Customer Reviews

Wrestling at the Chase: The Inside Story of Sam Muchnick and the Legends of Professional Wrestling

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book brought back many memories of the great wrestlers I saw on TV and read about in the old wrestling magazines in an era when it was a whole lot easier to suspend disbelief.

***But note that this is NOT a 300 page book, no matter what the product description says. It is a 232 page book. An entertaining 232 pages to be sure, but still it is more than 20% shorter than the listed length. Buy it anyway, it's still worth it.***

Larry Matysik's book offers great insight into the St. Louis wrestling scence in a well written, organized book (which is not always the case with pro wrestling books). Larry was a sports reporter, and it shines through in his writing. Having grown up with the Mid-Atlantic territory in Virginia, I had never witnessed Wrestling at the Chase, nor was I aware of its importance in the NWA. Reading Larry's book and seeing his DVD's changed all that. There were a lot of familiar faces (Flair, Brody, Von Raschke), and some new (Crusher Blackwell, a young Ted Dibiase before he moved on to the UWF and WWF, Bulldog Bob Brown). It's a real treat to read his anecdotes then watch them on video. If you're a fan of the old NWA, this book is well worth your while to pick up. ECW Press has churned out some great wrestling books in the last year or two, including The Greatest Tag-Teams, Terry Funk's autobiography, and Harley Race's autobiography. This one is near the top of the heap. Highly recommended for fans of late 70's and 80's NWA wrestling, as well as those curious about wrestling history.

Larry Matysik is now at work on a King Kong (Bruiser) Brody biography which should be out this year.

Another excellent wrestling book (along with Ric Flair's, The Death of WCW and the Tag-Teams). It's always interesting to find out about a promotion I knew little about, since I was a NY east coast fan with basically the WWWF as my wrestling promotion of choice. Great backstage stories as well as great stories about booking and match philosophies. My one peeve would be Matysik's need to skewer Vince McMahon and the present day wrestling product. Sure, about 90% of what he says is true and accurate, but taking shots at WWE is both easy and common now and comes off as unoriginal and tiring. Suggested reading for any wrestling fan.

I've read a lot of the wrestling books. Some good, some not so good, some down right bad. This book surprised me. Very, very well written. A lot of details on the wrestling business from an insiders point of view. The only wrestling book I enjoyed more than this one, was the Ole Anderson book, but this one is a close second. Much better than the stuff WWE is pumping out. Buy it, read it and enjoy learning about the history of St. Louis wrestling.

What can I say About this book? Well, For starters, this is the best book I have read about professional wrestling. Larry Matysik has to be commended for writing such an honest revealing book about the greatest wrestling town of all time, ST LOUIS MISSOURI. Only the greatest of the great wrestled in St Louis and Larry reveals much of the inner workings of the promotion. The stories were very interesting to read and some were just a plain riot to read. Some left me laughing so hard
I had tears in my eyes( The Ring at Kiel). This was the book that I had been waiting for and even at double the asking price
it would be a bargain. If you only buy one wrestling book this year, this is the one.

If you are like me and grew up with Wrestling at the Chase this book is for you. It is not only about St Louis Wrestling though. The stories of the wrestlers(Brody, Von Erich, Race, Flair, Murdoch, etc.) are here. Also, the inside info is here too.
The breakup of the NWA, the infighting, promotions are told. I would recommend this book.

quite a respectable undertaking! nearly each of the many wrestlers mentioned in the book evoked a memory, and the insights were treasures. bottom line: lots of magic was revisited from earlier times, in stark contrast to the media circus that current pro wrestling has become. larry's book somehow takes the high road, and is mostly non-judgemental given the fact that money is such a catalyst.

I GREW UP WATCHING THIS SHOW EVERY LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND THEN WOULD WAKE UP SUNDAY MORNING TO WATCH IT AGAIN(THIS WAS BEFORE VCRS WERE COMMONPLACE)I WOULD BE AT KEIL EVERY OTHER WEEK FOR THE BIG MATCHES.THE FIRST MATCH I SAW WAS HARLEY RACE VS RIC FLAIR IN A ONE HOUR DRAW,SOMETHING THAT IS UNHEARD OF TODAY.I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT THE WHOLE HOUR.THIS GOES TO SHOW WHAT KIND OF MATCHES AND PERFORMERS THAT SAM AND LARRY BROUGHT TO US LUCKY FANS OF ST.LOUIS.THIS BOOK WAS HIGHLY ENJOYABLE AND BROUGHT BACK WONDERFUL MEMORIES FOR ME.I READ IT IN ONE DAY AND WAS WANTING TO READ MORE....THANKS LARRY P.S. IF YOU GET A CHANCE TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS AVAILABLE DONT HESITATE

With haveing the pleasure of having Laryy Matysik a freind for many years I knew a book written by him would be the best ever. A man with all his knowledge had to have a best seller. He has proven once more that he followed in the foot steps of Sam Munchnick. He has, and always will be respected in the wrestling business. Like it or not, the truth has been told in his this book. What great stories. Being a part of the book, I know this book hides nothing. All is told. If you were ever a wrestling fan, this book is for you. For those that thought wrestling in St Louis was dead, think again, with this book it is just as if it was yesterday. Thanks for all the good times that you brought to us each and every week. With you, Mickey Garagiola, and all the great performers our childhood can be relived.

4 words, hard to put down. If you're a fan of St Louis wrestling, or wrestling in general, you'll want to get this book. If you want to know what the 'war' with Vince McMahon was like, you'll want this book. Larry offers a no nonsense look at what made St Louis work. And what (and who) killed it. Most other books about wrestling are filled with lies, half-truths, and the author putting themselves over. None of this is offered in this book. Larry's stories are an honest, humorous and sometimes tragic look back at the greatest wrestling city in America. Check out more at www.stlwrestlingfromthechase.com