PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

FIVE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES I'D LIKE TO SEE WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT PUBLISH

As 2007 comes to an end, one of the more interesting and entertaining aspects of the wrestling world were the autobiographies that have come forth, from the excellent (Bret Hart), the entertaining (Chris Jericho) to the head scratching (Batista).  

While the cavalcade of books will continue in 2008 with topics ranging from the Benoit tragedy to Extremely Strange Wrestling to the life of Andre the Giant, WWE has only publicly announced plans for biographies on Andre and Ted DiBiase.  

Obviously, there is a depth of interesting stories still to be told and some of them may already be in the pipeline.  Others likely won't be written in the near future for reasons of kayfabe (Undertaker), disinterest (Triple H) or the sheer madness that would ensue if they penned a book (Vince McMahon).  Still others don't have the tenure or enough time since their previous books were released (Edge, Hardys).

With that in mind, here's a quick look at five WWE-branded performers who I'd love to see have their lives chronicled in autobiographical form in the near future:

Finlay -The William Regal autobiography was one of the better books ever released by the company, although vastly underrated.  A big part of what made that book such an interesting read was the stories of Regal breaking into the business in the British wrestling scene.  Dave Finley (as his ring name was spelled in those days) was a huge International star during that era, regularly working for Germany's Catch Wrestling, New Japan and the different British promotions, great and small.  Although considered one of the better heel performers of his time, there isn't much really known about Finlay the person, so it would be interesting to journey through his training and career path, his time in WCW, the injury that nearly ended his career, his return in WWE and of course, Hornswoggle.

Rey Mysterio - He's already one of the most popular characters in the company among children and his DVDs do great business, so this is a no brainer.  Mysterio's journey through the business has seen him become the smallest and most unlikely main event player in the history of the business, starting in AAA, journeying into ECW, New Japan, WCW and WWE. Since he wasn't one of the names that were immediately brought into WWE when they absorbed WCW, it would provide insight into the mindset of a performer that found himself on the outs of the national wrestling scene when WCW closed, plus discussions of his friendships with Psicosis, Eddie Guerrero, Juventud Guerrera and Konnan, among others could provide some fun road stories.  Chris Jericho's book featured some interesting stories about living and touring in Mexico, and Jericho wasn't nearly the sensation that Rey was in the early 1990s in AAA.  The book could also feature some insight into what it was like being part of, in that era, one of the most innovative companies of the 1990s.  Like Finley, Mysterio spent a good portion of his career outside the United States as a star, so discussing that era and then trying to fit into the American scene could make for some interesting discussion as well.

Don Muraco - "The Magnificent One" is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, so he fits this list.  Muraco was one of the top heels in the early 1980s WWF expansion, feuding with the likes of Hulk Hogan and maintaining himself in the mid-card during one of the most grueling schedules for any company in any era.  Muraco ran with the likes of Bob Orton and Roddy Piper, so the rock n' roll chaotic stories would be a great hook, not to mention a look into what it was like being a heel working to help get babyfaces like Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Snuka and Tito Santana over.   The early part of his career saw him come back from a crushed pelvis in a car wreck, so the phyical therapy he went through just to return to the ring had to have been hell.  Muraco was also a great talker and bumper, one who's style could still fit today and stand out if emulated.  Of course, the foreword has to be written by Mr. Fuji.

CM Punk - While it may seem early in his WWE tenure for such a book to be written, you could make the same statement for Edge, The Rock and the Hardy Boyz, and Punk has a lot more mileage under his belt from working the independent scene, Punk is also one of the most central figures in the current incarnation of ECW - his visage is used in alot of WWE group montages and the like.  He's also had runs in TNA and Ring of Honor with his ROH run seeing him rise the ladder all the way to the top of the company with great babyface and heel runs.  Styling the book after the recent Chris Jericho autobiography, this book could end with Punk's ECW debut in the Hammerstein Ballroom and focus on training, his friendships with indy stars, journeyman and horror stories about the independent scene, building Ring of Honor, watching others come into prominence, his straightedge beliefs and maintaining them in the business, earning his WWE deal, wrestling in WWE developmental and more.

Kane - While the obvious autobiography most fans would want to see is likely The Undertaker, I don't see him being willing to peel back the curtain of his career until he's absolutely, completely finished as an on air performer.  Kane, however, is one of the veterans of the roster and has seen his character morph from supernatural Undertaker masked clone to more of a humane persona...or as humane as a pyromaniac, stalking, raping, babyface can ever be.  Glen Jacobs' looking back over the different personas he used in his career (Fake Diesel, Isaac Yankem, Unabomb), the rise and evolution of the Kane character, being pegged to star in the first WWE movie, differentiating his real life from his wrestling persona, injuries, political views and more, could be quite the read. 

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet