Mike Lockwood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Mike Lockwood
Crashfansign.JPG
Ring name(s) Crash Holly[1]
Crash[1]
Erin O'Grady[1]
The Green Ghost[2]
Johnny Pearson[1]
Mad Mikey[1]
Billed height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Billed weight 212 lb (96 kg)[3]
Born (1971-08-25)August 25, 1971[1]
Anaheim, California[1]
Died November 6, 2003(2003-11-06) (aged 32)[3]
Navarre, Florida[1]
Billed from Salisbury, North Carolina
Trained by Jerry Monti[1]
Michael Modest[1]
Ric Thompson[1]
Debut 1989[1]

Michael John "Mike" Lockwood[3] (August 25, 1971 – November 6, 2003)[1] was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name name, Crash Holly (or simply Crash), in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) promotion.[1]

Lockwood wrestled on the independent circuit, briefly for Extreme Championship Wrestling, before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation in 1999. He debuted as Hardcore Holly's storyline cousin, Crash Holly. He found his greatest success in WWF/E's Hardcore Division, winning the WWE Hardcore Championship 22 times[4] and earning the nickname "The Houdini Of Hardcore" for his ability to escape tricky situations with his championship intact. In June 2003, he was released from WWE and joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Mad Mikey, a perpetually angry character. He remained with TNA until he died four months later.

As well as a Hardcore Champion, he was a one-time European Champion,[5] a one-time Light Heavyweight Champion[6] and a one-time Tag Team Champion, with Hardcore Holly (The Holly Cousins).[7]

Contents

Professional wrestling career [edit]

Early career [edit]

Lockwood debuted in 1989, as Johnny Pearson in Bay Area Wrestling, where he wrestled until 1994.[1] He dislocated his shoulder about five times, and took 18 months off to recover.[2] He then wrestled on the independent circuit as "Irish" Erin O'Grady. In 1996, he joined All Pro Wrestling (APW), where he became known as "The Leprechaun" Erin O'Grady[2] and had several matches with Vic Grimes.[3]

After viewing a tape of a match between O'Grady and Michael Modest, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) wrestler Peter Senerchia (AKA Taz) offered Lockwood a job.[citation needed] Erin O'Grady lost four untelevised matches in November 1997, including a dark match at November to Remember.[8]

O'Grady wrestled Grimes in a try-out match for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on January 20, 1998,[9] and both were signed to contracts.[2] They were sent to Power Pro Wrestling, the WWF's developmental promotion, to train. Here, they won the PPW Tag Team Championship together[10] and O'Grady won the PPW Young Guns Championship.[11]

WWF Talent Coordinator Bruce Prichard sent Lockwood to Mexico, to prepare him for the style of the WWF's lucha libre show, WWF Super Astros.[2] He wrestled in Monterrey for three months, under a mask, as The Green Ghost (a play on the word "gringo").[2]

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment [edit]

Holly Cousins and Hardcore Champion (1999–2001) [edit]

Main article: The Holly Cousins
Holly carrying his weighing scale to the ring in 1999.

Lockwood debuted as Crash Holly, the storyline cousin of Bob "Hardcore" Holly, on the August 16, 1999 episode of Raw is War[2] They became known as The Holly Cousins. Their relationship was a strained one, and Hardcore frequently threatened Crash.[1] When they took the gimmick of claiming to be "super heavyweights", over 400 lb each, Crash would carry a scale to ringside to "weigh in" before matches.[1]

Crash made his pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam in August, where The Holly Cousins wrestled in a Tag Team Turmoil match, won by the Acolytes Protection Agency.[12][13]

On October 17, at No Mercy, The Holly Cousins defeated The New Age Outlaws by disqualification.[14] The next night on Raw is War, they defeated The Rock 'n' Sock Connection for the WWF Tag Team Championship.[7] They held the title until the November 4 SmackDown!, when they lost it to Mankind and his new partner, Al Snow.[15]

In early 2000, Crash Holly joined the hardcore division. On the February 24 episode of SmackDown!, he defeated Test to begin his first of 22 Hardcore Championship reigns.[4] He decreed that he must defend the championship twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. This was known as the "24/7 Rule".[1] This meant that the title was permanently contested, not just in sanctioned matches, and could change hands anywhere, anytime anyone pinned the champion, so long as a WWF referee counted the fall. Holly was frequently attacked by other wrestlers in unlikely locations, including an airport, a funhouse, a circus, and his hotel room.[2] Though he was often pinned, he usually immediately regained the title.[4] His most common tactic was to sneak a pin, often after the champion had been beaten down by someone else, and quickly run backstage, away from possible challengers.[4] This turned him into a crowd favorite and earned him the nickname "Houdini of Hardcore".[16] He frequently defended the championship against non-wrestlers, including referees and road agents, like Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson.[1] He had a long feud with The Mean Street Posse (Pete Gas, Rodney and Joey Abs) over the title.[4] He even lost, and quickly regained, the title against one of the Godfather's hos.

At Rebellion, Crash defeated William Regal to win the WWF European Championship.[5] He dropped it back to Regal two days later.[5]

In late 2000, another of Crash's storyline cousins, Molly Holly, was introduced. In 2001, The Holly Cousins feuded with The Dudley Boyz.[17] In the course of this feud, Molly began a romantic relationship with Spike Dudley, leading to internal disputes within each family, as well as a Romeo and Juliet-style angle between the six of them.[17]

On the March 18, 2001 epiode of Heat, Crash defeated Dean Malenko to win the Light Heavyweight Championship. He held it for over a month before dropping it to the debuting Jerry Lynn, on the April 29 Heat.[6]

In May 2001, Holly and Hardcore briefly reunited as a lower card team.[13]

SmackDown! (2002–2003) [edit]

Holly making his entrance at King of the Ring 2000.

When the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment and divided into two Raw and SmackdDown brands, Holly was assigned to the Raw roster, where he had little success.[18] He jumped ship to SmackDown! on the September 2, 2002 episode of Raw during a match with Jeff Hardy. Earlier, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff was informed that a Raw wrestler would leave to reunite with a relative on SmackDown!, and ordered a beatdown on Hardy, who he wrongly suspected of planning to join his brother, Matt Hardy.[19]

In his first SmackDown! match, on September 5, he defeated The Hurricane.[20] He then feuded with Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble.[3] On the October 3 SmackDown!, Noble defeated Holly to retain the title.[21]

On the December 19 SmackDown!, Holly teamed with Bill DeMott to defeat Noble and Nunzio.[22] After the match, DeMott turned on Holly and attacked him.[22] This led to a match on the next SmackDown!, which DeMott won.[23]

After being sidelined for four months, Holly returned on the April 24, 2003 episode of SmackDown!.[24] He soon joined Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore in the Mattitude Followers (MFers) stable. As Crash was Moore's alleged apprentice, Hardy also referred to him as a "Moore-on".[24]

Lockwood was released from WWE on June 30, 2003.[1][3]

NWA-TNA and others (2003) [edit]

Lockwood signed a contract with NWA Total Non-Stop Action (later known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling) in July 2003 and debuted as Mad Mikey on July 23,[25] accepting an open challenge from Elix Skipper and losing the match.[25] Mad Mikey was angry at many things, on which he elaborated in promos. He wrestled on nine NWA-TNA weekly PPVs, lastly on October 1.[26]

He also briefly wrestled for Pro Wrestling Iron in Hayward, California.[3] In late 2003, Mad Mikey and Rory Fox defeated Quiten Lee and The Human Time Bomb for the Heartland Wrestling Association. This was Lockwood's final match.[3]

Personal life [edit]

Lockwood was born in Anaheim, California, and raised in Pacifica, California, where he graduated from Terra Nova High School.[1] He became interested in professional wrestling in the eighth grade, inspired by Brady Boone.[2] While training as a wrestler and working on the independent circuit, he worked a second job at Safeway.[2]

Lockwood met his wife, N'keigh Wheeler, when she escorted Mark Henry to the ring at Unforgiven 1999, in Charlotte, North Carolina.[27] They married on New Year's Eve, 1999.[27] In 2002, he opened "Crash Holly's School of Professional Wrestling" in Salisbury, North Carolina, where N'keigh grew up.[1][27]

Death [edit]

Lockwood died on November 6, 2003, at his friend and fellow wrestler Stevie Richards' home in Florida.[1] He was found partially clothed with a pool of vomit around his face.[28] Empty bottles of the prescription drug Carisoprodol and a partially consumed bottle of alcohol were found nearby. He had recently received divorce papers from his wife.[28] His death, caused by choking on his own vomit, was officially ruled a suicide.[28][29] He was buried in China Grove in Rowan County, North Carolina.[30]

In August 2005, Nora Greenwald (Molly Holly) released an autobiographical DVD entitled "Nora Greenwald: Shootin' the Shi Crap", and a portion of the profits from the sale of the DVD went to Lockwood's daughter's education fund.[31] In March 2005, the New Breed Wrestling Association held the "Mike Lockwood Memorial Tournament", which was won by Michael Modest.[32] At ECW One Night Stand in 2005, Lockwood was one of the deceased former ECW wrestlers honored in a video package.[33]

In wrestling [edit]

Holly attacking Pat Patterson during Patterson's Evening Gown match with Gerald Brisco at the 2000 King of the Ring pay-per-view.

Championships and accomplishments [edit]

  • Power Pro Wrestling
    • PPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Vic Grimes[10]
    • PPW Young Guns Championship (1 time)[11]
  • Supreme Pro Wrestling
    • SPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hook Bomberry[3]

See also [edit]

Portal icon Professional wrestling portal


References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Clevett, Jason (November 6, 2003). "Crash Holly found dead at 34". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kimble, David (February 2002). "A Crash course in believing yourself: Crash Holly may be small, but he has a gigantic drive to prove he can excel in the WWF – Cover Story – Interview". Wrestling Digest. Retrieved September 26, 2008. [dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Crash Holly Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved March 6, 2008. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "History of the Hardcore Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved March 6, 2008. 
  5. ^ a b c d "History of the European Championship – Crash Holly". World Wrestling Entertainment. December 2, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2008. 
  6. ^ a b c "History of the Light heavyweight Championship – Crash Holly". World Wrestling Entertainment. March 15, 2001. Retrieved March 6, 2008. 
  7. ^ a b c "History of the World Tag Team Championship – Crash & Hardcore Holly". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 18, 1999. Retrieved March 6, 2008. 
  8. ^ Lockwood's ECW matches, from WrestlingData.com
  9. ^ Lockwood's 1998 WWF matches, from WrestlingData.com
  10. ^ a b Westcott, Brian (March 20, 1999). "MPPW Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  11. ^ a b Westcott, Brian (March 7, 1998). "PPW Young Guns Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  12. ^ Powell, John (August 23, 1999). "Foley new champ at SummerSlam". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  13. ^ a b "Holly Cousins Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
  14. ^ Powell, John (October 18, 1999). "Tag match highlights No Mercy". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  15. ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results". Online World of Wrestling. November 4, 1999. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  16. ^ a b "Michael Lockwood". IMDB. Retrieved November 15, 2008. 
  17. ^ a b Molinaro, John F. "Molly Holly having a blast in the WWF". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  18. ^ "WWE Raw Results". Online World of Wrestling. March 25, 2002. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  19. ^ "RAW results". Online World of Wrestling. September 2, 2002. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  20. ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results". Online World of Wrestling. September 5, 2002. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  21. ^ "SmackDown!". Online World of Wrestling. October 3, 2002. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  22. ^ a b "SmackDown! results". Online World of Wrestling. December 19, 2002. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  23. ^ "SmackDown! results". Online World of Wrestling. December 26, 2002. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  24. ^ a b "SmackDown! results". Online World of Wrestling. April 24, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  25. ^ a b "NWA:TNA PPV results". Online World of Wrestling. July 23, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  26. ^ Lockwood's 2003 NWA-TNA matches, from WrestlingData.com
  27. ^ a b c Morris, Joanne (January 23, 2002). "Big man with big dreams". Salisbury Post. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  28. ^ a b c "Wrestling Deaths – Crash Holly". WrestleView. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  29. ^ Swartz, Jon (March 2004). "Behind fun facade, professional wrestling sees 65 deaths in 7 years". Wrestling Digest. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  30. ^ "Michael "Crash Holly" Lockwood". FinadAGrave. November 7, 2003. Retrieved September 28, 2008. 
  31. ^ Pena, Daniel (February 16, 2006). "Molly Holly talks WWE/WCW Bid War, Head Shaving, Big Butt, & Life After WWE". LordsOfPain. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008. 
  32. ^ "Mike Modest Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
  33. ^ Gramlich, Chris (June 12, 2005). "One great Night of hardcore hostalgia". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  34. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Elroy_Jetson (see the help page).
  35. ^ "WWF/E Wrestling Theme Count and Title Names". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  36. ^ Oliver, Earl (March 22, 1997). "APW – Junior Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  37. ^ González, Manuel O.; Palma, Richard (July 21, 2001). "IWA Junior Heavyweight/World Cruiserweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  38. ^ Westcott, Brian (July 13, 2003). "MEWF Cruiserweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 
  39. ^ "PWI 500 2000". The Turnbuckle Post. Retrieved August 22, 2012. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mike Lockwood
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Lockwood&oldid=547931753"