Steven Johnson

Richmond

Editor at Cooperative Living Magazine

@CACReunion and @TNTHOF historian awards. Co-author of five books with a biopic on Jim Londos forthcoming. Ex-newspaper guy (alas). Go Hoos.

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Articles

‎The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Classic Characters

6 days ago | books.apple.com | Steven Johnson

You know the pro wrestler who holds the sport's record for most patents? No? Well, maybe you know the true origins of rock-and-roll and wrestling. No? Well, maybe you know about the convicted felon whose antics forced construction of the famed ramp at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. These and other precious nuggets are part of The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Classic Characters, another volume by award-winning journalist Steven Johnson with respected author and editor Greg Oliver.
The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Classic Characters|Paperback

1 week ago | barnesandnoble.com | Steven Johnson |Greg Oliver

The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Classic CharactersYou know the pro wrestler who holds the sport's record for most patents? No? Well, maybe you know the true origins of rock-and-roll and wrestling. No? Well, maybe you know about the convicted felon whose antics forced construction of the famed ramp at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
A Kiwi Role: Remembering Mat Historian Dave Cameron

1 month ago | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

Dave Cameron knew wrestlers better than wrestlers knew themselves. Case in point: Jack Claybourne, the high flyer and first Black wrestler to appear in New Zealand, was autographing a photograph for the teenaged Cameron in the late 1940s. “My memories of Jack, he was signing a picture for me and I had to prompt him on spelling Claybourne. He got halfway through and asked me the next letter,” Cameron laughed. Little things and big things.
An Iowa Co-op and Community are Recovering from Disaster

Sep 30, 2024 | ieclmagazine.com | Steven Johnson

BY STEVEN JOHNSONSometimes the seventh cooperative principle of concern for community is more than an affirmation. It’s a matter of life and death. When a devastating EF-4 tornado swept through the tightly knit Iowa community of Greenfield on the afternoon of May 21, lineworkers and employees of Farmers Electric Cooperative left their secure, concrete-walled shelter about a mile away as soon as it was safe to do so.
It’s true, Kurt Angle a CAC hero

Aug 21, 2024 | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

LAS VEGAS—Lou Thesz would be proud. The legendary world champion knew Kurt Angle was the real deal when he saw him named a future legend at the annual Cauliflower Alley Club reunion, which Thesz headed, more than two decades ago. On Aug. 21, Angle received the Lou Thesz/Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award on the second of two nights of honors at the club’s 58th reunion. As the finale to the banquet at the Plaza Hottel & Casino, Angle recalled the first time he met Thesz.
PowerTown figures into collectibles market, hearts of families

Aug 6, 2024 | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

A car drove over Lou Thesz and the legendary National Wrestling Alliance World champion escaped with nary a scrape. That’s because the accident, with the late champ’s wife Charlie behind the wheel, involved the PowerTown action figure of Thesz. She called its survival a testament to the quality of the collectible and the fact no such thing existed when Thesz won his first world title in 1937.
Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame Shines on Silver Anniversary

Jul 20, 2024 | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

WATERLOO, Iowa—The big winner on the silver anniversary of the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame was … the Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame. The nine honorees, led by Frank Gotch Award winner Arn Anderson, were a highlight of the July 19 induction banquet, held at the Waterloo Convention Center.
A vintage Q&A with Barry Windham

Apr 1, 2024 | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

After a few health scares, including a heart attack in December 2022, Barry Windham is back in the news for something positive — the induction of his tag team with Mike Rotunda, known as US Express, into the WWE Hall of Fame this coming Friday in Philadelphia as a part of WrestleMania XL. In his honor, SlamWrestling.net’s Steve Johnson dug out this gem of a Q&A conducted at the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Fan Fest. Here is the full Q&A from the event.
‘A few more crosses to burn’: A KKK threat to Tiger Flowers Johnstone

Feb 21, 2024 | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

There is a classic bronze sculpture of the head of a professional wrestler in the Harvard Art Museums. It is not of Hulk Hogan or Dwayne Johnson, or of Danno O’Mahoney or Steve Casey, the Irish immigrants who settled in Boston and became heavyweight champions of the world.
Remembering a veteran: The final flight of Ben Reuben

Nov 10, 2023 | slamwrestling.net | Steven Johnson

Ben Reuben was a satisfied man when he ducked into an air transport plane on March 3, 1945. He was in his second world war and wrestling, his great passion, had seen him through both conflicts — first, as a fresh-faced kid of 22 teaching men 10 and 15 years older how to fight hand to hand with Kaiser Wilhelm’s soldiers, and now, approaching middle age, managing a tour of pro wrestlers to entertain troops in the European theater.