The latest WWE run with the 24-7 belt got underwhelming quickly. It wasn’t because of the people chasing or holding the title. It’s hard to take that belt seriously after the way the WWE originally made the Hardcore title a never-ending chase, and let’s face it, not many did it better than one Crash Holly. 

The Early Days

Michael “Mike” John Lockwood was born in San Francisco, California, on August 25, 1971. He became interested in wrestling at a very young age, citing Brady Boone as a big reason he wanted to get into the business. 

When Lockwood entered the Independent Wrestling scene, he would wrestle under the names: Johnny Pearson, “Irish” Erin O’Grady, “The Leprechaun” Erin O’Grady, and The Green Ghost. 

His travels took him from the Bay area to Mexico, to All Pro Wrestling (APW), and then ECW, where he got his feet wet with some untelevised matches with ECW’s best. After his stint in ECW, Lockwood headed back to APW, where the WWF scouted him. 

As Erin O’Grady, he received a tryout match against Vic Grimes (Famous for his feud with New Jack) after an excellent outing on January 20. 1998, both would wind up with WWF contracts. The match was very hotly contested, so both men earned the contracts. 

Lockwood was sent to the WWF’s training promotion, Power Pro Wrestling. He would impress, capturing the Young Guns Championship and Tag Team Gold in the promotion. He was sent to Mexico as The Green Ghost to develop his in-ring skills further. 

Crash Holly Debuts

On an August episode of Raw is War, Crash Holly was introduced to the WWF fans by his Cousin Bob Holly. Bob would be the abusive cousin, while Crash was the boisterous one. The Holly Cousins were born and ready to take on the WWF Tag Team division. 

Crash would make his WWF Pay Per View debut at SummerSlam the next August in a Tag Team Turmoil match, which saw the Acolytes Protect Agency (APA) walk away victorious. The Hollys would get other tag title matches, which finally saw them capture the gold on Raw is Way over the Rock n Sock Connection (The Rock and Mankind) that October. The reign wasn’t long as they dropped the belts to Al Snow and Mankind on SmackDown's November 4th episode. 

After a couple of months of tagging with Bob Holly, Crash would jump head-first into the Hardcore Division. This started an impressive 22-title reign as Crash defeated Test on a February 24th episode of Smackdown. This was when Crash stated he would defend the title 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Crash defended this title in every situation: circus, airport, funhouse, and hotel room. His defenses and ability to escape with the belt earned him the nickname “The Houdini of Hardcore.” He defended against everyone: The Mean Street Posse, The Headbangers, Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, Refs, The Godfather’s Ho’s, and anyone that tried to take the belt from Crash; he would find a way to retain and keep defending his title in the name of Hardcore. 

The Hollys introduced their cousin Molly Holly to the mix and started teaming up again. The new Holly faction feuded with the Dudley Boyz. This led to a Romeo and Juliet romance and angel where all 6 participants would begin internal family disputes. 

Then on an episode of WWF Heat, Crash, in singles action, took the light heavyweight belt from Dean Malenko. Unlike his Hardcore title reigns, this one was short-lived for Crash as it lasted two defenses before he dropped the strap to Jerry Lynn on April 29th on Sunday Night Heat. The Hollys reunited again in May for some lower card tag matches until December. 

Crash made his way to the International Wrestling Association (IWA) in Puerto Rico, holding two of their titles: the IWA Hardcore Championship and the IWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. After brief reigns, Crash would continue his WWF stint working house shows and secondary WWE television shows like Jakked and Heat. 

After the WWF was re-branded as the WWE and split into two separate brands: Raw and Smackdown. Crash was assigned to the Raw brand but needed to be booked more effectively and shifted to Smackdown. Eric Bischoff had 3 3-minute warning to beat Jeff Hardy so that a Raw star could reunite with Family. Crash left Raw to reunite with Bob on Smackdown. 

Crash feuded with Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble on Smackdown but could not gain the gold for a second reign. Holly teamed with Bill Demott against Noble and Nunzio, but Demott turned on Crash, leading to a one-on-one match that Bill won. This short feud this left Crash needing direction again in the WWE. 

He went on to miss three months of action, and Crash would become a Mattitude Follower with Shannon Moore. Crash became Moore’s apprentice and occasional tag partner, which Matt referred to as Moore-on. Unfortunately, this didn’t lead to much and Crash was released by the WWE on June 30th of 2003, amid rumors he was unhappy with creative and was very vocal about his unhappiness. 

In interviews, JR, Bruce Prichard, and even Bob Holly shared that Crash was a hard worker but had difficulty when creative didn’t have anything for him and would seek answers as to why. Many still speculate that this was why he was released from the WWE. Most WWF/WWE wrestlers who worked with Crash had nothing but good things to say about him in shoot interviews.

Life After WWE

After the release, Mike Lockwood continued running the wrestling school he originally opened in 2002 in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Mike also turned up in NWA-TNA as Mad Mikey. His promos were an array of angles and things that made him mad. Mike’s stint was short-lived as he departed from NWA-TNA in October 2003. 

His last official match took place on November 1, 2003. The match saw Mad Mikey team with Rory Fox, defeating Quiten Lee and The Human Time Bomb with special guest referee Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. 

Tragedy struck on November 6, 2003, when Mike Lockwood passed away at Stevie Richards's house in Florida at 32 years old. His death was ruled a suicide as he was discovered in a pool of vomit surrounded by empty drug bottles and alcohol. Later, it was revealed that Mike was in the middle of being divorced from his wife, as the two had separated in July.

Mike Lockwood was survived by his wife, Christeena Wheeler Lockwood; daughter, Patricia E. Lockwood, of Pacifica, Calif.; and brother, Mario John Lockwood of California.

Patricia was merely seven years old at the time of her father’s untimely demise and living with her mom in California.

Mile’s influence on those around him speaks volumes as  Nora Greenwald, aka Molly Holly, released an autobiographical DVD titled “Nora Greenwald: Shootin’ the Shi…Crap,” and portions of all the profits were donated to Patricia to contribute to her college education.

One thing I will say, whether it was sliding down the kiddie slide, bouncing through a bounce house, or dodging clowns at the Circus, nothing topped “The Houdini of Hardcore” when he held the Hardcore title. Crash and the inventive ways he defended his title 24-7 should not be overlooked or ever forgotten. 

The good die far too young.