Michael Haynes III
Encyclopedia
Michael Hayner is a professional wrestler
best known as Prince Iaukea in World Championship Wrestling
. Haynes has also made a career performing and coordinating stunt
s for major motion pictures. He earned a Black Belt in Judo right after high school and is well trained in amateur and submission wrestling. He has trained with former USMC champions Greg Gibson and Craig Pittman, submission wrestlers Gordon Nelson, Ron Hill, and Karl Gotch.
and Rico Federico, Haynes debuted on World Championship Wrestling
(WCW) pay-per-view Fall Brawl 1995 as a cadet delivering papers to Cobra
for Craig Pittman
. Later, Kevin Sullivan
brought him to some TV tapings and was so impressed by his professionalism, overall attitude, and respect for the business that Sullivan gave him the Iaukea name taken from Curtis Iaukea, a good friend of Sullivan. Prince Iaukea debuted on WCW TV
in 1996 and quickly made a name for himself with his unique Samoa
n persona and real submission wrestling skills along with solid pro wrestling ability. The common pronunciation of his ring name came about by the mispronunciation from WCW Announcer Tony Schiavone
. Prince Iaukea also received blessing from King Curtis Iaukea during a phone conversation with King Curtis telling him that "he was family" and that he enjoyed the work that Prince was doing.
On February 17, 1997, Iaukea captured the WCW World Television Championship
by defeating Lord Steven Regal
and would hold it for 2 months before losing it to Ultimate Dragon. Iaukea then went off to tour New Japan
working with established greats such as Shinjiro Otani and Koji Kanemoto
. On the tour he was kicked severely by Koji Kanemoto and badly injured. Japanese booker Riki Chōshū
was a huge supporter of Iaukea.
Back in WCW, Iaukea would then float around the lower mid-card for several years, mainly because of an alleged romantic link between Iaukea and the wife of an upper level WCW executive. Iaukea denied the allegations, but the rumor persisted. He was repackaged in 1999 as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea, a comedic gimmick based on singer Prince
. Later, his ring name was shortenend to simply The Artist. He won the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship
from Lash LeRoux in February 2000. The Artist would lose the title to Billy Kidman and later reclaim it before being stripped of the title by Vince Russo
in April 2000 when Russo and Eric Bischoff
"re-launched" WCW.
's X Wrestling Federation
, but when that went under he used his military background and went to work for a security contractor overseas. In 2007 he started 3SX Entertainment (Samoan Strong Style Xtreme Wrestling and Entertainment) in American Samoa where work on a Pro Wrestling and MMA Dojo is ongoing.
He won the NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight title of the Floridan promotion Pro Wrestling Fusion by defeating Chris Jones on November 29, 2008, and held it for 6 months before losing it back to Chris Jones, but he rebounded and received a Heavyweight title shot against Steve Madison only to lose a close contest.
Mike Haynor can be found on IMDB.com as a professional stunt man for several well known movies, including: Scream 2
, Bowfinger
, Austin Powers 2, and most recently Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
and Ready to Rumble
.
Haynes is also a devout Christian
and hopes to set an example for others by his professional attitude and demeanor.
Haynes owns and promotes 3SX Pro Wrestling and 3SX Entertainment which runs events in the Pacific
, particularly American Samoa
and New Zealand
.
Haynes also has a son who wrestles under the name of Nick Primo in the professional wrestling industry. They both currently work for Pro Wrestling Fusion, and New Florida Wrestling (NFW), Both are Florida based independent wrestling promotions.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
best known as Prince Iaukea in World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
. Haynes has also made a career performing and coordinating stunt
Stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
s for major motion pictures. He earned a Black Belt in Judo right after high school and is well trained in amateur and submission wrestling. He has trained with former USMC champions Greg Gibson and Craig Pittman, submission wrestlers Gordon Nelson, Ron Hill, and Karl Gotch.
World Championship Wrestling (1995–2000)
After being trained by Dean MalenkoDean Malenko
Dean Simon is a retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Dean Malenko. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He is best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling , New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling...
and Rico Federico, Haynes debuted on World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(WCW) pay-per-view Fall Brawl 1995 as a cadet delivering papers to Cobra
Jeff Farmer (wrestler)
Jeff Farmer is a professional wrestler best known as Fake Sting, and later nWo Sting. A mainstay of World Championship Wrestling during the 1990s, he led a Japanese faction of the heel stable New World Order in New Japan Pro Wrestling competing in the promotion until WCW's close in 2001. Farmer is...
for Craig Pittman
Craig Pittman
Craig Pittman is a retired United States Marine and professional wrestler. He served in the Marine Corps until the early 1990s. He then wrestled professionally as Sgt. Craig "Pitbull" Pittman in World Championship Wrestling...
. Later, Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
brought him to some TV tapings and was so impressed by his professionalism, overall attitude, and respect for the business that Sullivan gave him the Iaukea name taken from Curtis Iaukea, a good friend of Sullivan. Prince Iaukea debuted on WCW TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in 1996 and quickly made a name for himself with his unique Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n persona and real submission wrestling skills along with solid pro wrestling ability. The common pronunciation of his ring name came about by the mispronunciation from WCW Announcer Tony Schiavone
Tony Schiavone
Noah Anthony "Tony" Schiavone is an American sports broadcaster. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Gwinnett Braves of the International League...
. Prince Iaukea also received blessing from King Curtis Iaukea during a phone conversation with King Curtis telling him that "he was family" and that he enjoyed the work that Prince was doing.
On February 17, 1997, Iaukea captured the WCW World Television Championship
WCW World Television Championship
The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
by defeating Lord Steven Regal
Darren Matthews
Darren Kenneth Matthews , is an English professional wrestler, author and color commentator currently signed to WWE and competing on the SmackDown brand under the ring name William Regal. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Steven Regal...
and would hold it for 2 months before losing it to Ultimate Dragon. Iaukea then went off to tour New Japan
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
working with established greats such as Shinjiro Otani and Koji Kanemoto
Koji Kanemoto
is a professional wrestler. He is of Zainichi Korean descent.-Career:Kanemoto practiced Judo during his high school days and won a few championships as a professional before being recruited by the New Japan Dojo. He debuted in November 1990, wrestling against Michiyoshi Ohara. In March 1992, he...
. On the tour he was kicked severely by Koji Kanemoto and badly injured. Japanese booker Riki Chōshū
Riki Choshu
Mitsuo Yoshida , better known by his stage name Riki Chōshū , is a Korean-Japanese professional wrestler who is most known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro Wrestling as a wrestler and a booker...
was a huge supporter of Iaukea.
Back in WCW, Iaukea would then float around the lower mid-card for several years, mainly because of an alleged romantic link between Iaukea and the wife of an upper level WCW executive. Iaukea denied the allegations, but the rumor persisted. He was repackaged in 1999 as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea, a comedic gimmick based on singer Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. Later, his ring name was shortenend to simply The Artist. He won the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
from Lash LeRoux in February 2000. The Artist would lose the title to Billy Kidman and later reclaim it before being stripped of the title by Vince Russo
Vince Russo
Vincent James "Vince" Russo is an American creative writer and author, well known for his work in the professional wrestling industry. He is notable for his tenure with World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
in April 2000 when Russo and Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
"re-launched" WCW.
Independent circuit (2001–Present)
After WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, he wrestled the independent scene traveling around the country for various promotions. He was briefly known as The Tongan Prince for Jimmy HartJimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...
's X Wrestling Federation
X Wrestling Federation
Xtreme Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion. The organization's heyday was from early November of 2001 to late February of 2002. Its birth coincided with the World Wrestling Federation's acquisition of AOL Time Warner's World Championship Wrestling. XWF's slogan...
, but when that went under he used his military background and went to work for a security contractor overseas. In 2007 he started 3SX Entertainment (Samoan Strong Style Xtreme Wrestling and Entertainment) in American Samoa where work on a Pro Wrestling and MMA Dojo is ongoing.
He won the NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight title of the Floridan promotion Pro Wrestling Fusion by defeating Chris Jones on November 29, 2008, and held it for 6 months before losing it back to Chris Jones, but he rebounded and received a Heavyweight title shot against Steve Madison only to lose a close contest.
Current Life
In addition to his professional wrestling career, Haynes also has considerable experience as a martial artist, stunt performer and coordinator in motion pictures.Mike Haynor can be found on IMDB.com as a professional stunt man for several well known movies, including: Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...
, Bowfinger
Bowfinger
Bowfinger is a 1999 comedy cult film directed by Frank Oz. It depicts a down-and-out filmmaker in Hollywood attempting to make a film on a small budget with a star who does not know that he is in the film...
, Austin Powers 2, and most recently Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a 2005 crime/dark comedy film, which engages many conventions of the classic film noir genre in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. It is based, in part, on the novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them by Brett Halliday. The cast includes Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan...
and Ready to Rumble
Ready to Rumble
Ready to Rumble is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Steven Brill, which is based on Turner Broadcasting's now defunct professional wrestling promotion, World Championship Wrestling...
.
Haynes is also a devout Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and hopes to set an example for others by his professional attitude and demeanor.
Haynes owns and promotes 3SX Pro Wrestling and 3SX Entertainment which runs events in the Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, particularly American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Haynes also has a son who wrestles under the name of Nick Primo in the professional wrestling industry. They both currently work for Pro Wrestling Fusion, and New Florida Wrestling (NFW), Both are Florida based independent wrestling promotions.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Diving DDT
- Swan dive headbutt (Diving headbutt)
- Signature moves
- Back body drop
- Backhand chop
- Diving crossbody
- Double leg takedown
- DropkickDropkickA dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
- Multiple chop variations
- Multiple suplexSuplexA suplex is an offensive move used in professional sport wrestling . The move consists of one wrestler picking up his or her opponent off the ground and then using a large portion of his or her own body weight to drive the opponent down on the mat. Nearly all suplexes have the attacker going down...
variations- Belly to belly
- Cradle
- German
- Northern Lights
- Samoan drop to an oncoming opponent
- Slingshot crossbody
- Slingshot leg dropLeg dropA leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...
- Snap swinging neckbreaker
- Springboard clothesline
- Springboard seated senton
- Sunset flip, sometimes from the top rope
- Superkick
- ManagerManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
s- Paisley
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "TAFKAPI"
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Fusion
- NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Rookie of the Year (1997)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked him #495 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003
- World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- WCW Cruiserweight ChampionshipWWE Cruiserweight ChampionshipThe World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
(2 times) - WCW World Television ChampionshipWCW World Television ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
(1 times)
- WCW Cruiserweight Championship
- Other titles
- eXtreme Japan World Championship (2 times)
- FXCW World Championship (2 times)
- GPCW World Championship (3 times)
- IWF InterNational Championship (1 time)