Jim Freedman
Crowbar Press (Re-release) 2010 / Black Moss Press, 1988
Paperback, Ebook
In the early 1980s Jim Freedman, a college professor at the University of Western Ontario, began working on a book about professional wrestling. Unlike many others who had a specific subject to cover or personality to profile, Freedman allowed his book to be shaped by his experiences rather than pick and choose events that meshed with a pre-determined theme or thesis. The majority of Freeman's piece revolves around a series of tours run by Ontario based wrestler/promoter "Wildman" Dave McKigney. McKigney, best known as the trainer of Terrible Ted the Wrestling Bear, allowed Freedman to be a part of some tours he ran in Ontario and to write about his experiences. The result of his gradual immersion into the world of professional wrestling is Drawing Heat.
While the beginning of the book deals with somewhat antiquated notions in wrestling like kayfabe (via Toronto promoter Frank Tunney and wrestler Tony Parisi) and athletic regulations (The Ontario Athletic Commission,) the bulk of Drawing Heat is a timeless story that is as applicable to today's wrestling scene as it is to the underground carnival shows of the late 19th century. While some readers may be wary of reading a book that was originally published in 1988, Drawing Heat tells very universal stories about promoters who are in (and perhaps abuse) positions of power, those who struggle to promote successful shows without large budgets or main stream media contacts, pro wrestlers who chose to / have to work on small scale independent promotions and passionate fans who simply love pro wrestling.
Freedman is able to look at the wrestling business with both the child like awe of an outsider and the keen eye of one who has experienced some of the trials of working on a travelling show. He paints an admirable picture of McKigney - one part big hearted, nature loving hippy, one part shrewd and passionate small business man who is worn down but not broken by years of fighting an up-hill battle. McKigney's story - as are the stories of a number of others featured in the book - ranges from laugh out loud funny to painfully tragic. Freedman does a great job relating these stories and capturing the appropriate emotion.
The Crowbar Press reprint features an interview with Freedman concerning the development of the book that provides more information about the book's development. It also contains some memories from participants on the 1988 tour of Newfoundland where McKigney was killed in an automobile accident (Adrian Adonis died in the same accident.) Both of these "epilogues" enhance the book.
There is a very small smattering of factual / formatting / spelling issues throughout the book, but nothing that should sway readers from taking a look. Drawing Heat is a behind the scenes look at the wrestling business from a time when such things were few and far between. This fact alone makes Drawing Heat a must read for most fans, however, it is the universality of the book's themes, characters and events that should put Drawing Heat at the top of most fans' reading lists.
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Also Available At Crowbar Press
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