Drawing Heat the Hard Way: How Wrestling Really Works

by Larry Matysik

Thrilling but flawed, entertaining despite the swerves and double-crosses, captivating even when repugnant… professional wrestling has enjoyed the attention and loyalty of untold millions for nearly a century. How and why is precisely what Larry Matysik examines in his third book, Drawing Heat the Hard Way: How Wrestling Really Works. Wrestlers have their own private language, and in the unique world of wrestling “drawing heat” is a very good thing: the successful generation of crowd reaction and fan excitement. The Hard Way? That’s both exactly what it sounds like and something no one in the industry plans for: a legitimate and unintentional wound suffered because something’s gone awry. In Drawing Heat the Hard Way, Matysik explains what it takes to win the hearts and minds of wrestling fans, and how, at times, mistakes, controversy and unexpected turns of events have damaged the reputation or forever changed the business he loves. If anyone understands wrestling, the problem-child offspring of whatever “real” sport is, it’s Matysik. Drawing Heat the Hard Way takes on the way wrestling is booked or planned; analyzes the roles of wrestlers and announcers, and explores steroids as an industry and fan issue. It also considers wrestling’s power-brokers, from those who influence the business by reporting on it, like Dave Meltzer, to those who make the final decisions on what gets broadcast every week, like the omnipresent Vince McMahon, and even to those who influence the sport with their pocketbooks — the fans themselves. At times humorous, occasionally heartbreaking, always insightful, Drawing Heat the Hard Way is ultimately an objective take on what it means to be a wrestling fan, from someone who knows the business inside and out.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Larry Matysik was a legendary wrestling announcer.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Larry Matysik, the face of Wrestling at the Chase and author of two other books about wrestling, gives more of his insight into the wrestling business...

First things first, I loved Larry's other two books about wrestling, Wrestling at Chase and Brody. That's why it pains me to say this book was meh city. It felt like stuff that wasn't good enough for the other two books, as well as stretching some topics that got a paragraph in Wrestling at the Chase into chapters and milking the hell out of them. The other two books were full of entertaining road stories. This one was more about booking philosophy, developing talent, etc. Definitely not the most exciting part of the business to read about. Worse, about half of the book was him kissing Vince McMahon's ass. I quit watching wrestling years ago because of the rampant ass-kissery.

Not horrible but not recommended. Stop after Wrestling at the Chase and Brody.

[Gary Braham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever found yourself wondering what Sam Muchnick would do in this situation? Or what Sam Muchnick would do in any situation? Would it be the same as Vince McMahon? Or maybe different. Maybe Bruiser Brody has an opinion on the matter. I would recommend this book to anyone who followed Wrestling at the Chase, and Sam Muchnick. But if you aren't really too familiar with Sam Muchnick and the territory days, you'd better be prepared to learn about him. Not so much the detailed booking philosophies of Sam Muchnick and Vince McMahon, but a collection of stories that the author happens to know. There's not so much of an overall plot or broad conclusions drawn. But there is a series of somewhat interesting stories about Sam Muchnick and others. Have I said "Sam Muchnick" too much? I'm just preparing you for the book, which is about 240 pages, and mentions his name close to 300 times.

Again, it's not a horrible book. There are some interesting stories, and there is some insight as to what the territory era was about, and how it changed into what we have now. But do I really feel like I know how wrestling really works now? No

[6655321 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok so here is the thing underlying a lot of the complaints about this book is a solid: it is capable at outlining that regardless of "fixed outcome" there are some extremely complicated moving parts that go into a match (the relationship between bookers, talent, management, announcers and the audience). However, I flat out hate some of the opinions? Some of this is era (UFC as a challenge to WWE because it looked like a shoot and old school wrestling but lost some shine these days because it isn't free of manipulative backstage booking cf Rousey, career of which can be divided into "when she was thrown easy matches" & "when her innumerable technical flaws got exposed by her getting systematically dismantled on PPV"). I do appreciate that there is care for the fans but there simultaneously is the argument that we aren't diverse and interchangeably and functionally like the transcendent feel of when a match "goes over" and straight up "pops." The problem is identifying this with physical stature and strength (singling out Lesnar as a top tier pro when he has an abysmal ring presence and ring work) as a star and decrying smarks who demand *strong matches with good intros*. A lot of these problems boil down to a really ambivalent relationship to Vince as someone who transformed the spectacle (because there is a strong territorial era nostalgia) and fucked a lot up (misogyny being singled out because dear god, but also his handing out roids like they are certs mints). The thing is the speculation that WWE would fall apart because of a reliance on gimmicks and personality is flawed (plenty of current top tier talent is gimmick-y, gives strong ring work and makes matches feel like they matter) even if the WWE oversells dusty finishes and run ins on main events to hype PPV events (hint: if we are in on the inevitable we can still appreciate staging). Which gets down to it: I love wrestling for divergent reasons and could give a fuck less about money; I care that the show is good while this book positions money as the rationale for having fans at all but decries calling them "marks" (something that ultimately refers to folx who would rather get caught up in the event than read the technicals but isn't so much a diss these days). OVERALL: this does catch some of the magic of wrestling and has some insight but also is frustrating and repetitive and that still merits consideration [to my followers who prefer dense theory; sorry I have my own interests that are not germane to why you follow me]. Less STL, more technical and less discussion of management philosophy and more discussion of matchmaking and ring psychology would make this a must read.

[Geoffwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really sure who the audience for this is. It's kinda a low-key memoir cloaked as a guide to the basics of pro wrestling as a business, but it m e a n d e r s but how and is just kinda warmly nebulous. Some of the anecdotes relayed were pleasant enough but it seems a little weedsy for a new fan while simultaneously too basic for fans familiar with, say, Wikipedia.

[Ned Leffingwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I thought it would be a primer on the inside workings of wrestling, covering topics such as how a match works or how winners are picked. What it really is, however, is a stream of consciousness from an industry insider. It is a good book but it is more of an intermediate text.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matysik brings a lot of experience and insight to the book. He does, however, meander quite a bit. He'll tell a story or present evidence in the second half of a chapter that undercuts his thesis from the first half. It was interesting, though. I'd read another if his books if I run across one.

[Kurt Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

If you are a true fan , this is the best book you will ever read. Very well done. He explores a lot of areas not covers in other books

[jersey9000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

a really great look into the inner workings of pro wrestling by someone who was the right hand man of arguably one of the greatest/most powerful promoters of all time. He talks about lots of different topics, and the organization is a bit scattershot, but very informative. I had to drop a star though, for two reasons- 1)the whole "Everything Vince McMahon does is perfect/there is a reason for everything the wwe does even if you dumb internet fans don't know it (I would like to hear if he still feels that way, now, with WWE losing ground in almost every category, and all the strange decisions the company has made lately) and 2) relentless TNA bashing. We get it, they are in second place,but, man, lay off- he never mentions the product except to condemn it. I never understand why someone in the business wants to see other companies fail.
With these two exceptions, though- good stuff. Worth reading if you're a fan.

[Juxhin Deliu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like a little gift that Matisyk shares with us from his longevous and important carreer in the pro wrestling business; although some things are already heard from multiple other sources, his argomentations, theories, recalls and also datas are quite insightful and have a lot of depth. Personally, I was enriched by reading this book, learning and redefining some basic but generally ignored theorem of this discipline and all that it concerns.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

People who don't like this book are probably overwhelmed with the detail in behind the scenes business, almost no focus on superstars except to critique the backstage credit, and pretty much no in-ring action at all. That being said, it was exactly what I was looking for.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting look at the backstage aspect of the pro wrestling business. While the subject matter is "right up my alley" - I found the way the author presented the material extremely dry.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

anyone interested in the inner workings of the wrestling business and the creative process, should definitely read this book!!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely fascinating. A must read for any fan of wrestling.