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Cucch's Book Review: "The Three Count" by Jimmy Korderas






And now for something completely different...
Wrestling is a funny sport. The majority of fans can name their favorite wrestler, their favorite match, their favorite manager, their favorite promotion. Most fans can describe where they were when a seminal wrestling event of their childhood occurred. Some can even describe the sights, smells and sounds, all of the sensations they felt in that moment. It is that experience that made me a wrestling fan, and it remains almost an infection that more current fans have suffered from. Wrestling is a quasi sport that, in the mass media, few understand. The mass media enjoys spirited competition from those on a baseball diamond or a basketball court or a football field, spending oodles of dollars on these sports, these institutions, that most of use (me included) hold dear. Yet, to a man, they all deride pro wrestling. Its not real. The performers are nothing but glorified carnies. They know how to fall. Give me a break. Wrestlers are great athletes who, in addition to putting their wares to work every night of the year, often in Podunk towns, subject their body, WILLINGLY, to rigors that would make NFL Lineman blush. Yet, while the NFL has seen a breakthrough in insurance coverage, a $786 Million Dollar settlement that was basically hush money to keep the weak and infirmed NFL alumni quiet, the world of pro wrestling has done nothing of the sort.

That is a side rant, something on my mind. But it is not without basis.

Most wrestling books describe wrestler A wrestling wrestler B, they kick the shit out of eachother all over the country, blood and years are shed, they make money, yet spend too much until said wrestler is broke and living a poor nomadic existence like Randy "The Ram" Robinson, the Mickey Rourke character from "The Wrestler."

That is the template for most wrestling books. This is different. Jimmy Korderas was never a wrestler. He did not train with a Ron Hutchinson or Jim Cornette. He never main evented a WrestleMania, per se. No, Jimmy Korderas was a WWF referee.

Korderas was a huge wrestling fan back in the late 1970's and early 80's from the Greek portion of Toronto, Ontario. He got his start taking pictures of wrestlers at Maple Leaf Gardens from his ringside seat (next to the elevated ramp way WCW would later make famous). Twenty one year old Jimmy stood outside MLG and sold his prints, until an agent of WWF Canada confronted him and told him what he was doing was illegal. The man told him he could sell his pics a block away, and Jimmy complied. Soon, this man brought him to the altar, to the man who ran WWF Canada, the man who portrayed himself as the President of the WWF in the mid to late 80's until the mid 90's: Jack Tunney. Tunney, who oversaw all WWF events in Canada, liked this kid, so he put him on the payroll. Korderas' first acts as a WWF employee were to drive talents from place to place in  Canada. He loved it, and he was soon embarking on a long and prosperous run.

Korderas was basically a ring crew guy, the bottom rung of the ladder, transporting the stage and ring between various Canadian locales. He eventually graduated to driving Jack Tunney and Billy Red Lyons to events. Korderas was then, in 1987, taught how to be a referee. He had some tough learning curves (as the book shows) but he more or less was a duck to water.

Korderas continued as a ref, and became just about as decorated as a ref can. He was there for the February 5, 1988 match with Andre and Hogan. He was there in 1990 for the Ultimate Challenge. Korderas has a unique viewpoint on everything from Mania 3 to Mania 24.

Jim Korderas retired shortly after this book was published. He was someone who was central to most of the whims of WWF. Yet, he is hardly recognized. We remember Tommy Young, Earl or Dave Hebner, Joey Marella. Jim Korderas was THERE, through good and bad, and deserves recognition as a man who has greatly contributed to the game.

In short order, Korderas' book is excellent. Read it, and kayfabe with it.

Comments

  1. Not much of a review. More like a promo to buy the book. Which is fine, just shouldn't be called a review. Guess I was spoiled by the other great reviews.

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  2. This is not a review. And I'd also dispute your assertion that it's 'excellent', as I found it average at best.

    On the plus side, there are some interesting insights into some of the workings of WWE and yes, it is great to have the perspective of a non wrestler. Korderas style is chatty and he seems like a nice guy.

    But those are the two biggest problems. He often rambles and goes off on tangents, breaking the narrative flow. And then he'll often tease you with a story (sorry, I read this a while ago and don't have examples at hand) but say it wouldn't be appropriate to talk about it or that it should maybe be for the next book.

    I can't recommend this book. Get Bob Holly's instead.

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  3. Does he speak Greek? LOL

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  4. I agree, but I didn't really like Holly's book either. I'm halfway through one of Jericho's at the moment, and that is proving really entertaining.

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  5. What was the point of this?

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  6. Based on the intro this was the first "review" of yours I was actually looking forward to. Tease.

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  7. Poushti malaka pesevengi gamoto

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  8. In the vein of non-wrestler wrestling books, i'd love to see someone involved in production write a book. Being a huge music fan, i'd love to read a Jim Johnston book. Or even a Kevin Dunn book. To split the difference, a Jimmy Hart book would be great. I say all this fully knowing that since almost every one of these I see is one I didn't know about, these books probably exist.

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  9. yea i have the jimmy hart book just havent read it yet.

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  10. So he was sort of like the Forrest Gump of WWF/E referees?

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  11. I have Jimmy Hart's audiobook, but listening to 6 hours of someone talking through a megaphone is excruciating!!

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  12. Sorry if the review disappointed. I enjoyed the book, but going into too much detail basically gives away ALL of the book. I always try not to give the whole thing away. I apologize to those who did not like it, I will make up for it on the next review. Hey, we can't all bat 1.000.

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  13. I'd recommend the book to wrestling fans as well. He's pretty frank and forthright throughout as he seems to be having a conversation with the reader (or, perhaps, an e-mail exchange with the reader). If you are looking for narrative flow, then this isn't the book for you. If you want slices of life in the WWE--anything from a few good stories about Gorilla and Bobby to referee politics--then this doesn't fail to entertain.

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  14. ...I was asking if he got fucked in the ass.

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  15. Neville fucking Bartos mate

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  16. The Ghost of Faffner HallSeptember 7, 2013 at 5:58 PM

    Jimmy Hart's book SHOULD be great, but it's incredibly disappointing. I pre-ordered it before it came out, figuring that someone like the Mouth of the South would have stories that could fill at least two or three volumes. But not only is it less than 200 pages, Hart skips or glosses over a lot of his career--he goes into some detail on his time in Memphis, which is fine, but the WWF and WCW are dealt with in only a few pages, like they were just brief points instead of where he spent much of his career.

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  17. I'm not sure you know what a review is. You gave no critical analysis whatsoever here.

    Giving a synopsis is not a review.

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