Mikey Whipwreck

Hailing from Buffalo, New York John Watson was a member of the ring crew for Paul Heyman's independent wrestling promotion ECW. Recognizing the teenager's considerable in-ring talents Heyman pushed him into the spotlight. In January 1994 Watson debuted in ECW as Mikey Whipwreck, a name he kept for the rest of his career. He was pushed as a little dweeb who would constantly win by fluke but gradually began to develop into a tough and tenacious if somewhat lightweight competitor. Whipwreck went from strength to strength becoming one of ECW's most popular and entertaining competitors. Whipwreck was ECW's first ever Triple Crown winner holding the ECW World, Television and Tag Titles (with Mick Foley). Things went well until 1999 when Whipwreck, in an attempt to conquer the big leagues, jumped ship to WCW. Despite his superb in-ring talent and likability, WCW never utilized Whipwreck and he was soon reduced to doing jobs to various no talents such as Scotty Riggs and Van Hammer. In 2000 Whipwreck returned to ECW and was once again as popular as ever, however he did then take a massive character change. He turned from a weak, looking rookie into a psychotic maniac. With his hair dyed bright red and a maniacal grin permanently planted on his face Mikey was now a seriously creepy guy with disturbing leanings towards arson and Satanism. This if anything made Whipwreck more popular than ever. He formed a team with current WWF superstar Yoshihiro Tajiri. The duo ruled the tag ranks until ECW collapsed in January 2001. Following this, due to lack of interest in joining a major federation, Mikey worked for smaller independent promotions. In Autumn 2001 Mikey retired from wrestling at the mere age of 28! This was to the indignation of many fans who quite rightly regard Whipwreck as one of the most under-appreciated and talented young wrestlers of his generation. Finally did you know that during his reign as ECW World Champ in 1995 Mikey gained a pinfall win over "Stone Cold Steve Austin"?