Michael Rapada (born August 28, 1964), best known as "The Colorado Kid" Mike Rapada, 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 ...

Professional wrestling career

Mike Rapada started out in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. It took three months, but eventually he convinced

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he both wrestles and serves as Director of Business Development. He is also ...

to hire him. After Jarrett left for the WWF, Rapada sought out training from the likes of Ken Wayne, Buddy Wayne and others. He also made several appearances on ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT (American TV ...

'' as a security guard during his career. In 1994, he was named Rookie of the Year in the

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 Champions ...

promotion out of Memphis. He also had a reign as NAASW North American Heavyweight champion in

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...

, beating Cactus Jack, and as USWA Unified World Heavyweight champion, beating

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American retired color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federati ...

. Until winning the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

in September 2000, he had been the NWA North American Heavyweight champion, the top belt recognized by the

NWA Worldwide ''WCW WorldWide'' is an American syndicated television show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that aired from October 8, 1975, to March 31, 2001. At the time of its cancellation, ''WorldWide'' was the longest-running, unin ...

promotion based out of Nashville. Colorado Kid teamed with Scuffling Hillbilly and the duo won and held the North American Tag Team title for about 18 months from early 1996 to late 1997. He was the first American wrestler ever to win a match in China. His son, Mike Rapada Jr., is currently a wrestler 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 2001, Mike Rapada moved to San Diego, CA, where he began training local talent and in 2004, Rapada started Southwestern Alliance of Wrestling ("SAW"). SAW had the privilege of wrestling at local elementary schools throughout the San Diego area helping to raise money for military and underprivileged children. SAW also performed at many of the street fairs every year in the local communities and yearly at the Christmas Party that The Nice Guys of San Diego sponsored for the children of San Diego and military families. The event attracted 20,000 people and was held at Qualcomm Stadium. Mike Rapada's vision was to create family friendly professional wrestling shows. In early 2010, Rapada returned to Nashville where he works and continues to wrestle locally for independent wrestling companies.

Championships and accomplishments

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

(

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 ...

) * Ozark Mountain Wrestling/North American All-Star Wrestling/Music City Wrestling/NWA Nashville/NWA Main Event **

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship The NWA North American Heavyweight Championship, also known simply as the NWA North American Championship, was a professional wrestling championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance in 1994 after World Championship Wrestling withdrew fro ...

( 5 times) ** OMW/NAASW/MCW North American Heavyweight Championship (5 times, final champion) *

Pro Wrestling Zero1 , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wre ...

** NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

Steve Corino Steven Eugene Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestling trainer and former professional wrestler. , he works for the American professional wrestling promotion WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center and as a produ ...

USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship The USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World Heavy ...

( 1 time) ** Rookie of the Year (1994)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapada, Mike 1966 births 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people NWA World Heavyweight Champions USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champions NWA North American Heavyweight Champions Zero1 Intercontinental Tag Team Champions People from Merced, California Professional wrestlers from California