Mark Keenan, better known by his ring name Cody Michaels, is an American former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

. After suffering a serious neck injury, Michaels retired and has worked behind the scenes as a booker and promoter.

Professional wrestling career

Keenan played college football prior to becoming a professional wrestler. He was trained by

Dominic DeNucci Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, alongside friends

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

Brian Hildebrand Brian Curtis Hildebrand (January 21, 1962 – September 8, 1999) was an American professional wrestling manager, wrestler and referee who sometimes went by the name of Mark Curtis. Although trained in brawling, technical, and high-flying wrestli ...

, and former college teammate

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

. Beginning in 1986, Michaels wrestled for

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestlin ...

(USWA),

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

(WWF),

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

(ECW), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his in-ring career, his

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

partners included

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

, Douglas, Foley,

Jerry Lynn Jeremy Lynn (born June 12, 1963), better known by the ring name Jerry Lynn, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach. He has worked for promotions such as World Championship ...

Bill Dundee William Cruickshanks (born 24 October 1943) is a Scottish-born Australian professional wrestler and author better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton. Car ...

, and DeNucci himself. Michaels' opponents included

Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

, Eddie Gilbert, Foley,

The Iron Sheik Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri ( fa, حسین خسرو علی وزیری, romanized: Hossein Xosrô 'Ali Vaziri; born March 15, 1942), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, is an Iranian retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and ...

The Fabulous Ones The Fabulous Ones were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn that was active between 1982 and 1991 with brief reunions during the 1990s. The Fabulous Ones competed primarily in North American territories such as ...

, and Douglas. Michaels previously was part of a tag team known as The Heartbreakers, with Dick Flanagan, in the late 1980s that was managed by "Captain" Lou Albano for a time. In March 1991 Michaels was seriously injured in a match against John Tatum at the Sportatorium in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. He sustained a broken neck which eventually led to the end of his in-ring career.

Subsequent career

Michaels developed and promoted a benefit in 1999, Curtis Comes Home, for friend Brian Hildebrand, aka Mark Curtis (WCW referee), who was battling end stage stomach cancer at the time. It brought together the major wrestling companies in support for Hildebrand. He would also make a one-night return to the ring that night against

Hugh Morrus William Charles DeMott II (born November 10, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler and road agent and trainer. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Hugh Morrus and World Wrestling Federatio ...

. Michaels continued his involvement in professional wrestling as an

associate producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

, booker, writer, and creative team member in

Wrestling Society X Wrestling Society X (WSX) is a short-lived American professional wrestling promotion and professional wrestling-based television series created in 2006 by Big Vision Entertainment. The weekly television series formerly aired on MTV, MTV2, MTV Tr3 ...

(WSX), Viacom/ MTV's short-lived professional wrestling-based television series produced in 2006, and airing in 2006-2007, by

Big Vision Entertainment Kevin Kleinrock is an American executive producer, writer, director, consultant, and business developer. He is currently the President of and executive producer for lucha libre focused enterprise Masked Republic which produces Pay Per View events ...

for MTV. He was a producer of the Ultimate Cage Fighting Championships (UCFC) MMA live event, Rumble on the Rivers in June 2009 at the

Mellon Arena The Civic Arena, formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena, was an arena located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) ...

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That event was the first ever MMA live event in Pittsburgh since the state approved MMA in Pennsylvania. He has also worked as a producer for various

Xtreme Pro Wrestling Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari. Zicari originally ran the promotion out of Los Angeles from 1999 to 2003. He appeared on shows as the on-camera owner under the name Ro ...

(XPW) productions including the "Cold Day in Hell" national DVD release and is listed on the advisory board for Masked Republic, which is the first integrated live event, merchandising and media organization in the United States specializing in the emerging growth market of lucha libre. Michaels has also worked as a producer/agent for the Urban Wrestling Federation live events and national pay-per-view releases in 2011. He continues to write and develop content for various entertainment production companies in the United States. He is one of the original owners/producers/bookers (along with Shane Douglas, Kevin Kleinrock, Steve O'Neill, and Mike O'Neill) of Extreme Rising. The promotion initially focused on an

(ECW) reunion show in Philadelphia, which was a sold out event, drawing over 2,000 fans at the Philadelphia National Guard Armory, and continued to run live events in New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh through 2012-2013. Michaels can be seen in the 2013 documentary ''Barbed Wire City'', which is a DVD released documentary about the history of ECW, some of the wrestlers, and its fan base through the years. It was announced on Sunday, February 25, 2018 that Michaels, Brian Hildebrand and Angie Minelli made up the Class of 2018 Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) Hall of Fame. The ceremony is to take place on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Pittsburgh.

Championships

* American States Wrestling Association ** ASWA Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Steel City Wrestling Steel City Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1994 by Norm Connors. It was the top promotion in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area during the 1990s, along with the National Wrestling A ...

SCW Heavyweight Championship The SCW Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW). It remained active until November 20, 2004 when SCW was closed. The inaugural champion was Boris Dragoff, who defea ...

(1 time) *

USWA World Tag Team Championship The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling ...

( 1 time) - with

Filmography

References

External links