There was a quiet departure over the last week involving one of the most prominent historians in wrestling media from their longtime outlet.
Greg Oliver has been a stalwart within Canadian professional wrestling, although his news and coverage extend far beyond the ten provinces and three territories.
Oliver shared on Facebook that he has left SLAM! Wrestling, a site he helped launch nearly three decades ago, and where his work is synonymous.
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.
The work of Oliver has been essential for historical purposes from his extensive obituaries that run the gamut from the largest names to pass on to some of the most obscure, but due to Oliver, never forgotten figures.
With writing partner Steven Johnson, the two have released the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series of books. The series began with Oliver releasing ‘The Canadians’ in 2003 and with Johnson, adding installments covering ‘The Tag Teams’, ‘The Heels’, ‘Heroes & Icons’, and ‘The Storytellers’. Oliver has also written books in conjunction with Debrah ‘Madusa’ Miceli and John Arezzi and co-authored a book on the Chris Benoit murder-suicide case. His writing has extended well beyond pro wrestling, with multiple books on hockey and ones dedicated to former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and actor/musician Billy Van.
It would not be hard to imagine that no other wrestling reporter has conducted more interviews in his career than Oliver, whose database of quotes and on-the-record comments comes through each time a performer passes away, with multiple voices cited from his extensive archive.
Beginning in 1985, Oliver launched The Canadian Wrestling Report at the age of fourteen, which he operated for five years. Oliver distanced himself from pro wrestling when starting his journalism path at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) before joining Sun Media and found himself at an intersection of his role as a journalist and his former hobby.
SLAM! Wrestling was among the earliest news sites, launched under Canoe (Canadian Online Explorer), a subsidiary of newspaper chain Sun Media, and had relationships with Postmedia and Quebecor. Through these partnerships, it allowed for online versions of articles from the various newspaper chains, including Bret Hart’s popular Calgary Sun column, and allowed a larger audience outside of Alberta access to the words of Bret (and by extension his brother, Bruce, on occasion).
But the DNA of the site was comprised by the day-to-day work of Oliver and colleague John Powell, with many others joining the site over the years from aspiring reporters to ex-wrestlers.
The site quickly gained attention for its features from John Molinaro, covering Black Saturday, Lucha history, the Champion Carnival, the influence of the G1 Climax, and the death of Johnny Valentine.
The site managed history with contemporary news, covering WWE in a serious fashion and opening dialogue with the head of talent relations, Jim Ross, with on-the-record comments provided to the outlet.
Canoe made cuts in 2001, which included Oliver, who would resume his duties at SLAM on a freelance basis. In June 2020, it broke off on its own, led by Oliver with Powell and Bob Kapur, with SLAMWrestling.net becoming independent while also maintaining the rights to its archive of stories and interviews.
SLAM was the home of the late Jamie Hemmings, who provided some of the most important stories in the site’s history through her coverage of the ring boy scandal through her extensive discussions with Tom Cole and Barry Orton.
While the site continues, a major part of its identity is gone with Oliver and Bob Kapur, announcing their exits over the past week, two major contributors to the Canadian wrestling scene, and a sad trend of important voices navigating a turbulent industry.
The most underappreciated role in wrestling media is that of historians, who do the legwork and digging for stories and facts that would be otherwise lost to history, with Oliver standing alongside the most accomplished in that field.
