And I care more about passing and doing well in college, rather than providing an early review of a wrestling book in an internet column. I will say, with Kurt Angle's book, that I'm rocketing through it, and at this pace, I should have a review for you on next Wednesday's PDC. However, I do have a HUGE final to worry about next week, and again, I won't let wrestling interests get in the way of school. Everyone else should follow that policy, too. Besides having a top tier job in the WWF, you aren't hardly going to make money with anything concerning wrestling.
I will say, though, that I like Angle's book, so far, and I do hope that I can set aside some free time to read a significant chunk of it to finish it before Finals start. If not, then I'll definitely have it by Thanksgiving, which is closer than you think.
Let's get through some Daily Apples, and then proceed to the review! On to the PDC!
-I will confess that I like the new line up of trainers for Tough Enough 2. Ivory instead of Jackie is a great move, because Jackie seemed to get too attached to the contestants. Ivory can get quite mean, and it will be great entertainment to see a contestant piss her off. Secondly, I like the addition of Hardcore Holly to the show, although he's injured. He's just tough as nails, and he'll command respect from the wrestlers. Also, the addition of Chavo Guerrero will be nice. He's very under-utilized in the WWF right now, and he'll be a nice addition to help the smaller wrestlers. Josh could have used him.
I think it's a good decision to oust Tazz from the show. Aside from the 2nd episode (or 3rd), Tazz really didn't do much for the show. Keeping Al Snow on the show is very smart on the WWF's part, which amazes me in another way, because the WWF doesn't use Al too much for their television programs now, other than Heat. He could get some strong face reactions if they pushed him off the show, instead of just one match with Tazz.
-Oh, and back to the ratings. Excess drew a 0.6 in the rating. Doesn't that measure that under a million people decided to tune in and watch the show? Yikes. It just goes to show you that lame shill shows for the WWF will not work from the overexposed product we see on Monday and Thursday night, especially on a Saturday night. If the show could be deemed a success, from WWF standards, then it would go above 1.0. Instead, we're below...
-From RAW, I completely forgot about seeing Chuck Palumbo and Billy Gunn formed as a tag team. My response: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Excuse me. What good can they do? For one, Billy Gunn sucks. It took years for the WWF to figure that one out, as he's been nothing but a Heat wrestler for the past few months. Secondly, Chuck Palumbo is still hurting because he has yet to adjust to the WWF. He looked good in WCW, but that's with a smaller ring with tighter, steel cable ropes. Now, he's wrestling in a bigger ring with some guys dominating you because of seniority in the company, etc, etc.
However, the book also provides knowledge or opinions about a lot of stuff in professional wrestling, along with a good bit of humor attempted. Mick Foley provides his own analysis on Drugs, Backyard Wrestling, the Media, and what goes on when you are a best selling author. I thought, though, that he over-did it with his discussion on his first book or his experiences surrounding it.
The humor, though, isn't as funny as the first and a bit overdone at times. You can only tell so many Posse, Test, and Al Snow jokes, so many times, in one book. Especially the ones with Test. If nobody read his first book, they'd probably get confused at how or why Foley pokes fun at those wrestlers. It seemed that during the times when he tried to get serious with his thoughts, he'd insert one of those ribs towards one of those wrestlers. However, I did value his opinions or knowledge, greatly. Foley is a very smart man.
There's some really good sections in this book. I like the Royal Rumble 1998 discussion, where he began to have some actual heat with the Rock after their match. Rock didn't check on Foley after bashing Mick's head in with a chair, more than 10 times, which created the friction between two of WWF's big stars at the time. Also, his area on Backyard Wrestling was quite good, and if anyone is in a backyard fed, you should make time to read it. Foley provides some great advice there.
The drugs section was a strong area. Foley did not expose the business, at all, as he described what he remembered seeing. Instead of bashing wrestlers for doing any drug use (mostly prescription), he provided lots of reasons for why a wrestler would find an addition. Take Eddie Guerrero, for instance, and he wasn't mentioned in the book. Eddie, ever since he was in a vicious car accident on New Years during one moment in WCW, has been taking pain pills, basically like candy. Why? After the accident, Guerrero received many injuries in the ring, and his body was just in pain. I'm sure he didn't feel well from the long road trips a wrestler makes, meaning he can't just rest at home and recover from injury.
A couple other things... Foley gave a long analysis on Vince McMahon, which was in detail of their relationship or of anything that Vince has done in the wrestling business. It's very honest and unbiased. The Owen Hart chapter is interesting, as it gave a full backstage analysis of what happened to Owen. If you wanted to know the feeling of the wrestlers and WWF officials of what went down, then this chapter is it. Also, Foley provides how sad and low he felt during his final months in wrestling, as he kept putting down his performances. It's quite depressing to read how he felt, as his body gave way in wrestling.
The Epilogue was an informative read, although if someone paid no attention to the controversy on the internet, then one could get lost reading this. Not everyone knew that the PTC (Parents Television Council) was the reason for ads turning up missing on Smackdown or that they helped to tone down the WWF's image. However, if you knew about it, then the chapter came as an interest to you. Foley was good on displaying the facts on the Bozell family, and he was very strong on exposing the hypocracy of Brent Bozell III, the current head and voice of the PTC.
LAST WORD: Very solid book, all around. I do like the first book much better though, even though Foley admits to liking the 2nd one better. This book, however, is great for filling in a lot of the gaps that the first left out, and for the most part, it's a great read. I'll give this an
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@That's all for today, kiddies. I'll be back, tomorrow, to hype Smackdown in a non-spoiler way, and then some. Until the next PDC, just chill.......
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.