John Michael Watson[4] (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler working for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a trainer, and global ambassador.
[6][7] Watson began his professional wrestling career in ECW in 1994 and received the push of an underdog, who quickly captured the Television Championship, his first title in the company.
Joey Styles suggested to ECW booker Paul Heyman to check him after watching Watson practice a variety of aerial maneuvers before a live show began.
He made his first televised title defense against Kevin Sullivan on the May 24 episode of Eastern Championship Wrestling, where Whipwreck won by disqualification.
[23] Whipwreck and Meyers lost to Jason and Paul Lauria in a tag team match at Return of the Funker on February 25.
[24] The duo soon began a feud with Raven's Nest after Whipwreck defeated Stevie Richards at Hostile City Showdown.
He received his first major main event push on the August 1 episode of Hardcore TV when he won a battle royal by lastly eliminating Marty Jannetty to become the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.
[23] Whipwreck lost the World Television Championship back to Scorpio at House Party on January 5, 1996, after interference by Raven.
The duo dropped the World Tag Team Championship to The Eliminators (Perry Saturn and John Kronus) in February 1996 at Big Apple Blizzard Blast.
[32] Whipwreck lost to Taz in a series of matches including one at Big Ass Extreme Bash on March 8.
[35] At Heat Wave, Whipwreck attempted to regain the ECW World Tag Team Championship from The Eliminators with Sabu as his partner but failed to win the titles.
[41][44] Whipwreck disappeared from television and returned at the Living Dangerously pay-per-view on March 1, 1998, where he helped Tommy Dreamer in beating Credible.
He was brought back to the company by Lou E. Dangerously and faced Mike Awesome for the World Heavyweight Championship but lost.
[52] Whipwreck unsuccessfully challenged Rob Van Dam for the ECW World Television Championship on the December 26 Hardcore TV.
[53] Whipwreck competed as a mid-carder, aligning himself with the Sinister Minister, during which his character was changed from a lovable loser to a pyromaniac.
Money, Julio Dinero, and Chris Hamrick) in a six-man tag team match on the November 19 episode of Hardcore TV.
[58] The Unholy Alliance defeated Crazy and Kash and Full Blooded Italians in a three-way dance at ECW's final pay-per-view Guilty as Charged on January 7, 2001.
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.
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.
On the Extreme Reunion portion of the tour, he teamed with Chris Chetti to defeat Simon Diamond and C. W. Anderson on June 10.
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.
[61] Two days later, Whipwreck and Tajiri defeated Yo-Hey and Yusuke Kodama in another tag team hardcore match in Osaka.
[62] Whipwreck's tour of WNC concluded on May 27, when he, Tajiri and Kana were defeated in a six-person main event by Akira, Dave Finlay and Syuri.