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Atlas - Too Much, Too Soon
During a time when "wannabe" wrestlers trained for years for the opportunity to become a pro wrestler, Tony Atlas was the first wrestler to be paid to learn his trade. By the late ‘70s, Tony was one of the biggest names in the sport and was wrestling in front of sellout crowds in the largest arenas in the country. While wrestling for the WWF in 1981, he even pinned Hulk Hogan in Madison Square Garden.
Readers will feel like they are living Tony’s life through his eyes as he tells about his free-spirited and self-destructive journey through life. His out-of-the-ring stories are as compelling as those that took place inside the ring. Tony tells about growing up in poverty, and recounts stories from his childhood: his dad encouraging him to fight for money as a child, being sent to a juvenile detention center, and being introduced to sex at the age of 16 by a 38-year-old woman. He describes his introduction to wrestling, his rapid rise to the top echelon of talent, the rampant and easily-available sex, money, and drugs, his fascination with "shoes," and the terrible toll his lifestyle took on his personal life.
Readers will feel like they are living Tony’s life through his eyes as he tells about his free-spirited and self-destructive journey through life. His out-of-the-ring stories are as compelling as those that took place inside the ring. Tony tells about growing up in poverty, and recounts stories from his childhood: his dad encouraging him to fight for money as a child, being sent to a juvenile detention center, and being introduced to sex at the age of 16 by a 38-year-old woman. He describes his introduction to wrestling, his rapid rise to the top echelon of talent, the rampant and easily-available sex, money, and drugs, his fascination with "shoes," and the terrible toll his lifestyle took on his personal life.
258 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 1, 2014
Atlas is the biography of former wrestler Tony Atlas.
Other than his embarrassing stint as Saba Simba in the early 1990s, I don't have many memories of Tony Atlas as a wrestler aside from what I saw in the magazines. I figured the road stories alone would make this a good read, though. After all, I knew he traveled with the Junkyard Dog and Tommy Rich.
The first 20% of the book was Tony Atlas' pre-wrestling life. As with most wrestling books, that part felt about twice as long as it needed to be. From there, Tony went to work with the Crocketts and it was off to the races.
Atlas' book paints a vivid picture of what wrestling life was like in the 1970's. People protected the business and the general public still wasn't sure how real or fake it was. Atlas talks about long trips between towns and tells a lot of hilarious road stories, most of them at his own expense. Also, it seems Mr. Atlas had a foot fetish and went great lengths to have women walk on him, sometimes while he taped it. Yeah, I wish I was making that up...
The book follows the structure that most episodes of VH1's Behind the Music followed. Tony went from being dirt poor to making $2500 a week, blew his money on cars and drugs, and eventually wound up homeless in Maine. Then his fourth wife help him get his act together and now he's doing fairly well.
My favorite parts of the book were the road stories, of course. Tony talks about hanging with Tommy Rich, Junkyard Dog, Ric Flair, Harley Race, and pretty much all of the greats of the 1970's and 1980's. He talks about seeing Bruiser Brody murdered in Puerto Rico and narrowly missing the Guatemala earthquake of 1976 by mere hours. He also talks about working out with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno back in the day.
It was an enjoyable read overall but there were some rough spots. There are some grammatical errors and his account of the late 70's and early 80's seems really disjointed, although if he was doing as much coke as he said he was during that time, I'm surprised he can recall any of it.
Not the best wrestling biography I've ever read but definitely not the worst. Three out of five stars.
Other than his embarrassing stint as Saba Simba in the early 1990s, I don't have many memories of Tony Atlas as a wrestler aside from what I saw in the magazines. I figured the road stories alone would make this a good read, though. After all, I knew he traveled with the Junkyard Dog and Tommy Rich.
The first 20% of the book was Tony Atlas' pre-wrestling life. As with most wrestling books, that part felt about twice as long as it needed to be. From there, Tony went to work with the Crocketts and it was off to the races.
Atlas' book paints a vivid picture of what wrestling life was like in the 1970's. People protected the business and the general public still wasn't sure how real or fake it was. Atlas talks about long trips between towns and tells a lot of hilarious road stories, most of them at his own expense. Also, it seems Mr. Atlas had a foot fetish and went great lengths to have women walk on him, sometimes while he taped it. Yeah, I wish I was making that up...
The book follows the structure that most episodes of VH1's Behind the Music followed. Tony went from being dirt poor to making $2500 a week, blew his money on cars and drugs, and eventually wound up homeless in Maine. Then his fourth wife help him get his act together and now he's doing fairly well.
My favorite parts of the book were the road stories, of course. Tony talks about hanging with Tommy Rich, Junkyard Dog, Ric Flair, Harley Race, and pretty much all of the greats of the 1970's and 1980's. He talks about seeing Bruiser Brody murdered in Puerto Rico and narrowly missing the Guatemala earthquake of 1976 by mere hours. He also talks about working out with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno back in the day.
It was an enjoyable read overall but there were some rough spots. There are some grammatical errors and his account of the late 70's and early 80's seems really disjointed, although if he was doing as much coke as he said he was during that time, I'm surprised he can recall any of it.
Not the best wrestling biography I've ever read but definitely not the worst. Three out of five stars.
April 3, 2018
A fascinating, and sometimes sad and odd, look at the life of a man who could have had it all, but ...well the title of the book says it all. Well written, and worth a read for anyone who was a fan of the Mid-Atlantic and WWF territories of the 1970s-80s.
March 5, 2021
Tony Atlas gave us a look at the Wrestling business from a black man's point of view. Even though Atlas feels he wasn't discriminated against; it is clear that he experienced many instances of racism behind the scenes. The sad part of it was that black Wrestlers practiced colorism; making it a double whammy.
His childhood background is a snapshot of what was happening in many rural communities in the South. It was very enlightening and explains why Atlas is who he is.
Even though Atlas was a physical specimen, his mental abilities were underdeveloped and he needed help in that area. Otherwise, It's too bad that Atlas didn't have the mental flexibility to deal with challenges, otherwise, he would have been the face of professional Wrestling...
His childhood background is a snapshot of what was happening in many rural communities in the South. It was very enlightening and explains why Atlas is who he is.
Even though Atlas was a physical specimen, his mental abilities were underdeveloped and he needed help in that area. Otherwise, It's too bad that Atlas didn't have the mental flexibility to deal with challenges, otherwise, he would have been the face of professional Wrestling...
July 3, 2014
Another "holy shit, only-in-America" tale that must be read to be believed. Atlas grew up amongst the criminally poor in Roanoke, VA, established himself as a genetic freak in the weight room (seriously--the guy's still huge, even later in life, and his juiced peak was a sight to behold), then became an unspectacular if strangely charismatic performer in the ring and a total lunatic outside of it. If you want to read about smoking crack and sneaking behind the bleachers to touch women's sneakers (Atlas writes at length about his foot fetish, and seems to understand the motivations behind it), this is the book for you.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews