Soulman: The Rocky Johnson Story by Rocky Johnson was a book I went into knowing very little. I saw The Rock had written the foreword, and it wasn't until I started reading that I realized, "Oh, that would make sense because Rocky is his dad." Anyway, that's about me, not the book. This is the story of Rocky's career in professional wrestling. He started young, then worked n a variety of regional promotions through the years. Throughout, he paints a vivid picture of what the life of a wrestler was like back then, and it wasn't always easy. It was lots of grinding to get to the top, and that required a lot of travel which meant that he wasn't home a lot. He also speaks to what it was like to be one of the first black wrestlers. This impacted how he was treated, as well as how he was pushed in different promotions. Given all the bells and whistles that come with wrestling these days, I find it interesting to read about what it was like "back when," and it was especially interesting given Rocky's perspective. Throughout he paints a honest picture of his story. Sometimes that means he brings to light where he struggled, and that makes his story all the more real. I literally only read this because it was recommended to me by the publisher (thanks ECW Press), so it was a surprise to read such a well-told and interesting story about a wrestling legend. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this recent release.

A native of Nova Scotia, Wayde Bowles left home at 14 in order to pursue a career in first boxing, then professional wrestling, starting in the 1950’s and continuing well into the 1980’s, helping the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) become the gigantic entertainment company it is today as the WWE. Never heard of Wayde Bowles? That could be because he wrestled under the name Rocky Johnson. If you still haven’t heard of him, then maybe you have heard of his son. His son followed in his footsteps into professional wrestling, then transformed into a movie actor. The son’s name – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

With that introduction out of the way, this memoir written by the senior Johnson with wrestling author Scott Teal is a very good look at the life of Rocky Johnson in the days when professional wrestling was much more about the regional territories and when wrestlers of color, especially black wrestlers, were working hard to eliminate being cast into stereotypical, often insulting, roles. Rocky was one of the trailblazers for this new type of black wrestler who gave fans excellent shows without resorting to racial stereotypes.

He writes about not only his childhood and early life with good detail, he also gives readers who are not familiar with the business of professional wrestling an excellent, in-depth look at the industry. He was well-traveled in his career, working in many different regions in the United States and in Canada. He describes the promotion and management of the industry in great depth. Readers will also learn about the communication between the wrestlers in the ring as they ensure that they follow the planned show discussed before heading into the ring. A reader will also learn about how the “championship belts” get distributed to either babyfaces (good guys) or heels (bad guys) in order to maintain the highest level of interest. This was the best aspect of the book.

Rocky also dedicates a chapter to the success of his son, but also talks about so many important people in the business – both inside and outside the ring – that this could almost be considered a Who’s Who book of professional wrestling from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Rocky also stays very positive throughout the book by never truly insulting or badmouthing anyone. He does have some negative comments about Tony Atlas when the two of them were tag team partners and Ole Anderson for some of his racist comments, but in both of these cases, Rocky explains why he felt this way. Otherwise, he writes with fond memories of his time in the sport and with great pride at the success of Dwayne.

Any wrestling fan who is familiar with Rocky’s work or who wants to learn more about the business at that time should pick up this book. Even at 360 pages, it is a page turner that won’t take a long time to read and is very entertaining as well.

I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Soulman, The Rocky Johnson Story by Rocky Johnson with Scott Teal was received direct from the publisher. I grew up a professional wrestling fan (the only true sport I tell people). As such, I do not remember ever seeing Rocky Johnson perform. That being said I remember many of the feuds and angles he was part of so I must have forgotten “the baby face,” since I was always for the bad guy. I would also wager everyone has heard of or seen his son, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, perform in the ring, on television or in action movies. Rocky wrestled back before the World Wrestling Federation (now Entertainment) owned most everything. The wrestling world was broken up into federations and wrestlers moved around if they were popular enough. The book is a true autobiography of a Canadian male who grows up to be a professional wrestler. The book goes from town to town, wrestling against names many of you have heard of. If this sounds like something you or someone you buy gifts for, would like to read, certainly give it a read.

5 stars

The People’s Father penned a great autobiography, shedding light on a highly underrated wrestling career. Lots of great stories about the good ol territorial days of wrestling.

The Rock's Dad Tells His Story - With An Introduction From The Rock. If you're a fan of professional wrestling, you need to read this book. If you're a fan of memoirs generally, you need to read this book. If you're just a fan of good, you need to read this book. No, this book won't educate you on any particular issue of great national or international importance. But it will tell you the story of one man's journey from being the grandson of a slave to being a Champion level professional wrestler across numerous territories and even in the early era of the now WWE's rise to dominance in the industry. The men Johnson interacted with and counted as friends are almost a Who's Who of legendary professional wrestlers and body builders, and he tells the stories of most of them. And yes, he even spends one chapter directly speaking of his son and his accomplishments before, during, and after WWE. Truly a remarkable tale, and absolutely very much recommended - even if you know nothing at all of professional wrestling and only know Rocky as Dwayne's Dad.

Another engaging title, this is a story only one man could tell.

Johnson’s career, while successful, was not particularly out of the ordinary when it comes to making a way around the territories circuit. What makes his experience and perspective unique is two specific characteristics. Firstly, he has an interesting take on his status as a black wrestler, often booked to almost fill a quota in a territory. As well as being accepting of the pros and cons of such as position, he also details how he strove to establish his own personality and ring style so that he couldn’t simply be replaced by another grappler in the “African American slot.”

He also talks at length about the experience of his son not only following him into the business as The Rock, but his subsequent Hollywood success and how that changed his own life.

There’s also plenty of insightful backstage stories about the advice he received over the years on working and booking, though the number of times he mentions being told to slow down over the years does make you wonder how much notice he took!

Among the other highlights is Johnson’s spell in Memphis with the hard-to-believe but completely true story of being brought in to play the role of a boxer with no grappling experience despite being the reigning Texas champion.

As with all Scott Teal books, it’s full of detail and specifics as he mixes his research with Johnson’s recollections. Unlike some other Crowbar Press titles, Teal appears to have favored detail over relaying the story in Johnson’s own voice, so at times it doesn’t quite sound natural.

For the most part the stories appear credible, though there’s the odd numerical claim that seems a stretch. Johnson cites an estimate of Muhammad Ali receiving 200,000 blows during his career, which would be a somewhat unlikely 3,000+ per fight. Johnson also notes having a spell in 1973 where he earned $6,000-$8,000 a week. That’s the equivalent of two million dollars a year today, which seems high for the territorial era.

That aside, it’s a worthwhile read with neither unnecessary detail nor padding that will appeal to anyone with an interest in the territorial era.

Soulman is the memoir of professional wrestler, “Soulman” Rocky Johnson.

Born Wayde Bowles in the small Nova Scotia town of Amherst (a short four hour drive from my own hometown), Johnson left home at age fourteen to pursue life in Toronto. After a short stint as a boxer (a frequent sparring partner of George Foreman), Bowles found himself falling into professional wrestling. Johnson would travel all over Canada working for Maple Leaf Wrestling in Toronto, Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling in the Maritimes and Stampede Wrestling in Calgary.

Already a popular performer in Canada, Johnson’s popularity would explode when he began working the territory system in the US. Rocky would spend time in California, Hawaii, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee among other spots. He would even travel overseas working in Japan and Korea. Everywhere he went, he would prove to be a valuable asset given his exciting style and ability to work well with nearly everyone he shared the ring with. His desire to avoid backstage politics helped to endear him to promoters even if he would occasionally stand his ground when he felt he was being wronged or used incorrectly.

Throughout the book, Rocky is very honest about much of the racism he had to deal with over his career. While he said he refused to use the “race card” if someone received preferential treatment over him, the number of times Rocky would be asked to be shown eating watermelon and fried chicken in interviews would be shocking if you didn’t remember that the bulk of his career took place in the 60s and 70s. Rocky’s steadfast persistence to be treated as an athlete first and foremost kept him from being involved in some truly horrendous gimmicks and stereotypical roles. He recalls one instance in Memphis in the 70s where Jerry “The King” Lawler wanted to garner heel heat by whipping him with a strap in the middle of the ring; something Rocky noted would have been a cheap way to get heat.

Aside from a few offhand remarks about his son, Rocky doesn’t really talk about Dwayne until about three quarters of the way through the book. He touches on the troubles Dwayne had finding a character before morphing into the ultra-confident heel character that would propel him to the next level. I’m glad he didn’t spend a whole lot of time here because even though The Rock tends to overshadow Johnson himself, it would have detracted from Johnson’s own personal story - we already have many books and documentaries about The Rock.

The book wraps up with Johnson’s time in Mid-Atlantic territory working under a mask as Sweet Ebony Diamond before a brief appearance in WWE teaming with Tony Atlas where the two would go on to become the first black tag team champions in the promotion’s history. Despite their success, their time together was tumultuous as it was marred by Tony’s reckless actions outside the ring. Vince McMahon assigned Johnson as Tony’s defacto babysitter but there’s only so much you can do for someone who is unwilling to change before you lose control of your own life. Johnson spends a few pages near the end picking apart a few of the negative things Tony had said about him in his own book. This had the potential to be petty, but Johnson is more concerned with clearing his name and less about retaliating with mud-slinging.

Soulman is an anomaly in the world of pro-wrestling books in that it isn’t bursting with crazy road stories nor does it feature a retired wrestler with an axe to grind. That’s not a complaint nor is it a mark against the book, but rather a refreshing experience. Often overshadowed by his mega-successful son, Rocky Johnson still has a story worth telling, especially when geared toward those who want to read and learn more about the territorial wrestling system at its absolute height.