Home :: Books :: Sports  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports

Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Bobby the Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All

Bobby the Brain: Wrestling's Bad Boy Tells All

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $13.97
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Really good book from an entertaining character
Review: Growing up watching wrestling in the 1980s, I became a huge fan of Bobby the Brain. He was one of the most entertaining characters in the history of the business. His quick wit and weasil-like antics made him a guy fans "loved to hate".

I was excited to hear he was coming out with a biography. He was in the business for a long time and was an important part of some of the biggest angles in wrestling.

His book lived up to my expectations quite well. For those of you who have heard him in interviews, you know he's a great story-teller. He documents a lot of great stories in this book in vintage "Bobby the Brain" fashion.

My favorite story involved some fans who snuck backstage at an AWA show, leading to an impromptu brawl between wrestling "advesaries"... all in the hopes of preserving the illusiion that wrestling is real.

Some really great stuff in this book. Bobby seems like a natural writer.

My only disappointment was that he didn't discuss his time in WCW as much as I would have liked. WCW is where he spent his last years in the business as a commentator, and I was hoping for a little more detail about that time period in his career. Oh well, rumor has it that he's writing another book.

I highly recommend this book for old-time wrestling fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Brain doesn't Weasel his way out!
Review: Having followed Bobby Heenan's carrer through the WWF & WCW days, I was most interested in this book. A lot of interesting comments about various individuals involved in the business and on many of them he does not hold back. Great stuff in particular on Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, and Tony Schiavone(a real dislike for him). Good stuff about the regional territories of the 1960's and 1970's as well. My only negative comment is that he did not talk a lot about Rick Rude(and apparently Heenan did not care too much for Rude). A number of hilarious tales in here as well. A must read for wrestling fans.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: a bit short on detail
Review: I first encountered Bobby "The Brain" Heenan while watching wrestling on saturday mornings. I was a pretty young kid at the time, less than 10 years old. Heenan, nicknamed "The Weasel" by the fans, was the manager of most of the heel wrestlers. "Heel" is the wrestling term for a bad guy. I never liked the guy, but he was always entertaining. For a wrestler to align himself with Heenan it would instantly turn him into a heel as well. Heenan was that effective in his role as the Heel Manager.

All wrestling biographies will inevitably be compared to that of Mick Foley's Have a Nice Day . The comparison will be in how truthful the biography is, how much detail it goes into, and how entertaining it is to read. Mick "Mankind" Foley set the bar high. Heenan's book is an entertaining and quick read. It appears to be truthful, breaking kayfabe (wrestling term for protecting the secrets of the business). While reviewers of Hulk Hogan's book take him to task for inaccurate detail, i have not seen any of the same problems with Heenan's book. However, Bobby Heenan does not go into much detail at all. For a biography of a wrestling legend (40 years in the business) to be less than 200 pages, so much seems to be left out.

As a wrestling fan, it was nice to get a glimpse of a man i knew next to nothing about. That was all it was, though, a glimpse. It left me wanting to know more

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: a bit short on detail
Review: I first encountered Bobby "The Brain" Heenan while watching wrestling on saturday mornings. I was a pretty young kid at the time, less than 10 years old. Heenan, nicknamed "The Weasel" by the fans, was the manager of most of the heel wrestlers. "Heel" is the wrestling term for a bad guy. I never liked the guy, but he was always entertaining. For a wrestler to align himself with Heenan it would instantly turn him into a heel as well. Heenan was that effective in his role as the Heel Manager.

All wrestling biographies will inevitably be compared to that of Mick Foley's Have a Nice Day . The comparison will be in how truthful the biography is, how much detail it goes into, and how entertaining it is to read. Mick "Mankind" Foley set the bar high. Heenan's book is an entertaining and quick read. It appears to be truthful, breaking kayfabe (wrestling term for protecting the secrets of the business). While reviewers of Hulk Hogan's book take him to task for inaccurate detail, i have not seen any of the same problems with Heenan's book. However, Bobby Heenan does not go into much detail at all. For a biography of a wrestling legend (40 years in the business) to be less than 200 pages, so much seems to be left out.

As a wrestling fan, it was nice to get a glimpse of a man i knew next to nothing about. That was all it was, though, a glimpse. It left me wanting to know more

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's Good!
Review: I grew up enjoying professional wrestling as a child and I still enjoy the spectacle of the "show". Heenan is one of wrestling's legendary talkers. He was never blessed with a great build, but nobody can tell a story like Bobby "the Brain". This book would have rated "5 Stars" if it had been longer. If you are a fan of pro wrestling, you'll enjoy having this in your collection. There are some hilarious anecdotes sprinkled throughout. It's almost like sitting down with Heenan and listening to him tell you about his adventures.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's Good!
Review: I grew up enjoying professional wrestling as a child and I still enjoy the spectacle of the "show". Heenan is one of wrestling's legendary talkers. He was never blessed with a great build, but nobody can tell a story like Bobby "the Brain". This book would have rated "5 Stars" if it had been longer. If you are a fan of pro wrestling, you'll enjoy having this in your collection. There are some hilarious anecdotes sprinkled throughout. It's almost like sitting down with Heenan and listening to him tell you about his adventures.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best autobiography since A tale of Blood and Sweatsocks!
Review: I had looked forward to reading this book since I first heard about it. It lived up to most of my expectations. The style of the book was written in classic Heenan commentary. The fact that he focused a great deal of the book on his career starting from the beinning and working his way through the years made the book flow very easily. It is written in a nice conversational style that gives the readers a better understanding the way the wrestling world used to be and to some degree still is. Heenan gave many details and particulars of his long career, however I feel that some stories were wrapped up a little too quickly and that only the very surface of Bobby Heenan the man and the performer have been touched on.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A little bit of Brain is better than no Brain at all
Review: I have been a fan of Bobby Heenan since the early 70s when he was "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan and he was managing the likes of the Blackjacks, the Valiant Brothers, and Baron von Raschke in the AWA against foes such as Bruiser and Crusher, Pepper Gomez and Cowboy Bob Ellis. I actually felt sorry for poor Bobby as he was repeatedly bashed and bloodied by the "faces." Years later I re-discovered pro-wrestling and there was ol' Bobby, now known as the "Brain" managing Andre the Giant and so many other greats.

Therefore, it was with great expectation that I purchased this book and read it on a four and a half hour flight recently. While happy to read about Bobby Heenan in his own words, I was disappointed by the book's brevity. This is more a series of anecdotes loosely organized into chapters than a coherent biography of the man and his sport.

The Brain covers his early years in the AWA much too swiftly as he does also with his recent years in WCW. He basically covers his work with the Valiant brothers in one sentence by saying they were awful. He mentions Blackjack Lanza but skips his managing of the Blackjacks (Lanza and Mulligan), which included a feud with Bruiser and Crusher that culminated in a gruesome cage match at Chicago's Soldier Field (where Heenan actually vomited in the ring).

That is not to say that this book is a waste. Even a little Brain is better than none at all. Bobby gives us story after story of how a particular wrestler worked in the ring or how certain promoters screwed over the wrestlers. He gives insight into how wrestlers get along outside the ring and how they manage to protect themselves from over-zealous fans.

The most touching parts of the book are the final chapters in which Bobby discusses his search for his long-lost father and his recent battle with throat cancer. It is in these stories that we see the true man behind the wrestling facade.

While this book could have been much more, I am thankful for this small piece of wrestling history from one of the more important figures in sports entertainment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Brain Does It Again!
Review: I highly recommend this book to everyone. Bobby the brain has done it again. My only knock on the book is I wanted more. One story after another. Hilarious. Written by someone who's seen it all. I breezed thru it in one evening.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: If you love "The Brain," you'll love the book.
Review: I thought this was a very entertaining book and a quick read. The only problem I had with it was that Bobby talks so highly of Vince McMahon, you'd think he was a saint. Not saying McMahon is all bad, but I think old "Weasel" should have been a little more open about how McMahon is. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book to any true wrestling fan.


<< 1 2 3 4 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates