Title/Author:
“Owen Hart: King of
Pranks: The Ultimate
Anthology of Owen's Greatest Ribs, Pranks and Stories” by James Romero
Tags:
Wrestling,
professional, biography, history
Publish date:
November 25, 2019
Length:
453 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
Owen Hart was a long-time performer
in professional wrestling and had two reputations. One was that he was loyal, hard-working and
would take part in nearly any role, whether it was as a babyface or a
heel. The other reputation he had was as
a prankster, playing jokes and tricks on practically anyone involved in the
business. This book by James Romero has
much material on the pranks, but it is also a serious biography on Hart’s life.
If a reader is looking for just
light, funny reading about Hart’s jokes and pranks, there is plenty of them,
but that won’t be clear from the start.
Hart died when a stunt for a World Wrestling Federation (then-WWF) went
horribly wrong and he fell to his death when he was supposed to make a dramatic
entrance inside the ring from above. While that seems like it would detract
from the book, I give the author much credit for writing about that horrible
event with objectivity and with much knowledge.
It certainly is an attention-grabber and will get the reader hooked into
reading more about Hart.
While each chapter contains plenty
of jokes played on others by Hart, there is also serious material as each
chapter starts out with descriptions of Hart’s early life and his subsequent
wrestling career, much of it side by side with his brother Brett. There are many ups and downs in Owen’s career
and they are all covered completely in these segments.
However, the book concentrates on
the pranks Owen played on nearly anyone and everyone. These accounts came from
many different sources – fellow wrestlers, friends, and even his widow Martha.
Like any other collection of stories, there are good ones, not-so-good ones and
everything in between. There are some
that Owen would do repeatedly and a few are described in the book, such as
messing with the driver of a car by giving wrong directions or other similar
pranks. If I had to pick a favorite
story, it would be the one in which a new announcer was parched before having
to do an interview and Owen was right there to help with a soft drink. But instead of giving it to him to drink, the
announcer had it run down his body and had to conduct the interview in wet,
sticky pants. That was one of the
stories that had me laughing out loud.
Overall, this book is a very good
tribute to Owen Hart, who not only was a prankster but also a kind man outside
of the ring, giving advice to new wrestlers as well as helping others in any
way he could. While his death was tragic
and was easily preventable, this book helps to ensure his legacy will live on.
I wish to thank Mr. Romero for
providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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