SLAM! Wrestling

Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle

Edited by Greg Oliver and Jon Waldman

Founded by Greg Oliver and John Powell, SLAM! Wrestling changed the way North America’s true favorite pastime was presented on the web. With the backing of Sun Media and Canoe, SLAM! Wrestling brought pure journalism to the muddy waters of the pro wrestling media coverage. Never in the Internet Age had the squared circle been viewed with a keen eye by reporters and analysts who broke down the philosophy of wrestling and feted its legends, while also not being afraid to show the very human side of the locker rooms that are hidden from the plain eye inside the world’s biggest arenas. SLAM! Wrestling takes readers on a journey through SLAM! Wrestling’s first dozen years and the often all-too real world of professional wrestling. From WWE to the independent leagues that dot North America’s landscape, SLAM! Wrestling gives the unique view of the reporter’s eye as history unfolds, including interviews with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, John Cena, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson, Trish Stratus and many others. Plus, for the first time ever, SLAM! Wrestling’s writers take you behind the scenes and share their insights into what made the site stand out as one of the most respected sources for information in all of the Internet wrestling community. From the celebration of WrestleMania XVIII in Toronto, to the tragic death of Owen Hart and many others, SLAM! Wrestling has covered it all and now brings the history of the mat wars straight to your bookshelf.

BUY IT NOW: Amazon.com * Amazon.ca * Email author about a signed copy

MOVING ON FROM SLAM! WRESTLING

Some news: As of May 16, 2025, I am no longer associated with SlamWrestling.net / SLAM! Wrestling, and, like Mitch Marner, I’m a free agent. I do like to think I’m better when the pressure is on than Marner though.

It’ll be strange, after 29 years (minus a brief period of 2002 into early 2003) to not be associated with SlamWrestling.
The site has been sold to investors who have elected to stay in the background. I’m certainly comfortable with the names who have bought the site and its content, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to the sale.
At this point in my life, I don’t have the patience to work with people I don’t respect, who don’t respect my work or the work of others, so I have walked away.
The decision to remove five years’ worth of images from the site, destroying countless hours of work, disrespecting those who use the stories as a part of their resume, or, in a couple of cases, part of their work as a university professor, proved to be the breaking point. It was hardly the only issue.
Though I recognize that it was probably Bob Kapur (Bobo!) and myself who were most associated with the Slam site, mainly because we were out at so many events through the years, the fact is that it was always a team effort. The team just changed in May 2020 when Postmedia dropped me from a contract to produce the site and I partnered with Bob and John Powell. Some partnerships don’t work out, and this was definitely one of them.
The best part of Slam, for me, has been the friendships I have made through the years, the beers we’ve shared, the laughs we have had, the Zoom calls, the shows we watched, the tears when someone we cared about left the earthly plane.
I have always loved editing and my 35 years as a Scout leader prepared me well to mentor young writers too, both interns and newcomers to this rasslin’ writing space.
My road ahead isn’t exactly set in stone, but I have already had offers in the wrestling world, and I’ll get to focus on the past, on the history of pro wrestling, and not on the current product which I don’t watch. (I do have a major Simon & Schuster hockey book contract, due in December, so I am not sitting around twiddling my thumbs … I can’t wait to tell you about that!)
The interviews, the features, the galleries, the obituaries all meant something to someone along the way. Those emails of appreciation from family members always gave me chills.
I’m open to offers of paid work, recognizing I won’t make bank like Marner.
Excelsior!

A NICE TRIBUTE

John Pollock at PostWrestling.com wrote up a piece titled Column: Why Greg Oliver has been vital to professional wrestling’s history that made me feel pretty good about my contributions through the years to the pro wrestling landscape.

THE BOOK LAUNCH

In November 2009, SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle was officially released, but just before that, we had a launch in Winnipeg, as it was the first book for co-editor Jon Waldman … and he has since gone on to do a bunch more! It’s the only book launch where there was a cake (wrestling fans know cake and wrestlers can be dangerous!). In the photo above, from left to right, it’s SLAM! Wrestling contributors Richard Kamchen (who would write two hockey books with Greg), Greg, Marty Goldstein and Jon Waldman.

THE NEW SLAMWRESTLING.NET!

On June 1, 2020, the SlamWrestling.net website went live. Slam Wrestling has been my baby since 1997, as a part of Canoe / Sun Media / Quebecor / Postmedia. In April, I was given notice that my contract was done, and we immediately set out to establish our own presence. It’s a work in progress for sure — we have 23 years of archives to deal with still — but it was a rewarding experience. Kudos to my partner in crime with it, John Powell; together, we put the site together in less than three days and launched it. More to come!

My first interview about the move went live on June 5, and it’s with Josh Nason’s Punch-Out. Check it out here.

BULLDOG’S BOOKSHELF

The MerchandiseAndMemories.com website, run by the mysterious Canadian Bulldog, has a very robust book section, and has a review of ​SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle​. An excerpt: “This has to be one of the best ‘hidden treasures’ out there in terms of wrestling books. When the book first came out, I must have not realized what it contained or else I would have bought it immediately. A must have for wrestling fans who want the ‘story behind the story.'”