Kindle Unlimited (wrestling books)

[C.S.]

Has anyone else tried this? I signed up for a free month and loaded it up with wrestling books. Several of them are available through this service. You can check out ten books at a time and keep them for as long as you want. When you're done, return one and add another.

 

There is a ton of rubbish - and searching for wrestling books in Kindle Unlimited, funnily enough, also gives you listings for gay erotica (lol).

 

But there are enough good wrestling books to make a free month worthwhile.

 

What I've found so far:

• Hacksaw: The Jim Duggan Story
• Dusty: Reflections of Wrestling's American Dream
• Hart Strings (Julie Hart)
• Black Bart & Me And a Few Other Wrestling Tales (Dusty Wolfe)
• Animal (George Steel)
• Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story
• JUSTICE DENIED: The Untold Story of Nancy Argentino's Death in Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's Motel Room (Irvin Muchnick)
• Legends of Memphis Wrestling (Steve Crawford)
• The Stamp Collection (Dennis Stamp)
• A Pro Wrestling Curriculum: Advice, suggestions and stories (Tom Prichard)
• Latin Thunder: My Journey Off The Top Rope!
• Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore
• The Somebody Obsession: A Nobody's Desperate Journey to Stardom (Matt Murphy)
• The Professional Wrestler in the World of Sports-Entertainment (Matt Murphy)

The ones I've read:

 

- Terry Funk: I actually read this years ago and remember it being good fun.

 

- The Somebody Obsession: I also read this years ago, and even though I still have no idea who the hell Matt Murphy is, it was actually a very interesting book about a low-level journeyman wrestler. He talks about training with Harley Race, dealing with bitter wrestlers like Malia Hosaka, etc. I highly recommend it. He has a second book, but I haven't read it yet.

 

- Hacksaw: Surprisingly good. Much better than I expected, actually. He's very open about people and behaviors he doesn't like, including violence against women (naming Steve Austin, among others), what a wreck WCW was (he seemed bitter about people like DDP acting like they were big stars even though business was in the toilet), etc.

 

- Dusty: I actually thought he had written this himself, because for better or worse, it reads like he's talking to you the whole time. I was surprised by how much bad language he used. Good book. I only wish he had updated it to include more recent events. At the time it was written, Cody was still an aspiring actor, etc.

 

- Hart Strings: This is the whole book in a nutshell: Bret Hart was physically abusive, slept around, did drugs, used her for sex after they split up, abandoned his kids, etc. I have no idea what's true and what isn't, but man, she's bitter (maybe rightfully so, maybe not - I don't know). She had a tough upbringing, even ending up in a detention center at one point. It's hard to know what's true and what's bullshit, but it's still an interesting look at the Hart Family. She thanks Bret at the end, despite everything she claims he put her through. I'm not sure what to make of that.

 

Not sure what to read next. I was surprised and delighted when I discovered THE STAMP COLLECTION though.

 

The Dusty Wolfe book is actually just a few pages (I haven't read it yet), and he has several others. I don't know why he didn't just combine all of these into one book, but maybe he makes more money this way?

 

I think I've found just about every worthwhile wrestling book this service offers, but if you know of any others, please share them. I'm not sure yet if Kindle Unlimited is worth $10 a month, but I'm definitely enjoying my free month.

[dkookypunk43]

All the KB Reviews are up there as well for Kindle Unlimited

[Flyin' Brian]

I'll have to check that out. Most interested in Dusty, Legends of Memphis, and Terry Funk.

[Johnny Sorrow]

That Julie Hart book sounds like it's exactly like Bret's book but without the rationalizations. Like, "If I HADN'T fucked around I might have gotten really bad into the drugs!"

[...TG]

There's also Titan Sinking: The decline of the WWF in 1995 by James Dixon. Anyone know anything about this one?

[Johnny Sorrow]

There's also Titan Sinking: The decline of the WWF in 1995 by James Dixon. Anyone know anything about this one?

I know that the author probably thought he was a genius for his awful hacky Titanic reference as the title. I'm picturing him sitting back and going " Yeah....that's it." 😆

[C.S.]

I am reading The Professional Wrestler in the World of Sports-Entertainment (Matt Murphy) now. It's basically a "how to" book if you decide to become a wrestler. Not the moves, but how to act, what to do, bathe, wash your gear, etc. Despite that, it's surprisingly compelling.

 

All the KB Reviews are up there as well for Kindle Unlimited

 

Can you link to these? I can't find them.

 

Edit: I found them, I think. What is KB though, and who is Thomas Hall?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6/

 

That Julie Hart book sounds like it's exactly like Bret's book but without the rationalizations. Like, "If I HADN'T fucked around I might have gotten really bad into the drugs!"

 

Except, Bret's alleged physical abuse and family abandonment are new wrinkles. I don't remember Bret's book ever going into any of that. He did admit to fucking around though.

 

There's also Titan Sinking: The decline of the WWF in 1995 by James Dixon. Anyone know anything about this one?

 

Sounds interesting. I just added it. James Dixon has about twenty other books, so I assumed he was a hack pushing out quick cash grabs. I may be wrong on that (or I may be right). I know nothing about the author, to be honest.

[NotJayTabb]

 

 

All the KB Reviews are up there as well for Kindle Unlimited

 

Can you link to these? I can't find them.

 

Edit: I found them, I think. What is KB though, and who is Thomas Hall?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6/

 

Sounds interesting. I just added it. James Dixon has about twenty other books, so I assumed he was a hack pushing out quick cash grabs. I may be wrong on that (or I may be right). I know nothing about the author, to be honest.

Thomas Hall writes reviews for Scott Keith's blog. He's terrible.

 

James Dixon also co-wrote the 1PW book All Or Nothing, which is on Kindle Unlimited. That's a really good book, pretty much the definitive "how not to run an indy company". It's worth reading for the Samoa Joe/Jay Phoenix stuff alone.

[JNLister]

The Titan Sinking book is a different animal altogether to the History of WWE review books. It's surprisingly good given the subject matter sounds so depressing. I reviewed it at my blog:

 

http://www.prowrestlingbooks.com/titan-sinking-james-dixon/

 

Also reviewed the Funk book:

 

http://www.prowrestlingbooks.com/more-than-just-hardcore-by-terry-funk/

[C.S.]

Both Matt Murphy books are well worth reading. One fascinating tidbit from The Professional Wrestler in the World of Sports-Entertainment: It offers advice for wrestlers who want to send a résumé to John Laurinaitis (yeah, it's a bit dated now, haha). Apparently, Big Johnny wanted PowerPoint presentations. WTF??? IMO, there are few programs more useless, obnoxious, and bloated than PowerPoint.

 

On that note, I just found this a few minutes ago: http://www.businessinsider.com/universities-should-ban-powerpoint--it-makes-students-stupid-and-professors-boring-2015-6

 

James Dixon also co-wrote the 1PW book All Or Nothing, which is on Kindle Unlimited. That's a really good book, pretty much the definitive "how not to run an indy company". It's worth reading for the Samoa Joe/Jay Phoenix stuff alone.

 

I'll look for the Dixon 1PW book and add it. It sounds awesome.

 

The Titan Sinking book is a different animal altogether to the History of WWE review books. It's surprisingly good given the subject matter sounds so depressing. I reviewed it at my blog:

 

http://www.prowrestlingbooks.com/titan-sinking-james-dixon/

 

Nice review of the Dixon 1995 book. I'll post my own thoughts here when I get around to reading it.

 

BTW, I love the idea for your site. Bookmarked!

[Lee]

 

There's also Titan Sinking: The decline of the WWF in 1995 by James Dixon. Anyone know anything about this one?

I know that the author probably thought he was a genius for his awful hacky Titanic reference as the title. I'm picturing him sitting back and going " Yeah....that's it." 😆

 

 

You know wrongly then, because he didn't come up with it... although he did sign off on it, obviously. There's a sequel coming up covering 1996 that is as yet untitled, so if you have any ideas on a title I'd be glad to pass them along. Obviously they'll all be really first-rate, top drawer suggestions that you'll be able to judge the whole book by!

 

 

There's also Titan Sinking: The decline of the WWF in 1995 by James Dixon. Anyone know anything about this one?

 

Sounds interesting. I just added it. James Dixon has about twenty other books, so I assumed he was a hack pushing out quick cash grabs. I may be wrong on that (or I may be right). I know nothing about the author, to be honest.

 

As John noted, Titan Sinking (and All or Nothing) is/are completely different to all the other books with his name to them, which are reviews of Coliseum Videos and Raw seasons from a small (three-man) team. They have a tendency to get a bit smarky at times (I know James wants to rewrite two or three of the earlier ones), but the Coliseum ones are, at my own insistence, particularly comprehensive. That's partly why there's five volumes to that series, since there's so much to cover (as in, literally every official WWF VHS release ever), and as they also get published as actual physical books, there was no way to fit it all into one volume.

[C.S.]

As John noted, Titan Sinking (and All or Nothing) is/are completely different to all the other books with his name to them, which are reviews of Coliseum Videos and Raw seasons from a small (three-man) team.

 

I tried reading the 1PW book, but the default font is miniscule (I can increase it, but still, why should I have to change my settings for one book?) and it is an oral history involving people I've never heard of and don't care about. Obviously, that's my own bias. It's possible I'm missing out on a truly great book. If so, my loss.

 

With that said, I'm really enjoying the Titan Sinking book so far. It hasn't gotten into 1995 specifically yet, and there's very little written about the years before that I didn't already know, but it's still interesting to read. I can't really judge the book accurately until it gets into 1995 itself, but so far so good.

 

I can't think of any names for 1996 (maybe something with Stone Cold?), but if he ever gets to 1997, From New Generation to D-Generation could be good.

[C.S.]

My thoughts on some more books:

 

Titan Sinking: I finished it, and while you don't really learn anything new if you've been around long enough, it's still a very entertaining trip down memory lane. My only nitpick is that sometimes it seems rumor and speculation are passed along as fact. I recommend it though - and I'm looking forward to the 1996 edition.

 

Curtain Call: How An Unscripted Goodbye Changed The Course Of Pro Wrestling (by Dan Ryckert): This isn't mentioned in the OP - I discovered it after. It reminds me somewhat of Titan Sinking, except it's much shorter and covers only the Kliq. Again, nothing new, but a fun trip down memory lane with some interesting tidbits about Shane Douglas and the Bone Street Krew (Taker's clique). There was a lot about the Kliq in Titan Sinking as well, so I could be mixing up what was in there with what's in here. Either way, this isn't a bad companion piece of sorts to the Titan book, even though they're both by different authors.

 

Dusty Wolfe's "books": They're all single columns really - no more than 5-10 pages each. I really enjoyed the ones about other wrestlers the most. The soapbox and general history pieces from him weren't as interesting to me. That's just my opinion though.

 

The Stamp Collection: A mixture of poetry, Dennis Stamp's oversized ego, and some fun stories. Yes, this is as strange as it sounds. He has no love lost for Blackjack Mulligan, Dick Murdoch, and especially Bruiser Brody. He takes a particularly nasty shot about Brody's murder. Still, that's balanced by an incredible story at the end involving Terry Funk and a sick child that will leave you in tears. Like him or not, Dennis Stamp is definitely one of a kind, LOL. (And in case you're wondering, no, there's no mention of "Beyond the Mat" anywhere in the book.)

 

Latin Thunder: I'm reading this one now, and while I have no idea who the hell the author is, I still like it so far. He is very thankful to his first trainer, even though the carny con man essentially took his money and ran. That's a bit much for me, making him sound like a brainwashed "respect the business, brother" type. Still, I do like it so far. Any book that starts out with Skandor Akbar (who was not the trainer I mentioned above) has to be at least decent.

 

I tried reading the Tom Prichard book, but I wasn't in the mood for it. Maybe I'll go back to it after. I'm also not really looking forward to reading the two Snuka books, for obvious reasons.