Michael Paul Shaw (May 9, 1957 – September 11, 2010) was an American

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 ...

who was best known for his stint in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

(WCW) as Norman the Lunatic, and as Bastion Booger in the

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, now WWE).

Professional wrestling career

Canadian territories (1980–1989)

Mike Shaw started wrestling in 1980 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

's NWA All-Star Wrestling using the ring name Klondike Mike. In 1981, he wrestled in the WWF as Mike Smith, in a losing effort against former world champion Pedro Morales on All Star Wrestling. In 1982, Shaw began wrestling under his real name for

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, coach, trainer, football player and sailor. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a ...

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pro ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

. In 1984, he connected with wrestler The Great Gama "Singh" and was bestowed the ring name of Makhan Singh, forming the stable "Karachi Vice" with Gama and

Gary Albright Gary Mitchell Albright (May 18, 1963 – January 7, 2000) was an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Japan, first with UWF International (UWFi), and later All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In AJPW, Albright was a two-time Worl ...

as Vokhan Singh and managed by Judah Rosenbloom and following the rebirth of Stampede Wrestling in 1985, by Abu Wizal and feuded with the likes of

Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...

Davey Boy Smith David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey B ...

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling back ...

, and

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestlin ...

. From 1986 to 1988 he won the Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship three times defeating Owen Hart and losing the title back to Hart. He dropped the title the final time to

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cha ...

on December 9, 1988. On December 30, 1988 he and Vokhan Singh defeated

The British Bulldogs The British Bulldogs were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. They competed throughout the 1980s in Britain, North America and Japan and have consistently ranked among the top tag teams in h ...

for the

Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship The Stampede International Tag Team Championship was the main tag team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version). When promote ...

. They dropped the titles to

and Biff Wellington on April 8, 1989. After the loss Shaw left Calgary.

World Championship Wrestling (1989–1991)

Stampede Wrestling closed in December 1989 and just prior to the closure, he received the opportunity to join

as Norman the Lunatic. He was managed by Theodore Long, who led him around with a giant key. This key was symbolic of Long's potential to recommit Norman to the insane asylum he came from if he did not follow orders. Norman carried a teddy bear with him. Norman eventually broke away from Long, and turned face (being renamed ''Norman the Maniac''). He feuded with Kevin Sullivan, and even received title shots against NWA World champion

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

. He later adopted a trucker gimmick ("Trucker Norm"), ostensibly in memory of his late father, a long-haul truck driver. Shaw then wrestled in Memphis' USWA as Jed Grundy.

Global Wrestling Federation (1991)

In 1991, Shaw wrestled in the

Global Wrestling Federation Global Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. Often the promotion pr ...

under his "Makhan Singh" gimmick, where he joined The Cartel with Cactus Jack, Rip Rogers, and Scott Anthony.

Mexico (1991–1992)

Shaw wrestled in Mexico in the 1990s as Aaron Grundy, the supposed brother of Solomon Grundy, in EMLL and on the Mexican independent scene. Solomon Grundy was an established wrestler in the promotion and in Mexico.

World Wrestling Federation (1993–1994)

In April 1993, Shaw briefly wrestled for the

(WWF) as (alternately) The Friar and Friar Ferguson, a "mad monk". The WWF received negative feedback from the Catholic Church of New York, so they dropped the character. Shaw was then (allegedly as punishment for his weight) given the ring name Bastion Booger in June 1993, with the gimmick of an unkempt, slovenly and gluttonous man who wrestled in dingy, too-small, gray/beige singlets tailored to give him the appearance of a

hunchback Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result ...

. Shaw's debut as Bastion Booger saw him lose to

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

on the June 19, 1993 edition of ''

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * Warhol superstars, the associates of Andy Warhol * WWE Superstar, a branding term referring to a WWE wrestler * Superstar Billy Graham (born 1943) ...

'', though he did win a rematch the following week. Booger achieved only marginal success, primarily serving as a

jobber to the stars In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

. Booger's biggest victory in the WWF was a clean pinfall over Owen Hart. Booger's only WWF pay-per-view appearance was at the 1993 Survivor Series, teaming with

Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most ...

and The Headshrinkers in a loss to Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers. He feuded with Bam Bam Bigelow after "falling in love" with Bigelow's valet,

Luna Vachon Gertrude Elizabeth Vachon ( ; January 12, 1962 – August 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler, better known as Luna Vachon.Lisa S. Davis,Ex-wrestler Luna Vachon, 48, found dead", ''Tampa Bay Online'' (August 31, 2010). Over ...

. While teaming with Bigelow on the January 3, 1994 episode of ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show ...

'', Booger kissed Vachon, causing Bigelow to get angry. Booger and Bigelow faced each other the following week, and Bigelow won the match after Vachon distracted Booger by blowing him kisses. Booger was scheduled to appear in the 1994 Royal Rumble match, but was replaced; the

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...

explanation was

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disea ...

. He lost his final match on WWF TV to

Koko B. Ware James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he ...

in April 1994 and he left the WWF in August 1994.

Independent circuit (1994–1999)

After leaving WWF, Shaw kept the Bastion Booger gimmick. He wrestled in the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

in Michigan and Canada for

Border City Wrestling Border City Wrestling (BCW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion owned and booked by Scott D'Amore, and based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Many of the promotion's employees were trained at the ''Can-Am'' wrestling school. Aft ...

. He feuded with

Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

in 1995 in indy American promotions losing all the matches to Typhoon. On December 15, 1995 he returned to Calgary as Makhan Singh defeating the Gothic Warrior at the

Stu Hart 50th Anniversary Show The Stu Hart 50th Anniversary Show was a professional wrestling supercard produced by the Hart family that took place on December 15, 1995 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta. Held in honor of Stu Hart, the event featured Stampede Wrestlin ...

. On May 4, 1997 he lost to Doink the Clown at Outaia Pro Wrestling in Arnprior, Ontario. Later that summer, he worked for Renegade Wrestling Alliance based in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

, also worked in Burlington and Oakville, Ontario. Shaw retired from wrestling in 1999.

Return to WWE (2007)

On December 10, 2007 during the WWE Raw 15th anniversary special, he returned as Bastion Booger in the opening segment, in which

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

jokingly suggested that Big Dick Johnson (another character whose unsightly physical appearance had been used by WWE for comic effect) was Booger's son. Jakks Pacific added Bastion Booger to the Classic Superstars line, series 25 in 2009.

Return to independent circuit (2006–2009)

Shaw worked for various independent promotions in his final years, and trained several wrestlers in Saginaw, MI. He returned to wrestling on June 3, 2006 losing to Danny Demanto at National Wrestling Superstars in South River, New Jersey. His final match was in

Paramus, NJ Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

on July 24, 2009 in a losing effort against Prince Akkanatan. Shaw opened a wrestling school in his hometown of

Skandia, Michigan Skandia Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2010 census recorded a population of 826 people. The township contains the Dukes Research Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark. Geography Accord ...

Personal life and death

Shaw was married and had two children. Shaw died of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...

on September 11, 2010. He was 53 years old.

Championships and accomplishments

* NWA All-Star Wrestling ** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (''Vancouver version'') (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – with Danny O (1) and Dean Ho (1) *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

** Ranked No. 403 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 *

Stampede International Tag Team Championship The Stampede International Tag Team Championship was the main tag team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version). When promote ...

(

) – with Vulkan Singh (1) and Jerry Morrow (1) ** Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times) *

** Slammy Award (1 time) *** Most Likely To See Jenny Craig (

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

) * ''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

'' ** Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1993) ** Worst Worked Match of the Year (1993) with

and The Headshrinkers vs. The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission at

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the se ...

References

External links

Bastion Booger Fan Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Mike 1957 births 2010 deaths American male professional wrestlers People from Marquette County, Michigan Professional wrestlers from Michigan Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Champions