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.
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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)
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").
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.
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.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003)
Lockwood signed a contract with NWA Total Nonstop Action in July 2003 and debuted as "Mad Mikey" on July 23, accepting an open challenge from Elix Skipper and losing the match.
Personal life
Lockwood met his wife, Christeena Wheeler, when she escorted Mark Henry to the ring at Unforgiven 1999, in Charlotte, North Carolina. They married on New Year's Eve, 1999. Lockwood had one daughter, prior to his marriage, who was 7 years old at the time of his death.
In 2002, he opened "Crash Holly's School of Professional Wrestling" in Salisbury, North Carolina, where Wheeler grew up.
Death
Lockwood died on November 6, 2003, at his friend and fellow wrestler Stevie Richards' house in Florida. He was 32 years old. He was found partially clothed with a pool of vomit around his face. 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. His death, caused by choking on his own vomit, was officially ruled a suicide. He was buried in China Grove in Rowan County, North Carolina.
In August 2005, Nora Greenwald, who performed alongside Lockwood as Molly Holly, released an autobiographical DVD titled "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. In March 2005, the New Breed Wrestling Association held the "Mike Lockwood Memorial Tournament", which was won by Michael Modest. At ECW One Night Stand in 2005, Lockwood was one of the deceased former ECW wrestlers honored in a video package.
Championships and accomplishments
All Pro Wrestling
APW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
International Wrestling Association
IWA Hardcore Championship (1 time)
IWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation
MEWF Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
Power Pro Wrestling
PPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Vic Grimes
PPW Young Guns Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 36 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000
Supreme Pro Wrestling
SPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hook Bomberry
World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF/E Hardcore Championship (22 times)
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)