20 Best Wrestling Books Ever

18. Blood Red Turns Dollar Green - Paul O'Brien

Damien Sandow With Book
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There is not another book like Blood Red Turns Dollar Green on this list. Many reading may not have expected to see a crime novel in the midst of classic autobiographies and stories of entire promotions, but Paul O'Brien's series is eminently valid. Just ask Mick Foley - he'll be the first to agree.

Blood Red is a trilogy of stories set in 1970s, mixing the popular world of pro wrestling with a seedy, criminal underbelly. It's instantly intriguing, and O'Brien does a great job of keeping things ticking along with just enough pace to maintain interest. This is the kind of book that you can't put down, wrestling fan or not.

That's perhaps the biggest piece of praise that can thrown the writer's way, and even those with only a passing knowledge of wrestling can enjoy it. For those who are passionate about the industry, another side of the book begins to open up.

Mick Foley, Paul Heyman, Finn Balor, and others have all acclaimed Blood Red Turns Dollar Green as a series. They represent something different, but that doesn't mean they're not essential reading, particularly the first.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.