Mikey Whipwreck

Various feuds (1996–1998) At CyberSlam, Whipwreck began a new angle with Taz by picking up a fight with him after Taz continued to assault his defeated opponent Joel Hartgood after the match, but Whipwreck was taken down with a Tazmission. At Heat Wave, Whipwreck attempted to regain the ECW World Tag Team Championship from The Eliminators with Sabu as his partner but failed to win the titles. He captured the European Wrestling Association (EWA) European Junior Heavyweight Championship on August 2 by defeating The Dirt Bike Kid and appeared with the belt on ECW television until losing it to Sabu in London, England in December. Whipwreck appeared on the February 24, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw, taking place at ECW's home arena Manhattan Center where he lost to Taz as part of an angle between ECW and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). This would be his only WWE match.

He took a hiatus from ECW for the next few months until returning to television on the May 29 episode of Hardcore TV, where he and Spike Dudley lost to Big Dick Dudley and D-Von Dudley. Whipwreck and Dudley began teaming together and got involved in a feud with PG-13. Whipwreck and Dudley lost to PG-13 at Orgy of Violence but defeated PG-13 and Whipwreck's longtime rival Jason in a handicap match at July's Heat Wave pay-per-view.

Whipwreck was next placed in a rivalry with the undefeated newcomer Justin Credible, who was being managed by Jason. Whipwreck faced Credible in a match at November to Remember, which Whipwreck won by pinning him after a Whipper-Snapper, ending Credible's televised winning streak. Whipwreck disappeared from television and returned at the Living Dangerously pay-per-view on March 1, 1998, where he helped Tommy Dreamer in beating Credible. Whipwreck lost to Credible in a rematch at May's Wrestlepalooza. He competed against Rob Van Dam for the ECW World Television Championship at It Ain't Seinfeld, where the match ended in a no contest after Sabu interfered and attacked Van Dam. Whipwreck would then compete against Sabu in a series of matches throughout the year. His last rivalry in the company was against Jerry Lynn. He defeated Lynn in the opening match of UltraClash on September 19. His last televised match in ECW was a loss to Lynn on the December 17 episode of Hardcore TV. He made only three more pay-per-view appearances. He would lose to Scotty Riggs at Spring Stampede and Van Hammer at The Great American Bash. His final WCW pay-per-view match was a Junkyard Invitational at Bash at the Beach. He left WCW after several months, disillusioned by his lack of a push. While in WCW, he generally wrestled in the cruiserweight division or competed against fellow ECW alumni in the hardcore division, which made him have second thoughts about staying in WCW. His last match was a draw against Chase Tatum on the August 23 episode of Monday Nitro.

Return to Extreme Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)

Watson returned to the ECW in October 1999 at Re-enter the Sandman (televised on the October 31 episode of ECW Hardcore TV). He was brought back to the company by Lou E. Dangerously and faced Mike Awesome for the World Heavyweight Championship but lost. Whipwreck unsuccessfully challenged Rob Van Dam for the ECW World Television Championship on the December 26 Hardcore TV.

Whipwreck competed as a mid-carder, aligning himself with the Sinister Minister, during which his character was changed from a lovable loser to a pyromaniac. During this time, he began competing against lighter wrestlers in the cruiserweight division. He competed in elimination matches at May's Hardcore Heaven and July's Heat Wave pay-per-views. During this time, he frequently feuded with Little Guido and joined forces with Yoshihiro Tajiri. The duo got another opportunity for the titles at November to Remember, where Whipwreck was injured in the match and was replaced by Super Crazy.

This marked the beginning of a brief alliance between Super Crazy and the Unholy Alliance, which ended after the trio lost to Hot Commodity (E. Z. Money, Julio Dinero, and Chris Hamrick) in a six-man tag team match on the November 19 episode of Hardcore TV. Unholy Alliance turned on Crazy when Whipwreck helped Tajiri defeat Crazy in a match by delivering a Whipper-Snapper to Crazy, allowing Tajiri to get the win. The duo became villains in the process. The Unholy Alliance defeated Crazy and Kash and Full Blooded Italians in a three-way dance at ECW's final pay-per-view Guilty as Charged on January 7, 2001. This was Whipwreck's final match in ECW as the company folded down due to bankruptcy shortly after holding its final event on January 13, 2001.

Late career (2001–2020) In early 2001, Whipwreck announced his intention to retire in May 2002 if he was not hired by the World Wrestling Federation or BRC in the interim, expressing an interest in pursuing a career in pyrotechnics. By June 11 he had decided to retire by September of that year, as his wrestling style had begun resulting in several nagging injuries, including two herniated discs, damaged knees, a damaged right shoulder, and a jaw cracked to the point of not even being able to eat hard food. In tribute to Whipwreck, Border City Wrestling hosted "The Mikey Whipwreck Retirement Bash" on August 29, 2001, at the Cicciaro Club in Windsor, Ontario and featured several prominent ECW performers, such as Tommy Dreamer and Sabu. Whipwreck wrestled his American retirement match on October 20, 2001, defeating Little Guido.

Whipwreck broke his retirement before long, returning in 2003. He wrestled in several different promotions, such as Ring of Honor, where he would often team with or against some of the wrestlers he has trained. He also made a one-time appearance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he teamed with The Sandman at one of TNA's weekly pay-per-views against The Gathering (CM Punk and Julio Dinero) in a losing effort. He later appeared at Hardcore Homecoming, an ECW reunion tour organized by fellow ECW alum Shane Douglas, in mid-2005. On the Extreme Reunion portion of the tour, he teamed with Chris Chetti to defeat Simon Diamond and C. W. Anderson on June 10. Two days later at the first-ever ECW One Night Stand, Whipwreck, Yoshihiro Tajiri and The Sinister Minister reunited for one night only as Whipwreck and The Minister stood in Tajiri's corner during his three-way dance against Little Guido and Super Crazy.

During April 2006, Whipwreck worked as an agent for Liberty States Wrestling. At the second ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 11, 2006, Whipwreck was seen on camera celebrating with other ECW wrestlers after Rob Van Dam won the WWE Championship.

On February 21, 2008, in his final New England wrestling appearance, Whipwreck was set to team with The Blue Meanie to challenge for the NECW Tag Team Championship at New England Championship Wrestling's Genesis 8 event in Quincy, Massachusetts, but due to car troubles, Whipwreck was unable to attend the event, causing The Blue Meanie to pick a replacement.

On September 11, 2010, Whipwreck and Scyther defeated Big Time Rush (Tony Burma and Ryan Rush) to win the New York Wrestling Connection Tag Team Championship.

On May 24, 2012, Whipwreck made his debut for his former partner, Tajiri's new Wrestling New Classic (WNC) promotion in Tokyo. He teamed with Tajiri in a tag team hardcore match, where they defeated Jado & Gedo. Two days later, Whipwreck and Tajiri defeated Yo-Hey and Yusuke Kodama in another tag team hardcore match in Osaka. Whipwreck's tour of WNC concluded on May 27, when he, Tajiri and Kana were defeated in a six-person main event by Akira, Dave Finlay and Syuri. Whipwreck returned to WNC on August 30, when he, Kana and Tajiri were defeated in a Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch by Akira, StarBuck and Syuri, with Akira pinning Whipwreck for the win. Whipwreck, Kana, and Tajiri were also defeated in a rematch the following day in Osaka. On September 1, in the third and final Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch between the two teams, Whipwreck pinned StarBuck to win the match for his team.

On March 12, 2015, Watson announced his intention to "let Mikey Whipwreck fade into the past".

On September 14, 2015, it was announced that Mikey Whipwreck would be a playable character in the WWE 2K16 video game.

Championships and accomplishments Border City Wrestling BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Tampa Bay Brawl (1995) ECW World Tag Team Title Tournament (2000) - with Yoshihiro Tajiri First Triple Crown Champion European Wrestling Association EWA European Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Hardcore Wrestling Alliance HWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times) Quest For The Best Tournament (1999) Hardcore Rumble (2000) Impact Championship Wrestling ICW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Jersey All Pro Wrestling JAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with JT Jobber Maryland Championship Wrestling MCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) Match of the Year (2000) New York Wrestling Connection NYWC Heavyweight Championship (3 times) NYWC Tag Team Championship (6 times) - with JT Kasin (1), Wayne (1), Scyther (1), Rex Lawless (1), and Stockade (2) NYWC Hall of Fame (Class of 2016) Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 146 of the top 500 wrestlers in the "PWI 500" in 1996 Ranked No. 459 of the top 500 greatest wrestlers in the "PWI Years" in 2003 USA Pro Wrestling USA Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Wayne World Xtreme Wrestling WOW Magazine Championship (1 time) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Rookie of the Year (1994)