Book – Undisputed: How to Become World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps
Author – Chris Jericho
Year – 2011
Genre – Autobiography
Pages – 448
Bought for me by Robert Hyde
So, I have a bit of catching up to do now. And to confess, I am not going to do the next few in order. They will simply be books that I have read recently and haven’t yet blogged. Well, okay, some of them will be books I read a little while back but simply hadn’t blogged.
And first to here, the second autobiography of the wrestler Chris Jericho. Picking up where the first book left off, with Jericho’s debut in the WWE, a big difference here is that the contents of this book are primarily about a period of his life that I know considerably better than in the first book which largely chronicled his exploits in Mexico, Japan and WCW.
And it is incredibly interesting. Jericho is one of the all time greats, and known for bis inventiveness of character as well as his in-ring skill, and this comes across in the book. His insights are generally pretty funny, and when talking about Chris Benoit – his real life best friend and World Champion who became a double murderer before killing himself – a completely different side comes across which is both brave and touching. You can see his wild sense of humour, juxtaposed alongside a mixture of pain at losing someone he was close to, and distress at what he became. For a book about as frivolous an idea as professional wrestling, this is an incredible tone to set.
In almost every way this is a superior book to his first autobiography. Unfortunately, the big downside is the sheer amount of time Jericho spends talking about his band, Fozzy. I understand that it is a huge part of his life, but personally I am a fan of wrestling not metal, so these chapters tend to drag a lot.
Which makes it a pity that he is currently spending considerably more time touring with the band than in the ring, as his third autobiography is due out later on this year. I will of course buy it, and probably enjoy it a lot, but I am not particularly looking forward to wading through the latest updates on the metal scene.
8/10