Living The Dream: Memphis Wrestling: The Randy Hales Story

by Randy Hales, Craig Allen (Editor), Jerry Lawler (Foreword)

Randy Hales knows Memphis wrestling…he’s lived it his entire life. From humble beginnings as a fan, fascinated by the larger-than-life heroes and villains doing battle in the squared circle, to getting involved as a picture seller and ring announcer, to rising up the ladder as booker and promoter, to finally running his own company, Randy Hales has done it all in the Memphis wrestling scene…and lived to tell about it. Through all the highs and lows, and thousands of miles traveled, Living The Dream is the story of how passion and hard work allowed a shy, awkward kid to live his dream and go on to become the Founder, Owner, and President of his own professional wrestling company that helped develop future wrestling superstars such as The Rock, Kurt Angle, and Daniel Bryan. Living The Dream takes you inside the Memphis wrestling scene with tons of stories about your favorite legends, wild stories from the road, infamous mega-matches of Memphis, and all about being a WWE developmental system. From “The King” to “The Superstar”, from Mid-South Coliseum showdowns to Louisville Gardens throwdowns, Randy Hales shares what it was like to be a part of the wild, wild world of Memphis wrestling and the incomparable legacy it left behind.

Genres: Sports

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2020

Reviews

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding History of Memphis Wrestling

Loved the book!!!! I grew up in the same time frame as the author and lived for 11am on Saturday mornings for Memphis wrestling. Being aware of Randy from his time as the ring announcer for the Jonesboro, AR, matches, it is fascinating to read his incredible journey in Memphis wrestling. Randy Hales truly had a ring side seat to some of the most incredible matches in wrestling history. His exploits as the owner of Power Pro Wrestling filled in many gaps of my Memphis memories. Thanks Randy for writing this book for those of us who are wrestling fans but specifically Memphis wrestling fans !! Great read that I highly recommend.

[Jason Presley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Randy Hales story, but after listening to a dozen or so of his podcast episodes, I knew he had a sharp wrestling mind, and I curious to learn more about his days running Power Pro Wrestling in Memphis. "Living the Dream" is a very detailed, but never boring recounting of Randy's entry into the wrestling business in Jonesboro, Arkansas, through the original Memphis promotion, and follows his life, decisions, mistakes and successes over the next 30 years.

With a co-author, perhaps it could have been longer and more detailed, but as-is there is no doubt it is written in Randy's voice, and he did a great job writing his story. For anyone interested in the later days of Memphis wrestling, or even just anyone interested in the perspective of an wrestling promoter in the dawn of the 1990s-2000s independent scene, I would highly recommend it.