February
Wrestler
of the Month...

"Outlaw"
Mike
Knox

WRESTLER OF THE MONTH:  "OUTLAW" MIKE KNOX
by Les Honig

His bullwhip, ten-gallon hat and long chaps are now put away in the closet as the guy who used to be known as UPW’s original and ultimate cowboy star concentrates on other  more important things. “People would focus more on how I looked than what I was doing in the ring, so I decided to redefine for them and myself who I was and what I am really about.”

As a result, this  longtime super talented fed mainstay, along with Hardkore Kidd, Frankie Kazarian, Keiji Sakota and others, whose moments in the sun may very well be finally near at hand, now finds new excitement and fulfillment in this career he has fought to excel in since his first Oxnard, California indy match five years ago.

For Mike Knox, (who has decided to keep the name ‘Outlaw’ because “that still defines a lot about who I am”), the persona of a bad-assed Southwest wrestling tough guy was not an unusual one to pull out of his bag of tricks. Living on a Texas ranch in his earliest days, he moved to the barren, desolate desert dirt of El Centro California where he continued his growth years.  With a dad who was a truck driver, away much of the time, Mike spent a lot of his free moments competing in a variety of school sports from football to baseball to basketball but never really developed the intensity of other kids because, “things just came easy to me and I could get by fine without a lot of effort.”

Still one passion had developed early on, and that was his love of pro wrestling. “I can remember the first match I ever saw on television. It was a Saturday Night Main Event featuring Honky Tonk Man vs. Macho Man Randy Savage.  I knew from that moment; this is what I want to do.  I loved those larger than life characters who could grab a crowd in the palm of their hands and do what they wanted with them. It was just too good to pass up.”

Planning as he graduated high school to immediately apply for a spot as a student in the famed WCW Power Plant, he instead chose a local entrée first, as he ran across, by accident, a promoter who produced shows in Oxnard. The only problem: It was eight hours away from where he lived!  No big deal, he thought; “I never realized this wasn’t what you were supposed to have to do to learn the sport;” so it would be those endless drives twice; maybe three times a week.  Still, from the first moment he was bodyslammed and felt his spine reverberate, he knew, “This is just great. It takes a certain kind of person to fall down and wanna come back for more; and that person was definitely me.”

After his first match a month later, (which resulted in an unplanned injury to his opponent when the guy mistimed a move and it backfired), the fed was sold to, of all people, Navajo Warrior, and the location of the school moved to Arizona, “which was really nice for me. That was only four hours away by car!”  Training for several years under the talented Native American indy star, he perfected his skills as well as his gimmick. “With us putting on shows at so many reservations, this was a perfect identity for me; so we could do your basic cowboy vs. Indian match. And it was very close to my own background anyway.”

Mike’s launching pad into indy big time came however, when Navajo invited Big Schwag to announce at a show, and the Large One met and invited Knox to come down for a Saturday Ultimate University class and try his own skills out there. Impressed by his already developed mat package, Schwag helped him to begin light show and then Galaxy performances.

“I remember my first big match was against Bad Boy Basil. And shortly after that they put me into the first Urban Cowboy tag team with Josh Dempsey.”  Recalling Basil fondly and impressed with Dempsey’s charisma and “deadly right handed punch”, (Josh had been a world-class boxer before joining UPW), it was the teaming with Marshall Knox that was to form the bulk of his later fed work.  “When we first came together he was a bit green and raw; but over the time he has developed into something really special,” the now-crewcutted competitor comments.

One career highlight so far came as the Cowboys traveled to Japan in late 2001 for a Zero One tour.  “We loved it but there was one part that I never will forget. I remember arriving home on September 9^th and then waking up a day later to see those buildings hit by the planes. I immediately thought of Samoa Joe and Horshu who were still there.   I tried repeatedly to phone them but couldn’t get through. In wrestling, you form a bond with the other boys and if they’re in any possible danger you really worry.”

On a happier note, Knox’s recent weeks have been highlighted, not only by stellar Galaxy show performances; but also by several outstanding dark WWE encounters; with a recent L.A. match against Shawn O’Haire and one a bit earlier in Phoenix where he and Hollywood teamed against Keiji and Navajo.  “What was so neat,” he remembers, “was that the crowd really reacted even though they didn’t know us. When you can get them to cheer for the good guys and loudly boo the heels, that’s accomplishing something.”

Skulu

Al Katrazz

Predator