Author: Evan Ginzburg

When you attend live wrestling events for 37 years and literally around the world, there’s not a whole lot of firsts. And it’s hard to impress this jaded old-schooler like the time I attended the Dragon Gate USA Uprising 2011. Well, this was my first live Dragon Gate show. And I was, shockingly, more than impressed. In the opening spotfest, current indie darling Sami Callihan reigned supreme. This was Caleb Konley vs. Flip Kendrick vs. Jon Davis vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Pinkie Sanchez vs. Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan vs. Scott Reed, wherein they exhibited a barrage of impressively insane…

I sat down and watched Ted DiBiase’s 2017 documentary, The Price of Fame. As a huge fan of  Dibiase from his earliest days as a face in WWWF where he and Pat Patterson would have some of the greatest live matches I’d ever seen for the then “North American Title” to his later reincarnation as “The Million Dollar Man” where he was as tremendous a heel as ever set foot in the ring, I always had a deep respect for him as one of the all-time best. I’d also met him a few times over the years, starting with Dr.…

Mary Lillian Ellison, far better known by her ring name, The Fabulous Moolah, spent much of her career as the perennial Undisputed Women’s World Champion. Her lengthy and complicated legacy is more suited to a book than a short article. So I want to instead offer a different take on Moolah. As someone who saw her perform regularly at Madison Square Garden, I’d like to put you in that seat in just what it was like to see her live in her 1970s championship heyday. On July 1, 1972, Moolah became the first woman allowed to wrestle at the Garden,…

Harley Race liked to refer to himself as “the greatest wrestler on God’s green Earth” And as a 70’s and 80’s fan, when he walked down the aisle you believed just that. These are my live Harley Race memories. The first time I saw Harley Race live was at Madison Square Garden on April 30, 1979, when he defeated “Rookie of the Year” Steve Travis in a mere 5:14. Although not a particularly memorable match, it was quite the big deal that the NWA belt was being defended on a WWWF card and treated as a major event. Race had…

‘350 Days,’ Starring Pro Legends Bret Hart and ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham, in U.S. Cinemas July 12th, 2028, the only Biopic Featuring Three Dozen-Plus Legendary Athletes and Post-Screening Q&A comes to Movie Theaters Nationwide. Fans are asked to Get in the Ring With A Wrestling Documentary with 350 Days. DENVER – May 21, 2018 – Pro wrestling fans have a “must-see” one-night event coming this summer as “350 Days” hits movie theaters nationwide this July 12. Starring former world champions Bret Hart and “Superstar” Billy Graham, the documentary provides a behind-the-scenes look at the grueling life they led on the road and…

People look at this greying, middle-aged old school guy, read my tongue-in-cheek “reviews” of WWE TV. “That was 3 hours of my life I’ll never get back”. Assume I’m one of those haters who do the “There’s been NO good wrestling since the 80’s” spiels. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is the new wrestling golden age. You see, the exact opposite is probably the case. This is a new golden age in professional wrestling. And I’m not talking just “dollars and cents,”. But rather the all-time great Art that is being created in-ring almost daily. You see…

Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is quite the ride. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gives by far his greatest performance as early MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, seamlessly transitioning from childlike to brutal- often in the very same scene or even moment. This isn’t The Rock in charming and charismatic popcorn movie “safe mode.” This is a hurting, seething, crying, wounded, let-it-all-hang-out, “time to finally be an ACTOR” performance. It’s raw, it’s wonderful, it’s memorable, and there’s not a door or piece of furniture that remains safe when he’s in a steroid-induced rage. It must also be noted that Johnson is almost…

(originally written by the late Dale Pierce and edited by Evan Ginzburg) Here we are, remembering Ohio Championship Wrestling. Dale Pierce was a noted wrestling manager (The Time Traveler), wrestler (Marcial Bovee), licensed teacher, and prolific author of eclectic books on bullfighting, wrestling history. Western outlaws and various other subjects that struck his fancy. He tragically passed away last week after a long battle with Cancer. I published him in my Wrestling-Then & Now newsletter for some twenty years. I would love to see his work live on for those interested in the more obscure territories and wrestlers who are…

Having not attended or even watched TNA Wrestling in the longest time, I didn’t even know some of the wrestlers on this, TNA Slammiversary 2025, their biggest drawing show of all time, with an attendance of 7,623 from UBS Arena- Belmont Park, Elmont, NY. Therefore, I entered the UBS Arena with a clean slate. The matches were either going to win over this jaded, old-school fan of fifty-plus years or they’d lose my interest. Ultimately, the card did a little of both. A mostly young, enthusiastic crowd in their twenties and thirties seemed to be the bulk of the audience…

Colossal Championship Wrestling returned to the hallowed Queens Elk Lodge on July 19th- former home to ECW and a slew of indies, bringing a hot card on a hot summer night to a satisfied crowd. With affordable tickets, the audience reminded me very much of the old WWWF Queens’ Sunnyside Garden and other 1970s NYC area fans. A loud and lively group of working-class families, of every age, race, creed, and color, enjoyed the indie grapplers giving their all, and everyone had a rousing good time. Part of the fun of the CCW shows is that it feels like the…