed up stories that come along with the "dark side" of the sport, and to me that's a bit more intriguing at times than the Benoit stuff. Also, as a huge Dynamite Kid fan since childhood (before I was to discover what a dick he truly was in real life), it's very cool to hear more stories on Dynamite, and how Benoit longed to follow in his footsteps long before people were making that comparison.

[haws bah gawd 0]

I read from Benoit leaving WCW, to the end of the book in Borders this afternoon. This is a fantastic book that I found extremely hard to put down. Which is why once I started reading about his last days in WCW, I couldn't stop reading until the end of the book. Some of the stories about what goes on backstage, and the days leading up to the murders are chilling not to mention depressing. Interesting that Bad News Brown warned Benoit about going to WWE, saying Vince McMahon is the devil.

 

There are a handful of humorous things in the book such as how Vince McMahon is addicted to Tuna, (Titan Towers supposedly smells of fish so badly that even Japanese dignitaries rush through meetings as fast as they can), and Vince often conducts meetings with his staff while working out (in his office), or with his shirt off, grooming his body hair.

 

One of the more saddening things I read was regarding the Eddy Guerrero tribute show. Benoit wrestled the main event against HHH and was literally beating the hell out of him as a way of dealing with the grief. However, as soon as Benoit got the roll-up pin, he broke down and cried in HHH's arms, because the match was the only thing keeping his anger and sadness in check.

 

I can't wait to go back and buy this book so I can read the first part of it.

[CBright7831 0]

It wasn't in the wrestling section at my Barnes and Nobles. It was True Crime.

B&N has a wrestling section?

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Well...they have a section of the sports section that is wrestling...

 

So...I'll go with "kinda"

[Anakin Flair 0]

Half way through so far... this has to be the first time I've EVER heard Bill Watts described in what could only be called glowing terms.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

It wasn't in the wrestling section at my Barnes and Nobles. It was True Crime.

B&N has a wrestling section?

Yeah, at the very end of Sports. It kinda sucks, though, at least the four closest ones to me (N. Attleboro, Bellingham, Framingham/Natick, and Walpole), because Weightlifting always gets mixed in since it's right next to it. And a good portion of the books are actually about real wrestling, which makes me think they should file it under "Pro" Wrestling. I think they added it after the abundance of autobiographies that actually, you know, SOLD following Have A Nice Day.

[Super Leather 0]

Had no luck at either of the B&Ns in the East Bay, but Border's in San Francisco had this and a ton of other wrestling books in the sports section. I read the entire thing last night, and the first words that came to mind after I was done was, "This book pisses me off."

 

On one hand, it pisses me off because it's badly written a lot of the time. When did it become chic for authors to adopt this smartass writing style that suggests that they're actually embarrassed to be writing about their topic of choice (see: The Death of WCW)? Why does this guy's opinion of things like Kevin Sullivan's working ability matter? In fact, Randazzo has an annoying tendency to chime in with his opinion when it's totally unnecessary more often than not. Is this book supposed to be about Benoit's descent into madness while exposing the seamy underbelly of the wrestling business? Or is this book about Randazzo, his subscription to the Wrestling Observer, and collection of Scott Keith books? My guess is that Randazzo would rather it be about him, but he's not half as interesting a topic for a book to cover as Benoit and Nancy are. Looking at his bibliography, anyone on this board worth their salt could have written this book based off of that list.

 

This book also pisses me off because it sees the big picture all too clearly, which is not something that I and most other hardcore wrestling fans care to think about. I've known this deep down for a long time: the wrestlers I like the most tend to be the biggest idiots, marks who take the business too seriously and destroy their bodies and lives for my entertainment. The wrestlers that I probably don't care for--the ones who get by on strictly mic skills and backstage chicanery--are the smartest, for they realize what the wrestling business is really about in this day and age and kinda always has been--making the most money for the least effort. In all honesty, which category is more appropriate to be termed as a "worker"?

 

More later when I get a chance.

 

[Beast 0]

I wasn't planning on getting it because I figured all the best bits ended up on the boards; nevertheless the next time I found myself in Borders, I spotted it and ended up picking it up. I spent the rest of the day flipping through most of it, trying to find the best stuff and for the most part I was greatly intrigued. The book has a little bit of everything. And what most people are forgetting is that while the book is going to be bought by mostly hardcore wrestling fans; the goal of Randazzo and his publishing company had to have been to sell to the general public. I'm assuming that's why he spends time giving his opinion on certain wrestlers' (the aforementioned Randy Orton gay porn comparison). When Randazzo intruded on the story I didn't mind as much because I tried to look at it as if I'd never watched wrestling or read Meltzer before. Since I'd been reading about his overwhelming negativity from everyone before I bought it, it didn't seem to stand out to me as much. I thought he was pretty evenhanded.

 

As a read, it was defintely buyable. There seemed to be info on every page that I'd never heard before. And using Benoit's life as a guidemap was a really nice choice. It meant we got details from Stampede, New Japan, ECW, WCW, and then finally WWE, with little detours to talk about guys like Dynamite, Heyman, Vince and other standout individuals. Randazzo mentioned on a F4 Daily that he would be interested in writing a Vince Bio and I'd love to see that happen.

[Jingus 0]

And a good portion of the books are actually about real wrestling, which makes me think they should file it under "Pro" Wrestling.

This is often a problem. Like, at my local public library, the one (1) nonfiction book about pro wrestling is mixed in with the five books about amateur wrestling. Because greco-roman is so much more popular and such a better draw than the WWE, I guess. Meanwhile, a few of the guys' autobiographies are over in that section, but you've gotta search for them one by one. Yes, this means that Ric Flair's book will not come up if you type "wrestling" into their catelog search.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

did you try thier catalog search?

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

did you try thier catalog search?

 

Power to the people.

 

http://webpac.sscpl.lib.in.us/CatalogDetails.aspx?id=422545

[Steviekick 0]

That just might be the greatest library classification EVER~!

[RepoMan 0]

did you try thier catalog search?

 

Power to the people.

 

http://webpac.sscpl.lib.in.us/CatalogDetails.aspx?id=422545

 

No wounder Springfield beats Shelbyville nearly half the time in football.

 

[Noah 0]

This sounds like one hell of an interesting book. I think I will definitely check it out, along with Bret's book too.

[Craig Th 0]

I got it on Sunday and am loving every bit of it. I would have finished it today if I didn't have work.

 

Now I am in my "wrestling book mode" and I won't get the Bret Hart book for a few days. I guess Russo's book will have to do until I get Brets. *sigh*

[Craig Th 0]

Soo, is Bret Hart's book out now? Because Barnes and Noble.com says it's coming out inOctober. But Amazon.com already has it out.

 

And my local book store says it won't be out until October as well.

 

Any ideas there?

[BUTT 0]

It came out in Canada last year. But I guess it'll be out here in October.

[Craig Th 0]

Ohhhhhhhhhhh okay. That makes sense.

 

I'll just order it from Amazon.ca/com then.

 

Thanks.