Greg Oliver
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Greg with Killer Kowalski at the NWA 50th Anniversary show in October 1998.
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Online Editor, CANOE
6'0", 156 pounds
BORN: Kitchener, Ontario February 2, 1971
AKA: goliver, Ollie, Gregger
EMAIL: goliver@canoemail.com
After more than four years at
The Toronto Sun, I got the chance to move to CANOE -- in fact, I was a day-oner at CANOE. It was a great ride. Though I left in December 2001 (and subsequently got the chance to write my book,
The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Canadians, ECW Press), I kept my ties, and continue to run the wrestling site.
Right from the start, we wanted to do a wrestling section. All four Sun newspapers had always covered wrestling -- a definite plus in my eye. Sure wrestling's entertainment and not legit sport, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't get coverage. The question, however, has always been should the coverage be in Entertainment or Sports. The Suns always put it in Sports.
The wrestling site didn't get launched right away. We did have negotiations with a major bulletin to do its web site, but that fell through. Instead, it was the hard (extra) work of my colleague
John Powell that initially resulted in the site. Once the framework was created, we figured out what would be best for the CANADIAN wrestling fan.
So we take what we get from the Sun newspapers, John has constantly done the pay-per-view reports, the rumors, editorials, newsgroups and I've taken over the
Canadian Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (my pride and joy).
From August 1985 to August 1990, I published the Canadian Wrestling Report, a small newsletter -- usually three to four pages -- that went across Canada and around the world. It was a great experience in so many ways, from the business aspect, to making friends (some of whom have found this site!), to meeting and interviewing many wrestlers -- from superstars like the British Bulldogs, the Road Warriors,
Ivan Koloff and
Angelo Mosca -- to the local Ontario wrestlers like
Johnny K-9, Big Mac, Ricky Johnson and Toni Starr.
So the resources and background that I collected over the years helped me do the many bios on the
Canadian Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame page. Plus my years at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Newspaper Journalism helped me in the more current researching in the libraries for articles and facts, and it taught me how to interview and how to make contacts.
Over just the past two years, I've interviewed
Rick Martel,
Chris Benoit,
Chris Jericho, Rocky Maivia,
Hunter Hearst Helmsley,
Tiger Jeet Singh and
Tiger Ali Singh, plus arranged to have
Bret Hart,
Faarooq, the Headbangers and The Quebecers (
Jacques Rougeau Jr. and
Pierre Carl Ouellet) come into our offices for an online chat. And I'm definitely not done yet.
I'm proud that we've set up a LEGIT wrestling web site. People come to SLAM! Wrestling because we deal in FACTS. Both John and I are real journalists (with degrees to prove it) and you can count on us to give you the real deal.
Please don't hesitate to contact me on any matter. My email address is
goliver@canoemail.com.
Yours in wrestling, Greg Oliver
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