Mayor Kane delves into the surprising and inspiring journey of wrestling superstar Glenn Jacobs as he transitions from the ring to politics, making his mark in Tennessee with a touch of wrestling flair.

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

It was nice to get a few more tidbits about Jacobs' life with the WWE, but most of what was in the book were things that have been known by fans for a while now. What new information I did find seems as if Jacobs' made sure to leave the door open should he ever need to call on McMahon and the WWE again. There is definitely no controversial material about his wrestling career that would slam the door shut.

I had hoped that by time the book got around to his run up to and winning his election for Mayor, that we would have had more insight into what in his life and wrestling career influence his policies today. Maybe a run-in with a Make-a-wish kid or one of the behind the scenes WWE employees that made him see things in a certain light. But no such information was really there.

Unfortunately, this book just doesn't seem to find its legs: it neither falls into a wrestling memoir (what I was really hoping for) nor political pamphlet, and I think that's really the downfall here.

Overall, if you're here for the wrestling, I'd go elsewhere. If you're both a fan of Jacobs' policies as mayor and a fan of wrestling, this book is for you.

Mayor Kane - My Life In Wrestling and Politics BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A few months back, I was fortunate enough to obtain an advanced copy of Under The Black Hat: My Life In The WWE And Beyond by Jim Ross, a book which many were heralding as arguably the greatest wrestling book ever written. While I disagreed with that assessment, I noted that it absolutely belonged in the upper echelon of books written about the business, sitting alongside those written by Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley and Gary Hart. Today, we take a look at a book sadly on the other end of the spectrum, Mayor Kane: My Life In Wrestling And Politics, written by the man behind the mask, Glenn Jacobs.

Given his incredibly lengthy and historic career, in addition to the interesting post-wrestling career choice, this one seemed like a layup for a great read. Unfortunately, it reads more like an extended Cliff’s notes of the man’s wrestling career along with his transition into the world of politics.

Jacobs spends little time recounting his life before wrestling, which for some may be a good thing. Wanting a book to dive into the subject matter of which you are attached is a normal thing, but it also leaves us without a connection to our narrator. Jacobs discusses his love of sports and the way he was able to move easily into the business due to his sheer size, something which a former WWE star once advised can’t be taught.

At an almost breakneck pace, he moves through his early days of training in the remains of the territorial systems, before moving to Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling. It is here where he first caught the eye of WWE officials, who brought him up as Isaac Yankem, D.D.S., a character which Jacobs admits he outright hated. He does acknowledge it may have had legs had he embraced the gimmick, and so he made that decision with his run as the fake Diesel. It does appear that while we all know that gimmick was not long for this world, his great attitude about it is what helped spawn the character of Kane, which would finally give him his big break.


If you are looking for backstage stories or rumour-mongering, you can move along now. It may seem cruel to say it, but every word seems like it was put through the WWE hype machine and approved by Vince McMahon himself. Jacobs gives one of the most laughably uninformed and embarrassing recollections of the Montreal Screwjob, and a half-page chapter about Owen Hart’s death essentially defends the choice to continue the show. Many of his more salacious storylines are completely ignored, including his long angle with Matt Hardy, Edge and Lita, and the infamous Katie Vick storyline. Maybe the most revealing story comes with his disastrous Tombstone on Linda McMahon, with him stating that he purposefully kept her head a full foot away from the landing and the camera crew was supposed to cut away. He describes Vince as absolutely losing his mind at the camera crew for this snafu.

The latter half of the book describes Jacobs's entrance into politics and his views as a Libertarian. Given the current political climate of the United States, it does seem a little tone-deaf for him to lean so hard into this, especially his choice to run as a Republican and spend a few pages defending the actions of Donald Trump as President.

I didn’t expect to enjoy the political aspect of the book but was hoping to at least enjoy the wrestling content and maybe learn a little more about Glenn Jacobs the man, which we get fleeting glimpses of. In the end, he describes his career as a gift and the ability to bring joy to others through his work, something of which he truly seems genuine about. But that doesn’t save the book from being anything more than a slight chore to make it through the first half, and a slog through the political parts.

Final Verdict: Pass
A copy of this book was provided by Center Street Publishing for this review.

Subtitle: My Life in Wrestling and Politics

I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I requested a copy of this book through Net Galley because Glenn Jacobs grew up about 10 miles from my hometown in northeast Missouri. I’ve never met him personally, but my younger brother played basketball against him in high school. The guy who convinced Jacobs to start training as a wrestler was best man at my brother’s wedding. I’ve enjoyed his work as Kane through the years and was looking forward to reading what he had to say about his wrestling career.


I would divide the book into two sections. The first section deals primarily with his early life and his introduction to pro wrestling and success in WWE. This section makes up roughly 70% of the book. The second section deals extensively with his political beliefs and successful campaign to become mayor of Knox County, TN. This section is about 30% of the book.

I enjoyed the first section. It shed a lot of light on Jacobs’ childhood and college athletic career prior to starting his wrestling training. It included lots of stories about wrestlers and events both before and during his time in WWE. As someone who has been a sporadic WWE viewer through the years, I appreciated Jacobs’ analysis of the evolution of Kane as a character.

The second section was much less enjoyable. There is a lengthy discussion of libertarian principles – which he is fully entitled to, but makes for dry reading compared to the first section. Then there is a section supporting Donald Trump. Probably the less said about that, the better.

I gave Mayor Kane four stars on Goodreads. If I could have rated the two sections of the book separately, I would have given five stars for part 1 and three stars for part 2. I really would’ve loved to give this five stars but the second part frankly was nowhere near a good as the earlier portion.

As a kid I loved watching WWE and I loved watching Kane on T.V. Reading this book it great to see what goes on behind the scenes. From a wrestler to being the Mayor of Tennessee. It’s a good book that I would highly recommend.

It was interesting to get to know man behind the mask. For year of watching wrestling, I only saw a mystery mean guy. Glenn Jacobs is actually a smart and fun guy. His politics and adherence to the company line may not be agreeable to everyone, but there is a lot more to this guy than most people would credit him with.

I am a big Attitude Era wrestling fan from the most recent golden age of wrestling. I have enjoyed most of the biographies from wrestlers from that era. I have enjoyed the Kane character and was anticipating liking this book.

The biography is good, but not great. I can't put my finger on why...maybe for me, the voice from the stories doesn't seem to hold the reader as well as books like Mick Foley and a few others did. Being a Hall of Fame wrestler and politician doesn't mean you have a writer's touch, and that came through on this book.

Entertaining, but a middle of the pack biography for me. A true wrestling fan will enjoy it, but a casual fan can pass it up and not be missing much.

Glenn Jacobs presents his life as the fulfillment of the American Dream. Growing up ma.e, white, extremely tall and in a nuclear family that could finance his passion makes it easy for people to overlook the struggle he put into his dream. Mayor Kane is a walk down memory lane for any professional wrestling fan. He reflects on the days when wrestling was controlled by regional promoters and designed for in person experiences. Throughout his rise to fame, he encountered many of the stars and personalities that made wrestling what it is today as an international, multi platform entertainment company. Jacobs writing style is accessible and engaging. The majority of the book is focused on his wrestling career. The political aspect of his life appears to be well informed and backed with research. I appreciate his libertarian ideals and the idea that government has overreached in many areas. However, I believe that his viewpoint comes from such a position of power that it is not a complete one. I think I would enjoy having him as a mayor if I lived in Know County.

As a fan of WWE, I was so excited to read this. I've been a huge fan of Glenn's and I really enjoyed reading his life up to being a mayor. It's a very fascinating story and it's a must read for any fan of sports entertainment.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mostly Memoir. Part Treatise. Some Genuflecting. The biggest thing to know about this book is that it is mostly memoir of Glenn Jacobs' life *pre* becoming Mayor of Knox County, TN. Indeed, the longest chapters and the most chapters overall deal specifically with his 20+ years working for Vincent Kennedy McMahon in World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. Which is where at least part of the genuflecting comes in - his praise of Vince... well, Kane has been known to employ less smoke than Jacobs blows when speaking of McMahon. (And don't get me wrong, I'm one of the fans that generally thinks McMahon has truly been one of the smarter men in sports entertainment over the last 30+ years, largely for the reasons Jacobs elaborates on quite a bit.)

The next largest part of the book is Jacobs' mostly general political philosophy with a few specifics. Here, Jacobs actually makes a very strong case for libertarianism and those that find themselves agreeing with his thoughts here should look into a newly announced (at the time of writing this review) Presidential candidate John Monds, the first Libertarian ever to earn more than 1 million votes. However, this is also where more of the genuflecting comes in, as Jacobs devotes a fair amount of time to praising the current occupant of the White House. If you like that person, you'll like what he says here. If you don't, know that this is a small section of the book overall, but coming near the end leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mind of that type of reader.

Ultimately primarily sports entertainment memoir, this is one of the better written ones I've come across, and I've read several from over half a dozen of Jacobs' contemporaries and even a few legends. Very much recommended.

Mayor Kane by Glenn Jacobs was received direct from the publisher and I chose to review it. I have been familiar with the wrestling character Kane most of my adult life. Glenn Jacobs I was surprised to learn was from a small town in Missouri, a one stop sign place just like I grew up in. Glenn’s writing ability kept me reading at a fast pace, never hogging down, always moving forward, telling about how he got into wrestling, at 6’8 options seem to be football, basketball or pro wrestling, and how he “grew up” in the wrestling smaller leagues until become a dentist in the WWF. The Kane storyline went well with descriptions of all the big spots and even mentioning Wrestlemania 20, where I had met the Kane character at the hotel they were staying in, though he did not mention meeting me, the dashingly handsome Soldier in the Doubletree foyer. The road stories chapter was my favorite and the Knoxville restaurant story was the best of those. The book finishes up with politics. If you or someone you buy gifts for likes WWE, Kane, Glenn Jacobs, or is a political junkie, certainly give this book a read.

5 stars

Wow, just wow. Although I haven't watched wrestling in years, I was a fan for as far back as I can remember. The days of Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, the Iron Sheik, and so many others... So many hours spent watching them wrestle, and loving every minute of the storylines they told. I very well remember the emergence of The Undertaker, and then the introduction of his brother, Kane. To be able to read the backstory of the man behind the mask, Glenn Jacobs, and the story of his life in and out of the ring was an absolute pleasure. While I would've loved to read more about his time fight against and with his "brother", I realize that is only a part of his life and truthfully, I found his political life just as interesting. I would love to read more about this intelligent, well-spoken man.

I've always been a huge fan of wrestling so when I saw that Kane had brought out a book I knew I had to request it.

I enjoyed this book but wish it had been longer. I felt like some of the stories were only snippets of the life Glenn Jacob's lived in his years in the wrestling industry. Otherwise it was an interesting read and recommended to wrestling fans!

Glenn Jacobs aka Kane is one of the more interesting wrestlers to emerge from the WWE over the last 30 years. From failed gimmicks to a successful entry into the political arena, Jacobs marks several boxes for an interesting journey. This book covers the totality of his life, but I still wanted more. Several stories were glossed over or quite vanilla, omitting much description in favor of playing it safe and certainly minimizing any backlash Jacobs might face in his current vocation. Fans of the Attitude era of WWE will find some value in this book, as will anyone curious about the journey from portraying a character like Kane to holding an elected office.

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.

Worthy of your time simply because of the staggeringly surreal nature of the story: One of the most popular WWE stars gets elected as the mayor of Knox County. As a Knoxvillian, I felt that checking this out was mandatory.

Jacobs writes swiftly, deftly balancing the details of his trek to stardom, keeping the pace of his ascension engaging, readable for non-wrestling fans; I should note that his WWE career takes up 3/4 of the book--I mean, come on, he's basically just started his political career, so there's not much to report right now and obviously most readers here are salivating at his recollections of some of his most memorable Kane moments.

Speaking of those, I'm happy to report that those tales are great to read about. Jacobs doesn't skimp for a second on issuing gratitude, and freely brings the reader along for a ride on what it's like for a wrestler behind-the-scenes.

Probably the top thing I was interested in when beginning this work was what my current county mayor thought about the current political climate; if you're completely adverse to hearing about his thoughts on libertarianism, the free market, and a little more than that, then you might wanna either steer clear or just hunt and peck through the pages for the wrestling anecdotes. While, as a reader who doesn't subscribe to a political party, I find his thoughts provoking, I wonder if his professional relationship (via the WWE) with our current president and Trump's "outsider" mentality (which inspired Jacobs to run for office) has clouded the author's view of the man, as the dealings in divisiveness/espousing hate, schoolyard-bully name-calling, and continual criminal activity (to begin) are evident no matter what news channel spins the coverage. I applaud Jacobs, nonetheless, for refraining from diving in to the blame-game and trying to envision what he himself might do to help out, should he have the chance on a global scale. I would very much like to know what Mr. Jacob's thoughts are on LGBTQ+ rights, as libertarian thought would allow for full equality, which stands in stark contrast with many his fellow GOP party members.

He's just a guy doing his best to leave the country better than he found it, and he's written an incredibly interesting account of how he's done it so far.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Center Street for the advance read.

The book begins the way most biographies do, the early years. Jacobs discusses growing up the youngest of three children and his struggle to fit in socially among his peers given his size and introverted nature. It isn’t until he found his athletic abilities, that he would begin to feel comfortable in his own skin. His sheer size and explosiveness would lead him to a role as an offensive lineman in college football, but an untimely knee injury would all but end his hopes of a career in the NFL.

After catching an episode of Prime Time Wrestling, Jacobs and a friend decide to give pro wrestling a try. Training under Missouri wrestler T.C. Rocan, Jacobs would quickly pick up the skill set and make his debut under the name Angus King, billed from Glasgow, Scotland. Not content with the training schedule under Rocan, Jacobs began asking around for formal classes. Eventually, he got in touch with Jerry Jarrett, the promoter of USWA. Rather than getting the training he wanted, Jacobs would bounce between characters like a masked Russian and the Christmas Creature, and he wasn’t exactly getting a steady schedule. He decided that if he wanted to make it in wrestling, he would need real, legit training. So he made the decision to head to a school operated by Boris Malenko.

Jacobs would eventually land in the World Wrestling Federation where he would go through a few character changes before settling on playing the role of The Undertaker’s younger brother, Kane. Jacobs goes through the creation, debut and the first two years of his career as Kane in considerable depth. Unfortunately, that’s about where things begin to take a bit of a turn. Jumping around a bit in the timeline before focusing on 2003 (no mention of the dreaded Katie Vick storyline) and the decision to take off his mask, Jacobs lightly touches on his feud with Rob Van Dam and Shane McMahon but it feels glossed over and very much like a “cole’s notes” version of what was going on at the time.

This was about where the book begins to feel like a fluff piece. There’s really nothing of substance here beyond the early 2000s when it comes to his in-ring career. Sure, he does speak about Team Hell No and his stint as Corporate Kane, but it’s in a manner where he just writes about what happened on television without any real insight other than being very complimentary about those he worked with at the time. There’s essentially nothing here from 2004 through to 2012 – nothing about the decision to put the mask back on in 2011, his second world championship run or several of the poor creative decisions made with his character during the bulk of his career.

Given the title of the book, Jacobs also discusses his run for Mayor of Knox County, a race he would ultimately win. He speaks at length about his libertarian views as well as the current political climate and his overall distaste for socialist policies. This is when the book feels like something else entirely. I’m certain this has its audience, but I found it jarring considering his tangents into his political opinions earlier in the book would relate to different points in his career so it felt less like soapboxing. This feels like a manifesto when he uses political phrases like “upsetting the establishment”, “the elites in Washington” and “fighting wars in places we cannot pronounce”.

Honestly, I came away from this book having learned very little outside of a few funny anecdotes involving travel horror stories and Jacobs’ time before joining up with the World Wrestling Federation. In an era where there are more wrestling books than ever, I struggle to see how this one would stand out amongst the rest.

I have to admit I didn't finish the whole book because the second half he talked about Politics and how he feels about them. I'm not a political person. I do think that this was like the other books that were written by the wrestlers in the WWE. The good things are he has a good heart.He has written how passionate he is career, the friends he made, and his family. Do I think you should read this book? Yes because he is passionate and real about the his careers both in wrestling and as Mayor. I am glad that Netgalley, the publishers, and the author gave me a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give this four stars only because of the political stuff. Other than that Please do read this book :)