In The Pit With Piper [Mass Market Paperback]

If I had to compare Piper's 'voice' in this book to anyone else's it would be to John Madden, in his book "One Size Does Not Fit All." It's conversational in tone and pace, and that makes you feel at home listening to Piper tell you himself. I have no doubt that was part of the design when he decided to write this. In some ways, the book is a lot like his Piper's Pit segments on television.

The skinny: You will get a close up look at how 'real' wrestling was in those days; about how a match might be scripted, but the 'loser' would beat the hell out of the 'winner' just to make him earn it. It's one thing to admire a wrestler's athleticism, but Piper tells you how it was [and is] to risk injuries night after night because you wanted to give the fans a great show. That's one of the beautiful things about this book. Piper doesn't pat himself on the back about that, he states it as matter-of-fact, exactly like a professional who actually cares about his fans would state it.

The only times that Piper goes a bit overboard is on his mic-work and character presence. Not that he wasn't great or innovative, -he certainly was, but he almost takes credit for intentionally creating the entire practice of it. Still I can't blame him for shorting Vince McMahon Jr., he clearly still dislikes the guy. But nobody can deny McMahon's genius at gathering wrestling stars under one banner. Without that foresight individual promoters would've run pro-wrestling into the ground a decade ago with their greed and limited vision.

In the Pit with Piper is a very good book. Better than the Rock's book by far; an interesting and real look at Piper as he talks openly about himself, his humble beginnings, the pain and joy [in front of and behind the camera] and the grandeur of pro wrestling then and now.

Buy it and get to know the man they call "Rowdy".

He tells it like it is. You really learn all about Piper's life, his career and all the controversy of drug abuse in the wrestling business that Vince McMahon likes to censor from his books. This isn't Jerry Lawler or Hogan's puff piece. This is one of the best wrestling autobiographies to put in your library. It is definitely one of the best books I have ever read and I recommend it to all real wrestling fans, not the casual fans.

If 'In The Pit With Piper' is taken seriously, then it must be wholly believed that Roddy Piper - and not Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, nor any other number of wrestling luminaries - was solely responsible for the wrestling boom in the eighties, and that he's the only man in the business with enough clout and experience to save it today.

Roddy Piper is perhaps the last of the true old-school veterans; the ones who refused to move with the times. This book exposes Piper as a selfish anachronism of a man; trying to make waves in a pool that's outgrown him beyond his own scope and expectations.

Perhaps Piper could be viewed in a more sympathetic light if someone else had dug up the dirt and splayed Piper's attitudes and opinions all over the pages of this book. But as the words, revelations and ego all belong to Piper himself, it's hard to feel sorry for what he has become.

The actual content is interesting enough, with Piper's life covered in close detail from his childhood streetlife to the professional void that he was trapped in at the time of the book's completion - some time before his failed attempt at a WWE revival. Naturally, he'll blame Vince McMahon for that, too.

Overall? A fair read with some interesting stories spoiled only by the arrogance of the man telling the tale, and not a patch on Mick Foley's fair and honest account of how pro wrestling really is. Piper's mistrust and paranoid point of view sours what could have been a memorable reading experience