It's True! It's True!

It's True!

by Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle's life has been an epic journey. Growing up in a large family in Pennsylvania, Angle followed in the footsteps of his four older brothers when he decided to pursue wrestling. His discipline and hard work were soon He won the Junior National Freestyle Championship and went on to become the Wrestler of the Year at Clarion College. In 1996, with many prestigious wrestling honors to his credit, Angle set his sights on a new an Olympic gold medal. Months of grueling training paid off in the most spectacular way when Angle returned from Atlanta with a gold medal around his neck and renewed determination in his heart. He was just getting started. Angle soon joined the ranks of the World Wrestling Federation and quickly became a main event performer, taunting the crowds with his trademark "three I's": Integrity, Intelligence, and Intensity. These are all qualities that he really possesses, but his character does not always display them in the ring. Through his high-profile matches with some of the biggest names in the business, Angle is now one of the most infamous "heels" in the World Wrestling Federation -- and he loves every minute of it. He has won -- and lost -- the Intercontinental belt and the World title, and he continues to rile crowds and accelerate heart rates every time he steps into the ring. Kurt Angle is living proof that with hard work and determination anyone can fulfill their dreams.

Genres: Sports, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir

317 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Kurt Angle is the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal winner in the 220lbs weight category. First ever wrestler to hold the WCW and WWF World Championships during the same calendar year, and has held WWF, Intercontinental, European and Hardcore championships all on separate occasions.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book. I have always been a fan of Kurt Angle and snapped up this book the day it became available to me. Along with the video that was released earlier this year, this book takes you into the life and mind of one of the greatest wrestlers ever.
Not just a WWF promo book, this biography takes you into Angle's mind and explains in detail how he rose from youth wrestling champion at high school to become the World Champion at the 1996 Olympics and the WWF Champion in 2000.
The book allows readers to view Angle for who he is as a person and helps readers appreciate just how much he has accomplished in his life. Like him or not, this book will have you amazed at what one man has accomplished in what is still yet a young life. A must read for all wrestling fans who like Kurt or not. And this is true!!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

True

[Varun Yelamanchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading its true! It's true! By Kurt Angle. When I first got the book I was skeptical and thought it would be tacky by looking at the cover. But I knew not to judge it by the cover so I decided to read it. My experience with this book is overall very good. I enjoyed the parts when he talked about his childhood and his story about how he got big. However there were some parts that I felt was repetitive. This book had parts where it kept explaining the same thing like when he was in the world wrestling federation, it was interesting at first but that part got boring fast.

In this book there were a lot of sad times. One of these sad times was when Kurt's father passed away after a crane accident. That was a turning point that determined kurt's path to adulthood after his father passed away he stepped up and decided to work as hard as he could to achieve his dreams. "So I had to learn to be a good student, but I was always committed to excelling as an athlete, especially after my father died" (Angle 42). That was easily one of my favorite parts of the book because it was interesting to learn about how hard he worked.

This book was very good, I would recommend it to anyone that wants to read about a touching story that teaches you good morals and hard work. This book also had a lot of comedic times. Because Kurt Angle is a naturally funny guy. Therefore read this book and I doubt that you'll be unhappy.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Angle's autobiography is a quick, enjoyable read about how the youngest child of a working class family rose to become an Olympic champion then become one of the biggest names in professional wrestling of the last two decades. Angle opens up in detail about his family life while growing up and how it influenced him as he pursued his athletic dreams, the honesty in this section of the book really makes one realize how determined Angle became to be the best in the world. The amateur wrestling descriptions throughout the first half of the book, especially in the detailing of individual matches, was THE highlight of the book for me as I learned about the sport. The final half of the book details the first 18 months of Angle's WWF/E career and his growing pains, both good and bad, in the ring. The insights Angle gives in this section not only opens up the business to long-time "smart" fans about the inner workings of the business, but also how an accomplished athlete like Angle critiqued himself throughout the process. The only negative was that Angle repeated somethings a few times in the book and considering the short length of the book, it really stood out. Besides that negative this was an enjoyable read and a recommended read.

[Stephen Holtman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the true story of how Kurt Angle went from an amateur wrestler to WWE Superstar. As this book came out a while ago, any wrestling fan knows that things have changed since it’s original release. Sorry for the late review. But it was still a good read for wrestling fans.I thought that the way the writer was able to kind of give the feeling of what happened backstage with the famous wrestlers and how they really act. I did feel that at times it did have a kiss up kind of feel. That did take this book down a couple of stars. The other thing that hurt the book was the self centeredness that had a tendicy to pop up in a lot of parts within the book. I’m not saying that he spent the whole time just saying how great he is. But there were many times that he seemed to be a little bit on the egotistical side. That did put a little bit of a spiral on it. The fact of the matter is that though there was some good parts of the book, the self loving egotism that seems to flow through the pages of this book. I will say that the first time writer did do a pretty good job of putting the visualization of what happened both with his amateur and pro wrestling careers. It balances the book evenly between being a great wrestling book and a huge kiss up fest that it seemed to be leaning towards at times. The thing about the book that seemed to give it a different feel from the other wrestling books was that the author gave it a more original feel then the others. I am not going to say that this was one of the best wrestling bios out there. But it’s not one of the worst either. It just kind of lie in the middle. I’m not going to tell you not to not check this book out. It does deserve a look. But if you are a wrestling fan who is thinking of buying this book, then I can’t recommend that. I would suggest going to your local library and check it out. Failing that find a friend who already has a copy and borrow it. It just didn’t have the kind of everything to be truly enjoyable. At best, This one is just a borderline wrestling biography.

[Luke Koran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though written merely 2 years following the beginning of his professional wrestling career in the WWE, Kurt Angle already had enough accolades and material to fill a nicely-sized autobiography. Even if this book was pushed by WWE in their rush of publishing biographies following Mick Foley's national success in 2000, this is one that truly stands on it's own two feet and as being worthy of being created so early in Angle's career. And not only because Angle had a stellar amateur wrestling career in high school, college, and at the Olympics (which are all thoroughly covered, and entertainingly so). 3 days following the beginning of his WWE training, he was already having his first match in a professional wrestling ring. That is, simply, UNPRECEDENTED. It took him merely 11 months from his first televised debut to win the WWE Championship. Only a handful of completely new wrestlers, like Brock Lesnar - who debuted 2 years later - reached the pinnacle faster. Angle relays his young life story amazingly well in this book, especially in his relationship with his various family members. Even at such a young age, he showed great awareness and understanding of what it means to be the "bad guy" in professional wrestling. Angle took great pride in being the best heel possible, which involves getting the crowd to boo you each and every night. After 15 years, and following the recent events in his wrestling career, personal struggles, and return to WWE, I can only hope that the world is privileged to one day soon receive the concluding chapters of Angle's autobiography!

Fun Fact: I finished reading this book two days before Kurt was announced as an inductee into the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame class. You might say that was the sweetest aftertaste I've ever had after reading a book!

[Brad Kinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book covers Angle's life story, from his childhood in Pennsylvania to his Olympic wrestling career and his rise to fame in the world of professional wrestling.

Angle's writing style is very straightforward and candid, and he doesn't hold back when discussing some of the more difficult and controversial moments of his life. He talks openly about his struggles with addiction and his multiple DUI arrests, as well as his strained relationships with his family and colleagues.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is Angle's detailed account of his Olympic wrestling career. He talks about his rigorous training regimen and the sacrifices he had to make to become a world-class wrestler. Angle's descriptions of his Olympic matches are both exciting and inspiring, and give the reader a real sense of the intensity and pressure he faced as a competitor.

Angle also provides some fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses into the world of professional wrestling. He talks about his early days in the business, his relationships with other wrestlers, and his experiences working for different promotions. He also discusses some of the injuries he sustained during his wrestling career and the toll that the physical demands of the sport took on his body.

Overall, "It's True! It's True!" is a compelling and engaging read for anyone interested in the early life and career of Kurt Angle, sadly it doesn't cover his post WWE stuff in TNA and selective indies as it came out in 2001, However It's an honest and revealing account of one man's journey to the top of two different sports.

[Ben DT Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great insight into the life of Kurt Angle. I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I got this book. It was bought by a friend who recommended it as one of his favourite wrestling books. I’d heard others speak highly of it also. As the book begins it talks of his upbringing and love of amateur wrestling, as well as other sports he did at school.

It doesn’t get to the WWE stuff until later in the book, and I thought that would bother me a little. How wrong I could be. Angles life is an amazing one and one that’s needs to be read. The amount of hurt, pain, suffering and ultimately, joy he goes through is just insane. All before he was my age, 27.

His rise through the amateur ranks is impressive to say the least. He’s a very confident person and believes in his ability. To some I imagine it comes across as pure arrogance or cockiness, but he knows how good his is and how hard he’s worked to be that good. I say he deserves tI be as confident as he wants. He speaks very highly of WWE and it’s great to read. I’d I’ve for him to do a second book now he’s officially retired. It’d be another great read!

[Tmison89 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strange thing when reading these WWE authorised autobiographies from back in the early 2000s is the predictability of what was going to happen to these men, which we can see now.

Angle is an all time wrestling legend. A beast in the ring, hilarious on the Mike. He just got it straight away.

One of my favourites.

This autobiography is actually really interesting when he talks about his amateur wrestling career, but what he did to himself is just terrifying. I guess if you read this and see Angle now, it’s about as good an advertisement to look after yourself than anything I can imagine.

It does the classic WWF is epic and nothing comes close sort of thing and loses itself in the narrative sometimes when talking about his wwe career, going from talking about it like wrestling is real to acknowledging it’s a work and back and forth which can be jarring.

5.5/10

[ReadinRasslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Angle's 2001 autobiography covers mostly his time as an amateur Olympian wrestler and only the last quarter or so covers his first two years in professional wrestling, so it's crucial to know before you get this what will be covered, as Angle's legendary career is so expansive that his lone biography doesn't even begin to cover what it could eventually. That being said, It's True! It's True is a great read and feels like it's naturally told from Angle himself. Angle adds a touch of realism and humbleness to his storytelling that may turn off some, but feels so genuinely, authentically Kurt Angle. The first few chapters feel a little clunky, but he finds his footing quickly, and the book is a quick read. Would love to see a more updated second book in the future!

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the WWE especially in high school and I adored Kurt's storylines and his character always going on about wrestling with a 'broken freaking neck!' My mom is the best mom in the world and waited in line when he came to the Mall of America to sign the book. He is without a doubt one of my most favorite wrestlers ever.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beatlemania. Hulkamania. WrestleMania. KofiMania. Milk-O-Mania?

Yes, Milk-O-Mania! This Friday (8/20) marks the 20th Anniversary of one of the most iconic moments in Monday Night Raw history. On August 20, 2001, Kurt Angle interrupted “’Stone Cold’ Steve Austin Appreciation Night” by driving a milk truck into Sacramento’s Arco Arena, and dousing The Rattlesnake and the other members of The Alliance with moo juice. “Milk-O-Mania” ran wild that night! As Stephanie McMahon was being hosed down with milk, Jim Ross delivered the memorable line, “The Million Dollar Princess has become a Dairy Queen!”

Kurt Angle driving the milk truck into the arena was, of course, reminiscent of Austin driving a beer truck the arena and spraying The Corporation down with beer two and a half years prior. In 2011, Milk-O-Mania was named the Number 30 “Most Incredible and Outrageous OMG Incident in WWE History”. In 2018, it was even immortalized with a Mattel Epic Moments Action Figure pack, featuring figures of Stephanie McMahon, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Kurt Angle that comes packaged in a box shaped like… what else? A milk truck!

To mark the 20th Anniversary of Milk-O-Mania, the Literary Squared Circle blog reviews Kurt Angle’s memoir, It’s True! It’s True! by Kurt Angle with John Harper (HarperEntertainment, 2002). Similar to Rey Mysterio’s memoir, Behind the Mask (see Literary Squared Circle #10), Angle’s memoir was written very early on in his career. Being that his career continued on for 17 more years, I would hope that Angle would consider writing a follow-up memoir covering everything that has happened over the past two decades.

The first two-thirds of It’s True! It’s True! describe Angle’s life before getting into professional wrestling. Growing up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Angle was a decorated amateur wrestler both in high school and in college at Clarion University. After graduating college and winning gold at the Amateur Wrestling World Championships, Angle set his sights on the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was being trained by former Olympic wrestling champion and legendary wrestling coach, Dave Schultz (not to be confused with former pro wrestler “Dr. D” David Schultz), when Schultz was murdered by a deranged philanthropist who supported USA Wrestling.

Schultz had been a father figure to Kurt Angle. Angle tragically lost his own father in a worksite accident when Angle was just 16 years old. When Angle resumed his training he suffered a severe neck injury while competing in the 1996 Olympic Trails. Despite his injury, Angle persevered and won a gold medal in the heavyweight division. Hence, he really did “win a gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck” as would become one of his catchphrases later on in the WWE. Angle dedicated his gold medal win to his late mentor, Dave Schultz.

Angle was looking into a career in professional wrestling following the Olympics in 1996, however, that plan was derailed when he was a guest at an ECW show in Philadelphia during which Raven crucified Sandman. The incident offended Angle and turned him off on the idea becoming a pro wrestler for almost three years.

Kurt Angle finally debuted for WWF at the Survivor Series in November 1999. He fully embraced his “American Hero” persona wearing gold medals around his neck, and preaching the “3 I’s” (“Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence”). Fans, however, were not receptive to Angle. Instead, he was turned into a self-righteous heel. Angle won the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship just three months after debuting in the WWF.

He quickly became a main event level talent, feuding with Triple H over a storyline love triangle involving Stephanie McMahon. Angle eventually defeated The Rock for the first of his eventual four WWF/WWE Championships. The book concludes with Angle dropping the WWF Championship back to The Rock at the No Way Out pay-per-view in February 2001.

I really enjoyed It’s True! It’s True! Oh, it’s true! It’s damn true! (See what I did there?) Despite having been co-authored by John Harper, the “voice” of the book is definitely Angle’s. As I read the book, I could hear his voice in my head, much like listening to an audiobook.

The stories of his early life and his amateur wrestling career were interesting, and his tale of winning Olympic gold was inspiring. My only wish is that it included more of his professional wrestling career. Although the first year and a half of his career were spectacular, I would have liked more. That is why I hope Kurt Angle considers writing a follow-up memoir covering the rest of his legendary, Hall of Fame career.

For example, Milk-O-Mania occurred just six months after the last pages of It’s True! It’s True! Other things I’d love to see featured in a second book include: Team Angle, “The Wrestling Machine”, The Angle Alliance in TNA, The Main Event Mafia, his return to WWE, and his time as Raw General Manager.

Overall, It’s True! It’s True! is a great read. It does not suck! Next year marks 20 years since it was published. One can only hope that Angle is considering a sequel to tell the rest of the story.


5 Stars out of 5

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

the stuff on Kurt's amateur wrestling career was interesting, and utilized in a few pieces I wrote, but the rest of this is near-kayfabe makework from the first heyday of these post-Mick Foley, WWE-branded autobios. Perhaps he'll work with someone to produce a serious book one day; his life has taken some real turns, for better and for worse, since this was published

[Rob Clooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kind of a slow start, but hard to put down after the first few chapters. Highly recommend to any pro or amateur wrestling fans.

[Geoff Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book. Got for cheap so made it that much worth while. Kurt has signed this book for me so will be keeping hold of it

[Jarod Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have ever read. Kurt Angle is my hero.

[Dylan Bean · Rating 3 out of 5]

You suck! You suck!

[Stephen Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love you, Kurt Angle, as a fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[C.S. O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Angle is pure class.

[Conrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A recent interview got me interested in reading this, but Angle is so much better than this book. It was repetitive and kind of boring. I'd love to read a biography now, 20ish years later.

[Chad Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember getting this book as a Christmas gift when I was 12. Angle's story captivated me so much that I finished it in three days.

[Erick · Rating 2 out of 5]

a little disappointing. it’s obvious kurt didn’t write this.

[Soho_Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even in the world of professional wrestling, Kurt Angle was a bit of an oddity when he joined World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the late 1990s. He wasn't the first person to come to the WWE with a background in amateur wrestling but he was, as far as I'm aware, the first person to come to WWE as the current holder of an Olympic gold medal. For Kurt Angle had won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and returned to his home town of Pittsburgh as a hero.

He didn't have an easy path to the top, as the youngest of six children living conditions were cramped and he was frequently pushed to excel as well as pushed around by his brothers. Then his father died in an accident at work when Kurt was only 16 and this motivated him to push himself even harder. Through the book, we follow Kurt's drive to the gold medal and then as he seeks to achieve similar success in life after the Olympics have ended and the fame he gained wore off.

The book focuses more on Kurt's training for wrestling and his amateur wrestling career than it does on his life prior to taking wrestling seriously or his WWE career. Admittedly, at the time the book was written, his career as a professional wrestler was only a little over a year old, so there wasn't a great deal more he could have said about this time of his life. It's clear that, regardless of whatever else had happened in his life, his main focus was his wrestling and once he'd set his sights on Olympic glory, his mind was on very little else from that point on.

This does give the book rather a narrow focus. Whilst the amount of training he did for his Olympic medal was incredible and reading about it really shows you how hard some people will work and need to work to achieve their dreams, it does make him seem almost like a machine at times. He talks about being able to shut out and wrestle through some of his injuries and this makes him seem quite mechanical. When you combine this with the lack of emotion he feels at events like his Dad's passing, this makes him seem even more so.

This lack of emotion does come as quite a distraction, which is a shame as it's a fairly well written book otherwise. Admittedly, it's not going to win any awards and it's not great work of literature, but it's quite simply written and there is always something going on. It seems strange to talk about how well the book flows and how evenly paced it is in an autobiography, but there is rarely a moment where something isn't happening in Angle's life.

Unfortunately, what was happening in Angle's life generally revolved around wrestling. He went to college so that he could wrestle and win national wrestling titles. Once he left college, his life revolved around gaining selection to the Olympic team and, once this was achieved, winning gold. Having turned professional, he was adapting to the new style of wrestling and reaching the top in WWE. This makes the whole thing slightly repetitive, as he's always training for one wrestling meet or another and he's always talking about pushing himself and the training regime he was running at the time; often going into great detail about his training and then, when the time comes, recounting his matches move for move and minute by minute. Yes, there's nearly always something happening, but it's always pretty much the same as happened before.

This incredible focus is admirable and certainly backed up Angle's early promos in WWE that he wrestled with intensity. Whilst it certainly made and continues to make him a success, it doesn't make for a gripping book, or a terribly enjoyable one. He comes across more as a machine than a man and you never really find out too much about how he feels about things.

Given the age of the book now, it's tough to recommend it, as the latest events are now more than ten years old and Angle has since moved on from WWE and had various injury issues, as well as returning to WWE and leaving again. For this reason, the book is probably best recommended to those who are only now discovering Kurt Angle thanks to his work with TNA and are keen to look back on his earlier career.

This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk

[Rossrn Nunamaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was published in 2001 as a part of what appears to be a World Wrestling Federation promotional effort featuring bio's of some of its stars and major events.

I read it this week, because I live in Pennsylvania, my father was from Pittsburgh and was a hall of fame wrestling coach. It was his copy of the book I read.

Kurt Angle won the PIAA state wrestling championship, two national titles at Clarion (a small state school in western PA), a world title, and Olympic gold in Atlanta.

Reading the book was personally engaging for me because Kurt is three years older than me and many of the people he references I had watched wrestle or had met, plus I competed myself and could relate to much of what he had to say about amateur wrestling.

His family story was interesting and I thought the description of how his family life impacted his personality and approach to life/challenges was interesting. I vividly remember watching his nephew wrestle in the state tournament on one leg when he injured his ankle, Mark Jr. was clearly as tough as Kurt said Mark Sr. was.

His description of post-Olympic, pre-WWF life was interesting to read as was his take on adapting and learning how the sports entertainment world worked.

I read this recognizing that it was a promotional biography that was co-written with a professional, but it still didn't seem tight enough of a write. As other mentioned there was a lot of repetition.

I thought the insight was very interesting, especially into the WWF and work that took place to make it happen.

This isn't a book for most people. You need to want to learn more about Kurt, but take it with a bit of a grain of salt.

[Dylan Clark-Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is what it is, and very little more. Kurt Angle's "autobiography" is a self-slanted account of the events of his life, laden with false modesty bordering on masturbation. The majority of the book focuses on Angle's life before getting into professional wrestling: from his youth up to the Olympics. Frustratingly, it insists on giving away potentially interesting and compelling information as soon as possible. For instance, the chapter that leads up to Angle winning the WWE title is called "winning the title".
Once Kurt gets to the WWE, the book lacks any of the backstage stories that are often the reason that fans want to read this sort of book. One can hardly depend on a man in the prime of his career to be entirely candid about the company that is providing him such a comfortable life.
Most troubling is Angle's blatant prioritization of his work over his family. He speaks far more fondly of co-workers (especially Triple H) than he does of his wife, Karen. His unquestioning loyalty to the WWE is an interesting, and somewhat disturbing willingness to talk about his marital problems. Reading this book in 2009, it is not difficult to see why their marriage has come to the end that it has.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurt Angle's "It's True, It's True" is another in the series of biographies that WWE (still doesn't sound right)has put out over the last few years. I found this book fairly interesting as I am a big Kurt Angle mark and it was nice to see what he did before he got into the pro ranks. Since his career in pro wrestling is a short one, most of the book does focus on his amateur career. I was amazed at how acomplished Angle was as an amateur and am amazed that WWE doesn't hype it more than they do. But since his bread and butter is portraying the heel, they probably don't want him to look to heroic. But, make no mistake, when you read some of the injuries that he wrestled with at a world class level, you will respect the man. Angle does come off a little arrogant at times but I think that there are probably few WWE performers that would stand a chance against him in a real wrestling match. As has been said by other reviewers, it's not quite up to the standard of Mic Foley's first book but certainly a quick and interesting read. I'd recommend it for any fan or amateur or professional wrestling. (originally posted on Amazon.com)

[Ben Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a Christmas present back in the early 00's. At the time I was a big pro-wrestling fan, however as 12-13 years of age I wasn't really interested in reading about Angle's amateur wrestling career (there's a lot about it) so I looked at the pictures and it went into the bookshelf.

Hearing that Kurt is to be inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame this year I decided that the time was finally right to sit down and read the book properly as an adult. As I've mentioned there is a lot about amateur wrestling and Angle's early life before he joined WWE. As the book was written in the early stages of Angle's pro-wrestling career there isn't much in truth about his career as a sports entertainer. It is interesting to note however what Angle says about Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar with the book being written long before the tragic Benoit incident and before Lesnar became a huge WWE and UFC star.

Perhaps we will see a second book from Angle in the coming years documenting the time after this book, it's one I'd be interested in reading.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book over a decade ago. I got my copy signed by Kurt himself. Stood in line all day at the Circle Centre mall here in Indy. It was great. I read it in High School. At the time I was on the wrestling team and since the first part of the book was about his rise to winning the Olympic Gold in wrestling, it was right up my alley. If you like wrestling, pro or amatuer, you should like this book. Now, I read this as a kid and I bet if I reread it parts would bother me. Oh, Its true, its damn true.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thankfully I got this for free from a friend who getting rid of some stuff. I guess the thinking was basically the idea that "Hey Will likes amateur wrestling! He'll like this!"

That's about right. I adored the first half especially the insanely detailed Olympic chapters. Most of this part was read in one sitting despite the fact that I hate these WWF/E ghostwritten books. The rest...was what it was. And it was a lot of meh.

[Mr. Pease · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Angle as a professional wrestler, I was extremely disappointed in this read, as it is written almost completely in kayfabe. Provides a few chapters of interest regarding the early life of Angle and his path to the Olympics, but for smart fans and those interested in the inner workings of pro wrestling, this book offers very little.