The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heroes and Icons

By (author): Greg Oliver, Steven Johnson

The most marvelous good guys worthy of a spot in the pro wrestling hall of fame

At its core, professional wrestling has always been about the forces of evil trying to undermine everything good — and a red-hot heel needs a valiant hero to battle against, someone fans can root for, identify with, and look up to.

Wrestling heroes like Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, The Rock, and André the Giant are celebrated worldwide. But in Heroes & Icons, Oliver and Johnson dig deeper to include more than just the household names, telling the stories of forgotten heroes and regional stars, like Tiger Jeet Singh, who has an elementary school named after him, and Whitey Caldwell, whose gravesite still sees flowers from fans 40 years after his passing.

Based on the comprehensive research and numerous in-depth interviews for which their acclaimed Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series is known, authors Oliver and Johnson lead readers through the 1930s to the present day, as they examine what truly makes a great hero.

AUTHOR

Greg Oliver

A writer, editor, and stay-at-home dad, Greg Oliver has written extensively about professional wrestling and hockey. Recent books include Don’t Call Me Goon, The Goaltenders’ Union, Written in Blue & White, and Duck with the Puck. A member of the Society for International Hockey Research, Greg lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his wife and son. Learn more at OliverBooks.ca.

AUTHOR

Steven Johnson

Steven Johnson is co-author of The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series with Greg Oliver. Johnson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and has received several awards for investigative and general news reporting. He lives in Springfield, VA. Heath McCoy is a pop culture reporter and rock critic for the Calgary Herald. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling (ECW, October 2007). Irvin Muchnick has written about a variety of subjects including wrestling for many publications, including the Village Voice and The New York Times. His new book, Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death and Scandal, was released by ECW in April 2007. Greg Oliver is a writer and editor from Toronto. Oliver has covered professional wrestling for 20 years through the Slam! Wrestling Web site, the Canadian Wrestling Report newsletter, magazines and newspapers. With Steven Johnson, he has written The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series.