Alan Wojcik Reviews Batista Unleashed

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Please credit Alan J. Wojcik of http://alanwojcik.com if used, thanks.

Biographies are not new to pro wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment has put out biographies of their superstars since the late 1990’s when Mick Foley wrote the first of his three NY Times Bestsellers. Since then we have seen books from people deserving one like the Rock, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and William Regal.) I have read all of them and never felt compelled to write about one, until now.



At an initial glance of the roster there is one superstar who I didn’t think deserved a book about them, that was until I read his book and truly believe he deserved it be published and receive the accolades that I hope will follow. That person is Dave Bautista AKA “the Animal” Batista the multi-time World Heavyweight champion. With the help of writer Jeremy Roberts, Bautista (the real spelling of his name according to the opening pages) give wrestling fans BATISTA UNLEASHED (WWE/Pocket Books, 305 pp, $26.00) one of the most honest books ever, not just in wrestling.



Think you had a tough childhood; try being Bautista who grew up in the not so glamorous Washington DC of the late 1970’s-early 1980’s where it was common to have dead people on your lawn when you got the morning newspaper. Bautista goes into his rough upbringing that led him to be in gangs and eventually group homes in addition to being moved around the country by his divorced parents. Think you might have changed professions too late in life; try being a thirty year old bodybuilder-night club bouncer who attended a defunct WCW Power Plant open call and being told you’re not good enough for wrestling. That’s exactly what happened to Bautista and a friend in 1999 before he found his way to the Pennsylvania based Wild Samoan’s training facility.



From there the fast road to superstardom begins. Going from the Samoan’s to OVW (WWE’s developmental Ohio Valley Wrestling) where Jim Cornette re-imagined him into Leviathan (where he met the Prototype AKA WWE Superstar John Cena) to his WWE debut as Deacon Batista with Reverend Devon (Brother Devon of Team 3D.) Next thing you know you are reading about Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton and the forming of the Evolution group that got Batista title reigns and main events on PPV’s. Mixed in are stories of traveling around the globe as part of the WWE and the fun times wrestling the top stars like The Undertaker, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Edge and later on his own Evolution running mates. My personal favorite is a funny story of a bad trip with Bobby Lashley and Ken sorry…Mr. Kennedy.



During the trip to the top we also find out the pitfalls that nearly stopped Bautista in his tracks like being a parent before he got out of high school, failed marriages, infidelity with co-workers (the internet rumors are true and Bautista hates the internet) and his own teenage daughter being a parent. As I mentioned Bautista has nothing to hide but doesn’t go into great details in certain topics. You come away from reading this book hoping Bautista and his family is happy and healthy and he competes for many years to come.



BATISTA UNLEASHED is available in national bookstores or logging onto www.wwe.com

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Alan Wojcik Reviews the History Of Stampede Wrestling Reissue

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Bad News Allen, Gene Kiniski, Fritz Von Erich, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Stasiak, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Jim Neidhart, Brian Pillman, the Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith are just some of the names who got their start in a Canadian town called Calgary, Alberta. In addition to those names you must add the sons of legendary wrestler and promoter Stu Hart namely Bret “Hitman” Hart and Owen Hart who left their family promotion, Stampede Wrestling, to great levels of success and unfortunately tragic ends to their careers in the World Wrestling Federation AKA the WWE. But what really happened behind the scenes with the Hart family when the cameras stopped rolling and the fans went home. What were the trips across the Canadian Rockies like with a van full of wrestlers in the era of no cell phones or PDA’s? Author and Calgary Herald columnist Heath McCoy found out a few years ago and thanks to ECW Press and some current events, they reissued his book Pain and Passion: the History of Stampede Wrestling (333pp, $19.95 US, $22.95 CDN)



This book is a time machine taking the reader from the beginnings of the Hart family, namely the patriarchs Stu and Helen who both passed away a couple of years ago, to the Hart grandchildren who are under contract with WWE developmental (Harry Smith and Nattie Neidhart). In between those two points in time Mr. McCoy fashions a great legend of Stu’s rough childhood in the Canadian farmland to his becoming an Olympic style wrestler. Plus how he parlayed that success into becoming a professional wrestler under Toots Mondt and meeting his soul mate Helen Smith who would help Stu in being a loving wife and mother to the kids in addition to being Stampede’s office boss for decades.



McCoy chronicles the rise, fall, rise and final fall of Stampede Wrestling which was born in the 1940’s with Stu and some partners calling it Big Time Wrestling. The book follows some of the best wrestlers in the history of the sport and how they became quivering babies, like I would be, if we ever entered the feared Hart Dungeon, Stu’s basement workout area. McCoy gets frank comments from the wrestlers listed in my intro plus legends like Archie “the Stomper “Gouldie, Lou Thesz, Dory and Terry Funk, Harley Race, Angelo “King Kong” Mosca and Stampede’s TV announcer Ed Whalen. You will read of the lows of the business having to be shut down to have clothes for the children to the highs of Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith coming in the late 70’s- arly 80’s and getting Stampede Wrestling on TV’s all over the world.



In addition we learn of the Hart children, twelve in all; Keith, Bret, Smith, Bruce, Owen, Diana, Ellie, Georgia, Ross, Dean, Wayne and Alison on what is was like to grow up in the wrestling business. Some of their thoughts and comments are warm and memorable while others are down right cold and evil especially after the tragic death of Owen in 1999 that seemed to tear the family to its very foundation. In this respect Mr. McCoy shows no bias and holds nothing back and I do mean nothing.



If you have read Diana’s book UNDER THE MAT: INSIDE WRESTLING’S GREAT FAMILY or Owen’s widow Martha’s BROKEN HARTS: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF OWEN HART, this book is an excellent companion piece. I hope all of you who read this will pick up a copy and enjoy it.



For more information on other books, log onto www.ecwpress.com

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Alan Wojcik Reviews Bruiser Brody Bio

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For the better part of two decades there was one wrestler promoters and fans loved but also feared despite him never wrestling for the former World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. His name was Frank Goodish but you probably know him better by his ring name, Bruiser Brody. From World Class in Texas to the rings of Japan, Bruiser Brody thrilled audiences until July 16, 1988 when Brody wrestled in Puerto Rico. That night Frank Goodish was murdered in the venue’s locker room by wrestler and WWC booker Jose Gonzales. Goodish left behind a young son Geoff and wife Barbara. Nearly 20 years later Mrs. Goodish joined with Wrestling at the Chase author Larry Matysik to create a living tribute to the man and his wrestling persona, BRODY: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF WRESTLING’S REBEL (ECW press, 206 pgs, $19.95 US)



Let me say I only knew the legend of Bruiser Brody by trading stories with wrestlers who knew him and fans that grew up watching him plus the couple of WCCW matches I saw on ESPN in the 80’s. So I was excited to read how a former football player and San Antonio Express sports writer Frank Goodish became the legendary Bruiser or as he was called in St Louis “King Kong” Brody. I am happy to say that Mr. Matysik and Mrs. Goodish have created one of the best wrestling biographies ever. Both provide hundreds of stories and memories and I am happy to say that not one of them makes the book dull. They get some help from other people that knew Goodish/Brody like former tag team partner Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, Buck Robley, Jack Brisco, Kevin Von Erich, JJ Dillon, “Playboy” Gary Hart and others. Also included are people that only knew Goodish as a friend and neighbor for decades. The book is opened with a forward by Wrestling Observer publisher David Meltzer whom befriended Goodish in the 80’s and an introduction by hall of fame announcer Jim Ross who knew Goodish from his time working the Mid-South Territory.



This book gives a direct and honest look at Brody’s career from his debut to one of the worst nights in wrestling. Thanks to his working for famed St. Louis promoter Sam Muchnick, Mr. Matysik is able to take you behind the curtain to see how Goodish created Brody and how he looked out for himself when it came to dealings with penny pinching promoters. In between the wrestling talk Mrs. Goodish talks about her life and how she became Mrs. Goodish after meeting Frank on one of his trips to Australia in 1977. The book is filled with photos of Brody in action and Goodish at home with his family. The hardest chapters to read are titled What Might Have Been where Matysik and Goodish contemplate if Brody had never gone to Puerto Rico. Would he have possibly gone to WWF and wrestled then champion Hulk Hogan who he had faced in Japan? Would he have gone to WCW or even ECW? Would he be working as a road agent for WWE now and taking an active role in his son’s life? Thanks to Mr. Gonzalez we will never know but this book will help you remember the impact Goodish and his ring persona left on the world of wrestling for years to come.



For other books log onto www.ecwpress.com

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com

Alan Wojcik Reviews Pro Wrestling HOF: The Heels

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Please credit Alan J. Wojcik of http://alanwojcik.com if posted, thanks.


Slam! Wrestling’s Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson Ph.D. have been a busy duo in the last few years, writing a series of books under the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame title. They have written about Canadians and legendary tag teams and now they return with a book dedicated to the bad guys aka THE HEELS (ECW Press, 400pgs, $19.95 US.) I didn’t get a chance to read those two books but if they are anything like this new book I will be adding them to my library. Sorry about the length of this review but this book does not need to be spoiled by a page by page breakdown.



Oliver and Johnson go over and beyond the average wrestling history book, talking about heels from the beginnings of the sport through the territorial era to today’s WWE and TNA Wrestling stars. After an interesting foreword by “the Model” Rick Martel, the duo compiles what they consider the top 20 of all time which is filled with legends from “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers and the Sheik to modern stars “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. They begin the section with the reminder that their list is not a scientific top 20 and their top guys are not the one and only list, which I have to say has some interesting omissions (like “Superstar” Billy Graham who was a revolutionary of the 60’s & 70’s.)



Along with those extensive bios, they also group wrestlers into: the next five, the pioneers, the madmen, the egoists, the monsters, the technicians, the connivers, the tough guys and the foreigners. In those sections you will find some of your and my favorites (mine include Ric Flair, Jeff Jarrett, Tully Blanchard and “Million Dollar Man “Ted DiBiase) as well as stars your parents and grandparents grew up watching on a regional and national level. Mixed into the bios are some stories or legends that are brought to light after several decades of being told in locker rooms and on car trips to the next town including the world famous Jerry Lawler-Andy Kaufman battle. This is a great book and I cannot wait to see what Oliver and Johnson have in store for their installment in the series.



For other books log onto www.ecwpress.com

©2007 Combat Hooligans. Duplication of the content from this website without permission by its author(s) is prohibited. Any news, reports and commentary used from this site must be accompanied by a link to www.combat-hooligans.com