If you're like most wrestling fans, you probably read the title of this editorial and said, "'Unscripted'? What's that?"
Frankly, that's exactly my point.
No offense to Lita or Stone Cold, both of whom I happen to love, but if you buy one WWE book this year, it shouldn't be the autobiographies of the aforementioned superstars; it should be "Unscripted". And, sadly, out of the three, the one you should buy is the one that, thus far, has gotten absolutely no hype. Hell, I didn't even know this book existed until somebody on a message board I go to posted a thread about it. I haven't seen one WWE advertisement for it, whether it be on TV or in a magazine. I can understand them devoting so much time to the releases of Austin's and Lita's books, but that is still no excuse to completely ignore this one.
The lack of promotion for this book is just sad; this book is absolutely amazing. I could go on about it forever. Everybody I know who has bought it so far has stated that it is worth every penny they spent and then some; you'll find no mixed or negative reviews for this book, like you may with Lita's and you certainly will with Austin's (as the link above will show you). The reason for that is because this book is simply unlike anything WWE has ever published before.
"Unscripted" transports you backstage, behind the scenes- where every internet fan, in their own mind, believes they've already been, many times- yet this is the REAL behind the scenes, not Dave Scherer's "All the boys are miserable!!!!!" fantasy world. Each and every story that the WWE wrestlers and members of management have to tell is absolutely fascinating, and that goes even for the stories of the people you a) have never cared about before and b) the ones you hate. Vince's stories about himself and his family are real eye-openers. I got this book last Thursday, read his stories that afternoon, and then later on while watching his borderline-Satanic promo on Smackdown, couldn't believe that the man I was watching and the man whose words I had read earlier were the same person.
The book is divided into four chapters: "Me", "Body", "Life", and "Home". In "Me" you'll learn personal details about the vast majority of wrestlers on the WWE roster. Big Show's sophomore year in high school, Matt Hardy's early life and interests, Kane's (yes, KANE'S) bachelor's degree in English, Austin's opinions on his earlier gimmicks, Ric Flair's early wrestling career- just to name a few . You'll learn things you never imagined in your wildest dreams, and when it boils right down to it, you'll have a different view of all of these people. When Kane tries to electrocute somebody else's balls on a future episode of Raw, you can sit there and say, "But he could be my kid's English teacher."
The "Body" chapter is about- get this- BODIES. Yes, the bodies of each individual wrestler, and their workout routines, tattoos, piercings, make-up (i.e. Goldust), major injuries, etc. You get John Cena's thoughts on the use of steroids- a commentary which is very, very interesting to say the least. You get articles on Rey Mysterio, Jr. talking about some of his crazy bumps and his style in general, Austin's neck injury from Owen Hart's piledriver in 1997, Shawn Michaels' back injury from the Royal Rumble and his thoughts on that, and so much more. Reading these stories and hearing how each wrestler has overcome so much pain and adversity will give anybody a newfound respect for each and every one of them, and it will increase your amazement the next time you watch somebody take a monster bump on TV.
The next chapter, "Life", is full of articles about wrestlers' daily lives in general, with personal stories thrown in. J.R. talks about his early road trips, Vince tells about how he had to break into the business against his father's will (and knowledge), Triple H lists his top ten all-time favorite wrestlers (an interesting read), and Sean Moorely (A.K.A. Val Venis) talks about how Edge hooked up with his sister. These are just some examples; there are more articles in this book than I have time to list here, and I wouldn't spoil it all for anybody anyway. There are a lot of surprises, and this is definitely a cover-to-cover read. You'll learn more reading this book than you will after reading Pro Wrestling Torch for five years- then again, five years of that would only be detrimental to your knowledge anyway.
The fourth and last chapter, "Home", is about the personal lives of wrestlers. You'll see candid pics of some of WWE's most well-known couples; Torrie Wilson and Billy Kidman, Lita and Matt Hardy, Triple H and Stephanie, Shane and Marissa, and the Emperor and Empress of WWE, Vince and Linda McMahon. You get thoughts from Triple H's own mouth on how his relationship with Stephanie developed and what he really thinks of negative internet opinions about it (hint: he doesn't give two boxes of squirrel piss). That pretty much rounds out the chapter review.
I couldn't possibly review this book without talking about... no, RAVING about the photography. The photography of this book is AMAZING, hands down. The pictures in this book are more than just pictures; they're works of art. I hate RVD- and I'm sure I'll get into that in a future editorial- but the photographs of him were simply stunning. The book is filled with large, vibrant, colorful photos, with creative backgrounds, and the ones which aren't captivating for their beauty are captivating instead for their realism; I was floored by the picture of Undertaker cuddling with his wife Sara, believe me, you've never seen the Dead Man with this kind of affection on his face. The backstage photos and pictures of wrestlers relaxing at home or backstage are enjoyable to look at just because it's something that we as fans are not used to seeing. You finally get to see these people as human beings rather than as the characters we cheer and boo on TV every week, and that in itself makes this book "worth every penny and then some".
There's not really much more I can say about this book. It is a must-have for any wrestling fan; ditto. If you're a fan, you owe it to yourself to get this book and read the whole thing . You'll be glad you did.
*EDIT* Well Raw just ended, and, surprise surprise, "Unscripted" was shown not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES. It seems I spoke too soon. Hopefully the hype will continue- this book deserves as much as it can get. Oh and by the way, order it off Barnes & Noble and not WWEShopzone- you'll save $18.