Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling w/ Steven Johnson

Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, you will hear an incredible story that, on its surface, you may mistake as being just about professional wrestling: the life and career of "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos. He was the biggest star of not only pro wrestling in the 1920s and 1930s, but arguably of sports itself. His popularity eclipsed that of the profession itself. He sold out stadiums of tens of thousands. Contrary to popular misconceptions, pro wrestling was not simply the domain of smoky rooms before the era of Hulk Hogan. Jim Londos is proof of that. In fact, it may be fair to say that Jim Londos was Hulk Hogan before Hulk Hogan. And just to drive that point home, one only need look at his match against Kola Kwariani on October 22nd, 1933 in Athens, Greece at the Panathenaic Stadium. The attendance for that event? It's said to be between 65,000 and 100,000. Simply put, Londos was a phenomenon.

But, his story is much more than that of a pro wrestler. Londos is the story of an immigrant to the United States overcoming all odds. He is the story of a man who gave hope to the masses in the trying times of The Great Depression. A man who became a symbol of being able to overcome the greatest adversities. He was smaller in stature than many of his wrestling contemporaries. The classic underdog. And the fans loved him for it. He was their hero. He was "The Golden Greek" of professional wrestling.

Joining J.G. on this edition of the show is journalist Steven Johnson. Although Johnson has done a lot of journalism related to pro wrestling and its storied history, he's also been a U.S. Senate aide and newspaper editor. Moreover, he has master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Over more than a decade he worked on a book to finally tell the story of Jim Londos. That book, recently released, is entitled Jim Londos: The Golden Greek of Professional Wrestling. Part of MacFarland's Studies in Strength of Physical Culture series, this book uncovers the life and times of an athletic performer who has been unfairly forgotten due to having wrestled in the pre-television era of the professional wrestling.

In this conversation Steven I will discuss how he came around to the story of Jim Londos, the ways in which Londos story differs greatly from the more tragic rise & fall of early television-era wrestling Gorgeous George, the trials and tribulations of Jim Londos as a young immigrant in the United States of America in the early 20th century, the ways in which Londos is comparable to the mythical figure of Jason in the story of Jason and the Argonauts, how the legacy of Londos is carried on today by wrestlers like Bryan Danielson (aka Daniel Bryan), WWE superstar John Bradshaw Layfield's (JBL) foreword to the book, the wrestling double-crosses of the early 20th century that long predated the WWE's infamous "Montreal Screwjob", the colorful wrestling promoters of the Londos era (such as Toots Mondt and the Gold Dust Trio, Jack Pfefer, and Jack Curley), the legendary years long feud between Jim Londos and Ed "The Strangler" Lewis, Londos ability to make a crowd not only "believe" but "care" about his journey as a wrestler, and much, much more.