Mike Khoury

Mike Khoury is an American professional wrestler who competed in East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions during the early to mid-1990s. Though he is best remembered for his years in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as a preliminary wrestler, he had a successful career in Cueball Carmichael's Independent Pro Wrestling Association and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. He is a former MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion and MEWF Tag Team Champion as part of the original Models Inc. with Johnny Handsome.

Mike Khoury
BornMaryland City, Maryland, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Michael Sweet
Mike Khoury
Billed weight229 lb (104 kg)
Billed fromBaltimore, Maryland
Debutc. 1992
Retiredc. 1996

Career

Born in Maryland City, Maryland, Mike Khoury made his professional wrestling debut around 1992. The following year, he began wrestling as a preliminary wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation. His first WWF television appearance was on WWF Superstars where he wrestled Ludvig Borga in Utica, New York on August 14, 1993.[1] Days later, he worked tag team matches with Dave Moraldo against The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Samu) on WWF Monday Night Raw[2][3] at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie and with Aaron Ferguson against The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.[4]

He also found success on the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit working for promotions such as Tod Gordon's Eastern Championship Wrestling and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation.[5] On November 14, 1993, Khoury beat "Hollywood" Bob Starr in Gaithersburg, Maryland for the MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship.[6][7] According to a pre-match stipulation, Khoury won the title as the sole survivor of an 8-man elimination tag team match with Joe Thunder, Max Moon and Tommy Dreamer against Duane Gill, Max Thrasher, Tommy Lee Manson and Bob Starr at Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland.[8] On November 27, Khoury faced WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon on WWF Superstars in Delhi, New York[1] and was pinned with Ramon's finishing move, the "Razor's Edge".[9] Their match was held in front of a 2,500 sold-out crowd at Farrell Hall[10] and later included in The History of Razor Ramon 8-disc DVD series. Two days later, Khoury and Reno Riggins lost to The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) at the Westchester County Center when he was pinned by Scott Steiner.[4]

On April 22, 1994, Khoury made his first appearance in World Championship Wrestling against Meng on WCW Saturday Night.[11] Throughout 1994, he also was a regular on WWF Superstars and Monday Night RAW facing such opponents as Bastion Booger,[12] Owen Hart,[13] Bam Bam Bigelow, Henry Godwinn and King Kong Bundy.[14] He also wrestled The Steiner Brothers with Barry Hardy[2][15] and The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard & Jimmy Del Ray) with John Paul.[16] On December 8, 1994, Khoury made a return appearance in WCW teaming with Gary Jackson against The Stud Sable (Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater) at the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.[17][18] The match aired on WCW Saturday Night a month later.[19][20]

On January 22, 1995, Khoury appeared on WWF Action Zone against Owen Hart in Tampa, Florida.[3][21] Khoury also made several more appearances on WCW Saturday Night in early-1995. He wrestled in handicap matches with Alex Davis against Avalanche on January 28, and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader with Rick Keller on February 28.[20]

Back in the WWF, Khoury wrestled The British Bulldog, The 1-2-3 Kid,[22] Duke "the Dumpster" Droese,[21][23] Hunter Hearst Helmsley,[3][24] Sid Vicious,[2] Rad Radford[21] and, with Bob Cook, against The Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn & Bart Gunn)[25] during the next six months. Meanwhile on the indy circuit, Khoury had formed a tag team, Models Inc., with Johnny Handsome under the names Michael Sweet and John Crystal respectively. On March 18, they appeared on WCW Saturday Night in a handicap match against Avalanche.[11][20] Five days later, he and Handsome won the MEWF Tag Team Championship from Sweet N' Sour (Rob Knoxious and Johnny Graham).[26] They also made several appearances in the WWF including a match against then WWF World Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna on July 15[22][27] Jacob & Eli Blu[25] and Tekno Team 2000 in their WWF debut match on Monday Night Raw.[2][28] On the June 3rd edition of WCW Saturday Night, he and Scott D'Amore lost to Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray).

After losing the MEWF tag team titles to Joe Thunder & Mad Dog O'Malley on July 8,[26] the Models Inc. split up and Khoury continued wrestling in WCW and the WWF. On July 10, he lost to Savio Vega on Monday Night Raw.[2] On September 23, 1995, Khoury lost to Disco Inferno on WCW Saturday Night.[20] He wrestled his final WWF match against The Sultan at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania on September 24, 1996.[29] Though a mainstay of Cueball Carmichael's Independent Pro Wrestling Association and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, Khoury retired soon afterwards.[5]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. "Superstars of Wrestling 1993". Superstars of Wrestling. Rocelot's Wrestling DVDS & Tapes. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  2. "WWF Raw Is War". Results Archive. The Wrestling Follower: A Professional Wrestling Resource. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  3. "Tapes 474-487". Wrestling Tape List 474-487. TCTapes.net. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  4. "Results: 1993". NYProWrestling.com: Results. NYProWrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  5. Simpson, Greg. "Mindbender's Wrestling Greats: "K"". Mindbenders Wrestling Greats. Mindbenders.ca. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  6. Royal Duncan, Gary Will, Brian Westcott and Eric Roelfsema. "MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title History". Retrieved 2010-05-24.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  7. Bryan, Jim (2004-11-07). "Today In Wrestling History — November 14, 2004". PWMania.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  8. "November 14, 1993 in Essex, MD". Extreme Championship Wrestling October — December 1993. ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  9. Jeremy Miller (Director) (2010). History Of Razor Ramon (DVD). New York: CoreysTapes.com.
  10. Cawthon, Graham (2008). "Graham Cawthon's This Day in Wrestling History". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. F4Wonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  11. Naldi, Vanes. "WCW Saturday Night 1995". K & D's Matchlists. Shootangle.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  12. Cawthon, Graham (2008-12-05). "This Day in Wrestling History (Dec. 15 - Perfect regains gold, In Your House: It's Time, Bret's WCW debut)". LordsofPain.net. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  13. World Wrestling Federation (Producer) (1994). 08/06/1994 Superstars (VHS). TCTapes.net.
  14. Naldi, Vanes. "WWF Monday Night RAW On USA Network 1994". K & D's Matchlists. Shootangle.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  15. "WWE RAW (1994)". WWE RAW History. OnlineWorldofWrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  16. "WWF All American Wrestling". WWWF / WWF / WWE Television Programming. PWChronicles.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  17. Cawthon, Graham (2007). "Graham Cawthon's Today in wrestling history". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. F4Wonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  18. Cawthon, Graham (2008-12-08). "This Day in Wrestling History (Dec. 8)". LordsofPain.net. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  19. Cawthon, Graham. "1995". WCW Saturday Night (1985-2000). TheHistoryofWWE.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  20. "WCW Saturday Night". Corey's Wrestling Video Archives. CoreysTapes.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  21. "1995 Wrestling Challenge". Wrestling Challenge. Rocelot's Wrestling DVDS & Tapes. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  22. Cawthon, Graham. "1995". WWF Superstars (1986-97). TheHistoryofWWE.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  23. Martin, Adam; Graham Cawthon (2009-04-05). "This Day in Wrestling History for 4/5". WrestleView.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  24. Scisco, Logan (2010-01-25). "The Write Off: WWF Superstars – June 24, 1995". Inside Pulse Wrestling. InsidePulse.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  25. Cawthon, Graham. "1995". WWF Wrestling Challenge (1986-1995). TheHistoryofWWE.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  26. Royal Duncan, Gary Will, Brian Westcott and Eric Roelfsema. "MEWF Tag Team Title History". Retrieved 2010-05-24.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  27. Scisco, Logan (2010-04-05). "The Write Off: WWF Superstars – June 15, 1995". Inside Pulse Wrestling. InsidePulse.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  28. Hayhurst, Leonard (2009-02-12). "You Tubular: Tekno Team 2000". Video Reviews. 411mania.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  29. "WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1996". WWWF / WWF / WWE Television Programming. PWChronicles.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  30. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
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