Todd Michaelson is a former professional wrestler and announcer and currently holds the position of part owner/operator and Head Trainer for the American Wrestling Alliance and the Combat Corner training school.
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Signature Moves
- Rolling elbow
- Airplane spin
Finishing Move
- Billion Dollar Bomb – the double underhook sitout power bomb
Michaelson (born September 3, 1969) grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona as a child of privilege. His parents were quite wealthy. His father, a businessman, had invested quite wisely from the mid-60s to early 70s and had no problem providing anything his family wanted. Todd’s mother was a stay-at-home mother, not needing to work to make ends meet with her husband bringing in so much money. Michaelson’s childhood was peaceful and pleasant as Michaelson went to the best of private schools and had the wealthiest of friends as well.
When Todd entered high school, that life of privilege became a burden to bear. His once-wealthy friends were starting to struggle a bit financially and resented Todd for his family’s success. Todd became a victim of bullying in high school, suffering some pretty bad beatings before his father decided enough was enough. Todd was pulled from the private school and tossed into a public school – his father’s attempt to “toughen up” his son. But the bullying was only worse there and Todd began to get into fights on a near-daily basis. His senior year ended abruptly when Todd broke another student’s nose in a fight and was expelled from the school.
Shortly after the expulsion, Todd’s life would change forever when his father’s investments went down the drain on Black Monday in October of 1987. Suddenly, the Michaelson family found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy as his father lost his job as well. The next two years would prove to be just as difficult as Todd struggled to finish high school, bouncing from public school to public school as his parents tried to stay afloat. In March of 1989, Todd’s mother filed for divorce – a proceeding that would become final on Todd’s graduation day that June.
Having taken until age 20 to graduate high school, Todd’s life was a wreck. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life because he’d never worried about it until now. Like most kids without college plans, Todd bounced around a bit – going from short-term job to short-term job. Living with his father, Todd sent the majority of every paycheck to his mother to help her survive.
In 1991, Todd Michaelson discovered the world of professional wrestling when working security for a local promotion – Arizona State Wrestling Association. He was enthralled at the hard-hitting action and wondered if there was a place in this bizarre world for him. He met with the promoter after the show, expressing his interest. The promoter, Dale Tanner, invited Michaelson to come back the following week and work security again. Michaelson did exactly that – week after week and month after month – always asking to do more duties. On October 17, 1991, an illness to a ring announcer gave Todd his first break in the business. He served as the ring announcer on that night and had the time of his life. Of course, the next week, he was back working security.
On New Year’s Day, 1992, Michaelson was again working security when a drunken fan hopped over the barricade during the Main Event. In motion quickly, Michaelson hit the fan with a right hand to the gut before tackling him down to the floor, dragging him away while the match went on without a hitch. A grateful Tanner finally offered Todd the chance he had been waiting for – to come to the promotion’s training class that week.
Being a small promotion, training happened very sporadically but Todd was a quick study. After a few months of training, Todd was given his first match – a 10 minute draw in the opener against The Shadow. It wasn’t the greatest match you’d ever see but it could be worse. Todd continued to get work from Tanner and continued to show up every week for training, getting better and better with every week in attendance.
Thanksgiving Day 1992 came around and Todd was scheduled to go in a competitive match with local favorite Ricky “Heartthrob” Martinez. During the match, Michaelson went for a top rope superplex and when he hit the mat, he felt a burning pain in his back. He gutted out the match (which he lost) but had to be helped to the locker room. A trip to the doctor the next day revealed a partially herniated disc in his back – an area that would become a trouble spot for Michaelson over the years.
While sidelined with the injury, ASWA went under. A dejected Tanner just couldn’t afford to keep running shows in the red any longer and shut the doors. Always a stand-up guy, Tanner made every effort to get his boys booked elsewhere. When it came to Todd, Tanner had a big opportunity – to compete for Southern California Championship Wrestling, a pretty large indy promotion based out of Los Angeles. Michaelson accepted and moved out of his father’s house, heading to Southern California on his own.
Michaelson was a quick hit in SCCW as 1993 started, working a special mid-day show on Super Bowl Saturday where he put on a match that got him rave reviews against Hiroshi Takata, a Japanese journeyman wrestler who was working a tour of the United States before returning to Japan. Michaelson was intrigued with the style of Takata and became an avid tape trader on the Internet over the next few months, getting countless tapes from Japan to watch matches from all sorts of promotions. This collection made Todd once of the most popular guys in SCCW and his weekly video gatherings were one of the boys’ favorite occasions.
1993 was a time of learning and mastering the craft for Michaelson as he quickly became one of the most popular guys in the territory. This string of good matches also got him work in Las Vegas and Northern California. A fantastic feud with Dr. Pain over the Southern California Championship became one of the hottest traded tapes online. One of those tapes found their way to Japan where Hiroshi Takata caught wind of what that young gaijin he’d met early in the year was doing.
As 1994 started, Todd Michaelson received an offer that would change his life – a tour of Japan. A thrilled Michaelson left in March for the tour – a three month affair that would put him mostly in Takata’s home promotion, Rising Sun Superstars. Michaelson immersed himself in the Japanese culture, loving every minute of it as he got pounded in the ring night after night after night but kept coming back. Halfway through the tour, he had a rematch with Takata in the Odyssey Gymnasium, a semi-large venue in Osaka. The crowd was thrilled by the encounter which ended with Michaelson scoring a pinfall with a top rope butterfly suplex. Later, Todd found out that Takata had personally asked for the match to see how he had progressed. Todd was very grateful and expressed that gratitude to Takata, offering to do whatever he could to thank him – an offer Takata would later take him up on after opening Tiger Paw Pro in Japan.
The summer of 1994 saw Todd return to SCCW on the 4th of July in a much-hyped return and rematch with Dr. Pain. The two men battled for 30 minutes with Todd using some new techniques that he’d picked up in Japan to stifle much of Pain’s offense. The end of the match saw Todd double underhook the arms, driving Pain down to the mat in a powerbomb – the first delivery of what would later be known as the Billion Dollar Bomb.
The rest of ’94 and much of ’95 was the same, Todd putting on great matches all over California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and Utah plus the occasional tour of Japan. The world was at Todd Michaelson’s doorstep when opportunity came knocking once more. The EMWC, a rapidly growing promotion based out of New York, was looking to bolster their talent roster and wanted to meet with Todd to discuss his future. Todd hopped a plane to NYC and met with Adam Thompson and Chris Blue, the President and Vice President of the EMWC. There was an instant connection and by the end of the meeting, Thompson had presented Michaelson with a contract which Todd quickly signed.
The front office’s high opinion of Michaelson became quickly obvious when Michaelson debuted in January of 1996 and was immediately inserted into the promotion’s top storyline, the battle for the World Title. The World Title was heading towards a showdown between “Dreamlover” Trey Porter and the Brotherhood’s Olaf Proet. In Michaelson’s debut, he saved Proet from an assault and offered to continue to help him… IF Proet would give him a title shot when and if he won the World Title. Proet accepted – a decision that would come back to bite him just a short time later.
In one of the most controversial nights in EMWC history, the Rumble In The Sunshine State on February 4, 1996, DTP and Proet squared off in a title match. After some grueling action, Proet captured the World Title away from the legendary Porter, ending his first World Title reign. Moments later, Todd Michaelson emerged from the locker room and demanded the title shot that Proet had promised him. Proet agreed and Michaelson cashed in the opportunity, defeating the weakened Proet to become the World Champion. A celebration ensued and it looked like a perfect night for the man who had been nicknamed “The Billionaire” playing off his financial situation as a youth.
However, it was not to be as the returning Narcissus (now known as AWA star Colt Patterson) returned to the EMWC and defeated Michaelson in short order, winning the title for the second time and sparking a feud that would later lead to the end of Michaelson’s in-ring career. But Michaelson did not immediately challenge Patterson for the title, instead moving into a feud with Trey Porter over Porter’s valet Miss L. In May of 1996, Miss L betrayed DTP, joining up with Michaelson to form the foundation of a group Michaelson would call “The Club.” On June 9th, 1996, Michaelson defeated the Mad Crusher to become the EMWC Television Champion.
But his title reign was short-lived when Brotherhood member Lorenzo Vasquez defeated Michaelson for the gold on July 8, 1996. The title loss sent Miss L back to Trey Porter, leaving Michaelson all alone. At the bottom of the rung, Michaelson shot for the stars – trying to gain it all back in one shot – by focusing on the Rumble In The Big Apple and the chance to challenge for the World Title. By the time the Rumble came around, Miss L had returned to Michaelson’s side, proving her reputation as a gold-digger to be true.
On February 23, 1997, Michaelson entered the ring at #4 and battled all the way through the 30 Man Rumble to win it all, earning the chance to challenge for the World Title in the process. His Rumble win earned him the reputation among the EMWC superstars as being “the most resilient man in the business.”
Michaelson cashed in that title opportunity at Showtime IV where he would face the man who defeated him for the World Title over a year prior – a loss that Michaelson never received a rematch for – Colt Patterson. The battle would pit the sweet science of Michaelson against the power and strength of Patterson. However, before the match could go down, Michaelson assaulted Bevdog – a competitor that he had recently traded words with over who was the rightful Number One Contender. Bevdog battled back and ultimately powerbombed Michaelson on the concrete floor, putting the title match in jeopardy. Fearing the worst, Michaelson refused medical attention and would not let anyone know the condition of his back in fear that the match would be canceled. Speculation ran rampant. Would Michaelson challenge for the title?
But Michaelson came out for the title match, hobbling and clutching his back. It was a hard-fought match with Patterson going after the back while Michaelson went first for his legs and then executed some of his high-impact suplexes. The turning point in the match came when Michaelson tried to scale the ropes and was knocked off with a forearm smash, sending him through a table on the floor. Patterson immediately slung Michaelson up and over his shoulder in a backbreaker submission but Todd was unconscious from the pain quickly, forcing a referee stoppage. The fighting challenger was removed from the arena on a stretcher.
Michaelson days of wrestling on a regular basis was over. He was forced into retirement from regular competition. EMWC management was stunned at the loss of one of their top stars after such a short period of time. Michaelson sunk into depression, unsure of what his future held when EMWC President Chris Blue came to visit. Blue expressed his gratitude for everything Michaelson had done for the company and ensured Michaelson that he would always have a job as long as the EMWC was around.
Michaelson’s next opportunity arrived in a hurry as EMWC color man, Wayne Savage, quit the promotion abruptly. Suddenly in need of an announcer, Blue offered Michaelson the slot at the next EMWC Pay Per View, Heat Wave ’97. Michaelson accepted and stepped into the role. On that night, he was joined by two other announcers – Jon Stegglet and Lori Dane. One of the most legendary announce teams in the history of the sport was born.
It was smooth sailing from there for Michaelson as the EMWC continued to grow and grow and grow from there, becoming arguably the biggest and best promotion in the history of the industry – all Michaelson, Stegglet, and Dane behind the mic. Despite their antagonistic relationship on camera, Michaelson and Stegglet became the best of friends while Michaelson and Dane… well, that’s a story for later.
In 2000, Todd attempted a comeback to the wrestling ring when he signed a deal with the IWWC. He wrestled a few matches but seemed quite grateful when the IWWC closed up shop, citing his back being unable to deal with the rigors of a regular schedule.
Todd managed to stay out of the ring until Chris Courtade came to the EMWC. Brash and arrogant, Courtade wasted no time in drawing the ire of just about everyone in the locker room. On February 11, 2001, Todd Michaelson returned to the ring against Chris Courtade at No Imitations Accepted 2001. It was a grueling and bloody battle that saw Courtade ultimately put Michaelson away with his Lariat. After the match, Courtade saved Michaelson from an assault by Demon Boy Ishrinku, earning some respect from Michaelson as well as the fans in the process.
Michaelson’s role of taking on those who showed the EMWC no respect continued in September of ’01 at Showtime VIII in Texas Stadium when he took on the latest interloper to the EMWC, The Messiah. Michaelson seemed more focused than ever in this match, looking to teach the newcomer a lesson. And he did exactly that, breaking out a new version of the Billon Dollar Bomb that he called the Billion Dollar Driver 2000 when he dropped The Messiah out of the Tiger Driver on top of his head and neck for the victory.
Todd’s break from action was short-lived as KCW announcer Paul Von Braun arrived in the EMWC in October, talking trash from announcer to announcer. Von Braun had taken exception to some comments made about KCW by Michaelson and was looking to avenge his home promotion. He challenged Todd to a match for New Year’s Revolution on December 31st – a match Todd happily accepted. However, when the match rolled around, Von Braun bowed out, introducing former LWC superstar “America’s Perfection” Alex Wallace instead. Michaelson, in a suit, took the match anyways but fell victim to Wallace’s devastating leaping piledriver through a ringside table. In a scene eerily familiar to Showtime IV, Michaelson was stretchered out of the building. Michaelson would never get payback for this assault though as both Von Braun and Wallace left the EMWC before Michaelson could get them in the ring.
Around this time, Michaelson developed a unique relationship with Devon Case – a man that Todd had deemed “The Golden God.” Michaelson was in full-on hype mode whenever Case appeared on camera and the two developed a close friendship as Todd helped the young man progress into full superstar status.
That friendship led to Michaelson’s next in-ring appearance as he was a member of “Team Redemption” taking on “Team KCW” on May 19, 2002 during the series of matches that saw Redemption challenge teams from throughout the business. Team Redemption was victorious that night although Michaelson was eliminated by Michelle Bailey. But at the end of the night, Redemption was standing tall with Todd Michaelson by their side. Michaelson continued to hype Redemption on commentaryas well as his friend Case.
But on June 19th, we saw all that change. Jon Stegglet, drawing a line in the sand on behalf of the EMWC that Redemption was trying to destroy and rebuild in their image, put together a team of EMWC legends for a showdown inside the Tower Of Doom. Curtis Hansen, Kevin Slater, Gabriel Whitecross, and “Dreamlover” Trey Porter entered the Tower, tying to stand tall for the company they helped build. The stakes were high. If Team EMWC won, they would wrest control of the EMWC away from Chris Blue and Redemption. However, if they lost, Jon Stegglet had vowed to leave the EMWC. The match was long, hard, ad brutal and in the end, Kevin Slater betrayed his oldest friend, Curtis Hansen, to give Team Redemption the victory.
After the match, Team Redemption continued to assault the EMWC legends, sparking Jon Stegglet to climb into the ring, trying to prevent any further attacks. But Blue had not seen enough, instructing his charges to attack Stegglet as well. Robert Donovan and Blue pummeled Stegglet around the cage, taunting the Voice of the EMWC. At an order from Blue, Donovan lifted Stegglet across his shoulders, preparing to drive him headfirst into the mat, something that Todd Michaelson could not witness as he charged the ring, attacking Donovan, and stepping into a protective stance over his best friend. Donovan moved to assault Michaelson as well but Devon Case stepped in his path, standing in front of his good friend, Michaelson…just before he delivered a Yakuza Kick to Michaelson. The beatdown continued with Caleb Temple dropping a chair-assisted Arabian Facebuster across the head of Michaelson. Donovan followed with a chokeslam THROUGH a set-up steel chair, further damaging Michaelson’s long-injured back.
And just when people thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Blue taunted the locker room, daring someone to stop them. When no one responded, he swore he would make sure Michaelson never walked again… a threat that brought Lori Dane into the cage as well, throwing herself over Michaelson’s prone form. The newly-turned Kevin Slater pulled Dane off the mat, driving her into the canvas with a Burning Hammer at the order of the boss, leaving the entire announce team laid out in the middle of the cage. When Chris Courtade, The Gremlin, Steve Spector, and Mike Justice hit the cage to save the day, it was too late.
Two months later, the announce team returned to the EMWC at Blood, Sweat, and Tears, looking to call the Final Showdown WarGames matchup between Team Redemption and Team EMWC with the stakes as high as they have ever been. In the end, Chris Blue himself was forced to submit securing victory for Team EMWC and returning the announcers back on a full-time basis.
On October 9th, 2002, Michaelson was confronting Devon Case in a verbal showdown in the middle of the ring that turned quite physical. Soon, Case’s partner, Robert Donovan, had joined in the attack when a unknown newcomer hit the ring, saving Todd Michaelson. That newcomer was introduced to the crowd by Todd as Johnny Michaelson… his “little brother.” It was surprising news to one and all as Todd had never mentioned any siblings.
October 23rd saw Michaelson and Case collide in a matchup of two former friends in the Main Event of An Evening To The Extreme. It was another brutal, hard-fought showdown that ended with Case connecting with his Case Closed driver, knocking Michaelson flat. Case scored the win but it wasn’t the end as he, Donovan, and Adam Rogers worked over Todd Michaelson relentlessly. Johnny Michaelson rushed the ring next, trying to make the save for his brother but he was put down as well. Finally, Alex Martinez arrived to make the save for the two brothers. The Michaelsons continued to make live hell for Robert Donovan and Redemption for a few months but it wasn’t long until the truth came out.
Johnny Michaelson was a sham. The EMWC had asked Todd Michaelson to go along with it, giving this kid that they had high hopes for a boost in the eyes of the fans. But Todd exposed the lie and denounced the youngster who was supposed to be his brother.
Shortly after that, the unthinkable happened – the EMWC closed its doors.
The wrestling world was thrown into shock as the EMWC had been the unsinkable ship for years. The locker room was a mess, people scattering to try to find a job elsewhere. The offers were there for Todd Michaelson but after seven years with the company, Todd decided to go home to Los Angeles and re-think his future in the wrestling business.
At the same time, Todd also started to re-think his personal life. It was later revealed that Todd and Lori Dane had started dating in June of ’02 following the Tower Of Doom incident. It was one of the closest held secrets in all of wrestling because EMWC officials believed that the fans wouldn’t buy into the Todd and Lori on-screen bickering if they knew the truth. Their relationship grew stronger during the death of EMWC and shortly afterwards, they got married.
In October of ’03, he went to Japan to visit some old friends. While there, he began having visions of opening a small promotion there. He met with several high-level wrestling executives including some members of the former G-Pro promotion. He wanted to create a promotion that centered on athleticism and skill rather than the soap opera stories and cartoonish gimmicks that plagued wrestling in the States. Michaelson had longed talked of running a puro-style promotion called J*STAR and this appeared to be his opportunity. But the finances could never be lined up and in December, he returned back to the States, more depressed than ever. At the start of 2004, Todd Michaelson was unemployed – an unfamiliar position for someone who had worked consistently for the EMWC since 1996.
Michaelson spent much of his time at this point on the phone with old friends, trying to figure out what he could do next in the wrestling business. His new wife was concerned and reached out to his closest friends for a quasi-intervention. What followed was the birth of a new idea: the opening of a training school where Todd would be able to pass his knowledge on to a new generation of grapplers. The name of the school? M-DOJO.
The training school breathed new life into Michaelson as he spent a couple of months pouring his everything into the training school when one day, frustration set in at his inability to get his students booked on any shows to further develop their skills. Michaelson began exploring the idea of opening his own small independent promotion that would serve as a showcase for his students. The result was the launch of Pro Wrestling Revolution in March of 2004.
PWR ran their first show on March 24, 2004, titled You Say You Want A Revolution. It truly was a showcase of Michaelson’s students along with some local talent and a sprinkling of bigger names designed to sell DVDs. It was exactly what Todd was hoping it would be. A surprise appearance by Caleb Temple highlighted the first show and built a serious buzz for Michaelson’s “little indy that could.”
The first few months of the M-DOJO saw Michaelson compete in a multi-man match but the biggest story was Michaelson’s growing feud with Caleb Temple – a feud that broke some long-standing wrestling “rules” when Todd discussed Temple’s problems with substance abuse on-camera. The reply from Temple? An outing of Michaelson’s marriage to Lori Dane courtesy of a fireball to her face. The feud was on and everyone was waiting to see when the two former World Champions would collide.
However, PWR got a little too “big for their britches” bringing in names like Brian Lau, Blackwater Bart, and TORA Wanizame for shows. Todd quickly saw himself drifting into the red financially and reached out to his old friend and former employer, Chris Blue, for help. Blue offered to assist financially by co-promoting some of the major shows under the EMWC’s parent company, Empire Sports. This helped for a while but it also eventually put the nail in the coffin.
Blue, also itching to get back into the business, called Michaelson to a meeting in early summer of ’04, expressing interest in doing a huge multi-promotional event in the vein of the old IIeW and Deschenes Cup shows. He promised to make PWR the centerpiece of the event and told Todd that he thought it could be the springboard to take PWR to the next level. Michaelson agreed and the J*STAR Festival was born.
On paper, it was a tremendous lineup with names like Joe Petrow, Jeff Matthews, Caleb Temple, Brody Thunder, Devon Case, Eddie Van Gibson, Alex Martinez and so many more. PWR did have a presence as well and had a fine accounting for themselves with Jaiden Andrews winning a tournament on Night One with several promotions involved. The show looked to be a major financial success – one that could bankroll PWR for some time to come when tragedy struck during the Main Event. A fan was injured during an out-of-the-ring melee and promptly filed a lawsuit. Michaelson and Blue had no choice to settle but lost the bulk of the profits from J*STAR in the process. Having to fund the rest of their expenses out of their own pockets, the Festival ended up putting both men worse off financially than when they started.
Todd returned to PWR in a desperate situation. He went back to the original plan of the smaller shows but it wasn’t to be. PWR had a few more shows over J*STAR including a wildly successful event called Sunday Bloody Sunday in November of 2004 but their scheduled January show was canceled before it could happen. PWR closed their doors in January of 2005, citing financial troubles.
The financial troubles hit Todd personally as well as he and Lori found themselves struggling moneywise. Todd continued to run the training school to keep himself sane and to keep some money coming in but they both knew it wouldn’t be enough to keep them afloat forever. Little did Todd know that Blue was having the same issue and was looking to make a deal to that would ultimately save them both.
It turned out that during the down time since the EMWC had folded, the EMWC video library had only grown in value. Blue had released several DVDs of EMWC action to great success. In early 2005, Blue was approached by a group of investors looking to purchase the EMWC video library. They offered what Blue believed to be far below market value and he refused, despite the urgent need for the financial help. In a counteroffer, the group offered to bankroll Blue in a restart of the EMWC in exchange for a percentage of the profits gained in the future by both that venture and old EMWC footage being released. After much internal struggle about returning to the business that crushed his spirit and drive, Blue agreed and held a Press Conference on November 12, 2005, to announce the return of the Empire Wrestling Council to professional wrestling.
Living up to his word about Michaelson always having a job with him, Blue hired Todd immediately, offering him the chance to retake his spot at the announce table. However, Michaelson expressed concern about going back to the booth without his good friend, Jon Stegglet, who had been given the role of Voice of the Board Of Directors, an on-air authority role. In a compromise, Todd was given the role of an on-air interviewer in a weekly segment called The Money Pit. Michaelson aimed for controversy, for the guests no one expected and in the debut edition of the Money Pit, he introduced Gunnar Gaines to the new EMWC. The highlight of the Money Pit segments came on February 19th where Caleb Temple pleaded with Michaelson and his wife for forgiveness prompting Chris Courtade’s arrival to shout down the “soap opera” he was watching. Courtade and Michaelson got into an altercation that resulted in Courtade attempting to slam a 40 pound wooden podium onto Todd’s injured spine only to first stop when Lori Dane intervened on her husband’s behalf. Soon, Courtade was ready to hit Dane with it as well… but came up short when Caleb Temple “took a bullet” for Dane and Michaelson, getting bashed in the head with the podium. In ensuing weeks, Michaelson seemed to bury the hatchet with Temple for his previous actions.
Todd was enjoying his new role with the EMWC, less stressful than his previous job. However, destiny took another turn for Michaelson in August of 2006 when the EMWC abruptly ceased operations once again. Insider reports cited financial problems and a lack of support from the new investors. It seemed as though the “new EMWC” just couldn’t grasp the fanbase and hold on to them with declining ratings and attendance. Michaelson was once again out of work.
From mid-96 through almost all of ’97, Michaelson hit the road every weekend. He was working autograph signings and hobby shows, trying to scrape money together. He also re-opened his training school to work in during the week. His wife, Lori, went back to school, taking marketing classes and eventually finishing her degree program. Things were going… okay… for wrestling’s favorite announcing couple. On August 1st, 2007, it was announced that Michaelson would be competing in the The Sky’s The Limit interpromotional tournament. In interviews, Michaelson said he believed he had one good string of matches left in his body and why not use them at a chance to make some serious money for his family.
It turned out that Todd was right. He battled all the way to the finals – actually defeating Griffin James and old friend and rival Devon Case before falling to GIuseppe Valentine in the Finals. He was saddened by the loss but overjoyed at one last weekend in the spotlight. Michaelson told reporters after the show that this was likely his last hurrah in the world of wrestling and he was glad to have given the fans something great to remember him by.
Around this time, word began to trickle out on the Internet that Michaelson had run into Luke Kinsey and November at a wrestling convention. The “word on the street” was that the trio were thinking of opening a small independent promotion together but nothing ever came of it. However, it was obvious that Michaelson had the itch again and many started speculating about a return of Pro Wrestling Revolution. Months went by without confirmation but in January of 2008, it happened – the relaunch of PWR with a show called You Say You Want A Revolution… Again headlined by a showdown between Todd Michaelson and the evil Russian, Kolya Sudakov. They had a brutal war in the Main Event, a match that put Michaelson on the sidelines for the planning of the second PWR return show – something that would change the course of wrestling history.
While sitting on the sidelines nursing his injuries, Todd was approached by an old friend – Bobby Taylor. Taylor had visions of a new start-up promotion – one that would someday possibly run shows from coast to coast but for now would start off small in the Southern states. Michaelson was intrigued – especially when Taylor mentioned the hope to include Todd’s wife, Lori, and his best friend, Jon Stegglet, as co-owners. Along with Bill Masterson and a sixth mystery owner that has yet to be revealed, Michaelson and Taylor’s plans started to snowball. When Taylor sweetened the deal by offering to purchase Pro Wrestling Revolution as part of the deal, Michaelson felt he had no choice but to sign on.
The American Wrestling Alliance was born in February of 2008 and is still running strong. Michaelson, along with being co-owner, took on the role of Head Trainer for AWA’s training school – the Combat Corner. The Combat Corner took a lot of heat from wrestling fans for the first year of its existence for its inability to produce any new stars but 2009 changed that with the arrival of Aaron Anderson. The end of 2009 brought the second Combat Corner graduate, Eric Preston, who made an immediate impact on the AWA with a thrilling encounter with top contender Juan Vasquez on an episode of Saturday Night Wrestling. Michaelson promises even more competitors are in the training process and that we may see more any day now. With the exception of an interview here or there, Todd Michaelson has thusfar avoided appearing on AWA television…
…for now.