William Pierce (born July 13, 1961) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Chris Michaels. He is best known for his appearances with the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

-based

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

Eastern Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

in 1992 to 1993. He is to not be confused with Nebraska and Iowa wrestler, Chris Michaels (real name, not a ring name) who worked for the USWA with tag team partner Todd Morton.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1989–1991)

After training under Mark Tendler, Michaels made his debut on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

in 1989. In September 1990 he started to work for International World Class Championship Wrestling and he worked there until 1992. In January, 1991 Michaels started to work for Herb Abrams UWF. In the summer of 1991 he left the promotion.

World Wrestling Federation (1991–1992)

In July 1991, Michaels started to work under his real name as a preliminary wrestler in the WWF, jobbing to names such as Sgt. Slaughter,

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

, Earthquake and Typhoon

The Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags. The team were active from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and ...

Kamala Kamala may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kamala (name) — lists people and characters with the surname or given name ** Kamala Harris, 49th Vice President of the United States and 2024 Democratic Party presidential nominee * Kamala ...

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, "The Model" Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling As ...

and The Mountie.Bill Pierce AKA Chris Michaels

Eastern Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)

Michaels teamed up with

Johnny Hotbody John Weiss (born June 12, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Johnny Hotbody. He is best known for his appearances in Eastern Championship Wrestling, he won the ECW Championship, ECW Tag Team Cham ...

and

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with professional wrestling promotion, promotions such as World Championship ...

to form a

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 establis ...

known as "the Suicide Blondes" in

(ECW) during the early 1990s. The trio won the

ECW Tag Team Championship The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...

from

Tony Stetson Anthony Matteo (born March 21, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s. Stetson was one of ECW's i ...

and

Larry Winters Larry Winters (April 14, 1956 – January 27, 2015) was an American professional wrestler and trainer who competed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and East Coast independent circuit during the 1980s and 90s. He has wrestled in the American Wrestl ...

on April 3, 1993. They were subsequently allowed to pick any two of the three to represent the team, via the

Freebird Rule The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

. The Blondes lost the championship to

The Super Destroyers The Super Destroyers is a professional wrestling Tag team consisting of Doug Stahl and A. J. Petrucci. They both currently perform on Independent circuit and they are best known for their stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling, NWA Eastern Cha ...

( Super Destroyer #1 and Super Destroyer #2), but regained them the same night. At some point in 1993 Chris Candido left ECW and the promotion was forced to vacate the championship.

Independent circuit (1994–2002, 2011, 2013–2015)

Michaels returned to work in the East Coast independent circuit as he established himself as a well known worker in that region and won championships in many promotions across the East Coast. He mainly worked for promotions such as Universal Superstars Of America, NWA New York, East Coast Pro Wrestling, United States Wrestling Organization and USA Pro Wrestling. In 2002 Michaels retired from professional wrestling. On October 22, 2011, Michaels was inducted to the ECPW Five Boroughs Hall of Fame. On the same day he returned to in ring action as he worked a tag team match. Back in 2018 Chris Michaels came back as a adviser for his friend Simply Splendid Bobby C. as a Butler as part of his entourage only to later come back to once again wrestle as Sir Christopher Michaels for SWF eventually wrestling Tony Atlas. Once again coming out of retirement Chris Michaels repackaged himself as Simply Sensational Fabiolous as part of Team Splendid and in November 2019 went on to win the SWF Tag Team Championship from Steve Monsta Mac and Magic. They eventually vacated the titles. Chris Michaels as Fabiolous along with his tag team partner Bobby C. are currently the New Age Wrestling Tag Team Champions.Bill Pierce AKA Chris Michaels

Championships and accomplishments

*East Coast Professional Wrestling **ECPW Five Boroughs Hall of Fame (class of 2011) * NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling **

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with

and

* NWA New York ** NWA New York Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **NWA New York Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling *

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

**PWI ranked him #242 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

in 2002 *Superstars of Wrestling Federation **SWF United States Championship, (1 time, final) **SWF Tag Team Champions (1 time Vacated titles)Bill Pierce AKA Chris Michaels *USA Pro Wrestling **USA Pro United States Championship (1 time) *Universal Superstars of America **USA Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with

Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Professional wrestling school, trainer, and retired school teacher. Solis has stayed a Face (profession ...

and Johnny Handsome (2)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels, Chris 1961 births American male professional wrestlers ECW World Tag Team Champions Living people People from Bay Shore, New York USWA World Tag Team Champions Professional wrestlers from New York City NWA North American Heavyweight Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers