Excerpt from "Wrestling with the Truth"
Copyright © Bruno Lauer
When we were clear of the Coliseum, Sid [Vicious] began berating me, and in a very angry, almost insane tone of voice, he told me in great detail about what had taken place in the parking lot just a few short minutes before. "Sid, I’m sorry …" I offered, but he cut me off in mid-sentence.
"Sorry! Sorry? Is that supposed to help? I hit a fu—ing baby because you were fu—ing standing the fu— around instead of getting in the fu—ing car!"
"But, Sid. I was talking to the RPMs because I haven’t seen them for a while, and ..."
At that point, Sid snapped, and in a combination of being insane with anger and not knowing just how inhumanly strong he was, he screamed, "Fu— the RPMs, and fu— you!" He grabbed me by the back of my head with his right hand, forced my head down between my knees, and held it there with all of his strength. I struggled to straighten up, but his brute force was inescapable. As my oxygen supply dwindled, my head felt as if it was going to explode, and I started to black out. Just before I passed out, Sid released his death grip on my neck and let me go.
Bruno’s book is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to everybody. You will learn a lot about the business of professional wrestling, and in the process, you will laugh your ass off.
— Kurt Angle "Wrestling with the Truth" is the title of this book, but it doesn’t mean what you think it does. Bruno Lauer has no problem telling the truth. He believes in telling it like it is, and after spending 29 years as a manager in the business of professional wrestling, he has a lot of stories to tell.
Entertaining, visual, and vicious. A memorable memoir by a veteran performer who has seen and done it all in sports entertainment.
— Chris Jericho, New York Times best-selling author
The story of Bruno Lauer, known professionally as Downtown Bruno and Harvey Wippleman, relates the fascinating, and often hilarious, story of his life. Direct and opinionated, he doesn’t hold back anything, sharing both the good and the bad things that happened to him. Even his close friends aren’t safe from his scrutiny. Take it from Mick Foley, who read the first draft of the book and found himself on the receiving end of a few barbs thrown by Bruno: "Bruno's honesty can be, at times, a little painful."
A unique perspective from one of the most unique characters in the history of the wrestling business.
— Mick Foley, New York Times best-selling author
As he retraces every step of his career, Bruno’s account of his life as a "sports entertainment" performer begins at age 13, when he joins a traveling wrestling troupe at a carnival, and ends when he wins the WWF "Women’s" world championship wrestling title on prime-time national television.
This autobiography, complemented by 94 photos culled from Bruno’s personal scrapbooks, is a fresh glimpse of life behind the curtain of professional sports entertainment. As full of action, entertainment, heartbreak, and drama as anything that takes place inside a professional wrestling ring, Wrestling with the Truth is the story of a man who struggled to find his place in the wrestling business, and the success that came through his perseverance.
With a Foreword written by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
[excerpt] : Bruno Lauer and I have shared an extraordinary friendship that has spanned more than 20 years. : Throughout that time, the same words come to mind when I think of Bruno — loyal, reliable, and as funny as hell!
