THURSDAY VETERAN SPOTLIGHT 12/12/24 - Mike Johnson
For this edition of the THURSDAY VETERAN SPOTLIGHT, I wanted to highlight someone who has been a true integral part of the independent wrestling community for quite some time. However, he isn't a wrestler, manager, or even commentator.
He is a wrestling journalist. Not only that, but he might be, in this writer's opinion, the best wrestling reporter today.
That man is MIKE JOHNSON.
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I first learned of Mike Johnson in 2004. Brand new to the Internet Wrestling Community, I was researching everything I could get my hands on as it came to my budding fandom, and subsequently obsession, with the "glory days" of Ring of Honor.
I came across a written interview taken with Gabe Sapolsky, written prior to the 2nd Anniversary Show and the inclusion of the Pure Wrestling Championship, and thought it was incredibly well-written and conducted. It was done by Mr. Johnson.
The more I became a fan of his work, the more I began to learn about him. A die-hard ECW fan, Mike would consistently travel to the ECW Arena in South Philadelphia, on the corner of Swanson and Ritner, for these events. Sometimes, he would be a part of these bus trips from NYC to Philly alongside other die-hard wrestling fans.
For me in 2024, hearing about this community of like-minded wrestling fans traveling together and not only enjoying wrestling but creating friendships with one another is what is missing from the modern-day scene.
I never realized how far back he went with pro wrestling reporting until I learned that he published his first piece with a newsletter for wrestling radio legend John Arezzi in 1992, Johnson linked up with fellow journalist Dave Scherer in the mid-1990s, thanks to attending ECW shows, and began working for 1wrestling.com in 1997.
After seven years, Scherer, Johnson, and two other writers joined PWInsider.com in 2004, which really kick-started his career.
The one thing I love about Mike's writing is that there is an unbiased nature to his writing. Very rarely has there been a personal opinion placed in his writing. He brings the stories and scoops that he has learned and verified as straightforward as possible. To me, he's legit.
He's the man that broke the "Sting to WWE" story in 2014 before anyone else did. Also, he was the journalist that Mr. Vince Russo accidentally emailed when he was a secret TNA consultant in 2014 (tough situation, but it had to be reported). Also, he conducted a fantastic interview with the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan after he was "Fusient'd" out of TNA in 2017.
Personally, one of my all-time favorite series of articles, as I alluded to a bit earlier, was his coverage of Ring Of Honor in 2004. He put together a series of articles, covering every show, every major news story that affected the promotion, and really put an emphasis on how impressive it was that ROH survived the year intact. To this day, I still think this was Mr. Johnson's most impressive work.
Mike has also done tremendous work with other content outside of PW Insider. He was a correspondent on The Taz Show in the mid-2010s, as well as being the interviewer for the infamous CM Punk Starrcast III interview back in 2019 in Chicago. Earlier this year, during the WrestleMania XL festivities, Mr. Johnson was one of the hosts of the ECW Experience at the old ECW Arena in April.
Hardway HQ founder Jon Harder had this to say as it came to Mike Johnson:
"To me, Mike Johnson truly is the best wrestling journalist in the game today. From all accounts, he loves the art of the business and has immense respect for those that ply their trade. I always remember sending over hype pieces and cards over to PW Insider for ACE events, even when I ran my one independent wrestling show Project: Diverge, and Mike shared it, as well as countless other promotions looking for exposure.
One of my favorite memories recently was going back and watching ECW One Night Stand from 2005 and seeing Mike sitting front row, next to Faith No More Guy, and completely getting enthralled with the reunion show of his favorite promotion. Also, the Triple H/Mike banter on every NXT conference call always popped me, as his getting on first every time always seemed to happen.
I will end it with this. I do not know Mike personally, but we are Facebook friends (not official unless it's Facebook official, folks) and every year for my birthday, Mike wishes me a Happy Birthday. To the inner fanboy inside of me, that's awesome. He seems on all accounts to be a good dude and deserves all of his success. Respect isn't given; it is earned, and seemingly, Mike has earned that respect as top of his field."
Mike Johnson is exactly that, and we are proud to have him covered in this edition of the THURSDAY VETERAN SPOTLIGHT.
Bankie Bruce
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