So, in full disclosure, I have to tell you that I’ve been a fan of Between the Ropes, the radio show, for several years. I discovered it before even starting the Wrestling Mayhem Show. A lot of the show has inspired me in my own show production, and has entertained me to no end for maybe four years. When Veronica had given me the Between the Ropes book as a gift, I was excited for the prospect.
Now, this book is seperated into two types of content. Spread through out are chunks of chapters about the show, it’s crew, and the antics of their decade of the show. The story of how the show got it’s start, the infamous table piledriver with Jerry Lynn, and the best and worse of all of their guests are detailed.
The second “part” of the book that is bookended by these stories are the detailed histories of the WWE/WWF, WCW, ECW, and TNA. Now, that’s good for people who are new to wrestling, or at least the “insider” side of it. But maybe that’s the goal. A bit of a wrestling handbook by the guys who are the authority in the matter. The only problem is that I read the Death of WCW. While interesting, the story of these companies eventually get muddled with figures and numbers of ratings and gates.
The saving grace of this book are the quotes from the people that were there. Seemingly, they trolled their historic roster of interviews to help give an authentic insider look at the history of wrestling in the last 20 years. Some of these are priceless.
So overall, Between the Ropes is a must for fans of the show, those interested in being inspired by a radio show that’s been there for the long haul, and if you’re interested, find out how wrestling got here, that don’t mind the numbers, especially for the younger fans that haven’t been around since the Mega-Powers exploded…
If you’re interested in the book, help a brother out and pick it up here.