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John Lockwood Biography & Facts

Michael John Lockwood (August 25, 1971 – November 6, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 1999 to 2003 under the ring names Crash Holly or simply Crash. Lockwood debuted in 1989 and spent a decade wrestling on the independent circuit before signing with the World Wrestling Federation in 1998, debuting the following year as Crash Holly. He formed a tag team with his kayfabe cousin Hardcore Holly, with whom he won the WWF World Tag Team Championship. The Holly Cousins was expanded into a stable with the addition of Molly Holly in 2000. During his WWF/WWE career, Holly established himself in the hardcore division by winning the WWF Hardcore Championship on 22 occasions, with many of his reigns coming during a period when the title was defended "24/7". After being released from WWE in June 2003, Holly joined NWA Total Nonstop Action as Mad Mikey, where he remained until his death later that year. Holly was also a one-time WWF European Champion and a one-time WWF Light Heavyweight Champion. In total, Holly had over 25 championship reigns in the WWF. Early life Lockwood was born on August 25, 1971, in San Francisco, California. He was raised in Pacifica, California, where he graduated from Terra Nova High School. He became interested in professional wrestling in the eighth grade, inspired by Brady Boone. While training as a wrestler and working on the independent circuit, he worked a second job at Safeway. Professional wrestling career Early career (1989–1998) Lockwood debuted in 1989, as "Johnny Pearson" in Bay Area Wrestling for Woody Farmer, where he wrestled until 1994. He dislocated his shoulder about five times and took 18 months off to recover. He then wrestled on the independent circuit as "'Irish' Erin O'Grady". In 1995, he appeared in Mexico with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre as "Super Diablo". In 1996, he joined All Pro Wrestling (APW), where he became known as "'The Leprechaun' Erin O'Grady" and had several matches with Vic Grimes. Lockwood joined the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion in November 1997 after ECW wrestler Taz viewed a tape of a match between O'Grady and Michael Modest and referred him to ECW owner Paul Heyman. Erin O'Grady lost four untelevised matches in ECW, including a dark match at November to Remember. Following his stint in ECW, Lockwood returned to APW where he performed until October 1998. World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (1998–2003) Developmental territories (1998–1999) O'Grady wrestled Vic Grimes in a try-out match for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on January 20, 1998, and both were signed to contracts. In November 1998, Lockwood was sent to Power Pro Wrestling, the WWF's developmental promotion, to train. Here, he won the Power Pro Wrestling Young Guns Championship and the PPW Tag Team Championship. 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. He wrestled in Monterrey for three months, under a mask, as "The Green Ghost" (a play on the word "gringo"). Holly Cousins (1999–2000) Lockwood debuted on WWF television as "Crash Holly", the storyline cousin of Bob "Hardcore" Holly, on the August 16, 1999, episode of Raw is War They became known as the Holly Cousins. Their relationship was a strained one, and Hardcore frequently threatened Crash. 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. 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. At Rebellion, the Holly Cousins competed against APA and Edge and Christian in a triangle match, which Edge and Christian won. On October 17, at No Mercy, the Holly Cousins defeated The New Age Outlaws by disqualification. The next night on Raw is War, they defeated the Rock 'n' Sock Connection for the WWF Tag Team Championship. They held the title until the November 4 SmackDown!, when they lost it to Mankind and his new partner, Al Snow. At Survivor Series on November 14, the Holly Cousins teamed with Too Cool to defeat Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz in a survivor series match. Later that month, the Holly Cousins began a short feud with Too Cool and Rikishi Phatu. At Armageddon on December 12, 1999, they defeated Phatu and Viscera. The feud continued into February 2000. At the Royal Rumble on January 23, 2000, both Hollys took part in the titular Royal Rumble match, with Crash Holly being eliminated by The Rock. Championship reigns (2000–2001) In February 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. He decreed that he must defend the championship twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, which later became known as the "24/7 Rule". 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. Although he was often pinned, he usually immediately regained the title. 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. This turned him into a crowd favorite and earned him the nickname "The Houdini of Hardcore". He frequently defended the championship against non-wrestlers, including referees and road agents, like Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson. He had a long feud with The Mean Street Posse (Pete Gas, Rodney and Joey Abs) over the title. He even lost, and quickly regained, the title against one of the Godfather's hos. At Rebellion, Crash defeated William Regal to win the European Championship. He lost the title to Regal two days later. In late 2000, another of Crash's storyline cousins, Molly Holly, was introduced. In 2001, The Holly Cousins feuded with The Dudley Boyz. 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. On the March 18, 2001, episode of Heat, Crash defeated Dean Malenko to win the Light Heavyweight Championship. He defended it on two episodes of Heat, against Funaki and Grandmaster Sexay, before dropping it to the debuting Jerry Lynn on the April 29 episode. In April 2001, Holly and Hardcore briefly reunited as a lower card team until December of that year. In July 2001, Holly appeared with the International Wrestling Association.... Discover the John Lockwood popular books. Find the top 100 most popular John Lockwood books.