Professional Wrestling

THE SHORT: A fan's tongue-in cheek review of wrestling's golden era, the 80s to the turn of the century. The author has a divided audience due to his internet column, but this book is much less negative and cynical and covers the "sport" with such passion and knowledge that it makes this the best and most informative wrestling book I've read. THE LONG: I didn't know that this book's author, Scott Keith, has so many detractors until I saw negative reactions to him on the internet. It was then that I realized I'd read his second wrestling book, "Tonight In This Very Ring", which indeed is extremely judgmental and sometimes just cruel. Scott, like myself and many of you, is a fan generally thought of as a "smart mark"- that is, a fan who knows the truth behind most of what he's seeing yet watches it for the entertainment value and judges it accordingly. In that other book, "Tonight In This Very Ring", Scott shows what I believe people dislike in him- flat out disgust with the (admittedly worsening) product, so much that he seems to overstep his bounds as a fan and tear into the pseudo-sport as if he wishes he was calling the shots himself. That's why I love this book so much (and did for a couple years before I read "Tonight"): It features Scott's legitimately extensive and correct knowledge of wrestling's inner-workings, but since it's part of a series that he didn't create (The "Buzz On..." series), it seems as if there was a natural restraint to his language and prose. As a result the entire mood of the book is different. If "Tonight" was a harshly critical and expectant viewpoint from a jaded fan, "The Buzz On" is a fan's history of the WWE/WCW that appreciates its better offerings but shows reserved disappointment when it could clearly do better. This book then does two things that I believe it does best: Takes us through wrestling's circus-like heyday of the 80s and into the evolution of several of its most prominent characters, and also takes the action with a grain of salt. For example, unlike "Tonight" in which you'll see Scott flat-out call the Undertaker names that I can't recite here, in "Buzz" you'll see him basically laugh in disbelief when the same character morphs into an apparent zombie whose magic urn is stolen. In other words, he calls it like it is, and pokes fun where you know it should occur- but he's not overly aggressive or mean-spirited about it. The tone of this book is one of a fan who knows what wrestling can offer, and is disappointed when it goes terribly wrong. As also stated, one of the book's finest virtues is a pretty thorough trip through wrestling's best years, the mid 80s. I haven't read any other book that describes the goofery of that specific decade so deeply, such as the feud between Jake the Snake Roberts and the Honkytonk Man, or the politics between Hulk Hogan winning Randy "Macho Man" Savage's title (which even Hogan's shallow autobiography didn't bother getting into). This is the era when I grew up w

People either love this book or hate it, not because of the book, but because of petty Internet feuds with the author. Notice, however, that only Scott Keith has written this book, and no one else. It is the only one of its kind in the field, and it's a great primer on the last 20 years of pro-wrestling. Yes, it's filled with spelling mistakes, but blame the publisher for that, not the author.

If you're tired of being treated like an idiot when it comes to wrestling, then this is the book for you. Scott Keith sheds new light on wrestling and doesn't insult your intelligence by claiming it is real--nor does he sneer at you for enjoying this magical form of entertainment which so many people love. I often like to think I know a lot about wrestling but I have learned stuff I didn't know from reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a GOOD book about wrestling. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's the best wrestling book ever written by someone not named Foley :) I look forward to a sequel or more books by Scott and anyone wanting to read more of Scott's stuff need only go--right there--to TheSmarks.com! *thumbs up, cheap pop*

Entertaining crap is what Scott always refers to something he didn't expect much out of and and got something pretty good. As good as Scott is on [the website] (the best site on the web),I thought this would end up being anothe IDIOTS GUIDE TO PRO WRESTLING. Thank god it wasn't where that book had a lot of wrong information put off as facts, Scott manages to tell the wrestlers kayfabe and real stories in a nice blend. At least as good as the very best wrestling book Have A NICE DAY. That is the highest praise I can give a wrestling book. I can't help but think if Scott did this book the way he does his rants on Rantsylvania it would have been that much better. However this book is excellent.

Countless times I'm forced to explain the addiction that is pro wresting to family and friends. Now, given that they have the time to read it, I have a book to do it for me."The Buzz on Pro Wrestling" is the premiere resource for learning about Sports Entertainment. For anyone just tuning in, it provides a brief but thorough history and education in backstage lingo and politics; it took me months to learn what it took just several hours to read here and transfrom from mark to smart mark.The book is set up quite logically, setting the record straight ("oh, those brain-dead hicks all think it's real!") and giving a crash course in Wrestling 101: the early days, the genesis and blueprint of the match itself, and the setup of the industry. It then transitions into the three major eras of modern wrestling: Rock 'n Wrestling, the Dark Ages, and the NWO/Attitude Era. Even a new fan or someone who's never watched at all can follow along and even gain an appreciation for the backstage nuances that drive one to spend an entire paycheck on Observer and Torch subscriptions.Not a lot in the book was that new to me, as most of it has been laid out by Scott Keith before in his scores of Pay-Per-View reviews and history rants at Rantsylvania.com. But the book puts it all together in story form with some new information intertwined. Even for those who have a good knowledge of the history of Sports Entertainment, it's fun to sit back and rehash, maybe even learning a few new things. For those who don't know the "sport's" rich, soap opera-ish background, well, the author said it best.BUY THE BOOK