Awesome Truth: A Wrestling Book Club

Many people consider Shawn Michaels the best worker in the history of pro wrestling; some will go as far as to say "the greatest wrestler of all time." One of those superfans is an Awesome Truth cohost! His second book, Wrestling for My Life, covers not only Shawn's WWE comeback but his belief in Jesus Christ. How does the Heartbreak Kid link faith and wrestling? And what's it like to read the Showstopper's recaps of classic matches like his WrestleMania showdowns with Chris Jericho and the Undertaker? Join us as we examine Shawn Michaels from 2002 to 2010, as told by the man himself.

"Classy" Freddie Blassie holds a unique place in wrestling history as one of the most despised and beloved personalities of all time. It was a no-brainer for Awesome Truth to tackle his autobiography, especially since it was cowritten by our friend Keith Elliot Greenberg. After a brief introduction, Keith returns to the podcast for a conversation on Blassie's in-ring career, his memorable moments as a manager, and what it was like to interview Vince McMahon. This is an episode that even pencil neck geeks won't want to miss.

In 1989, Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan had a dream: Bring the World Wrestling Federation to the silver screen. What we got was No Holds Barred, a remarkable mess of a movie that's barely about pro wrestling. Rather than return to the written word, the Awesome Truth boys watched Rip take on Zeus for the very first time. In the process, they found out why McMahon's WWE Studios decided to focus on direct-to-video, and why Hogan never starred in a hit.

The Royal Rumble is one of the most wonderful events on the pro wrestling calendar, and with good reason: you can't help but anticipate what Vince McMahon and WWE will do next. Hot on the heels of the 2018 Royal Rumble, the Awesome Truth boys use this WWE documentary to revisit the history of this legendary match and relive their favorite Rumble moments, from Stone Cold Steve Austin and Ric Flair to CM Punk and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Do any wrestling stars, even the great Chris Jericho, need to have authored four books? Jericho's latest tome is the first we're covering on Awesome Truth; luckily for us, Y2J makes No Is a Four-Letter Word into a motivational self-help book, as opposed to another recap of his time in and out of the ring. And given that Walt and Steve just got back from Tokyo for Wrestle Kingdom 12 and Alpha vs Omega, there's no better time to examine the creative genius of Jericho.

WWE has taken another step into the documentary business, as its recent retrospective on Kevin Owens did excellent numbers on the WWE Network. But what does it mean to watch a WWE documentary? Is it an additional chance for Vince McMahon and Triple H to work us, or are we actually getting a peek behind the curtain? And why was Kevin Owens chosen for this particular opportunity? Rather than break down a book, we opened up the Network and finished out 2017 with a bang. It's time for The Kevin Owens Show.

AJ Mendez Brooks, known in WWE as AJ Lee, truly changed the face of women's wrestling. She also went through childhood hardships and emotional trauma that would've crippled many others. In her memoir, Crazy Is My Superpower, AJ talks not only about her time in pro wrestling—and her marriage to CM Punk—but how she overcame her struggles with mental illness. This week on Awesome Truth, we pore over the brief career and remarkable life of AJ Lee.

By now, almost everyone has seen ESPN's new 30 for 30 on Ric Flair, entitled Nature Boy. But how did director Rory Karpf do in capturing the unique magic of Flair, not to mention the peaks and valleys of being a pro wrestler? Our wrestling book club moves beyond the written word for the second time to examine the rare sports documentary that probes professional wrestling; this week, we're talking Ric, Charlotte, Vince McMahon, Triple H, drinking, sex, exposing one's self, and everything else Flair.

When Dave Bautista released his autobiography in 2007, he couldn't have realized that by 2017 he'd be starring in some of the biggest movies in the world. Yet here we are, with "The Animal" now more widely known as Drax the Destroyer. Before Dave was a movie star, however, he was a pro wrestler trying to make it in Vince McMahon's "ruthless aggression" era of WWE. On this episode of Awesome Truth, we examine an autobiography that came out a bit too early: the story of Batista's upbringing, sexual escapades, and rise to become WWE champion.

We try to celebrate the best of the best here on Awesome Truth, but sometimes you have to embrace the crap. Lucky for us, there's a book fully dedicated to all the garbage pro wrestling has offered us over the years. WrestleCrap has been a staple of pro wrestling since the internet came to be, documenting the worst offenses of WWF, WCW, Vince McMahon, and Eric Bischoff, but does its short, snarky style lend itself to book form? On today's episode, we get out our shovels and start digging through the Shockmaster, the Doomsday Cage match, Bastion Booger, Mantaur, Hillbilly Jim, and all the rest of pro wrestling's most famously awful angles, matches, and gimmicks.

Knowing what we know about Hollywood Hulk Hogan, it's no surprise he'd title his autobiography with just his name. The biggest icon in pro wrestling likely has more great stories than anyone, but the Hulk Hogan mythos too often gets in the way of reality. On the latest episode of Awesome Truth, we try to separate Hulk fact from Hogan fiction as we delve into the life of Terry Bollea, the man who put professional wrestling (and, to hear him tell it, Vince McMahon) on his back and carried sports entertainment to new heights.

Bret "The Hitman" Hart is defined by his matches: Davey Boy Smith at SummerSlam 1992, Owen Hart at WrestleMania X, Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIII. In part two of Awesome Truth's dissection of Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, we dive into Bret's best matches and the angles that made him a pro wrestling legend, along with the Montreal Screwjob and a doomed stint in WCW that left the Hart Family's finest son reeling.

When it comes to wrestling literature, it doesn't get much better than Hitman by Bret Hart, a 593-page journey into the seamy underbelly of professional wrestling. From Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling to Vince McMahon's WWF and finally the depressing downfall of WCW, Bret saw it all and lived to tell about it. In between talking about Davey Boy, Owen, Hogan, Andre, and Jim the Anvil, he's also not afraid to talk about all the ring rats and infidelity he succumbed to along the way. On the first of a two-part Hitman episode, we discuss all things Hart Family and all things Bret and Vince.

Of all the shows Netflix offers on its service, you would not assume a lightly fictionalized retelling of women's wrestling in the 1980s would be a major hit. But critics and wrestling fans everywhere loved GLOW, the story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling as told by Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Marc Maron, and a bunch of other wonderful women (plus Brodus Clay and Alex Riley cameos). In Awesome Truth's initial foray away from being a wrestling book club, we discuss the first season of GLOW and how well it shares the stories of pro wrestling.

From the early 1980s on, every story about professional wrestling is a story about Vince McMahon. So what are the boys to do with a book that is, by its title, all about Vince? On this episode of Awesome Truth, we discuss Sex, Lies, and Headlocks, an attempt by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham to tell both the story of Mr. McMahon and of pro wrestling in one swoop. They may not succeed entirely, but we get some great Vinnie McMahon highlights along the way, including how MTV's Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection began and how Vince assisted in the destruction of Jim Crockett Promotions. And, of course, a preview of the renowned Vince McMahon biopic...

Daniel Bryan is one of the most beloved wrestlers of all time; surprisingly, he also might be the best author. On this episode of Awesome Truth, we discuss Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania, a fun and detailed recap of Bryan's career through New Japan, Ring of Honor, the armories and carnivals of England, and finally the WWE and WrestleMania XXX glory. Along the way, we try to figure out just how Bryan's autobiography—without leaning on controversy, rumor, or innuendo—ended up being one of the all-time wrestling book greats.

Justin Roberts spent over a decade as the ring announcer for Raw, Smackdown, and ECW; now he's written a tell-all book that reveals what it's like to be a forgotten, mistreated WWE employee. But is his exposé a worthwhile piece of wrestling literature? On this episode of Awesome Truth, we discuss Best Seat in the House, the Roberts autobiography that lit up the dirtsheets, tore into Vince McMahon and Triple H, and helped make WWE bullying into national news.

Welcome to Awesome Truth, a wrestling book club in podcast form. On this introductory episode, we will be discussing Ric Flair: To Be the Man by Ric Flair and Keith Elliot Greenberg. Flair has long been one of the most provocative and outrageous people in professional wrestling, and his stories in this book are only matched by his remarkable honesty in discussing the many trials and tribulations of being a true world champion. Not only that, but Keith himself joins us for a Q&A on how he got into the wrestling business, how he came to cowrite Flair's autobiography, and what it was like to tell the story of The Nature Boy.