Athletes - Rick Michaels

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	Athletes - Rick Michaels

Ray Rawls (born September 8, 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Rick Michaels.

Career

Michaels trained under Bobby Fulton, Ricky Morton and Ted Allen and debuted on November 10, 1991, facing "Rowdy" Rocky Johnson. He wrestled for a variety independent promotions for severals years, appearing with OMEGA in 1997. He trained A.J. Styles in 1998, and appeared sporadically with the World Wrestling Federation on Jakked as a jobber in 2000 and 2001. In late 2002 he made several appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as one half of a tag team with Chris Michaels (no relation).

NWA Wildside

In 1999, National Championship Wrestling opened with Michaels as a part owner as well as a wrestler. Michaels later sold his share to co-owner Steve Martin, who in turn sold NCW to NWA Georgia owner Bill Behrens. Behrens unified NCW and NWA Georgia, creating NWA Wildside.

Michaels became the first ever NCW Television Champion in January 1997, and lost the title to David Young on June 5. He held the title twice more; from July 24 to October 1997, and from July 1999 to August 9, 1999. Michaels continued to ascend the roster, and won his first Wildside Heavyweight Championship just twenty days later on August 29, 1999 in Loganville, Georgia, defeating Bart Sawyer. He vacated the title on January 8, 2000.

Bad Attitude

On November 4, 1999 Michaels replaced the absent Wildside Tag Team Champion Shane Austin, with he and David Young defending the titles as Bad Attitude. On November 20 in Cornelia, Georgia, Young and Michaels lost the Tag Team Championships to The Road Hoggs (Joe Harley and Pan Head Nelson). Bad Attitude continued to pursue the Wildside Tag Team Championships, and on January 11, 2000 they defeated The Underdogs (Mark E. Mark and Big Eddie Cool) for the NWA Wildside Tag Team Championships, which they held until February 19, when they were defeated by The Rock 'n' Roll Express. Bad Attitude reclaimed the Tag Team Titles on June 17 in a two out of three falls match, making Michaels a two time NWA Wildside Tag Team Champion.

Bad Attitude set their sights on the World Championships, and on August 15 in Tampa, Florida they defeated Curtis Thompson and Jeff Justice for the NWA World Tag Team Championships. As a result, they were stripped of the Wildside Tag Team Championships on August 19. On December 9, they lost to Air Paris and Rob Williams in Nashville, Tennessee in what may or may not have been a title match. As a result, Young and Michaels were recognised as champions outside Nashville, but Paris and Williams were recognised as champions in the Nashville area. Young and Michaels defeated Paris and Williams on December 22 to become the undisputed champions once more.

Bad Attitude held the World Championships until February 3, 2001, when they lost to Joey Matthews and Christian York in Nashville, Tennessee. They reclaimed the titles in their home territory, Cornelia, on February 17, but soon lost them once more, losing to Dan Factor and David Flair on March 22 in Athens, Georgia. They took the titles a third time the next day in Toccoa, Georgia, with what would be their final reign lasting until April 24, when they lost to The New Heavenly Bodies (Casanova Chris and Vivacious Vito) in Tampa.

Singles

Michaels and Young eventually parted ways in a somewhat acrimonious split, and Michaels went on to win the NWA Wildside (Georgia) Heavyweight Championship for a second time on October 19, 2001. During a December 22 title defense against A.J. Styles, Young interfered, enabling Styles to pin Michaels and win the belt. This led to a series of heated bouts between Michaels and Young in January and February 2002, including a street fight and a match that was declared a no contest.

Michaels was not without title gold for long, winning the Wildside "Beat the Champ" Championship in a battle royal on March 15, 2002. He challenged for the Wildside Heavyweight Championships in a three way dance on March 23 at Hardcore Hell 2002, but it was Young who defeated Styles to become the new champion. On April 19, Michaels lost the "Beat the Champ" title in another battle royal. he challenged Young for the Heavyweight Championship in May and June, but Young retained on every occasion.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Rick Michaels ]

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