Upon the launch of the American Wrestling Alliance in early 2008, it was announced that they would be opening a training school – The Combat Corner. The school was assigned AWA co-owner Todd Michaelson as the Head Trainer and its primary purpose would be to turn out the new stars of tomorrow to help build the AWA roster.
Michaelson’s training days from the M-DOJO were well known and had already turned out stars like Calisto Dufresne and Jaiden Andrews. But this new school faced a lot of pressure and expectations from the get-go as Michaelson was often heard bragging about the talent levels he was seeing on a daily basis in the ring.
While the Combat Corner’s actual student records are sealed, it is believed that the first class consisted of Aaron Anderson, Supreme Wright, Eric Preston, and Pedro Perez Jr. among others. It has long been rumored that Michaelson attempted to get his long-time protege, KENTA Kitzukawa, to come train at the Corner in hopes of getting him a run in the AWA but Kitzukawa’s success back in Japan prevented it. Michaelson also attempted to bring one of the head trainers of M-DOJO, Juvenil Infierno, to the Corner but Infierno opted instead to open his own training school back in Mexico.
After a lengthy period of time without any Corner graduates breaking onto the main roster, Aaron Anderson was the first graduate of the school, making his debut in late 2009. Anderson however was plagued by injuries in the early part of his career and never really get out of the gates. This has led many to believe that Eric Preston was actually the first student to arrive when he made his debut in early 2010.
Controversy struck the Corner in late 2009 when Supreme Wright was informed that Aaron Anderson would be the first graduate of the school. Wright, who believed himself to be more skilled than Anderson in every way, was enraged and left the school the same day, eventually signing a contract with another promotion. Wright went on to have great success outside of the AWA but broke onto the world stage when he returned to the AWA in the summer of 2012 as part of the World Title Tournament.
Over time, it has become a bit of an “indy scam” for wrestlers looking to get a job to pass off a stint at the Corner as part of their training. Todd Michaelson has been quite vigilant about chasing down these scammers, informing promoters of their backgrounds due to wanting to maintain the reputation of the Corner.
In addition to Todd Michaelson, the school has had several guest trainers over the years including men like Marcus Broussard, Juan Vasquez, and “Stars And Stripes” Clayton Shaw. It has become something of a badge of honor to be invited to help out at the Corner, assisting in the building of the AWA’s future.
CURRENT GRADUATES
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Aaron Anderson
Aaron Michaels
“All Pro” Andrew Stevens
Brad Jacobs
Cody Mertz
Curt Sawyer
Eric Preston
Hercules Hammonds
Jeff Jagger
Kenny Stanton
Kyle Houlder
Pedro Perez Jr.
Ricky Armstrong
Skywalker Jones
Supreme Wright
Yuma Weaver