Under the Black Hat: My Life in the WWE and Beyond

This book is a fairly quick, standard read. My three main criticisms:1) JR tries to paint minor inconveniences as huge dramatic trials and tribulations with insurmountable challenges that needed to be desperately overcome. In Bret Hart's book, such challenges involved divorce, the death of both his parents, the tragedy of his brother Owen's death, his own near death experience, having coming back from a stroke and paralysis after a horrific accident, the double loss of his career (WWE and then WCW) and many more serious problems.JR's challenges, however, involve him being moved from Raw to Smackdown, and having to participate in a dumb wrestling angle or two over the years. Hell, for the money and the lifestyle afforded to Ross by WWE, most of us would probably take a couple of snug punches from Triple H once every 2-3 years too. These whines don't do Ross any favors, as he doesn't come off so much as a victim worthy of empathy, but more of an entitled old man who takes himself a little too seriously and gets his panties in a twist at having to move from one highly paid prime time TV gig to another. Perhaps that's why McMahon liked messing with him so much in the first place.For a guy who repeatedly reminds us in the book that he's the "strong silent" type and a "gruff old man" worthy of John Wayne, he sure does roll around in a pool of self-pitying angst like a 12 year old school girl.Furthermore, the fact that these minor inconveniences always ended with some over-sentimental interaction with his wife Jan gets very tedious after the first 7-8 instances, which brings me to my next issue with this book:2) The formulaic writing. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book right now and it is extremely repetitive:- Everything is going well for Ross.- WWE suddenly throws him a challenge - removing him from Talent Relations, moving him to another show, asking him to participate in angle.- Ross has an existential crisis in which he questions his self worth, his dignity, and his mental health before going through with it.- Ross comes back through the curtain and calls his wife Jan, who offers a few words of comfort to JR and makes everything right in the world again.- RINSE AND REPEAT for 10+ chapters.The writing is extremely lazy. Entire transcripts of Ross's calls on commentary are included verbatim. While they sound incredible when spoken live during an intense TV broadcast, reading said words on the page is a very different, and somewhat dull, experience. Entire sections of JR's old WWE.com blogs are also quoted, when really a sentence or two could've sufficed. It seems like very poor form by the co-author, Paul O'Brien, and a way to pad out the book.3) As the Head of Talent Relations for WWE, Jim Ross really should have far more fascinating stories than what is presented in this book. Nobody is saying there has to be dirty laundry and gossip, but some interesting insights sure would've been appreciated. For example, Ross was in the WWE during the time of Donald Trump's "Battle of the Billionaires" feud with Vince McMahon. You'd think that there would be tons of great backstage anecdotes about the current President of the United States stepping into the wild and crazy world of WWE, and yet other than a couple of paragraphs, there's nothing of any merit.And that's the problem - Ross worked alongside all the greats - Rock, Austin, Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, etc. And yet we come away from this book learning absolutely nothing new about any of them. Not even a funny story or a memory about an interaction with any of these guys. Even when Ross does touch on certain things, such as Austin being hospitalized prior to Wrestlemania 19, things are very basic and empty - we learn nothing new and the details are thin.Again, I'm not asking for salacious details into people's private lives, but at the same time we're reading these books to learn about Jim Ross, his life in the world of the WWE, and his interactions with the people along the way. But the juicy details are few and far between.For me, the Holy Trinity of wrestling books remain the first books written by Bret Hart ("Hitman"), Chris Jericho ("A Lion's Tale") and Mick Foley ("Have A Nice Day"). This one sadly fell short of the mark for me, and I think a much more creative co-author could've gotten a much more entertaining story out of JR. Definitely not a slobberknocker.

I loved the insight and behind the curtain stories. JR is an icon and, at the same , a tragic figure. As if it were possible, I have even less respect for the McMahon family after reading this book. I can remember watching much of this on TV and it made me uncomfortable as a viewer. You could tell the author, despite there being scripted activities being shown to viewers, truly humiliated JR. I believe Vince McMahon is a narcissistic weirdo, truly trailer-park trash. While I will root for JR's future peace and happiness, as he is portrayed here, Vince McMahon is deserving of "hard times" (Dusty Rhodes reference). He is despicable.I also found the heartfelt words written about Jan's support for the author uplifting, I couldn't help but be moved about the tragic death and the effect on JR. To read of someone's love and devotion for their spouse being snatched away, was moving.Anyone who finds love !like that in a lifetime is fortunate. The words were written from the heart. Any pain that came from this event was a joy to read due to it's inspiration to others aspiring to experience that degree of love.

If you fit in one of these cateogries, think about it, if you fit in two of these categories I recommend it, if you fit in three or more categories ... i highly recommend ita) followed wwe for a period of time of more than a yearb) watched wrestling attitude era & Monday Night Warsc) enjoyed listening to JRd) followed the careers of Jericho, Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Stone Cold, Lesnare) think you know really know vince mcmahonf) probably know too much about wrestling then you want to admit - and if this made you smirk or nod just a little bit ... you should just buy it now

I'll remember this book for many reasons, but paramount among them is that this book was a beautiful love letter from Jim Ross to his wife Jan, who passed away a few years ago. Time and again, Ross recalls how Jan's loving presence comforted him through the abuse he endured at the hands of WWE's failed writing team. More than once during this book, I found myself smiling and feeling warm at the connection between this husband and wife.And, more than once during this book, I found myself infuriated at the psychological and mental abuse that Ross was put through during the latter part of his WWE career. Now sure, I'm confident that he will tell you that he made a lot of money with the company and that he is financially free from his work there, but when you read the mental anguish that he suffered through the creative bullying - it's painful. Ross is loved by wrestling fans around the world. To those wrestling fans, I encourage you to read this book because it will give you a tremendous amount of insight into what we saw play out on screen during the awkward and unwanted "feuds" between the announce team. Ross's comments on those feuds were very eye-opening.

I enjoyed this book as much as the previous one. JR is one of if not the best all around voices of pro wrestling. At least from my era. I liked the shorter chapters which gave us his point of view on things but didn’t stretch out just to make the book longer. He speaks w/such integrity about so many of the great things as well as the horrific things he’s witnessed and been a part of. I’ve known from many of the books I’ve read prior stories but to be directly on the inside of the WWE and to see just how much of a bully and inconsiderate a-hole Vince McMahon was/is kind of makes me dislike WWE just a little. Overall this was a great read and if I’ve learned anything it’s JR is someone I’d love to have about 12 beers w/and just listen to his stories.

I never understood why JR put up with all of the negativity in the WWE. How many times was he going to let the Old Man humiliate him? The answer: As many times as it takes.Good book, good story, he is a man who lost everything to an accident and has managed to pull himself up and continue doing what he loves. I have a signed copy of this book at home, that I'm never letting out of my house.

After a read JR's first book I thought I was very disappointed, I thought it lacked detail and failed to show real incite into the time JR spent at the top of the wrestling business in front and behind the curtain. I felt it was underwhelming particularly when compared to JJ Dillon's book who had had the same job as JR.However this latest book you can see JR has been freed of the political restrictions of writing a book under a WWE contract and this is a great read, I would love for him to go back and redo his first book with this writer.This book is a massive improvement on the first book and is a great read.

A very good book. This book picks up right where Slobberknocker finished. As I said the writing got better towards the end of that book I am glad that continued into and throughout this book.J.R's relationship with the WWF/WWE is like the ultimate toxic relationship no matter how badly one side treats the other one they are too in love with them to leave or they just keep coming back. I think he says it best"Wrestling was my mistress, but she did not always love me back"The first book was Jim's start in the business now he is well established, though many fans know him for his voice and story telling. Many people probobly did not know his work behing the scenes. Also how much and how hard he works. This is something that really resonates and appeals to me about the story. I have always respected hard work over ability. However when you take someone with all the passion and talent of Jim Ross works harder than anyone not named Vince, you can see the effects and results on the industry.The book takes takes place from the Attitude era, the good, bad and some terrible angles/storylines. Many of the terrible angles involved Good Old J.R the character not by choice.This book just has a great nostalgic feel to people like me who were along for the ride of these eras. Even though I switched to altunitives to the WWE after a couple of the terrible angles I still heard or knew everything going on. There are a couple of cross references to story's brought up in Chyna's and Mick Foley and Chris Jericho's book. I would day Jim Ross has seen it all in the business but I had no idea exactly how involved he was. As much as I respect hard work Jim's love and obsession of the business had wrestling at the top everything and everyone else was second onwards. I wish Jim luck in the future. Never the end as he said retirement never lasts in this business.

I read Slobberknocker (the first of J.R’s autobiographies) and it left me flat, but black hat is everything the first book isn’t and it’s all the better for it.The story is woven nicely with JR’s wife Jan being at the centre of it. It is clear that they were very much a team and the love they had for each other permeated every facet of their lives. It is at times a deeply personal and emotional read.The WWE obviously features in it quite a bit and the analysis of JR’s relationship with Vince McMahon is at best complicated, but interesting stories told about the wrestlers are ones that are not common knowledge and it truly shows the other side of their world.Great read and couldn’t recommend it highly enough. Definitely has to be up there with Mick Foley and Bret Hart as one of the best wrestling autobiographies out there.

After reading JR's first book, I wasn't as thrilled for the sequal as I could have been.By the time I reached the end of the first chapter though, I knew I'd be on the hunt for my next read within days.Under the Black Hat is written by a man who now knows he doesn't need approval for his words or opinions. They're his. Many reviewers have said this is because he's no longer under the employ of WWE, however, I feel this is more to do with a man who has taken everything life has thrown at him (and taken from him), and decided enough is enough.This book was truly written from the heart, with the passion of the man who's voice was responsible for raising goosebumps on viewers arms for a generation. The last chapter alone is worth the price of the book.Through the pages, JR lets us in on stories which have never been told, with his dry style and no BS approach. The chapters are succinct, with no filler. Just the tales and turbulence of his life and how he felt and dealt with each blow.The book closes with one of the most descriptive and heartbreaking chapters I've ever read, but still, good ole JR still finds a way to send the fans home happy.

JR talks about his time in wrestling covering 1998-2018. Covering such a lengthy period is bound to mean some parts are skimmed over and there are some stories which look more interesting than they are set out in the book.The shows, promos and matches are all known already so from books such as this you are looking for an insight behind the curtain. In that regard this book both succeeds and fails.When talking about his own experiences within the WWE. Particularly his experiences of working with Vince McMahon and the often seemingly cruel way in which he was treated, Ross is candid and writes in some depth. However he appears reluctant to name names or reveal stories about others throughout the book.For an industry containing so many controversial and difficult individuals and with JR at the heart of it for a significant amount of time I would have expected more revelations and accounts of first hand experiences behind the scenes. This book just doesn’t have those.If you want to know about JR’s own thoughts and career. This is a good book. If you are looking for a juicy insight in to the goings on behind the scenes this book will not tick that box.