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GUEST EDITORIAL BOOK REVIEW
By Brian Kettler of Richmond, Ky., Torch subscriber

I just finished reading Hulk Hogan's new book today, and thought I'd give some of my thoughts and opinions. I've followed professional wrestling and his career about as closely as anyone over the last 25 years, and it was a book I was really looking forward to reading. In my opinion, it's a must read for any wrestling fan, or even people who only saw all the negative soundbytes over the last couple of years, and wanted to hear the full story.

The book starts out in December 2007, with him telling the story of how he almost committed suicide. He talks openly about having the gun in his hand, and how close he came to actually pulling the trigger. He later in the book goes into even more detail on this situation, which was clearly the lowest moment in his life. He talks about how he had to hit rock bottom to finally get his life back on track, and thankfully he finally has now. By the end of the book, it's clear he's reached a new level of peace in his life that he's never had before. I'll come back to this in a moment though.

This book, unlike his first book from 2002, just as the title states, focuses much more on his life outside the ring. There are many great personal stories in this book, and a lot more information about his family (from childhood years to present day). He talks a lot about his older brother Alan, who was eight years older than him. Alan was a true hell-raiser, if there ever was one. He talks about him drinking and doing drugs all the time when he was young, and getting in fights on almost a daily basis, and being arrested numerous times. He even tells a story of how Alan was shot in the back twice one night, got up and dusted himself off, drove himself to the hospital, and lived to tell the story. Hulk said as much as Alan loved confrontation, it was never something he enjoyed.

After reading this book, Alan clearly had a big impact on Terry growing up. Alan almost showed him what not to do in life, and what roads not to go down. He talks about Alan's death in 1986, which came from a drug overdose. This was during the peak of Hulkamania, and Alan had come to Terry to ask for money. At this point Alan was riding with Hells Angles out in California, and Hulk thought he was starting to get his life somewhat on track for the first time. Hulk hadn't seen him in years at this point, and Alan said he needed money for rent or regular type stuff, and Hulk said he gave him like $10,000 or something. It was later that night they heard he died of a drug overdose, apparently on the money Hulk had given him. Hulk said their mom had been saying for years, "one of these days we're gonna get a phone call about Alan, and it won't be good." Even though it didn't come as a complete shock to their family, and he gave him that money with the best of intentions, I still think Hulk lives with some of that grief.

Hogan pulls no punches in this book about his own shortcomings though. He talks openly about his steroid and other drug use. There are some great stories in this book about his early days in wrestling in the late '70s, and just how difficult it was for him to break into the wrestling business. Most everyone has heard the story of Hiro Matsuda breaking his leg to try and teach him respect for the business (that would've only happened in the '70s), but he goes much more in depth about just how much of a fish out of water he was in those early years. It really wasn't until he got out of Florida, and started working up in Memphis, that he really started to fit in for the first time. It was clearly a major uphill battle for him those first couple of years tying to break in, and just fit in. Not fitting in was something I think Hulk had struggled with a lot of his life, or probably more so thinking he didn't fit in.

Clearly a lot of the book is dedicated to the last couple of years, and everything he's had to go through in his personal life. It personally frustrated me with all of the irresponsible and inaccurate media reports that have been out there. He explains his full side of the story on just about everything, and even where he thought he made mistakes. Like I said, he pulls no punches in this book. He more than owns up for the things he thought he's done wrong in his life, but talks about some of the situations he thinks he was treated unfairly also.

He obviously talks a lot in the book about Linda, and their marriage over the years, and recent divorce. After reading this book, there is no doubt Linda ran that relationship, even Kevin Nash has talked about that before. First off, Linda has clearly had a major drinking problem for many years now. After watching "Hogan Knows Best," and reading numerous articles about her, it's pretty clear she's not the easiest person in the world to get along with, and has had her share of issues. Even though Hulk was this 300 lb. giant on TV, Linda was the screamer and yeller at home.

Hulk also talks about how this woman could spend money like no other, and how much of his millions had gone to waste on things she had bought. Nevertheless, Hulk loved her more than life itself, and had Linda not filed for divorce, I doubt Hulk ever would have. It's clear he's moved on now, and he's actually glad she did file for divorce looking back, but it took him 23 years to finally realize they just weren't good for each other anymore.

He goes into a good amount of detail about how scripted "Hogan Knows Best" was, and how little actual reality is in reality shows nowadays. I mean this was obvious, but I'm glad someone finally said it. Professional wrestling fully admits to being athletic entertainment, but I've never heard reality TV own up to that yet. I've been saying for the last decade, that reality shows have almost followed the exact same path as professional wrestling did in the United States. They started off being mainly real, and became more and more scripted over time. I mean if you go back into the early 1900s, there were plenty of "shoot" fights in professional wrestling, but not anymore. Real life is not always the most entertaining thing to watch.

One thing you'll pick up from reading this book is just how much he truly loves his children, and would do anything in the world for them. He talks about basically sitting in a chair for 28 straight days, by his cell phone constantly, doing anything and everything he could to help Nick out, when they first put him into solitary confinement. He was doing everything possible to make sure they got Nick moved to where he was supposed to go, and to be by his phone 24/7. He has also showed that same level of commitment to John Graziano throughout this entire situation as well, despite some of the uninformed media reports that came out.

For those not aware, John Graziano had been living with Hogan and his family before the car wreck. He had been great friends with their family for years. John had moved in with them because he was scared to death his dad was going to kill him, according to Hogan. John's dad had kicked his wife out of his house, so she was homeless for a while, until Hulk rented her an apartment. All of those media reports seem irresponsible because Hulk and his family did a ton for John and his family, both before and after the wreck. The best acting I've ever seen was John's dad on the witness stand, acting like he and his son were so close. He saw dollar signs, and nothing more. Hulk talked about how John's dad was arrested earlier this year for trying to kill his wife and had paid a hitman to do the job. It sounds like that guy was finally exposed for being the nut he really is. Hulk even talked about how John's dad rarely visited him at the hospital after the wreck, while Hulk and his family were there all the time.

Hulk talks about those jailhouse tapes that were released, where he said "God laid some heavy shit on that kid." He explains the obvious, where there were over 26 hours of tape, and TMZ spliced it into soundbytes to sound horrible (not to mention the lawsuit of releasing them in the first place). When Hulk said that, he wasn't even talking about the car wreck. He and Nick were talking about his life prior to the car wreck, and all the awful things he'd been through with his family and in his life. The Graziano family sounds like it's always been a mess, and Hogan's family has been helping them out for a long time. That's pretty clear in the book.

I'm not saying Hulk is a perfect parent (who is?), but the monster the media tried to make him out to be for a short while was clearly foolish and inaccurate. It really shocked me at the time how many people quickly turned on Hulk, without even knowing the full story. Hulk has always been a smart and savvy businessman for sure, but I've never heard anyone talk about Terry Bollea in a negative light until all of this went down.

There isn't a ton on Vince McMahon in this book, but it does have a few moments. Again, this book is a little more about his personal life, and a little less about the business side of things. He talks about going to church some as a child, and how religion has always played a role in his life, and even more so after all he's been through now. His new girlfriend Jennifer is clearly the best thing that could have happened to him recently. He talks so much about how positive and upbeat she is all the time, which was the complete opposite of what he had been used to with Linda.

Hulk really talks about being positive and upbeat in his life now, and how he prays every day for nothing but good things in his life and for his family, including Linda. He's clearly got a whole new mindset now, and truly seems as happy as he's ever been. I think he really wanted to send the message that "if I can get through all of this, you can get through the troubles in your life too."

I think this book does have a strong message, from one of the, if not the most famous person who's ever lived. I'm almost 31-years-old now, and Michael Jordan is the only person I've ever seen at Hulk's level in terms of being a household name in my lifetime. I've always firmly believed in the old saying, "never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes." I think that certainly applies here. Again, I think it's a very strong book with a strong message that just about anyone would get something out of. I would highly recommend it.

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