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Book Review of "Bang Your Head: The Real Story of The Missing Link"

Posted: Aug 8th 2006 By: mikeiles

The Missing Link joined the WWF in the spring of 1985. His stay was short, however looking back it seemed much longer to me. I enjoyed watching him in those days. I was also able to see that character before and after since various other wrestling organizations did start to televise via cable by that time. His gimmick was so convincing I had trouble picturing him having any degree of sophistication or civilization outside of wrestling. The business was better protected in those days. I do not remember exactly when I found out he was also Dewey Robertson. Many longtime friends whom he reunited with in WWF did not recognize him according to the book. I must have found out a bit later.

Dewey Robertson was a solid favorite of mine via the ?Apter magazines?. He was heavily involved in storylines I would read about but could not watch on television. The regions were still maintained at that time. Dewey and Missing Link spanned childhood right through recent adulthood. He wrestled people from Bruno Sammartino, and Gorilla Monsoon through Shaun Simpson, the Von Erichs and beyond. Certainly with that much history going for it this book on its face showed the potential for a good read.

The story is focused around pro-wrestling and is about a pro-wrestler whose life took many turns mostly in a downward spiral. Percy Pringle in his short foreword states, ?These chapters document his battles in and out of the professional wrestling ring, and the defeat of the many demons he befriended along the way.? A chilling thought however, the battle is still very recent at the time of the publication of this book. Enough time to this date has not passed to signify long term prospects of normality. Gerweck.net however posted an up to date interview with him. Dewey still seems to be doing fine at least from what one can conclude from that interview.

Meredith Renwick is the co-author. Dewey first contacted Greg Oliver of the Slam! Wrestling website. He was working on another project but arranged for his wife to work on this book. In the acknowledgement section Ms. Renwick indicates ?I knew very little about professional wrestling or the career of Dewey Robertson, but something about his story grabbed my interest----I thought it would be compelling to a lot of people, wrestling fans or not.? I agree that there is enough to the story to interest the non-wrestling fan however the lack of wrestling knowledge does seem to spill over into the first person narrative at least based on my own wrestling knowledge. It is quite possible that Dewey disagrees and feels there was absolutely no problem in this area. I can?t help thinking however that maybe Dewey might have waited for Mr. Oliver to be available. None of this should be overstated as the book still reads well and Ms. Revwick?s considerable literary ability also spills over.

This book was published by ECW Press a prestigious quarter of a century old independent house. They predate Extreme Championship Wrestling. While I have had the pleasure of reviewing a variety of their books with wrestling themes they also publish many other genres some of which I can see myself reading in the future.

Dewey?s childhood was chaotic. His father was an alcoholic and while not abusive he was a poor role model. The alcoholism led to his parents divorce and no doubt contributed to the future demons of Dewey. As a result of his parents broken marriage he harbored complex resentment to both parents. Despite wrestling until fairly recently he was born in 1939. He grew up in West Hamilton Ontario and worked very hard to pay his way during his youth. His mother did not earn enough on her own. Hockey was one of his first loves. He had hopes of an NHL career. This was quite natural for someone growing up in Canada. When a fan lifted him into the stands with ease he decided that he had to bulk up. This is prior to his steroid use. At that time hard work and proper diet resulted in positive gains. The gyms that Dewey frequented were hotbeds of wrestling. Many wrestlers were trained and got their starts in these Canadian gyms. Dewey began his training there and interacted with many of the graduates of the gyms throughout his career.

With the help of mentors such as Whipper Watson Dewey?s Canadian career progressed extremely well. He was quite talented and trained well. His body builder look was not conventional in those days however it helped his overall package. His prominence helped him open gyms. He managed them well and they were profitable until he went on the road in the United States. The business suffered due to a lack of attention from the owner and drawing card. The road led to many other problems. This culminated in steroid, drug and alcohol abuse. His most persistent demons were alcohol and marijuana. Dewey stresses that for him and many others marijuana is not the harmless drug that it is thought to be. After his description of marijuana abuse I could never look upon it as a harmless drug. His progress in dealing with these problems is fully documented. His wife went on the road with him and in some instances acted as his valet. It is amazing how much she put up with. Their divorce did not come until many years after I though it would. Finally there was one relapse too many. She was ill equipped to deal with his myriad of problems causing her to become an ?enabler?, one whose good intentions and love compound the problems. There was a lot of drinking and drug use while driving back in that day. ?The police just seemed to let them go. I never got stopped and I never got in any accidents----?. Times must have changed considering Sabu and RVD as a current example.

The wrestling stories are excellent. Dewey was in so many territories that just about everybody I have heard of is covered in some fashion. It appears that his greatest fame was achieved as The Missing Link. Dewey was aging and his career was on the downslide. The new gimmick revitalized him. Just prior to his entry to the WWF he was pictured in a Sports Illustrated article about wrestling. There was the Missing Link in full color as part of a mainstream magazine feature on pro-wrestling.

I remember reading from one of Bobby Heenan?s books about Dewey. Bobby was the manager of the Missing Link upon his introduction to the WWF. He could not believe that the Link actually expected him to act as a manager and take care of bookings hotel rooms etc. At the time I thought Dewey with all his experience should have known better. Bobby was a gimmick manager not a real one. I was interested to hear the Link?s take on this situation. He verified the incident. His wife previously acted as his valet however the WWF did not want to use her in that capacity. She took care of all those details so Dewey felt that in her forced absence Bobby should handle them. Despite this Dewey had mostly good things to say about the WWF and Vince McMahon Jr. He said leaving there was a horrible financial mistake. Throughout the book the reader is given a good financial and business profile of the wrestling business. The triumphs and failures of the regions are outlined via personal knowledge. Did you know that in the early 1980?s both Vince Sr. and Vince Jr. went to Texas to meet with Fritz Von Erich? They proposed that the WWF and WCCW join forces and go international. Fritz declined; he did not feel he needed the McMahons.

There are a variety of instances that conflict with the inside candid nature of this book. One such example is a description of one of the last matches with WWF. Paul Orndorff was the opponent. The megaphone of Jimmy Hart his manager got too close. This allegedly triggered a mood swing which caused him to take his eyes off Orndorf. As a result he lost the match. He stated, ?When I left the building my thoughts were going crazy with fury at losing the match, because the Missing Link had only been beaten four or five times in eight years.? Is this passage part of the gimmick? Did he actually not know the outcome of the match in advance? Stories about early jobbing days raise those same questions. In one such match he threw a drop kick at Gorilla Monsoon, ?It was my best move and it did not budge Gorilla one inch--two big splashes, than the 1-2-3 count and the match was over. Like I said some lessons come the hard way---?. The first person narrative did indicate that some of the jobbers allowed more offensive moves than others. Unfortunately I did not obtain the inside look at jobbing that I always wondered about. I chalk this up to co author Meredith Renwick?s concession that she knew very little about professional wrestling or the career of Dewey Robertson. None the less this book is a fine read. Enough information about wrestling finds it way through to satisfy the smartest fan. The real story of the Missing Link and the struggles of Dewey Robertson is a story that transcends wrestling and is handled well by both authors.