----This was posted yesterday on www.wrestlingfigs.com
Journal of a Journeyman
By Dusty Wolfe
With Brian Thompson and Brian Tramel
www.rasslinriotonline.com
$19.99
Reviewed by Joe Babinsack
“Guys like the Fargo’s, Red Bastien, Terry Funk, Dick Murdoch, Johnny Valentine, and Roddy Piper wouldn’t stand a snow balls chance in hell today. Simply due to the fact that they wouldn’t be allowed to be themselves.”
Thus is the wisdom of Dusty Wolfe.
Dusty is a Texan, a world-traveler and a one-time Hollywood Blonde. He is, as the tile screams, a journeyman wrestler, with little presumption and no disdain for the moniker. He has been a booker, an organizer of various world tours (Singapore, India, South Africa and other wild and not so wild locales.)
Dusty comes to grips with the lifestyle of a true professional. Not just the pampered life of a superstar, who can now spill the beans for another big payday, but a man who made a living and worked, partied and paid for it while it happened.
His tale is an honest book..
One that reveals his regrets (missing most of the lives of his three children, and several failed marriages;) his ‘success’ in terms of actually living out a career as a professional wrestler, and learning an awful lot about the industry; as well as his accomplishments – overcoming a painful and debilitating disease, bouncing around the indy promotions and getting some good paydays from the WWF, from the WCW and from fans and promoters across the world.
Journeyman, in terms of Dusty’s life, is more than just a good phrase to call someone who has seen it all, knows a lot more than he’d ever be credited with, and has the track record of being a true veteran of the sport.
Considering the miles he’s flown, traveled and experienced, Dusty Wolfe truly is a journeyman, who has taken each tour, each stint, each date worked as a step in his rugged life.
What is it about the life of Dusty Wolfe that deserves further scrutiny?
Well, telling that story is Dusty himself, in the book, and I just can’t do that justice by rephrasing it. What I love about the book is the constant stream of stories, insights and gritty reality of life on the road.
What I love is how open and honest Dusty is about how his career destroyed his family life – especially his marriages – all the while he was able to lean on his mother (“Big Mama”) to help rear his boys. The only sidestep is his daughter, Dana, who likely was with her mother more often than not.
While there are some flaws, much are understandable. This is a 200 page book packed with details and information. There’s always a perception that it should be deeper, longer and more informative, but especially in terms of someone steeped in kayfabe, there’s a reality that getting so much is well worth getting.
The places where I wished I saw more (and let me say that this isn’t a Larry Z situation where too much was self-edited out) was when Dusty talked about Bruiser Brody, Dick Murdoch and Andre the Giant. Then again, we didn’t hear the obligatory Andre drunk two cases of beer story, only the “Andre did like me, and I was lucky” slant.
The Brody situation would have been much appreciated, though. Wolfe obviously knew the man, and had his friendship. But then again, and the same thing is true with Murdoch – this isn’t the story of anyone but Dusty Wolfe, and I’d more than likely complain if he did talk too much about other guys.
What is especially impressive is the strength of Dusty’s connections in the business.
He worked for Blanchard, for Jarrett, for Graham, for Jovica/Colon and for Vince. He worked for WCW, for various outlaw promotions and for shady promoters across the world.
And he sloughs off the notion that he booked and ran several tours for several guys, all the while dropping names like Tony Atlas, Bundy, Brody, Murdoch and assorted other journeyman, to fill out his cards and his several week tours of exotic locations.
Some locations are certainly scary enough. Whether tales of machine guns in Malaysia, troops in India or police pull-overs in Mexico, this is a man who faced far more than just his opponents, or con-artists or a wife gunning for a divorce!
But getting back to the contacts, it was amazing to read how some off-beat promoter in Texas was looking for the Ultimate Warrior for booking purposes in early to mid 1990’s, and sure enough, Dusty makes a few calls and puts them together.
Then, as shady promoters are want to do, the deal fell apart, and Dusty provides insight into the reality of the urban myths of two (or is it more?) Ultimate Warriors.
Pain is the purview of a professional wrestler, especially one who transitioned from the regional realities of the early 1980’s up until the truly modern, WWE dominated era today.
Wolfe was there for the deaths of several close associates, including Brody, including Murdoch. He was impacted by Eddie Guerrero’s untimely death – helping people contact Chavo Classic. (He ironically was also not so fond of Chavo for other reasons, early on in his career.)
Maybe you haven’t heard of Dusty Wolfe, but you certainly saw him, or his influences, if you have followed the sport over the past twenty five years.
He was there to help the American Starship break in.
(That’s Scott Hall and Dan Spivey if you need to know the trivia.)
He was there to help babysit Zeus.
(That’s the movie made rival of Hulk Hogan after the No Holds Barred fiasco.)
He was there as a Hollywood Blonde, learning the ropes from Jerry Jarrett and also from Eddie Graham.
And, like I said earlier, he gained the confidence of Bruiser Brody and Dick Murdoch, and from their reputations, that isn’t an easy feat to accomplish.
But after reading the book, I can readily understand the appreciation. Dusty Wolfe is honest, a good story-teller and was crazy enough to hang with the party types, and solid enough to be trusted by the best of the business.
Now, going back to complaints, I wish Dusty et al would have spelled out Ken Johnson and Ken Timbs more than just naming Ken T. and Ken J., but the associations he had with his trainer, and long time tag team partner were moving and important.
The absolute important aspect of this book is that it is the story of a professional wrestler who has seen it all, and who has no particular axe to grind. This isn’t the story of professional wrestling over the past 25 years, it’s the story of the career of one of its unsung heroes.
And because of that, I’d highly recommend this book.
Joe Babinsack can be reached at chaosonejoe@yahoo.com. My thanks to Georgiann Makropoulos for securing this book to review. It’s another perspective of the business, and one that you must read if you really want to appreciate the business.
