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Book Review: The BILLY WATTS Story

Book Review: The BILLY WATTS Story

Posted: Feb 14th 2008 By: mikeiles

The Cowboy and the Cross
The Billy Watts Story
by "Cowboy" Bill Watts & Scott Williams

Description: You may have seen or read arguments over the years in support of Bill Watts having one of the greatest mind's for professional wrestling. After all, he was the promoter and mastermind behind one of the hottest wrestling promotions before the monopolization of Vince McMahon. However you probably have not heard anyone pushing the name Bill Watts as one of the greatest at anything else - until now. The Billy Watts Story is 300+ pages of self gratifying stories of Bill Watts proclaiming himself the world's greatest everything.

Let's start with the positives. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters about his stint as President of World Championship Wrestling and a three-month stay in the World Wrestling Federation. I guess because it was familiar to me. Watts surprisingly had a lot of good things to say about Vince McMahon, so don't pick up this book expecting an angry tirade against the infamous WWE chairman. He was, however, not as gracious when talking about his predecessor, Eric Bischoff.

The first few chapters were so bad that it literally took me months to get through it because I simply did not want to read it. I kept picking it up, and then putting it down for days and even weeks before pulling together the strength to tackle it again. I read all about Mr. Watts' meathead antics as a young man, growing up in the College football system, showing all the discipline of a toddler with a dirty diaper. Bill exemplified and glorified the very behavior that he would deem unacceptable later in life when he found himself in a position of authority. Somehow this behavior was okay when he did it, but deplorable when performed by others. If I ever had the opportunity to ask Mr. Watts one question, it would be "what would you have done if you were forced to work with the young version of yourself?" I suspect he would have fined and fired himself faster than you could say the word "hypocrite."

I do, however, admire Mr. Watts for turning over a new leaf and giving his life to God. But that doesn't mean that I wanted to listen to the constant preaching on numerous pages of this book. With scattered references during the first 100 pages, and an all-embracing spiritual testimonial dominating the final thirty pages of the book. Do yourself a favor and skip that section of the book.

The book was really well written and I give a lot credit to Scott Williams for that. He is an incredible writer and has a history of writing great wrestling books. I did find the guts of the book very entertaining, once I got into a groove, and found the chapters that really probed into the world of professional wrestling through Cowboy Bill's eyes. So the book has enough content to satisfy the average wrestling fan, but unfortunately contains just enough garbage to cause a little reader remorse.

Rating: 5 / 10

 

Tags: Bill Watts, WCW, WWF, WWE

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Spotlight in History

  • 2002 Se7en became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 2002 HIMM became the ACW Hardcore Champion
  • 2007 Talon def. Lady Venom for the SWCW Womens Title
  • 2007 Striker def. Rick Garrett for the SWCW Heavyweight Title

Week of Sun 08-16 to Sat: 08-22

  • 08-16 1977 Porkchop Cash & Mike George def. The Medics (Medic #1 & Medic #2) for the TSW United States Tag Team Titles
  • 08-16 2013 The Rock Star Mafia (Dane Griffin & Armani) def. Team ATM (Jerome Daniels & Big Tex) for the NWA-TXO Tag Team Titles
  • 08-16 2019 Fly Def (Warren J & Zack Zilla) became the TexPro Tag Team Champions
  • 08-16 2024 Tribal Nation (Brandon Warhawk & Nashoba & Marlboro Slim) became the BPW Tag Team Champions
  • 08-16 2024 Texas Outlaws (Bobby Burns & Original Renegade & Manico) def. Tribal Nation (Brandon Warhawk, Nashoba & Marlboro Slim) for the BPW Tag Team Titles
  • 08-16 2025 Nashoba def. Jay Hazzard for the EPW Internet Television Title
  • 08-16 2025 K. J. Orso def. Ironside for the TexPro Oklahoma Title
  • 08-17 2002 Russelina the Ballerina/Manservant became the OCW Oklahoma Womens Champion
  • 08-17 2019 Naomi Sanders def. Karnage for the BPW 365 Title
  • 08-17 2019 Adam Patrick def. Brock Landers for the ASP Inter-County Title
  • 08-17 2024 God's Work (Father Padge & Deacon Hendrix) def. Shawn Sanders & Marlboro Slim (subbing for Scott Sanders) for the EPW Tag Team Titles
  • 08-17 2024 Damien Morte def. Badger James for the EPW Internet Television Title
  • 08-17 2025 Brixton Barricade def. Slade Temple for the ASP Mid-American Title
  • 08-17 2025 Drake Gallows def. Brixon Barricade for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Colton Kinnamon def. Drake Gallows for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Drake Gallows def. Colton Kinnamon for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Dale Reeves def. Drake Gallows for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Bang Bang Bennett def. Dale Reeves for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Drake Gallows def. Bang Bang Bennett for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Dale Reeves def. Drake Gallows for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Kyle Kubiak def. Dale Reeves for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Dale Reeves def. Kyle Kubiak for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Scotty Rose def. Dale Reeves for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 Kyle Kubiak def. Scotty Rose for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-17 2025 C. M. Burnham def. Kyle Kubiak for the ASP All Time Title
  • 08-18 1982 Mike Sharpe, Jr. def. Killer Khan for the MSW Louisiana Title
  • 08-18 2001 Dexter Hardaway def. Grenade for the OPW Oklahoma Light Heavyweight Title
  • 08-18 2025 Brandon Groom def. Dan Webber for the LCW Lionheart Title
  • 08-18 2025 Blake Dalton def. Brandon Groom for the LCW Lionheart Title
  • 08-19 2002 Se7en became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 08-19 2002 HIMM became the ACW Hardcore Champion
  • 08-19 2007 Talon def. Lady Venom for the SWCW Womens Title
  • 08-19 2007 Striker def. Rick Garrett for the SWCW Heavyweight Title
  • 08-20 1968 The Spoiler def. Grizzly Smith for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 08-20 1969 Johnny Valentine def. Jose Lothario for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 08-20 1976 Seigfreid Steinke def. Rocky Johnson for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 08-20 2005 The Red Dirt Outlaws (Devon Monroe & Kevin James) def. The Forsaken (Faith & Halo) for the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Titles
  • 08-20 2006 Re-Gex (Seth Shai & Mace) def. Natural Born Sinners (Appolyon & El Lotus) for the ACW Tag Team Titles
  • 08-20 2006 Rexx Reed def. Carnage for the ACW Hardcore Title
  • 08-20 2006 John O'Malley def. Aaron Neil for the ACW Heavyweight Title
  • 08-20 2011 Jesse Williams became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 08-20 2011 Danger Dean def. Jesse Williams for the ACW Heavyweight Title
  • 08-20 2016 Dimitri Alexandrov became the UWE United States Champion
  • 08-20 2020 Jerry Bostic def. Shawn Sanders for the ASP Mid-American Title
  • 08-21 1959 Angelo Savoldi def. Mike DiBiase for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
  • 08-21 1961 Corsica Joe def. Oni Wiki Wiki for the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Title
  • 08-21 1961 Stu Gibson def. Waldo Von Erich for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 08-21 1964 Karl Kox def. Bull Curry for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 08-21 1972 Tom Jones & Ken Mantell def. The Continental Warriors (Bobby Hart & Lorenzo Parente) for the TSW United States Tag Team Titles
  • 08-21 1987 Al Perez def. Kevin Von Erich for the WCCW World Title
  • 08-21 2005 Chaz Sharpe def. Li'l Joe for the ACW Hardcore Title
  • 08-21 2005 Aaron Neil became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 08-21 2020 The Sickness/Charlie Haas def. Will Allday for the TexPro Heavyweight Title
  • 08-22 1969 Chuck Karbo def. Danny Hodge for the TSW North American Title
  • 08-22 1969 Bull Curry def. Baron Von Raschke for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 08-22 1998 The Great Bolo [2nd] def. Red Eagle for the OPW Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 08-22 2009 Sage def. Goldeneye for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 08-22 2009 Mo-Dizzle def. Kunna Keyoh for the TCBW Hardcore Title
  • 08-22 2009 Thug Nasty def. Wage for the TCBW Heavyweight Title
  • 08-22 2010 Tyson Jaymes def. Rick Russo for the SWCW Heavyweight Title
  • 08-22 2010 Kareem Sadat def. David Kyzer for the SWCW All-American Title
  • 08-22 2020 Alex Royal def. Sam Stackhouse for the WFC Heavyweight Title
  • 08-22 2021 Skylar Slice def. Danni Bee for the ASP Women's Title
  • 08-22 2021 Jerome Daniel Griffey def. Malik Mayfield for the ASP Livestream Title
  • 08-22 2025 Blazin' Saddles (Bang Bang Bennett & Scotty Rose) def. Drake Gallos & Dale Reeves (Substituting for for the RDW Tag Team Titles
08-19
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  • Brian Montgomery Aug 19th Today!
  • Toni Adams Aug 19th Today!
  • Tim Horner Aug 19th Today!
  • Cade Sydal Aug 20th
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  • Judy Grable Aug 21st
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  • Erik Aug 21st
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  • Ducky Aug 23rd
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  • Matt Garza Aug 23rd
  • Jack Davenport Aug 23rd
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  • Blue Bolt Aug 25th
  • Ryan the Ripper Aug 25th
  • Bobby Shane Aug 25th
  • D. A. Aug 25th
  • Grappler Aug 25th
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