Larry Matysik

In 1963, Matysik was hired by St. Louis promoter Sam Muchnick at the age of 16 to work as a publicist and office manager. In 1970, Matysik became an announcer for his promotion.^[2]^[3] Along with Gordon Solie and Lance Russell, Matysik was considered one of the top wrestling announcers in the country.^[2] He remained Wrestling at the Chase's ringside announcer until the show went off the air in 1983.^[4] He would also occasionally do commentary for the American Wrestling Association.^[5]

Behind the scenes, Matysik was responsible for several aspects of the business. He served as co-booker with Pat O'Connor and was partly responsible for the company's success in the late 1970s.^[5] In 1982, Matysik severed ties with the St. Louis office and started a promotion outside the control of the National Wrestling Alliance, Greater St. Louis Wrestling Enterprises.^[6] Matysik was a close friend of Bruiser Brody, who created the promotion with him. Their promotion was financially successful, but issues behind-the-scenes caused problems for financiers.^[5] From 1984 to 1993, Matysik worked for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation.^[3]

In later years, he remained active on the independent circuit and authored many books. He was also responsible for creating the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame,^[7] and was personally inducted in 2007.^[8] He battled a number of health issues towards the end of his life, including spinal stenosis^[7] and he suffered at least three strokes.^[5] He received the James C. Melby Award from the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014 but was too ill to attend the ceremony.^[9] On November 24, 2018 it was reported that he had entered hospice care,^[5] and he died the following day.^[3] In his obituary, Wrestling Observer Newsletter founder Dave Meltzer wrote that he "learned more about pro wrestling from him than perhaps any other individual".^[7]

Biography

Awards and accomplishments

References

External links

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