We know that the autobiographies from the WWF have been hit and miss (from a quality standpoint, all three have made the Best Seller List), but what about the new coffee table book spotlighting the history of Wrestlemania? Certainly a mixed bag.

"WWF Wrestlemania" by Titan executive Basil DeVito Jr. and Joe Layden (who co-wrote the Rock's book) presents plenty of anecdotal material surrounding all the events, from the first show with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T to last year's extravaganza.

If you are a latter day WWF fan, this book will probably appeal to you. There are tons of pictures and each section gives you the complete line-up for each card. And some events, not important at the time, are given a bigger play, thanks to hindsight. For example, The Ringmaster vs. Savio Vega wasn't placed high on the card at Wrestlemania XII, but since Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Champion has gone on to bigger and better things, it's understandable why it's important to play up his debut. The same with ultra-face Rocky Maivia, who debuted a year after Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIII.

In many ways, this book is more a companion piece with last year's Wrestlemania than this year's show. In fact, the DVD that comes with the book (more on that in a minute) appears to be culled from the day-long PPV package that aired before Wrestlemania 2000. It definitely has a commemorative feel to it.

Now, the DVD. So much potential. Naturally, you want to have all your historical matches on there, like Hogan/Andre, Hogan/Warrior and Austin/Michaels. But, where's the gravy? Go back and find my column about last year's day-long PPV and the complaints are basically the same. The DVD has Hogan/Andre from Wrestlemania III, but where's Savage/Steamboat, arguably the greatest modern WWF match?

Another problem, if you want to call it that, is the book straddles the line between work and shoot, between fact and fiction. I don't expect a WWF house product to give the real figure instead of 93,000 for the Silverdome show, but it's still just as annoying.

We mentioned hindsight as a good thing earlier; it can also be a bad thing. I may be reading too much into it, but it sure looks like 80% of the pictures involving Bret Hart show him on the receiving end of punishment or in a bad light. Not even Hogan gets that kind of treatment here.

When you add it all up, it's an interesting package. If you are short on your WWF history, it would probably be a neat book to have, since everything is laid out in front of you, with plenty of big color pictures. But, if you lived through the first time, and weren't that much of WWF fan then, it would probably be a good idea to just spend an hour or so at your local Borders in a comfy chair and taking the book in that way.