Cucch’s Book Review: “The 50 Greatest Professional Wrestlers of All Time: The Definitive Shoot” by Larry Matysik.

A little bit of a departure for me from the normal wrestling biographies. This book is a response from a long time industry insider who took umbrage to WWE’s 2010 list of top 50 “Superstars of All Time.” To the shock of EVERYONE, he derides WWE’s list as, GASP, promotional propaganda!!! Those are fighting words friends. So does the book live up to the author’s advance billing? Read on!!!

Larry Matysik is a uniquely positioned individual to write on the sport we love so much, professional wrestling. Larry is an insider who can offer many unreal insights to the denizens who follow our favorite pastime. For those who are not aware, Matysik was an announcer for Sam Muschnick’s St. Louis territory in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, and was also an announcer for KLPR’s “Wrestling at the Chase” emanating from the same municipality. Once Muschnick retired in the early 80’s, Matysik carried the torch and tried to carry the St. Louis territory into the mid 80’s, but, as we all know, Vince McMahon happened. Larry’s territory was one of the first absorbed, and Matysik ended up working for the man himself, Vinnie McMahon, who he refers to as VKM (as per Mr. McMahon’s preference) throughout the book.

In 2010, the WWE put out a list, and subsequent DVD, on the 50 greatest “Sports Entertainers” in history. Mr. Matysik took umbrage to the list, to say the least, and for a couple of years formulated his version of the history of wrestling; the best 50 who have ever done it. For those not familiar with the WWE list, well, let me list it for you.

50. Killer Kowalski
49. Batista
48. “Ravishing” Rick Rude
47. Bob Backlund
46. Dory Funk Jr.
45. Jeff Hardy
44. Nick Bockwinkel
43. Kane
42. Sgt. Slaughter
41. Jack Brisco
40. Big Show
39. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
38. “Superstar” Billy Graham
37. Junkyard Dog
36. Gorilla Monsoon
35. “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers
34. Kurt Angle
33. Mick Foley
32. Jimmy Snuka
31. Iron Sheik
30. Pat Patterson
29. Randy Orton
28. “Classy” Freddie Blassie
27. Fabulous Moolah
26. Ted DiBiase
25. Chris Jericho
24. Bruno Sammartino (!!!)
23. Hulk Hogan (!!!!!!!!!!!)
22. Terry Funk (!)
21. Lou Thesz (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
20. Jerry Lawler (WTF!)
19. Edge
T-17. Dusty Rhodes
T-17. Ric Flair (!!?!?!?!?!)
16. John Cena
15. Curt Hennig
14. Macho Man Randy Savage
13. Gorgeous George
12. Triple H
11. Eddie Guerrero
10. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
9. Rey Mysterio (!>**!^!%!??)
8. Andre the Giant
7. Ricky Steamboat
6. Harley Race
5. The Rock
4. Bret Hart
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin
2. Undertaker
1. Shawn Michaels

Well then. Can anyone, in good conscious, say that is a good list that is totally representative of the entire history of the genre of wrestling? I hope not. That list looks like a hunk of shit to this fan. Shawn Michaels at the top of the list is like listing Mama’s Family the greatest sitcom of all time, Party of Five the greatest drama of all time, Gangs of New York the greatest movie of all time. It is straight up, unadulterated hogwash perpetuated by the WWE propaganda machine. It smacks of bad politics, bad ideas, bad feelings, and is just plain BAD.

Well, Matysik decided to try and write an objective list of the top 50 of all time. Now, before we get to that, I want to state this: there is really no clear cut list of guidelines to follow when deeming the top 50 wrestlers of all time. For example, baseball has always had its counting stats: average, home runs, runs batted in, et al. Most sports have them. Matysik spends almost 100 pages explaining his criteria. Money drawn, working ability, toughness, charisma, mic skills, all of those wonderful factors. And he does just a fantastic job at it. What makes a book like this so great is that there are just SO many working arguments AGAINST what the author might state as his opinion, yet just as many to bolster his point. Listen, I HATE HATE HATE going to the WWE website (and many others) and subjecting myself to the whims of either the author or the company telling me why so and so deserves this spot while so and so other deserves to be left out. Its all completely subjective. That said, I WILL recommend this book for these reasons: 1. The Author is a total insider, Sam Muschnick’s (did you know Irv is his nephew?) right hand man. 2. He did his homework here. I am not going to list all 50. I figure I will list half. Here is Matysik’s top 25:

25. Randy Savage
24. Andre The Giant
23. Edouard Carpentier
22. Dick The Bruiser
21. Bret Hart
20. The Rock
19. Jack Brisco
18. Nick Bockwinkel
17. “Wild Bill” Longson
16. Johnny Valentine
15. Shawn Michaels
13(T). Terry and Dory (Jr.) Funk
12. Harley Race
11. Verne Gagne
10. Frank Gotch
9. Gene Kiniski
8. Buddy Rogers
7. Jim Londos
6. Stone Cold Steve Austin
5. Bruno Sammartino
4. Hulk Hogan
3. Ed “Strangler” Lewis
2. Ric Flair
1. Lou Thesz

Doesn’t that list seem a little more palatable to true fans of the industry? I mean, WWE had Hogan and Flair (TNA fodder) in the 20’s. That is straight horseshit. Flair and Hogan are the two main catalysts of wrestling in the 80’s. Strangler Lewis is the man who bridged the gap between pure shoot and work. Austin was the biggest draw ever in a single year. Londos is right there, the Golden Greek. Buddy Rogers was Flair before Flair. Bruno goes without saying, especially since WWE now acknowledges him again. Harley is universally loved, Gotch turned over the 1900’s and is generally considered one of the best, if last, pure shooting wrestlers of all time. We all know Verne’s amateur and pro credentials (He falls because the author realizes he owned the promotion). The Funks….amazing. And the author gives  detailed explanations of his picks, both from a fans perspective and from an insider perspective.

Now, while I have listed the best of the author’s breed, I have left out a section he writes. Matysik actually writes about those he left off his list. Wrestlers like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Sting, and others. The first 100 pages basically deal with this subject, and, to be honest, I do not agree. I feel a guy like Chris Jericho should be on this list. Not to ruin anything for the reader, Randy Orton is ranked at 50. I feel Jericho should have been 50, what with all his championship reigns, being in WWE at the peak of their powers, and being, lets be honest, a better wrestler and (allegedly) a better human being.

Eddie Guerrero is also left off the list, and I am dismayed by that. I am sorry, Eddy was one of the greatest performers the industry has ever seen, PLUS he DREW from 2002-2005. That is a solid period of time, as he was probably, outside of Austin or Rock, the best draw the company had simply because of the Latin American demographic. To put Orton on this list and not Eddie (Eddy) seems almost sacrilegious.

Make no mistake about it though, if you are a wrestling fan, a TRUE fan, read Larry Matysik’s “Top 50 Professional Wrestlers of All Time.” If you don’t, you are doing yourself a disservice. Is Matysik always correct, always spot on? HELL NO. But that is the beauty of lists like this….they are completely subjective, completely there for feedback or criticism. But you know what else? Books like this one educate you. You want to read about Joe Stetcher, Thesz, Strangler Lewis, and many others of his age? How about Fritz Von Erich, Killer Kowalski? There are detailed four to five page bios on everyone here, so this book gets my highest recommendation, especially to those not well versed in the rich history of our richest sport.