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The Realest Guy in the Room: The Life and Times of Dan Severn
From his humble beginnings as a Mid Michigan farm boy, Dan Severn exploded onto the amateur wrestling scene as the most heavily recruited wrestler in history. After injuries and backroom dealings railroaded his Olympic dreams, SevernÕs initial failure to provide for his family led him down a path that turned him into ÒThe BeastÓ - the most feared fighter of the UFCÕs no-holds-barred era. In the process, Severn became one of professional wrestlingÕs hottest free agents, and one of its most copied performers. Pulling no punches, Severn addresses every aspect of his various combat careers. Whether youÕre a fan of amateur wrestling, mixed martial arts or professional wrestling, this autobiography stands as a testament to the fact that Dan ÒThe BeastÓ Severn will always be ÒThe Realest Guy in the Room.Ó
220 pages, Paperback
Published July 7, 2016
About the author
Jim Cornette
17 books36 followersJames Mark Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, booker and podcaster.
As a manager, commentator, member of the booking committee and member of the creative team, he has worked for Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (now WWE), and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also worked as an on-screen character in an authoritative role; as "Commissioner" of Ring of Honor (in a previous stint with the company) and "Management Director" (and off-screen road agent) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
As a manager, commentator, member of the booking committee and member of the creative team, he has worked for Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (now WWE), and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also worked as an on-screen character in an authoritative role; as "Commissioner" of Ring of Honor (in a previous stint with the company) and "Management Director" (and off-screen road agent) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 9, 2026
The Realest Guy in the Room is a book for three distinct fan bases: amateur wrestling, mixed martial arts, and pro wrestling. Severn's unique experience in the broad category of combat sports makes this a good read for each fan base.
For fans of collegiate wrestling, Severn covers an amateur career that likely fell short of expectations, as he never quite reclaimed the dominance of his injury-shortened freshman season. I can't speak to whether he was screwed out of the 1980 NCAA championship or an Olympic berth in 1984 as he claims. I do know I would've loved to witness his confrontation with Dan Gable after the '84 Games. From my experience with Gable (I briefly worked at the museum bearing his name), I can't imagine he backed down.
For MMA fans, readers should enjoy Severn's take on the UFC's infancy. He gets pretty detailed about his fights with Anthony Macias at UFC 4 and Oleg Taktarov at UFC 5, providing good insight for novices like me into what happened during the no-holds-barred era. Like many world champion fighters, Severn offers rationales for his highest-profile UFC defeats. MMA experts are better versed than I am to judge the merits of Severn's reasoning.
My main interest in this book is Severn's pro wrestling career. I'm a mark for pro wrestling submissions, and Severn employed two of my favorite holds (his version of a bow-and-arrow and his version of the Dragon sleeper), making me an instant fan. Plus I thought Severn had the most bad-ass theme music ever. Regarding his pro career, I thought he had great insight into wrestling in Japan, particularly his time in UWFi and the infamous '95 King of Death Match card. While I thought he was criminally-misused in the WWF, I don't embrace all of his ideas on how he should've been promoted. Severn-Ken Shamrock should have happened beyond a couple throwaway matches on Raw (one of which I saw in person, the triple threat match involving Owen Hart). But to think that match should've happened by Severn going over The Rock to advance to the KOTR '98 tournament final is delusional. Likewise, his analysis of "political motivation" at the end of chapter 28 is cringey to read.
While I don't consider this a negative book, Severn does put a good bit of people on blast. Targets include Vince Russo, Nobuhiko Takada, Severn's bosses at Michigan State, The Rock, Tank Abbott, Royce Gracie, and Mark Coleman. His harshest criticism, though, is saved for Ken Shamrock. He claims Shamrock isn't a rival despite spending a lot of time attempting to belittle Shamrock's accomplishments and claiming "Ken's success came through a syringe, a bottle of pills, and a record inflated by fake fights." Not rivals? Severn doth protesteth too much.
A few delusions, one awkward excerpt, and some trash talk don't take away from my enjoyment of Severn's autobiography. Yeah, Dan Severn thinks highly of Dan Severn. If that bugs a reader, then you really won't like Bret Hart's autobiography. I've met Severn twice, and he's phenomenal with his fans, very personable. Those characteristics come through in The Realest Guy in the Room just as much as his pride.
For fans of collegiate wrestling, Severn covers an amateur career that likely fell short of expectations, as he never quite reclaimed the dominance of his injury-shortened freshman season. I can't speak to whether he was screwed out of the 1980 NCAA championship or an Olympic berth in 1984 as he claims. I do know I would've loved to witness his confrontation with Dan Gable after the '84 Games. From my experience with Gable (I briefly worked at the museum bearing his name), I can't imagine he backed down.
For MMA fans, readers should enjoy Severn's take on the UFC's infancy. He gets pretty detailed about his fights with Anthony Macias at UFC 4 and Oleg Taktarov at UFC 5, providing good insight for novices like me into what happened during the no-holds-barred era. Like many world champion fighters, Severn offers rationales for his highest-profile UFC defeats. MMA experts are better versed than I am to judge the merits of Severn's reasoning.
My main interest in this book is Severn's pro wrestling career. I'm a mark for pro wrestling submissions, and Severn employed two of my favorite holds (his version of a bow-and-arrow and his version of the Dragon sleeper), making me an instant fan. Plus I thought Severn had the most bad-ass theme music ever. Regarding his pro career, I thought he had great insight into wrestling in Japan, particularly his time in UWFi and the infamous '95 King of Death Match card. While I thought he was criminally-misused in the WWF, I don't embrace all of his ideas on how he should've been promoted. Severn-Ken Shamrock should have happened beyond a couple throwaway matches on Raw (one of which I saw in person, the triple threat match involving Owen Hart). But to think that match should've happened by Severn going over The Rock to advance to the KOTR '98 tournament final is delusional. Likewise, his analysis of "political motivation" at the end of chapter 28 is cringey to read.
While I don't consider this a negative book, Severn does put a good bit of people on blast. Targets include Vince Russo, Nobuhiko Takada, Severn's bosses at Michigan State, The Rock, Tank Abbott, Royce Gracie, and Mark Coleman. His harshest criticism, though, is saved for Ken Shamrock. He claims Shamrock isn't a rival despite spending a lot of time attempting to belittle Shamrock's accomplishments and claiming "Ken's success came through a syringe, a bottle of pills, and a record inflated by fake fights." Not rivals? Severn doth protesteth too much.
A few delusions, one awkward excerpt, and some trash talk don't take away from my enjoyment of Severn's autobiography. Yeah, Dan Severn thinks highly of Dan Severn. If that bugs a reader, then you really won't like Bret Hart's autobiography. I've met Severn twice, and he's phenomenal with his fans, very personable. Those characteristics come through in The Realest Guy in the Room just as much as his pride.
July 3, 2017
"The Realest Guy in the Room" mirrors Dan Severn's interviews quite a bit: dry wit, matter of fact tone, and smiling embellishment. Dan not only covers the highs of working with the WWE and UFC but also the lows of JCW and UWFi as well as everything in between. His childhood led to a work ethic in high school wrestling, with success that propelled into collegiate and Olympic aspirations and issues there led to professional wrestling and the UFC. The ups and downs from there are handled with a no nonsense attitude by someone who not only understands their magnitude in history, but also how ridiculous it all can be.
Peppered in with the known tales of being an NWA and UFC champion are elaborations on issues with industry-known names like Russo, Abbott and Shamrock, but also stories involving the Harts, Foley and the Rock. Plus yes of course Lesnar and Angle are mentioned along with the suplexing of Anthony Macias. From just wanting to be the best because that provided for his family Dan tells tales of worked fights in Japan, flipping the script on Monty Brown, bantering with UFC referee Big John, seeking to pin everyone as an amateur, and how the WWE wanted him to write 666 on his forehead.
The pacing is brisk and flows from one event to the next in ways they shouldn't, but that's all thanks to it just being how Dan lived it. One chapter ends with him introducing himself to the UFC brass of Dana White and the Fertittas hoping to be an ambassador of the sport thanks to his pedigree and suit-and-tie look, the next opens with him having to deal with the antics of Juggalo Championship Wrestling throwing bottles of Faygo at his head.
I am admittedly biased in that I've long been a fan of Severn since UFC 3, I have a signed Danger Zone MMA card and a pair of Beast MMA gloves, and was eagerly anticipating this book. Having followed his entire WWE and UFC careers and heard many many interviews, I still found the book not only engaging but full of numerous stories both big and small of which I had no clue. It reads akin to Foley's first "Have a Nice Day" in that it walks you through the strange and bizarre from a perspective that normalizes it down to what you have to do for a living. I can safely recommend it to wrestling fans, MMA fans, as well as fans of neither thanks to Dan's dry wit shining throughout.
Peppered in with the known tales of being an NWA and UFC champion are elaborations on issues with industry-known names like Russo, Abbott and Shamrock, but also stories involving the Harts, Foley and the Rock. Plus yes of course Lesnar and Angle are mentioned along with the suplexing of Anthony Macias. From just wanting to be the best because that provided for his family Dan tells tales of worked fights in Japan, flipping the script on Monty Brown, bantering with UFC referee Big John, seeking to pin everyone as an amateur, and how the WWE wanted him to write 666 on his forehead.
The pacing is brisk and flows from one event to the next in ways they shouldn't, but that's all thanks to it just being how Dan lived it. One chapter ends with him introducing himself to the UFC brass of Dana White and the Fertittas hoping to be an ambassador of the sport thanks to his pedigree and suit-and-tie look, the next opens with him having to deal with the antics of Juggalo Championship Wrestling throwing bottles of Faygo at his head.
I am admittedly biased in that I've long been a fan of Severn since UFC 3, I have a signed Danger Zone MMA card and a pair of Beast MMA gloves, and was eagerly anticipating this book. Having followed his entire WWE and UFC careers and heard many many interviews, I still found the book not only engaging but full of numerous stories both big and small of which I had no clue. It reads akin to Foley's first "Have a Nice Day" in that it walks you through the strange and bizarre from a perspective that normalizes it down to what you have to do for a living. I can safely recommend it to wrestling fans, MMA fans, as well as fans of neither thanks to Dan's dry wit shining throughout.
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