Ian Douglass

- Inducted into the Pro Wrestling Authors Hall of Fame in June of 2024

- Member of TNBAST's 2025 Webby-Award-winning sports documentary team

"Every Ian Douglass pro wrestling book is good." - Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer, 3/12/2023

"Ian Douglass is part of a specific class of Black wrestling journalists. There's a lot of work that goes into this that isn't being recognized; I've seen it, and it's necessary." - Khal Davenport, The Black Rasslin' Podcast, 7/10/2025

"Ian Douglass wrote the definitive books on Black wrestling history; I loved reading them." - John Bradshaw Layfield, 8/14/2025

“The fact that Ian Douglass chooses to write about wrestling is a gift to all of us, because this guy could write anything.” - Bob Smith, The Outdated Wrestling Hour, 10/17/2025

“Every time I think I have wrestling history figured out, I get an Ian Douglass book delivered and realize I don’t know ANYTHING. He has done such a great job of documenting hall of fame careers and legendary personalities of modern wrestling while also shedding light on little known wrestlers, territories, and cultural concepts from the past that I learn immeasurably upon every reading.“ - Tom Lawlor, Wrestling Observer, 12/14/2025

The journalism career of Ian Douglass began with a stint as a web producer for ABC News in Detroit and continued with a role as an on-air reporter for NBC News (WEYI) in Flint, Michigan. During this period, he was carried to a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists by his infinitely superior broadcast journalism classmates at Northwestern University.

Ian is a graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has earned a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, was awarded an honorary master's degree from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts, and completed the Executive MBA program at the Quantic School of Business and Technology. This activity all underscores the fact that he has spent far too much money on his education.

More than one of Ian's books has earned "Finalist" distinction in the year-end awards of The Wrestling Observer, and several of his books have been awarded with the cherished "Best of the Best" distinction from The Pro Wrestling Torch. Meanwhile, his book "Bahamian Rhapsody" received the 2022 Commissioner's Choice Award from the Pro Wrestling Authors Hall of Fame.

In his spare time, Ian struggles to compete as a masters swimmer alongside his much faster wife. He has won multiple national championships recognized by both U.S. Masters Swimming and the National Congress of State Games, and considers himself to be "the worst multi-time All-American in masters swimming history."

Ian also occasionally competes as an indoor rower because he lacks the talent required to engage in sports that require actual skill and agility. In 2015, he won a gold medal during the State Games of Michigan's indoor rowing competition while also clocking in with Michigan's fastest registered time of the entire year in his age group. He also once rowed the equivalent of a marathon, then celebrated the feat by lying on his living room floor and whining for six straight hours.

In addition to writing books, Ian has worked as a contributing writer for The Ringer, Cracked Magazine, Men's Health Magazine, InsideHook, BarBend and Splice Today. He was also the final fitness editor of MEL Magazine, from which more than one of his articles was curated into the New American History/Bunk History project at The University of Richmond. In addition, Ian has made contributions to Popular Science Magazine, Fixed Ops Magazine, The Pro Wrestling Post, Pro Wrestling Stories, The International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, and Emio Tomeoni's Streamy-nominated YouTube channel The NBA Storyteller (TNBAST). He was also a creative consultant and writer on the channel's Webby-Award-winning documentary "The Myth: A True Story of Michael Jordan & Leroy Smith."

Ian is also one of the most prolific alumni in the history of the Brown Writers' Symposium, the competitive-entry writing symposium once held annually by Brown University.