cover image Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps

Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps

Chris Jericho, with Peter Thomas Fornatale, foreword by Mick Foley, Grand Central, $27.99 (448p) ISBN 978-0-446-53815-2

An entertaining follow-up to their popular book A Lion's Tale, international wresting superstar Jericho and co-writer Fornatale continue their chronicle of Jericho's wild ride through the wacky world of professional wrestling. This book picks up where the earlier book ended—with Jericho in 1999 joining Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Enterprise, the most important venue in wresting—and ends with Jericho's return to the ring in 2007 after a two-year retirement. Jericho hilariously details these key years as WWE's resident bad guy. His feuds with WWE's colorful (and colorfully profane) cast, including the likes of X-Pac, Ken Shamrock, Chyna, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and Christian, are solidly recounted, although most of this will be old news to hardcore WWE fans. But the most interesting stories involve his battles on- and off-stage with such better-known stars as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Goldberg—whom Jericho once had run over by a limousine during an episode of WWE's Raw series. It is here that Jericho shines and proves once again that, next to Mick Foley, he is an insightful and funny observer of pro wrestling's absurd universe. (Feb.)