Keirn Chronicles, Volume One: The Fabulous Wrestling Life of Steve Keirn

by Steve Keirn, Ian Douglass (co-author)

Before Steve Keirn became one of the most influential trainers in professional wrestling history, he had a one-of-a-kind wrestling career that stretched around the pro wrestling world.

Keirn Chronicles Volume One: The Fabulous Wrestling Life of Steve Keirn is the story of a young man who appeared to have lost his father to war at a delicate age, and his subsequent quest to find a suitable father figure led him into a lifelong career in the professional wrestling industry. Keirn became one of the signature faces of Florida wrestling before evolving into one of wrestling's most irrefutable trendsetters during his time as one half of the pioneering Mid-American tag team known as The Fabulous Ones!

Keirn withholds no details with respect to everything from his tumultuous childhood and into the first 20 years of his wrestling career. Over the course of more than 400 pages, Keirn elaborates on his interactions and relationships with dozens of legendary professional wrestling figures, including Eddie Graham, Mike Graham, Jack Brisco, Gerald Brisco, Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, Dick Slater, Paul Orndorff, Hiro Matsuda, Jimmy Garvin, Ronnie Garvin, Pat Patterson, Ricky Gibson, Tiger Conway Jr., Wahoo McDaniel, Stan Lane, Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Koko B. Ware, The Fabulous Fargos, The Road Warriors, The Moondogs, The Sheepherders, Bob Backlund, Tatsumi Fujinami, Antonio Inoki, Gene Kiniski, Dick the Bruiser, Giant Baba, Ken Patera, Masa Saito, Brian Blair, Andre the Giant, and many more!

This is the backstory behind one of the most unheralded influencers in professional wrestling history!

424 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2023

Reviews

[Jason Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I really liked this book! It’s a quick, easy, interesting read. Steve wrestled at a high level in multiple territories. It’s great stories from the old school days. The Fabulous Ones had a good run where ever they went. The stories in this book that involved the Road Warriors were great, probably my favorite part of the book!
If you are a wrestling fan, especially over 40, you gotta read this book!

[Mark Cubillos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best biographies in wrestling. Steve Keirn is funny, honest, and gives great insight into the business. This was a great read.

[Caesar · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much of a wrestling fan as I was in the 80s and 90s, though I knew of Steve Keirn and his work in the business, I never really was a fan nor really followed his career. My brother suggested this book to me and send me a copy as a gift. Not only was it the best wrestling autobiography I've read, but it ranks toward the top of any autobiography I've ever read overall. I loved how Steve describes his relationship with his parents and rhe joy he felt when his father returned after years of being a POW. I was intrigued by his relationship with Eddie and Mike Graham and his feelings of betrayal and falling out with them. While he was critical of many other wrestlers, most notably Road Warrior Hawk, he never let it deteriorate into a bashing session.

I heavily recommend this to any wrestling fan or anyone just interested in the life of someone in the business. Rather than treating the experience as a way to get himself over again, he discusses much of the story behind the curtain. I love how he downplays the win/loss count and speaks of the business as a whole. The accounts of his experiences with guys like Harley Race, Terry Funk and Stan Lane bring about a good sense of nostalgia. I will definitely be reading part 2 in the future. Thank you Steve for entertaining me witg your writing during my 2 hour infusions.

[Lance Lumley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professional wrestler Steve Keirn, along with Ian Douglas, takes readers through the life of the territory days in his book.
The beginning discusses how the future wrestler's father was a POW when originally thought his father was killed. Steve bonded with classmate Mike Graham's father Eddie, who was a pro wrestling promoter in Florida, who became a mentor and at the time a father figure for Steve.
Tales about Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, Jerry Lawler, Mike Love of The Beach Boys, are all told in this text.
Douglas and Keirn have a nice detailed outline of Keirn's wrestling work, without bogging the reader down with a ton of dates and match results which sometimes can get to be too much in wrestling books. Again, the underlining stories are here as well showing the human side of a person who spent a ton of time in front of cameras.

For an in-depth review, visit my blog at:
https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/202...

[Josh Gberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent enough memoir. I probably would’ve preferred the sequel just because I’m more familiar with the second half of his career, but there were also some stories that didn’t necessarily make Keirn seem like a reliable narrator and, at worst, even a bit of a jerk. Recommended for only the most diehard of wrestling fans.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

a splendid book, chock full of fact-checked details, interesting insights, and colorful stories. You can hear my interview with co-author Ian Douglass here:

https://oliverbatemandoesthework.subs...

[Jon Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, just feels too long and there’s not much there. Just story after story after story. But if you love wrestling you’ll love them all. It’s good.