Drew Michaels

Andrew Michaels (born September 3, 1980 in Florence, South Carolina) is a professional e-wrestler, better known by his ring name Drew Michaels or nickname Headbanger. He currently competes for Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) on its Inferno brand as leader of The Misfits, and also holds the LPW Undisputed World Tag Team Championship with Tromboner Man as a member of the Madcore Misfits.

Early life
Andrew Michaels was born to Wayne and Mary Michaels in the small city of Florence, South Carolina. His mother Mary was incredibly loving throughout his childhood but his father Wayne seemed constantly distant and cold to him, verbally degrading and eventually physically abusing the youth. This vile nature, inflicted upon both Drew and his mother, is revealed to be directed solely at them when Drew's younger brother Kevin is born. It eventually comes out much later in Drew's life that the abuse stems from the fact he is indeed not his father's son but instead the product of an affair Mary had with one Matthew Bryson, with whom Drew spent only a few months in his early childhood with before never laying eyes on him again. One still particularly traumatic time for Drew is when he brought an African-American friend home with him to study together and his father beat him ferociously in front of the other youth due to his racist leanings and just plan hate.

At the age of fourteen, Drew was caught with pot by his father; a drug Drew relied on heavily at the time to escape the pains of his home life. When his father threatened to beat him and his mother, Drew escaped home and took to the streets to escape from his father. Wayne never saw a need to get the police involved and used his political and business connections to suppress any investigation into Drew's disappearance.

Much of Drew's time on the streets is unknown. He does not seem to like to speak about it much or even at all. The next known event that occurred in his life was at the age of sixteen, he had worked his way up to Ohio and was arrested for some minor charge and brought before one Judge Jim Osbourne for sentencing.

LOP Hardcore
Headbanger was able to return to America in 2002 and signed a contract with the LOP Hardcore division, a company that worked as an unsactioned developmental territory for the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA). He made a quick impact (as everyone does) by defeating former PWA superstar Que for his first LOP Hardcore Championship. Headbanger continued to enjoy success in the Hardcore title hunt, getting caught in a feud with veteran Elbarto over respect for him and the title, as well as with fellow rookie Amwfan1 over the latter's obvious lack of intelligence. It was through these feuds that Headbanger earned the nickname, "The Violent One."

He continued to enjoy success as one of the longest running members of the division; battling against such superstars as Wevv Mang, Adeaton, BiggiE, "Sick" Nick, Stevie Richards V2 and Billy. However, during the early stages of the fight against the SAR, Headbanger disappeared. Speculation was rampant over the nature of this absence as the LOP Hardcore faithful waited patiently for him to return.

In 2004, after six months off, Headbanger returned by defeating Sharpshooter in a horrific attack. Upon his return, he was thrust into a feud with Sharpshooter and old enemy Adeaton, a battle that was evenly matched. So evenly matched, in fact, that the two men eventually joined forces against Sharpshooter, forming the Hardcore Greats.

As the Hardcore Greats, Headbanger and Adeaton dominated the division; having bloody feuds with Sharpshooter, Corso, Amwfan1, and the Hardcore Connection of R. Krippler and Mr. Nobody. However, no one was more hated by the Greats than Stevie Richards V2 and his associates, Misfit A and Boyd. A bloody feud between Headbanger and Stevie V2, drawn directly from the old feud between Stevie and Adeaton, consumed the division as every star was forced to pick sides. The feud culminated in a Best of Seven series of matches that many hardcore experts say may be the best in the world. Headbanger escaped the series with a win and most importantly: a contract with the PWA.

Early Schizophrenia days


In the summer of 2005 after the success of the Altered Reality II pay-per-view event, the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance began recruiting a new breed of talent to fill out their roster. In this recruitment process, The Illuminati, the stable who had recently taken control over Schizophrenia from owner Villiano 187, signed a number of new stars with Headbanger being one of them. Headbanger debuted at Schizophrenia LIVE from Salt Lake City, getting in the face of fellow LOP Hardcore veteran and new signee, Stevie Richards V2. The company allowed the two men to continue their feud from earlier in their career and they were booked, by Illuminati member Phantom Lord, in a tag team match against the forces of C.H.A.O.S. (Bobino and Majin). It was a losing effort for Banger as Stevie gave up the pin, but afterwards a number of other recent signees interfered. The following week at Schizophrenia LIVE from Portland, Headbanger participated in a rookie battle royal involving Edible, Norwegian Beast, Al Boo Boo, Trey Spruance, and Dragon Mask. Headbanger won the battle royal to mark his first victory, last eliminating Edible; another old foe from his LOP Hardcore days. After At All Costs on the next Schizophrenia LIVE from the University of Michigan broadcast, Edible claimed revenge when Headbanger resorted to his old hardcore tactics and got himself disqualified by using a steel chair. After the match, Headbanger was set-up and destroyed by Mass Chaos, Edible's new Abandoned tag team partner. The next week, however, Headbanger got the biggest win of his early career by defeating NPD, who had challenged for the PWA World Heavyweight Championship the week before, in a hardcore match.

The next show, Schizophrenia LIVE from University of Illinois, would lay the foundation for the rest of Michaels' career when he challenged for the PWA Television Championship, which had been recently vacated by Joey Hollywood due to Schizo GM Lou's executive order. In the scramble match, Headbanger fell short because of an elimination by Red Dragon; a match NPD ended up winning. Confident he would get the shot he deserved at a man he could beat, Headbanger defeated established star Red Dragon in a convincing victory that also marked the beginning of his transformation away from a solid heel to a face when he declared himself a hero to the people. This change was welcomed by the fans, who clamored to cheer for their new champion.

Headbanger went on to participate in the $2 million co-brand ladder match at the PWA Honor Roll event, but fell short of victory even after an impressive showing when Wevv Mang won the match. Headbanger bounced back and closed an important chapter of his career by defeating old enemy Stevie Richards V2, now sporting his real name of Trey Spruance, and international superstar Mr. Nobody at the Annihilation pay-per-view.

Beginnings of The Misfits

 * Main article: The Misfits

Prior to his match against Spruance and Nobody at Annihilation, Headbanger recruited the help of Trey's old girlfriend and manager Juliet Richards. Eventually, Drew and Juliet began dating and soon fell in love. After his bloody fight with Trey, Headbanger hugged his old rival and the two began a brand new relationship.

Trey and Headbanger joined forces after this match thanks in large part to a push from management to not only form more teams but to also keep the wild and degenerate Trey in line as Headbanger was known as a consumate professional. The two were pushed into a quick feud with the successful tag team, The Witnesses. Headbanger lost to Sick Fixx one week and the team of Trey and Banger together lost to the combined Witnesses the next. However, after this match, Wevv Mang's newest protege, Random, declared these two men enemies of Wevv, a co-owner of the PWA, and had them; along with Edible Matthewson, who had challenged Wevv for interfering in one of his matche; suspended indefinately.

As payback; the three men, now dubbed The Misfits by the announcers thanks to an offhand comment by Wevv, attacked each member of the Payroll (who were wrestlers Wevv had taken under his wing), costing them their matches. Wevv was forced to un-suspend them but set up a match between the Payroll and the Misfits at the upcoming Revelations pay-per-view with the winning team taking the services of Juliet since Mr. Nobody, now a member of the Payroll, had a crush on her. Also as punishment, Headbanger was forced to fight D. Hammond Samuels, the man who would be challenging for the PWA World Heavyweight Champion and was also the biggest heartless bastard on the roster. It was during his promo for this match the Headbanger unveiled his newest brainchild, Headbanger Productions. Headbanger lost the match after a valient struggle that saw him actually win by countout at one point until Wevv changed the rules of the match-up. It was this match that many inside of the PWA claim made Headbanger "legit" in their eyes and thus worthy of moving up the card.

At the Annihilation pay-per-view, Spruance was prevented from competing by Wevv Mang due to a minor injury and thus the remaining Misfits, Edible and Headbanger, were forced to fight the Payroll in a handicap match. However, due to his wording, they could get anyone to be their partner if they could find one in time. Headbanger approached rookie monster T.J. Rage about joining them but was shot down. However, T.J. relented and joined the match half-way through, helping the Misfits score the victory. This win saw T.J. Rage join the Misfits and the first mention of them as "brothers."

Pursuit of the United States Championship
On the next Schizophrenia LIVE from Louisville, Headbanger once again defeated NPD (now King NPD), this time in a conventinal match. It was also this night that saw The Rabbi, the PWA United States Champion, offered a title shot to the Misfit who was able to defeat his own "brothers" in a 4-way elimination match.

Headbanger was victorious in this fight, despite Rabbi's cheating tactics as the guest referee, and was justly awarded a spot as the number one contender to the United States title. It was also around this time that Headbanger, along with his fellow Misfits, joined Pen's Revolution against the established stars of the company. Headbanger was a supporter of the cause but also an outspoken critic of some of the tactics, such as making D. Hammond Samuels a target. Nevertheless, Headbanger joined up with his Revolution partners Pen and "Sick" Nick to defeat a trio of rookies on Vertigo 8.3. Also, Headbanger claimed a spot in the second annual Owner's Cup tournament, defeating Spectre in a huge upset, but only to fall victim to Cyrus in round two after a heated contest.

At the Schizos Wild pay-per-view, Headbanger's match with Rabbi for the PWA United States Championship took top place as the biggest match of his career up to that point. The Violent One went into the match having been tortured for weeks by 'C.Y.W.', a mysterious person or persons thought to be connected to The Rabbi. Headbanger, however, was undaunted by the attacks and wrestled the match of his career against Rabbi. He was unable to take the title home, instead winning by disqualification.

Immediately after Schizos Wild, Headbanger lead his fellow Misfits, representing the Schizo brand, against Pyromania's Team N'itomniskittel; which consisted of N'itomniskittel, the Lost Prophets' Retribution and Cyrus, and rookie phenom Krimson Mask. The two teams battled in the opening match at Altered Reality III in a losing effort; though Banger was the last man standing for his team; being eliminated by Krimson Mask after overcoming both Retribution and N'itomniskittel on his own.

Later during the night, Headbanger was promised another PWA United States title shot against The Rabbi at Homecoming in a No-DQ match.

Move to Pyromania, U.S. Champion, C.Y.W. and Blackwell feud
During the 2006 PWA Draft at the Homecoming pre-show, new Pyromania GM Spectre announced with the 7th through 10th picks, he had drafted the Misfits, Headbanger included, in a move welcomed by all four members.

During the opening match of the live telecast, Headbanger competed for the PWA United States Championship in a rematch against The Rabbi in a No-DQ match, which he won in a dominant fashion with a steel chair shooting star press. After the Homecoming show, PWA cameras caught a confrontation between Headbanger and D. Hammond Samuels, the newly appointed PWA International Heavyweight Champion, a confrontation that led to Samuels declaring Headbanger a non-person to him.

At Pyromania 9.1, Headbanger welcomed the first week of the new brand, defeating PWA Television Champion, Robert Lillehammer, in his first title defense. On the next Pyromania, Headbanger and Juliet shared their views on current PWA affairs when Blackwell kidnapped The Violent One's girlfriend and manager in an attempt of getting a United States title shot. Also during this time, Al Boo Boo; a one time friend of Headbanger, revealed that X was the mysterious man behind the C.Y.W. targets. Banger made a surprise appearance on the next Schizo, revealing that he would be facing X in hardcore match at the next Schizo pay-per-view, At All Costs. Before his pay-per-view matches, Headbanger teamed with T.J. Rage and Homicide in a six-man tag team victory over X, Blackwell and Robert Lillehammer in the main event of Pyromania 9.4.

Headbanger went 1-1 in his pay-per-view appearances, dropping his Schizo match to X after a brutal hardcore battle, but did defeat Blackwell to retain the United States Championship in the Dark Carnival Brawl at The Rising. After rescuing Juliet from the clutches of Blackwell, Headbanger popped the question, "Will You Marry Me?", to which Juliet enthusiastically replied "Yes!". He also discovered she was pregnant with his child.

Michaels versus Samuels
In April 2007, a dispute in management caused the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance name to split away from the e-federation, leaving it renamed Lords of Pain Wrestling after the circuit many of the founding fathers of the fed participated in. Pyromania was also renamed, becoming Inferno

Headbanger rolled into Inferno's first Australian tour with a massive amount of momentum; defeating Latimer Morven in his third successful LPW United States Championship defense at Inferno 10.1. Headbanger was also extremely busy elsewhere in this show, as the Misfits added Mass Chaos to the fold.

Drew and Juliet had made plans to be wed in Brisbane at Inferno 10.2, where he was also rewarded with an LPW International Heavyweight Championship match against D. Hammond Samuels at Sacrament. With the Misfits serving as Headbanger's best men, Drew and Juliet exchanged rings and "I Do's", much to delight of LPW fans across the world. But things soon got out of hand when the Lillehammer Administration crashed the ceremony. While The Misfits and Lillehammer Administration battled in the ring, the newlyweds tried to escape through the arena. But Samuels, with an invitation of his own, stepped in the way and laid a blow to the stomach of Juliet, killing the unborn Michaels baby.

Emotionally crushed, Drew struggled on as tensions between the two escalated at Inferno 10.3: Night of Champions. To put an end to their constant backstage fights, Inferno GM Spectre enforced a "no-contact clause" between the champion and challenger. This did not stop Samuels from interfering with Headbanger's United States Championship defense in an Unlucky Seven TLC Match, costing Headbanger the match (and consequently the U.S. title) by toppling the ladder he was standing on. Later in the show, Samuels was subsequently stripped of his International Heavyweight Championship by Spectre for violating the no-contact clause when he toppled Headbanger from the ladder.

At Inferno 10.4, Spectre tried to appoint Headbanger as the new champion, but Headbanger refused to be awarded the title in such controversial fashion. Samuels and his lawyer injected themselves during the ceremony and presented legal evidence to show that Samuels did not actually break the no-contact clause. After all, Samuels didn't touch Headbanger, rather touched the ladder he was standing on. As a result, Spectre reluctantly reinstated Samuels as champion.

Their bitter war came to a head at Sacrament, with Headbanger rechristening himself as Drew Michaels before the match. After a rage-fueled 60 minutes, Samuels successfully retained the title in the Iron Man match, winning 3-2, after Michaels lost his footing during a northern lights suplex from the top rope, with the second costing him a chance for overtime.

Michaels could not stand to see his arch-enemy walk away scott-free. During the opening of the Inferno 11.2 broadcast, Michaels and Samuels got into a fist fight in front of Spectre. Spectre announced that Ham and Michaels would face each other again at Dead Reckoning, with both men picking the other's opponent for Inferno 11.3: Pick Your Poison. During an LPW.com exclusive, Samuels picked X as Michaels' opponent, who had beaten Michaels during At All Costs. Michaels was able to defeat X in 10:35 after landing a Wicked DDT with a steel chair wrapped around his neck. But unfortunately for Michaels, Samuels won the Pick Your Poison stipulation by pinning Pen in 10:30. Samuels announced the match would be his specialty, a Tijuana Cage Match.

Fueled by hated but controlled by faith, the ten-month feud culminated at Dead Reckoning when Michaels DDT'd Samuels from the top of the cage to the canvas below, shattering the ring in the process. Crawling out of the debris, Michaels pinned Samuels to end his 17-month reign as champion.

LPW International Champion and Martinez Cup victory
With Michaels' quest to become the LPW International Heavyweight Champion complete, he found himself the target of three contenders. At Inferno 12.1, Spectre took the night off to attend to his assistant, Satisfaction, who received a fireball to his face from cYnical. Spectre put backstage interviewer Sara St. James in charge, however cYnical attacked St. James and took over as GM himself. With three men claiming a title shot to Michaels' title (Samuels wanted a rematch, Mang was the number one contender, and Sheepster had been waiting three years for his guaranteed title shot), cYnical stacked the odds against Michaels by first booking him with Samuels in a tag team match against Mang and Sheepster at Inferno 12.2 (which they lost), then making a Fatal Four-Way match for the title at Redemption (which later became a Triple Threat match after Samuels was removed from the match during Inferno 12.3 due to in-ring injuries). Despite the odds, Michaels successfully retained the title and earned the right to represent Inferno for the Martinez Cup at Altered Reality IV.

In the biggest match of the season, Michaels competed against cYnical, who had recently become Insanity's newly crowned LPW World Heavyweight Champion, in a Champion versus Champion match for the third annual Martinez Cup. cYnical looked like he had won the match by pinning Michaels. Unknown to cYnical, Michaels had draped his foot on the bottom rope before the administered three-count. Spectre (who was commentating at ringside) overruled the decision, citing the instant replay. Outraged, cYnical bloodied Spectre while Michaels recovered. Michaels resurrected from his predicament and rallied back to defeat cYnical, bringing the Martinez Cup to Inferno for the very first time.

The Financial Crisis slams LPW
Because of the controversial decisions administered during Altered Reality IV, Spectre stepped down as LPW President and Inferno GM. Soon afterwards, LPW began to bleed money due to the global economic crisis of 2008. Forced to take immediate action to find a suitable replacement, the Board of Directors quickly hired a shadowed and mysterious businessman as its CEO to shore up company profits. Wishing to remain anonymous, The Boss as he called himself, assumed the responsibilities of CEO and Inferno GM.

During Homecoming's 2008 LPW Draft, the entire LPW roster was re-drafted with Michaels being selected to Insanity with the first overall pick by new Insanity GM, Little Red Riding Hood. In the main event, Michaels successfully defended the International Heavyweight against Sheepster. By the end of the night, The Boss and Little Red agreed on a trade, in which Michaels was traded back to Inferno in exchange for cYnical, who had originally been drafted to Inferno with the second pick.

With Michaels as the locker-room leader, The Boss asked for Michaels' help to overcome the financial crisis that had stung the promotion. Michaels appeared leery of Inferno's newest decision-maker. Heading into Honor Roll (2009), Michaels agreed to put up the LPW International Heavyweight Championship against Eric Scorpio and NPD, both of whom attacked Michaels at Inferno 13.1. The catch for both of them however, was that Michaels invoked a champion's clause to include Scorpio's estranged brother, Insanity's monstrous Ash Strife, making it a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match.

During the match, Strife's possessed Crazy Ash Killa alter-ego took control of him, resulting in him destroying his brother with several Strife Strikes and ending his career when he jumped from the top rope to the steel ringsteps with a third Strife Strike. Michaels piggy-backed CAK with a sleeper, trying to talk into his ear to bring Strife back. The risk paid off, as Strife returned, but moments later Michaels was ambushed by Insanity's Krimson Mask and Little Red, finishing him off with The End to result in his elimination and loss of the title.

At Take No Prisoners in Beijing, Michaels got into a fight with Chinese authorities after a misintrepretation regarding his wife Juliet. The Boss bailed Michaels out of jail while orchestrating a deal behind-the-scenes. In the main event, Michaels fought Krimson Mask. During the match, Michaels went to grab a steel chair, but got in a tug-of-war with Little Red and ripped it from her hands to drill Krimson Mask. The referee saw the illegal weapon and awarded the match to Krimson Mask via disqualification, prompting Mask to unleash a vicious assault on Michaels post-match.

With Michaels bloodied and handcuffed, The Boss made his first in-ring appearance and revealed himself as Michaels' sworn enemy, D. Hammond Samuels, who had completed the buyout of LPW through his media conglomerate, Public Enemy Multimedia, LLC. With Michaels allowing Ash Strife into the Fatal Four-way match at Honor Roll, full knowing Strife's mental condition with his Crazy Ash Killa alter-ego and the bad blood between his brother Scorpio, Samuels used that decision to orchestrate the blame on Michaels. After Scorpio’s death at the hands of CAK, LPW’s stock took a nosedive. With the stock at an all-time low, Samuels was able to swoop in and buyout LPW at a fraction of the original bargaining price. As Samuels held the defeated Michaels, he finished by saying, "You said, 'If it bleeds I can kill it'. I prefer to kill things that cannot bleed. I killed the PWA. I killed your future. I killed...hope".

Madcore Misfits

 * Main article: Madcore Misfits

The unholy alliance of D. Hammond Samuels and Krimson Mask continued on Insanity, with the two ending the 22-month LPW Tag Team Championship reign of the MWA's Tromboner Man and RaTo to win the LPW Undisputed World Tag Team Championship. Samuels had stated he booked the match to split the MWA so that they could branch out as singles stars, but Samuels brutally injured RaTo to end his career. His friend lost, Tromboner Man vowed revenge and found himself putting aside his Misfit prejudice to team with Michaels, with Michaels also putting aside his Madcore prejudice.

Calling themselves the Madcore Misfits, Michaels and Tromboner Man defeated Sudden Death's Andy Savana and Black Ada to become the top contenders for the Tag Team titles. At the Sacrament (2009) pay-per-view, the Madcore Misfits got their revenge after beating Samuels and Krimson Mask for the titles, thus making Michaels the second man to become a Triple Crown Champion.

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Wicked DDT/The Final Cut (Fisherman DDT)
 * The Killswitch (Dragon Superplex)
 * The Execution (Guillotine Legdrop)
 * Shooting Star Press (with steel chair on own chest)
 * Favorite moves
 * Texas Cloverleaf
 * Variety of Suplexes
 * Facebreaker to Knee
 * Running European Uppercut
 * Samoan Drop
 * Headbutt
 * Backbreaker


 * Nicknames
 * Headbanger
 * The Violent One
 * The Choosen One
 * Socialist Superhero
 * Christian Champion


 * Manager
 * Juliet Richards


 * Stables
 * The Misfits (with Trey Spruance, Mass Chaos and Sean Jensen in LPW.  Formerly included Edible, T.J. Rage and Ken Ryans)
 * Madcore Misfits (with Tromboner Man)
 * SPARTA (with Nick Bryson in FMW)
 * Ties of Blood (with Trey Spruance and T. Ekstreme in FMW)
 * Hardcore Greats (with Adeaton in LOP Hardcore division)


 * Theme music
 * "Them Bones" by Alice In Chains (Used during entire LOP Hardcore career; used in PWA from debut until Schizos Wild 2006)
 * "Symphony of Destruction" by Megadeth (Used in PWA from Schizos Wild 2006 until drafted to Pyromania)
 * "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against the Machine (Used in PWA from Pyro 9.1 to present)
 * "Army of The Sun" by Roadrunner United (Used in 3W)
 * "My Assasin" by The Bled (Used in FMW)
 * "Sad But True" by Metallica (Used in PWA with the Misfits from Revelations 2006 until Altered Reality III)
 * "Fully Alive" by Flyleaf (Used in FMW with Ties of Blood from founding to break-up)
 * "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins (Used in PWA with the Misfits from Altered Reality III to present)
 * "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash (Currently used in FMW)

Championships and accomplishments

 * F'n Hardcore Territory
 * FHT Television Championship
 * FHT Tag Team Championship (with Crazy Ash Killa)


 * Full Metal Wrestling
 * FMW World Heavyweight Championship
 * FMW Ultraviolent Championship
 * FMW C-4 Championship
 * Mount Vesuvius Match (2007)
 * FMW Debate Winner (2 times)
 * FMW Anarchy Superstar of the Year (2007)
 * FMW Feud of the Year (2009) SPARTA (with Nick Bryson) vs. Jaro


 * Lords of Pain Wrestling
 * Martinez Cup (2008)
 * LPW International Heavyweight Championship
 * LPW United States Championship
 * LPW Undisputed World Tag Team Championship (with Tromboner Man)
 * Second Triple Crown Champion
 * First overall draft pick in LPW 2008 Draft
 * Apex 25 ranked him #1 (2 times) (June 2008 - July 2008)


 * World Wildzone Wrestling
 * 3W United States Championship