Meet the Pro Wrestling Stories Team!

JP Zarka
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
JP Zarka is the founder of Pro Wrestling Stories, established in 2015, where he guides the site's creative vision as editor-in-chief. From 2018 to 2019, he hosted and produced The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo, brother of WWE legend Macho Man Randy Savage. His diverse background includes roles as a school teacher, assistant principal, published author, musician with the London-based band Sterling Avenue, and being a proud father of two amazing daughters. He has appeared on the television show 'Autopsy: The Last Hours Of' and contributed research for programming on ITV and BBC.
Evan Ginzburg
Senior Editor and Author
Evan Ginzburg is a published author and was an Associate Producer on the Oscar-nominated movie 'The Wrestler,' starring Mickey Rourke, and '350 Days,' with Bret Hart and Superstar Billy Graham. He is a 30-plus-year film, radio, and TV veteran and a voice-over actor on the radio drama Kings of the Ring.
Javier Ojst
Senior Author
Javier Ojst is an old-school wrestling enthusiast currently residing in El Salvador. Heโ€™s been a frequent guest on several podcasts and has a few bylines on TheLogBook.com, where he shares stories of pop culture and retro-related awesomeness. He has also been published on Slam Wrestling and in G-FAN Magazine.
Jim Phillips
Senior Author
Jim Phillips is a senior author for Pro Wrestling Stories and a lifetime member of the Cauliflower Alley Club. He has been a passionate pro wrestling fan since the late โ€™70s and has spent the past decade as a journeyman writer, sharing his insights and stories with the wrestling community. He can also be heard in the BBC Radio production 'Sports Strangest Crimes: The Ballad of Bruiser Brody.'
Benny Scala
Senior Author
Benny J. Scala is a writer and co-host of the Dan and Benny In the Ring podcast. He is also a writer/promoter for Jimmy Valiantโ€™s Boogieโ€™s Wrestling Camp and Hall of Fame Museum (BWC). Benny is a licensed Florida Realtor and recently joined the writing staff of the Through The Fence Baseball website. He has been a fan of professional wrestling since the late โ€™60s.
Tim Buckler
Senior Author
Tim Buckler has been a writer for over a decade, penning articles for WhatCulture, Screen Rant, Inside The Ropes, and many more, but his heart will always belong to Pro Wrestling Stories! He presents a pop culture radio show called 'The Little Telly Upstairs,' which airs every Thursday 8-10 pm on Radio Woking, featuring news, views, music, and talk on film, television, comic books, video games, and, of course, pro wrestling.
Griffin Kaye
Senior Author
Griffin Kaye is a life-long pro wrestling fan and historian with a love for โ€™80s and โ€™90s WWF, the NWA, WCW, ECW, and AEW. His favorite wrestlers include Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, William Regal, Tito Santana, Stan Hansen, Mr. Perfect, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho.
Bobby Mathews
Senior Author
Bobby Mathews is a published author and award-winning journalist whose bylines have appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Birmingham News, The Denver Post, as well as other newspapers around the US. He currently lives in suburban Birmingham, Alabama.
Joseph Finnegan
Senior Author
Joseph Finnegan, a longtime contributor to Pro Wrestling Stories, is a published author and produced screenwriter with a BFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University. Recently, he completed and released two feature films, now available as a double feature for just $5. Via the link below, you can gain access to and support a talented independent filmmaker.
Si Powell
Senior Author
Si Powell is a married father of four, obsessed with rock/heavy metal music, podcasting, and all things wrestling for over 30 years.
Alexa Pruett
Senior Author
A wrestling fan since childhood, Alexa Pruett writes and produces a podcast called That Wrestling Wench. Alexa is a recent graduate from California State University, Northridge, with a focus on psychology and human sexuality studies, where she reveled in any opportunity to study and write about wrestling.
Marc Madison
Senior Author
Marc Madison was one of the very first writers to join the Pro Wrestling Stories family back in 2016. You can find his latest bylines on his website, ProWrestlingPost.com, where he gives a voice to independent wrestling promotions while also embracing the best and latest from wrestling past and present.
Ruslan C. Pashayev
Contributing Writer
Ruslan C. Pashayev is a professional ballroom and Dancesport dancer, coach, and choreographer based in Delaware, Ohio. Born in 1980 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ruslan began ballroom dancing at seven and pursued it throughout his youth. However, his passion for wrestlingโ€”both amateur Olympic style and professional wrestlingโ€”was ignited at age 12. Since 2005, Ruslan has been an avid student of wrestling history, with a particular interest in the origins and evolution of Lancashire Catch-as-catch-can wrestling. This deep-rooted passion led to the 2019 publication of his book, โ€˜The Story of Catch.'
Matt Roberts
Contributing Writer
Matt Roberts is a lifelong wrestling fan from the UK. He remembers the golden era with joy and has a particular fondness for terrible gimmicks. If you were a garbage man or a tie-dye-wearing guitarist during the โ€™90s, Matt was undoubtedly a fan!
Aarij Arifeen
Contributing Writer
Aarij Arifeen is a lifelong wrestling fan with a great interest in related literature. He is a moderator for r/AEWOfficial on Reddit, has had bylines on TheSportster.com, and resides in London, England.
Ebony Nash
Contributing Writer
Since childhood, Ebony Nash has been a wrestling fan. She is based out of Cleveland, Ohio, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 2020.
Richard Thompson
Contributing Writer
Richard Thompson is an aspiring screenwriter and longtime journalist, having written for online publications such as FanBuzz and MovieWeb. His favorite pro wrestler growing up was Scott Hall, and his childhood dream was to join the nWo. Sadly, while that dream never came true, getting the opportunity to write about wrestling is a solid consolation!
Rick Fields
Contributing Writer
Rick Fields has been a devoted follower of the pro wrestling business since 1979, captivated at the age of six when he saw a wrestler with his own name on Georgia Championship Wrestling. His early favorites included Austin Idol, Kevin Sullivan, Mr. Wrestling II, and the Masked Superstar, even naming his first cat after Austin Idol. After retiring early due to Parkinsonโ€™s Disease, Rick co-authored 'The Kanawha County Football Almanac,' a book on high school football in his local area.
Nati Feliciano
Contributing Writer
Nataly "Nati" Feliciano, a proud Richmond, Virginia native, is a full-time student at VCU, where she is pursuing a bachelorโ€™s degree in Mass Communications and Media Production. A passionate wrestling fan, Nati credits her lifelong love for the sport with sparking her interest in storytelling and world-building through larger-than-life characters. As she continues her studies, she is dedicated to exploring the intersection of media and storytelling, with wrestling serving as a central inspiration in her creative journey.
Ethan Absler
Contributing Writer
Ethan Absler is a freelance writer covering professional wrestling for NBC Universal and The USA Network. He is an independent wrestler based out of Chicago with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri.
Matthew Redeppening
Contributing Writer
Matthew Redepenning has been an avid fan and historian of professional wrestling for nearly twenty years. After graduating from high school, he attended culinary school, but destiny had other plans for him, and he ultimately earned his bachelor's degree in history from Texas Wesleyan University. He follows MMA and practices kickboxing in his free time.
Mike Gentry
Contributing Writer
Mike Gentry is a lifelong professional wrestling fan whose production work in theater caught media attention and was featured on BBC South East Today, KMTV, Kent Online, and BBC Radio Kent. In 2021, he received an Accolade of Excellence for the National Operatic and Dramatic Association โ€“ South East awards.
Jonathan Clark
Contributing Writer
Jonathan Clark is an artist and writer living and performing in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Teagan Wiltshire
Contributing Writer
Teagan Wiltshire is an English student who is a huge fan of old-school and modern professional wrestling. She enjoys reading, writing poetry, and playing video games (mainly Pokรฉmon and Minecraft) in her spare time.
PW Wade
Contributing Writer
PW Wade is a freelance writer out of the Washington, DC area. He was a student of journalism who is looking forward to writing about the history of a sport he's loved since his youth.
Rahul Amare
Contributing Writer
Rahul Amare has been a dedicated professional wrestling fan since the age of nine. He views wrestling as a confidence booster and a motivation to maintain physical fitness. His favorite wrestlers include Daniel Bryan, Bret Hart, and Edge.
Ash Jacob
Contributing Writer
Ash Jacob is a writer, YouTuber, Doctor Who enthusiast, and lover of the great sport of pro wrestling. He previously contributed articles for WhatCulture Wrestling, talked music at Everything Is Noise, and currently writes for The Book Network.
Lanny Poffo
Special Guest Contributor
The late-great Lanny Poffo, formerly known as "The Genius" and "Leaping Lanny" of the WWF, was a published author, motivational speaker, host of Pro Wrestling Storiesโ€™ The Genius Cast podcast, and brother of WWE Hall of Famer 'Macho Man' Randy Savage.
April Hunter
Special Guest Contributor
April Hunter is a television writer, short story author, and blogger. Her work appears in a variety of publications, including RxMuscle, Page & Spine, Medium, and European journal FONT. She is a model and former pro wrestler and can be heard on The A Show with April Hunter & Aron Stevens.
Bob Roop
Special Guest Contributor
Bob Roop had an active career in wrestling from 1969 to 1986. He is regarded as one of the great mat technicians, wrestling with Championship Wrestling from Florida, National Wrestling Alliance territories including Japan and Australia, and a dozen additional foreign countries. He also wrestled for outlaw group International Championship Wrestling run by the Poffo family.
Richard Steinberg
Special Guest Contributor
Richard Steinberg is a retired Corporate Advertising, Marketing, and Research Executive with credentials covering all facets of television and professional sports (including MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, roller derby, and professional wrestling). One of his most unique engagements was as Director of Marketing Services for World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Ron Matejko
Special Guest Contributor
Ron Matejko is an award-winning writer and filmmaker for Turnbuckle Magazine (@TurnbuckleMag on Twitter / @turnbucklemagazine on Facebook), curator of Old Wrestling Pics (@OldWrestlingPic), and has covered MLB and NHL for ESPN.com.
Jon Finkel
Special Guest Contributor
Jon Finkel is the award-winning author of Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage, Hoops Heist, The Life of Dad, Jocks In Chief, The Athlete, Heart Over Height, 'Mean' Joe Greene, and more. His books have been endorsed by everyone from Mark Cuban and Tony Dungy to Spike Lee, Kevin Durant, and Chef Robert Irvine. He has written for GQ, Menโ€™s Health, Yahoo! Sports, The New York Times and has appeared on CBS: This Morning, Good Morning Texas, and hundreds of radio shows, podcasts, and streams.
Joel Eisenberg
Special Guest Contributor
Joel Eisenberg is an author, screenwriter, and producer. Joel has also developed or sold projects to TNT, Fox Studios, CBS-Decades TV, Atari, Roddenberry Entertainment, Garry Marshall, Cinemax, Warner Brothers, EUE/Sokolow, and Reelz Channel, among others. Joel frequently writes articles on sports entertainment, politics, social issues, and the arts.
Vinny Berry
Special Guest Contributor
Vinny Berry is an award-winning photographer, author of 'Lance by Chance: Wrestling as a Von Erich,' lead writer for wrestleville.com, and has written for various combative sport websites.
Arthur Nager
Special Guest Contributor
Arthur Nager is an award-winning photographer, photo educator, and author of the book, 'Wrestling โ€“ Sunnyside Garden Arena, November 27, 1971.' The discovery of the Sunnyside Arena photographs has inspired his interest in wrestling history and the stories behind the wrestlers.
Dr. Mike Lano
Special Guest Contributor
Dr. Mike Lano, DDS, has had his photography and writing featured in wrestling magazines since the 1970s. He has done freelance work for WWF/E, was on staff for the WCW Magazine in the 1990s, and has been the Cauliflower Alley Clubโ€™s board photographer since 1987 after serving on its executive board in the โ€™90s.
Ian Douglass
Special Guest Contributor
Ian Douglass is a columnist for The Ringer, Splice Today, Interim Fitness, and editor for Mel Magazine. He is a former reporter for NBC News in Flint, Michigan, and a co-author of the autobiographies of Dan Severn, Hornswoggle, Buggsy McGraw, B. Brian Blair, and more.
Jack O'Hara
Special Guest Contributor
Jack Oโ€™Hara is a writer and host of Belly Up Sportsโ€™ 50/50 Booking Podcast and The Oโ€™SHOW Podcast, both available on Spotify and Podbean.
Ian Matthew Harper
Special Guest Contributor
Ian Matthew Harper is a Kentucky Colonel and Jefferson Award-winning teacher from Lockport, New York, residing in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Additionally, he is a freelance writer, professional wrestling personality, and lead producer of The Colonelcast podcast.
Dan Sebastiano
Special Guest Contributor
Dan Sebastiano is a historian and host of the podcast Dan and Benny in the Ring. He is a US Navy Veteran and journeyman contributor appearing at wrestling shows and conventions across the Mid-Atlantic region. Dan has been a fan of pro wrestling for nearly forty years.
Ian Aldous
Alumni Contributor
Ian Aldous is a former International Boxing Organization fight commissioner and writer for BoxingNews24.com. He briefly covered pro wrestling in the late 2000s for WrestlingNewsWorld.com and the PWB Podcast before finding a home for his work on Pro Wrestling Stories.
Braeden Farrell
Alumni Contributor
Braeden Farrell, a passionate wrestling fan based in Adelaide, Australia, has contributed valuable insights to Pro Wrestling Stories since 2017.
Matt Pender
Alumni Contributor
Matt Pender is an old-school wrestling fan who currently lives in New Zealand. He is also a musical performer with his band OdESSA.
Christa Pagliei
Alumni Contributor
Christa Pagliei lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her fiction and poetry have been published in various outlets such as Fictionvale, Frostwriting, Strangelet, and Pseudopod. Christa is also the co-creator of the audio drama Lost Signal Society. In film, sheโ€™s worked on Succession, Sneaky Pete, and Mr.Robot. In addition to pro wrestling, Christa enjoys NJ Devils hockey, hiking, botany, 35mm photography, collecting rotational media, and cooking.
Aaron Young
Alumni Contributor
Graduating from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Aaron Young was a sportswriter and columnist for their student newspaper, 'The Reporter.' He is currently a Guest Experience Member for Minnesota United and at US Bank Stadium and enjoys volunteering for the ThreeSixty Program and MN Aurora FC.
Kevin Tanza
Alumni Contributor
Kevin Tanza is a Venezuelan writer with a long experience working in several areas, such as digital marketing, music, sports, entertainment, and more.
Stosh Jonjak
Alumni Contributor
Stosh Jonjak is a lifelong mark who proudly jobs to his three kiddos. A researcher by day who bends guitar strings at night, Stosh has never been afraid to wear Zubaz in public.
Rob Ireland
Alumni Contributor
Rob Ireland is a long-time wrestling fan and early contributor to Pro Wrestling Stories from the UK.
Conor McCorkindale
Alumni Contributor
Conor McCorkindale is a freelance writer, YouTuber, and professional wrestler based out of the UK under the name "Axel Strife."
Jeff Frantom
Alumni Contributor
Jeff Frantom is a freelance writer who has been a wrestling fan and historian for over 30 years. His favorite wrestlers include Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, and Shawn Michaels.
Drew Buxton
Alumni Contributor
Drew Buxton is a social worker, writer, and shameless mark from San Antonio, Texas. His work has appeared in Joyland, Vice, The Drift, and Ninth Letter, among others.
Logan Medenica
Alumni Contributor
Logan Medenica is a relatively new, albeit enthusiastic wrestling fan based in Rhode Island, USA. His favorite wrestlers, old and new, include Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, The Rock, Malakai Black, Stan Hansen, The Undertaker, Katsuyori Shibata, and above all else, Shinsuke Nakamura.
Chris Dreibelbis
Alumni Contributor
Chris Dreibelbis has been a wrestling fan since his youth. He has fond memories of watching Jim Crockett Promotions and WWF programming on television with his father and witnessing The Junkyard Dog win a Battle Royale at the old Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, in the 1980s.
Cameron Greenway
Alumni Contributor
Cameron Greenway is a freelance writer, music explorer, brewer, Boston Terrier lover, and avid pro wrestling fan (to put it mildly). Cameronโ€™s contributions chronicle the underrated and often overlooked side of pro wrestlingโ€™s vast and beloved past.
Archie Pain
Alumni Contributor
Archie Pain is a long-time wrestling fan and journalist based out of England. He enjoys going to the gym, and his favorite wrestling includes AEW, NJPW, '90s AJPW, and 2000s ROH and WWF/E.
Jordan Talbot
Alumni Contributor
Jordan Talbot is a lifelong wrestling fan who loves to write about the business. He enjoys helping out with the local wrestling promotions in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and can be heard on the Wrestle Geeks Podcast on YouTube.
Cameron Dennis Gorrie
Alumni Contributor
Cameron is a content writer and a copywriter with a background in sports and world events based out of the United Kingdom. He has been a wrestling fan for over 20 years and considers writing about it a labor of love!
Will Gray
Alumni Contributor
Will Gray is a chef by trade and a mark by choice. Will earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from MTSU and is the host of Botched Spots and Chair Shots, a pro wrestling podcast and blog. He also contributes his freelance work across the web.
Chris Fason
Graphic Designer
Chris Fason is a Cartoonist, Graphic Designer, and all-around Illustrative Juggernaut from Birmingham, AL, who designed most of the t-shirts on sale at the Pro Wrestling Stories merch shop (PWSTees.com). He is the co-creator of indie comics 'Hero Happy Hour' and 'Donald of the Dead' with writer Dan Taylor and the illustrator of another indie comic with Taylor Mosbey, 'Velour & Tweed,' and childrenโ€™s book 'Elkbar.' He currently works as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator in Film & Television and is plugging away with his own comic, 'Wild Waste.' Reach out at the links below for commissions, comic work, or to talk nonsense!
Joe Stasi
Social Media Team Alumni
Joe Stasi was behind many of the great, nostalgic wrestling photos you saw shared on our social media accounts from 2018-2022. He has been a wrestling fan since the โ€™70s, is an avid belt collector, and was a neighbor of the Poffo family before their WWF years in Lexington, Kentucky! He runs the 'International Championship Wrestling โ€“ ICW The Poffo Years' and 'Bruiser Brody โ€“ Wrestlingโ€™s Last Rebel' Facebook groups and has been mentioned on various podcasts such as the 605 Superpodcast, Jerry Jarrett, Jim Cornette, Booking the Territory, Kentucky Fried Rasslin, The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo, Breaking Kayfabe with Bowdren and Barry, amongst many others!