As alluded to by my friend Joe Hasan, JTG has come the closest any wrestler has come to Louis C.K. — JTG announced yesterday that he was self-releasing a book on one day’s notice for 99 cents.
JTG’s book, currently available in the PDF and Amazon Kindle formats, is titled “DAMN! WHY DID I WRITE THIS BOOK?” Yes, a title in all caps. The book’s title is self-deprecating, and sadly, that title sells the book way too short. For 99 cents, it is a great read for a WWE superfan.
JTG came into the WWE fold very young — treating his time in OVW as his college — and presents this book from the somewhat-wisened perspective of a 30-year old married father. As he says it: “I was 21 when I signed my contract, mistakes were bound to be made.”
As plenty of time has gone by since his “peak” as one-half of Crime Tyme, JTG naturally has a different perspective on things now than he did while under contract. On one hand, he understands the things he (or his then-partner Shad) did wrong. On the other hand, he still struggles to understand the politics and procedures that regularly got him in trouble.
Most memoirs a celebrity or athlete will write share both the good and bad times experienced. This book is almost entirely about the bad times. While the majority of stories are posted as blind items, a lot of the identities of offending wrestlers can be easily figured out. For example, when talking about the punishment he received for using the words “loyalty” and “respect” in a WWE interview about Cryme Tyme, guess which unnamed wrestler got mad?
The only major short-coming of the book, even when considering the price, is its poor editing. A handful of the errors which appeared in PDF, with their corrections in parenthesis:
– “Only a hand few of talent” (handful)
– “The threw us” (they)
– “Nope, were not doing that” (we’re)
– “guess who was called into the principle’s office” (principal’s)
– “Ladies and gentleman” (gentlemen)
– “wound up in the middle of two high ways.ÊI literally” (highways, and I’m not sure what the “Ê” is)
– “one-way Greyhound ticket back to Penn Station” (a Brooklyn native should know that Greyhound busses arrive in and depart from Port Authority, unless you mean the Megabus brand which arrives and departs a few blocks from Penn Station)
The book says that it was edited by Ryan Nemeth — who my nerdy nature realizes is a former WWE developmental talent, and the brother of Dolph Ziggler — but for typos like those to be left in, I can’t imagine the gaps and errors taken out.
Back to the story itself, JTG has interesting things to say about heat, or “cooties revisited,” including a list of rules to avoid heat. That list is surprisingly relatable to almost anyone working at a corporation or in a traditional office setting. Gimmick infringement included.
Ultimately, JTG is not looking for sympathy from the reader of this book, instead coming across as grateful to Vince McMahon for his WWE employment between 2006 and 2014. He doesn’t rule out a return to WWE, but makes it obvious that this is not a likely possibility as a result of what he says in this book.
For the price alone, I believe that this book is a worthwhile purchase. However, I think that JTG ought to write a second book which reflects on the good times AND gives the names of people involved — if he already anticipates a backlash, then what does he have to lose?
Oh, and JTG, I’ll edit that second book.
About Darren Paltrowitz
