Book It, Buzz: A rollercoaster of a journey that includes the ink

For years now, autographed books coming direct from the publishers -- or direct from the authors themselves -- have been an affordable way to collect ink from notable names in all realms of pop culture.

It's not a perfect system with stamped autos, fakes and autopens sometimes in the mix -- a problem for publishers to catch as they are not authenticators -- but thanks to dedicated collectors on the Blowout Cards Forum and elsewhere, those problems often get caught and fixed ... or at least become well-known enough to avoid if it's an issue that goes uncorrected.

Getting ink in-person is always best -- book tours still happen, of course -- but landing autographed editions from publishers, online sellers or celebs themselves via their websites or other appearances are common.

Our latest subject and autograph in this ongoing series? Former AEW and WWE champion Saraya. 

THE RUNDOWN ... 
The Book: Hell In Boots: Clawing My Way Through Nine Lives (autographed bookplate edition via Premiere Collectibles)
The Author: Saraya-Jade Bevis (aka Paige in WWE and Saraya in AEW)
The Specs: Gallery Books -- released on March 25, 2025 (272 pages)
The Price: $35 ($28.99 cover price)
The Spot: Premiere Collectibles (and actually now available cheaper)

Why it’s Buzz-worthy: A timeline to start. Pro wrestler as part of her family's business starting at age 13, WWE contract at age 18, on TV and a main-roster champ at 21, serious neck injury at 24, returned from injury and out for good -- as in retired -- a month after that ... all at 26. Also in there? Partying and drug issues with some of that unraveling showcased on an E! Entertainment Television reality show, a sex-tape scandal and a feature movie, Fighting With My Family, brought to life by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson about her life at age 27. She stayed on WWE TV in a couple of capacities and was under contact for a bit before that ended and then she made a surprise comeback to the ring at age 30 with AEW. There, she later won the top women's belt in her home country with her family there in Wembley Stadium (no fighting this time). All that and more is in there and, well, she's already lived a thousand of those nine lives in the title as she moves into a few realm, podcasting, before a likely WWE return at some point. (Why? Unfinished business and her neck is apparently in good shape after two surgeries.) Her style and character -- a brash, mouthy Brit who could fight -- was a game-changer among WWE's changing landscape of just the last 10-15 years, so she's an important name in modern-day wrestling even with the ups and downs, which only make the story more fascinating.

Why this item: Unlike a lot of the books in this series, I did grab this one to give it a quick read/scan -- not just for the ink -- to see what got addressed and how. An eventual WWE return really feels like it's nestled in there, for example, but I also did grab this for the ink as I did collect her somewhat regularly in the WWE years where she didn't have barely any certified autos from Topps before doing some for Panini in its first year (2022). Her AEW cardboard years are barren on that front -- no ink since -- but I pick off stuff (unsigned) when I like it and her autos can still be far pricier than they are here.

Chase ink on cards: She appears on just over 50 total certified autograph cards despite more than a decade on cardboard -- and some of those are Topps cards released well after the fact when their post-license inventory was sold off. (The company is since back on WWE licensing-wise but she has been under an AEW deal until just recently.) Her certified autos are most-often $50 and up and even certified autographed photos from convention appearances are in that range more often than not, too, despite her current-style signature being a bit minimalist for either name signed. (That comes with the volume side of things. Poke around in the archives for more on her stuff and a look at a very early auto ... I have picked off a few over the years.)

The Bottom Line: Her story is a crazy one and most of it is captured in this book ... it's worth the look and she's a good name to have for ink among today's names in the wrestling world.

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