| Mikey Whipwreck | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Mikey Whipwreck |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 187 lb (85 kg)[1] |
| Born | June 4, 1973 Buffalo, New York[1] |
| Billed from | Buffalo, New York[1] |
| Trained by | Mick Foley[1] |
| Debut | January 1994 |
John Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling [1] where he became the third ECW Triple Crown Champion.
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Whipwreck was part of the ECW ring crew. Whipwreck joined Extreme Championship Wrestling. Booker Paul Heyman hired him after he watched Whipwreck practice a variety of aerial maneuvers before the show began (Joey Styles states on an episode of The History of ECW it was he who suggested that Heyman check Whipwreck out). The short, lightly built Whipwreck made a natural underdog who would absorb a great deal of damage in the course of his matches. Despite this, his great technical in-ring skills led him to success. While in ECW, he received further training from fellow ECW wrestlers Taz, Perry Saturn, Tommy Dreamer and Mick Foley among others. On May 15, 1994, Whipwreck defeated Pitbull #1 for the World Television Championship, his first title in ECW. He would hold the title until August 13 of that year.
Only two weeks after losing the World Television Title, Whipwreck's big break came on August 27, 1994, when Terry Funk canceled his appearance and, thus, his scheduled tag team match with Cactus Jack against The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock). Whipwreck substituted for Funk and managed to pin Rock, thus winning the World Tag Team Championship. The unlikely duo held the titles for just over five weeks before being defeated for the title by Public Enemy.
Following the title loss, Whipwreck began to ascend the ranks, while also expanding his moveset in the meantime. On October 28, 1995, Whipwreck scored the biggest victory of his career by defeating The Sandman in a ladder match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the youngest ECW Champion in history. During his reign as World Heavyweight Champion, Whipwreck defeated future WWF Champion and Hall of Famer "The Extreme Superstar" Steve Austin with a sunset flip. On December 9, 1995, Whipwreck lost the title back to Sandman in a three way dance also involving Austin.
On December 29, 1995 in Rego Park, New York at Holiday Hell, Whipwreck defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in a singles match in which the World Television and World Tag Team Titles were all on the line. Immediately afterwards, Cactus Jack declared himself to be Whipwreck's partner and the pair became two time World Tag Team Champions together. On January 5, 1996 Scorpio regained the World Television Title and two months later, Whipwreck and Jack lost their titles to The Eliminators (Perry Saturn and John Kronus). Soon afterwards, Cactus Jack turned on Whipwreck, blaming him for their loss and starting a feud between the two. Because Cactus Jack was soon set to leave ECW to debut for the World Wrestling Federation, the fans began to heavily support Whipwreck during this feud. After Whipwreck attacked Cactus Jack during a bout with Shane Douglas, a singles match between the two was scheduled for March. However, Whipwreck was defeated following several chair shots and a piledriver.
Mikey Whipwreck was an important part of ECW for the next two years before leaving for World Championship Wrestling in late 1998. He made his WCW debut at Uncensored, unsuccessfully challenging Billy Kidman for the Cruiserweight Championship. He also had a stint teaming with Lash Leroux as a tag team known as Whiplash. He later left WCW after several months, disillusioned by his lack of a push. While in WCW, he generally wrestled in the cruiserweight division or competed against fellow ECW alumni.
His release came shortly after a booking meeting where his name was brought up and, then booker, Kevin Nash responded with "who is Mikey Whipwreck?"
Along with The Sandman, Whipwreck returned to ECW in 1999. Aligning himself with The Sinister Minister, Whipwreck changed his gimmick from that of a lovable loser to a pyromaniac. After going through a losing streak, Whipwreck won his third and final World Tag Team Championship with Yoshihiro Tajiri as his tag team partner, with both men forming The Unholy Alliance. Rather than competing for the World Heavyweight Championship, Whipwreck primarily fought against lighter, faster wrestlers, giving rise to some of the most well-received matches of his career. He and Tajiri eventually lost the titles to The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke). Soon afterwards, ECW went bankrupt.
In early 2001, Whipwreck announced his intention to retire in May 2002 if he was not hired by the World Wrestling Federation or BRC in the interim, expressing an interest in pursuing a career in pyrotechnics. By June 11 he had decided to retire by September of that year, as his wrestling style had begun resulting in a number of nagging injuries, including two herniated discs, damaged knees, a damaged right shoulder and a jaw cracked to the point of not even being able to eat hard food. In tribute to Whipwreck, Border City Wrestling hosted "The Mikey Whipwreck Retirement Bash" on August 29, 2001 at the Cicciaro Club in Windsor, Ontario and featured a number of prominent ECW performers, such as Tommy Dreamer and Sabu. Whipwreck wrestled his American retirement match on October 20, 2001, defeating Little Guido.
Whipwreck broke his retirement before long, returning in 2003. He wrestled in several different promotions, such as Ring of Honor, where he would often team with or against some of the wrestlers he has trained. He also made a one time appearance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he teamed with The Sandman at one of TNA's weekly pay-per-views against The Gathering (CM Punk and Julio Dinero) in a losing effort. He later appeared at Hardcore Homecoming, ECW reunion tour organized by fellow ECW alum Shane Douglas, in mid-2005. On the Extreme Reunion portion of the tour, he teamed with Chris Chetti to defeat Simon Diamond and C.W. Anderson on June 10. Two days later at the first-ever ECW One Night Stand, Whipwreck, Yoshihiro Tajiri and The Sinister Minister reunited for one night only as Whipwreck and The Minister stood in Tajiri's corner during his three way dance against Little Guido and Super Crazy.
During April 2006, Whipwreck worked as an agent for Liberty States Wrestling. At the second ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 11, 2006, Whipwreck was seen on camera celebrating with other ECW wrestlers after Rob Van Dam won the WWE Championship.
On February 21, 2008, in his final New England wrestling appearance, Whipwreck was set to team with The Blue Meanie to challenge for the NECW Tag Team Championship at New England Championship Wrestling's Genesis 8 event in Quincy, Massachusetts, but due to car troubles Whipwreck was unable to attend the event, causing The Blue Meanie to pick a replacement in Nick Westgate.
In 2010 Whipwreck declined any involvement in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice.[2]
On September 11, 2010, Whipwreck and Syther defeated Big Time Rush (Tony Burma and Ryan Rush) to win the New York Wrestling Connection Tag Team Championship.[3]
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