Guest column: A 'crazy and improbable' WrestleMania moment
Growing up in my neighborhood in Queens, New York, being a professional wrestling fan was not something you publicized. People considered it low class and trashy. But as a child, every Sunday I would visit my grandparent's house and I remember watching Sunday morning wrestling along with promos for their pay-Per-views, featuring Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Lex Luger, and Yokozuna to name a few stars of that era. That was my first exposure to the wrestling world, and I was immediately drawn into both the violence -- we lived in a (thankfully) safe neighborhood where there was rarely any fighting -- and the colorful characters -- we had colorful characters, but not THAT colorful. I didn't tell my parents, because I knew they'd freak out, and my grandparents either didn't know or didn't care what I was watching.
FULL STORY

Guest column: Were the 'good old days' really better?
You might call me a "seasoned" wrestling fan. Now, that doesn't mean I'm old, and ready for the rocking chair -- not by any means. But I'm comfortably middle-aged, and have watched enough pro wrestling over the decades to at least give me some perspective.
FULL STORY

Bruno’s bad call on WWE Hall of Fame shows Vince is right – everyone has a price
Since the Bruno Sammartino marks will automatically swallow just about anything he says, while the truly close friends seem afraid to speak the truth to him, it falls to the basic tough-love admirers to speak plainly to Sammartino about the damage he has done to his legacy by accepting induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. OK, I’ll take that one.
FULL STORY

Time for the oldtimers to give back
I kept a bit of a distance from dealing with wrestling and wrestlers directly for a good long while after I stopped working actively in the business. I was disgusted with the unprofessionally run shows and the sad displays of wrestling from many of the guys who professed to be "professionals," yet had very little, if any, truly professional training and who's experience in the ring was mostly from working low-rent shows for low-rent promoters who generally paid very little and had no idea how to present a professional wrestling show.
FULL STORY

Remembering George Labash, Vancouver's super-fan
Every town has a George Labash, someone who is an intricate part of the local wrestling scene even if they never donned the tights, and when they pass, as he did on Friday, the wrestling community mourns its loss. Today, wrestler-turned referee Kevin Jefferies remembers Labash, who was a key figure in Vancouver for 30 years.
FULL STORY

Remembering my late mentor, Ted Herbert
Ted Herbert was a great human being, mentor, and friend. His passing in November left a hole in my life. In 2002, I was a meek, bony young man who picked up a newspaper article that was passed along to me, which focused on Ringmasters Pro Wrestling School. With some hesitation I picked up the phone and asked about the gym that Ted and his son Santino operated on the outskirts of Brampton, Ontario.
FULL STORY

How a knee injury didn't derail my Mexico adventure
I am writing this on a flight back home from Mexico City. These past weeks have meant so much more to me than anyone could understand. With all due respect to North America, I was making my way to one of the very few places where professional wrestling is still respected. There are many great promotions in North America that provide some of the best wrestling but I'm talking about the bigger picture where the sport has a cultural impact on society. By the time you are done reading this write-up you will get the difference.
FULL STORY

Goldie Rogers - One in a million, Jack!
Goldie Rogers always said that professional wrestlers are one in a million. He explained that they had to be in order to travel, be away from home and deal with the toll the ring and being on the road took on them. Since he was a respected member of the professional wrestling community, I was certain that Goldie knew what he was talking about.
FULL STORY
Listen up, Jack! Friends tell Goldie Rogers stories
Goldie Rogers, dead at 61, was Cobourg through and through
The colourful career of Goldie Rogers
Hometown honours Goldie Rogers

John Cena: Fascist without a cause
As Living Colour reminds us every time CM Punk enters the fray, "Like Mussolini and Kennedy / [Wrestling's a] cult of personality." Faces and heels don't rationally debate the comparative merits of their worldviews, they battle over charismatic authority. And, much to the continued chagrin of Punk's army of the voiceless, John Cena remains the new millennium's reigning authority. Unfortunate for many reasons – primary among them, while his predecessor Hulk Hogan was more Kennedy, Cena's more Mussolini.
FULL STORY

My mentor, Joe Blanchard, was the real thing
Joe Blanchard broke me into the wrestling business as a ring announcer and television host. He probably had as much influence on me as anyone outside my own family. He was a rarity. The man you saw on television was the same man when the camera wasn't rolling.
FULL STORY