I'm laying here with a bunch of poison ivy covering my body. The last few days I've been working down in the woods to clear out the overgrowth and, well, I don't usually dress properly for the job.

A supporter of mine, mailed me a copy of this book a couple years ago. I saw the cover and I thought it was about action figures, so I wasn't keen on diving into it. I'm not even much of a reader. I got into it as a goal one year and it got out of hand for a minute. I think my main book type would be Biographies and anything by Mitch Albom.

I've decided to down-size my book collection, so I had to read some of the books that I haven't yet. I grabbed this one. 

There were chapters labeled with Tony Atlas, Tito Santana and some other memorable names from my youth including the main character, The Iron Sheik. 

I've never met The Iron Sheik, but I almost booked him to wrestle at a show in Maine in 2012. That event never came through, however, I know I have a graphic for the event promotional material, so maybe someday I'll pull that out.

I've known Tony Atlas since 1998 when I attended events and we've been on countless events together...and we've wrestled maybe a handful of times against one another. I've heard Tony's story many times, but Brad Balukjian (also from New England - another reason I think I enjoyed it) really nailed Tony's personality. Made me like Tony even more than I do...and I got an inside look at Tony Atlas' foot fetish, even though upon reading about it, I still don't know if it's a sexual thing.

I've got an autographed copy of Tony's book that I haven't read...I gotta make it a point to do that.

I wrestled Tito Santana in Northern Maine back in 2011, so that grabbed my attention. There's a great story about Tito coming around to being proud of his gay son after decades of struggling with it. I was a Strike Force fan, so hearing some of that story was nice. 

A few quotes jumped out at me, especially early in the read. Why do we like pro wrestling? We know it's "fake" and we know the guys aren't really try to maim one another, so what's the appeal. I think this quote nails it. I can relate to what he wrote.

I wish I had read it sooner when a fan asked me to explain the mind-set behind pro wrestling and why people like it.

Another thing that grabbed me was when he mentioned that to a wrestler "home was the road." Sitting in the car, heading somewhere...that was where wrestlers felt most comfortable. I used to drive all over this country and other countries from big city to small town and almost everywhere in between. I still enjoy sitting in my car to chat on the phone, listen to music and let my ideas work themselves out.

I'll share one last section from the book, as I'm not trying to do a book report for a college course or fulfill some obligation to Brad Balukjian - I just enjoyed the book and thought you may, too.

I felt that. I'm roughly the same age as the author and we have shared similar experiences. Life is a wild ride. I don't think I need to elaborate further on that. If you know, you know. 

After that book, I realize I was halfway through WWE wrestler Tajiri's book. I figured while on a roll that I'd bang that one out. It was nice to read. A neat inside look at his life and his journey inside the world of pro wrestling.