Michael Hewitt | Sin City Saint

[Joey]

The Sin City Saint

Michael Hewitt is one of the most talented and accomplished professional wrestlers in the history of the business. Join us as we offer the full story of his illustrious career as told by Hewitt himself. This story will cover Michael's entire life from his beginnings in "The Sin City" of Las Vegas, Nevada to his memorable run at the top and even his life after wrestling.

[Joey]

Career History (promotions, ring names, etc.):
Promotions:
Stampede Wrestling (September 2002 - July 2003)
New Japan Pro Wrestling (July 2003 - February 2006)
Ring of Honor (February 2006 - March 2007)
World Wrestling Entertainment (March 2007 - ?

Ring Names:
Michael Hewitt (September 2002 - August 2003, February 2006 - October 2006)
Sin (August 2003 - October 2004, October 2006 - ?)
Hewitt (October 2004 - February 2006)

[Joey]

Championships and Accomplishments:
Stampede Wrestling
1x Stampede Tag Team Champion - with Johnny Devine

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax (2004)
1x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
G1 Tag League (2005) - with Johnny Devine
1x IWGP Tag Team Champion - with Johnny Devine

Ring of Honor Wrestling
1x ROH Pure Champion
1x ROH World Champion

[Joey]

And you may now post

[Joey]

Chapter 1

It all started on July 18, 1984 in the Sin City of Las Vegas, Nevada. Yup, you read that right. I was born in the city that never sleeps. You may have heard the saying that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas but that is not true with me. I didn’t stay in Vegas, I was on top of the world at one point but we’ll leave that for a bit further down the road. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a saint by any means but that’s the nickname I went by for many years when I was wrestling.

Growing up, I wasn’t what you called “spoiled” mainly because my mom walked out when I was 3 and my dad raised me my entire life until he died when I was 17. When I was younger I wasn’t really a huge fan of wrestling but my dad was and he’d watch every chance he would get and when I was 10 I finally decided, hey you know what I should watch this to see what all the fuss was about and I fell in love. Most kids would be out playing soccer, football or basketball but not me. I begged and pleaded with my dad to let me get into wrestling and once I hit middle school that’s exactly what he let me do. I knew it wasn’t like what I had saw from the likes of Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan but I knew it was a start and I promised my dad that one day I would become the WWF Champion and be the greatest wrestler in the world. He always supported me until I was in class one day and I got called to the office. I was really confused because I liked to think that I was a good kid and almost never got called or sent to the office and when I saw the Principal I knew something was wrong. He told me that my father was found dead in his house. Being the 17 year old I was, I didn’t want to cry at school so I simply just left. I didn’t know where to go from there. This was 2001 for me. I didn’t know how I was going to make it until I saw a commercial for the Hart Brothers Wrestling School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I then knew what I had to do.

My journey to Canada was paved pretty smoothly until I arrived in Calgary where I had absolutely nowhere to stay. I went to the Hart Brothers Wrestling School and paid my fee and began training all the while living out of my car. I turned 18 that July and found my first home as a wrestler…Stampede Wrestling.

[Joey]

Chapter 2

The start of my wrestling career came at a time where I was at a crossroads in my life, August 27, 2002. That was the anniversary of my father’s death and I wasn’t completely sure I wanted to be a wrestler but Bruce Hart convinced me and told me that after training me, he knew I was going to be a big thing in the wrestling industry and I believed him so I went for it and signed the contract.

My ring named remained the same as my real name for the time being as Bruce wanted the Calgary fans to get to know who I am before he turned me into something that he knew would be successful. The first match of my career came against Teddy Hart and it wasn’t a five-star bout by any means but it as a solid affair in which Teddy scored the victory over me. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t allowed to win my first bout but Bruce assured me that he had big plans for me and I was introduced to Johnny Devine, a man in which I would become great friends with during my time in Stampede and little did I know, he would become my tag team partner.

I embarked on a series of victories over the likes of Apocalypse, Randy Myres and Tiger Raj Singh before Bruce pulled me aside backstage following one of my matches and told me that I was going to be getting a tag team partner and I was curious as to who it would be and Bruce told me it was Johnny Devine and I was absolutely elated. Bruce gave us free reign to come up with our tag team name and we decided on Hustle and Flow. This was late 2002 and Bruce told us that 2003 was going to be a big year for the team.

As a team, the two of us were undefeated for the remainder of 2002 and well into 2003 before Bruce let us know what was next. He told us that TJ Wilson and Harry Smith would be dropping the Stampede Tag Team Championships to us. I was absolutely astonished that merely 7 months into my career I was going to become a champion. Bruce could sense how happy I was and told me that he saw something in me and that I was going to go very far in this business. The next night, I met Bret Hart, my hero growing up. We exchanged stories about our lives and I was so mesmerised by the stories he told me about Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper and more. Bret said that he was sure that me and Johnny Devine could be the next big tag team in wrestling history maybe like The Hart Foundation. Johnny and I were pretty pumped about getting that compliment from a veteran like Bret. Bret and I would keep in touch for many years after that and he was in fact in attendance at my wedding but that’s a story for another day.

In April, 2003, Hustle and Flow became the brand new Stampede Tag Team Champions after defeating TJ Wilson and Harry Smith. Johnny and I were pumped about finally winning the gold after trying for several months and being unsuccessful. I still couldn’t believe it though, a mere 7 months into my wrestling career and I was a champion. I couldn’t wait to win more gold. I was in touch with Ring of Honor owner Cary Silkin but unfortunately nothing came of it at that point. Johnny and I’s reign as tag team champions was cut short when Johnny suffered a broken ankle during a match and I was left floundering trying to figure out what was next until I was contact by Antonio Inoki who said that he saw my tapes and wanted me to come tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling and who was I to pass up this great opportunity. I had a meeting with Bruce and told him about what was going on and Bruce told me that I had to do what was best for my career and that going to NJPW was what was best. Bruce wished me the best of luck and thanked me for my time in Calgary. With that, after nearly 11 months, my time in Stampede Wrestling came to an end.

The land of the rising sun…here I come.

[Joey]

Chapter 3

I arrived in Japan in late August of 2003 and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, luckily I was met at the airport by American Dragon also known as Bryan Danielson. He told me what was up pretty much and I still felt very uncomfortable being what the Japanese stars call a gaijin or foreigner. I met Antonio Inoki soon after and he let me in on what was going to happen for me in NJPW. First of all, I was getting a mask and second of all I was going to be getting a new ring name which would turn out to be Sin, a reference to the Sin City where I was born and grew up and I was going to be what we in the wrestling business call a heel or a bad guy.

With my new persona I made my debut in NJPW and scored victories over Super Crazy, Perry Saturn and my old Stampede buddy TJ Wilson who was also on tour with NJPW. Soon after my series of victories, Inoki pulled me aside and let me know that I was going to be winning the 2004 G1 Climax tournament. I was elated, I had only been here for a short time but I was going to be making my mark on Japan. Following that announcement to me, I embarked on my mission to put on the best match I had ever had and that’s exactly what I did. During the finals of the 2004 G1 Climax, I faced off against a legend in Japan and that was Masahiro Chono. We put on a barnburner of a match and even Dave Meltzer gives us 5 stars as I notch my first huge victory in Japan and probably the biggest of my career. As a heel, the fans were none too happy about my win but Inoki and my boy Danielson were.

I was told soon after that I would be feuding with Jushin Thunder Liger, one of the biggest legends in Japan’s history and I was absolutely elated. The two of us had a series of 3 matches which impressed the crowd immensely until in our final bout I injured my right shoulder and was told that I would be out of action for at least 3 months. With that, the new year came and 2005 was upon us. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen due to the fact that I’d been out with an injury since October of 2004. Antonio let me know that when I returned I would simply been known as Hewitt and I would ditch the mask and become a babyface, or good guy.

Upon my return as Hewitt, the fans really didn’t take too kindly to me as I’d wish they had and I started a feud with the beloved Shinsuke Nakamura who’s career started at about the same point that mine did and we did battle over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship which I was lucky enough to win in February of 2005. Soon thereafter, my old friend from Stampede, Johnny Devine signed a touring contract with NJPW and Antonio immediately told us that we’d be put together as a tag team and with that, Hustle and Flow returned to the wrestling world. We were told that we’d immediately be getting a push where we would be winning the 2005 G1 Tag League and the two of us were amped.

Meanwhile, I was still defending my IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and lost it to my old nemesis Jushin Thunder Liger just in time for the G1 Tag League which Devine and I absolutely dominated. Shortly thereafter we won the IWGP Tag Team Championship by defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono in what was a pretty solid match in June of 2005. We held the titles for the remainder of the year before I received a phone call from Cary Silkin once again. He told me that he saw my work in Japan and wanted me to come to Ring of Honor. I didn’t want to turn my back on Antonio but I knew what I had to do in order to get further ahead in the business and that was to sign with ROH, I signed the contract in February of 2006. Antonio was grateful that I finished my touring dates with NJPW and told me that I was welcome back at any time. I made an impact in Japan, now it was time to do the same in America.

[Joey]

Chapter 4

I arrived back in the United States in early February of 2006 and immediately headed to Maryland where I visited ROH’s Headquarters and met with Cary Silkin. He told me that Hewitt would no longer be my ring name and that I’d be going back to my real name Michael Hewitt as my ring name in ROH and that there weren’t any huge plans for me right away. I wasn’t very happy about that.

I floundered about a little bit in ROH at the beginning but finally got my shot after defeating El Generico to earn a shot at Nigel McGuiness’s ROH Pure Championship. Backstage at the big event, I was told last minute that I’d be going over Nigel and the two of us made plans to put on the greatest match we ever could and that’s exactly what we did. Dave Meltzer gave us 5 stars, the second one of my career and I won my first championship of my ROH career.

After my 5 star match with Nigel I went on to feud with El Generico over the title in which I went over him twice before moving on to feud with Matt Sydal. Cary told me that I’d be dropping the Pure title to Sydal but that it wouldn’t be the end of my run on top of ROH as I’d be quickly forming a tag team with Lance Storm as the Canadian Cripplers and I lost the Pure Championship in August of 2006 after holding it for about 5 months. Lance and I had been quite good friends for some time and we were very excited to be teaming up with one another.

We teamed up a few times but it didn’t pan out as Cary didn’t like how we worked with one another and told me that I’d be going on hiatus for about 2 months before returning as my masked alter-ego from Japan, Sin. I was very excited for this and in October 2006 I returned to attack the current ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson. Bryan and I had a history from Japan and we were amped to be working a program together, even though I was under a mask and our first match went off without a hitch but the feud continued for several months until a mask vs. title match in January of 2007 which I was victorious in! I had won my first World Championship of my career. I was on top of the world…or so I thought.

Soon after winning the ROH World title, I got a phone call. The phone call was from none other than the voice of Monday Night Raw…Jim Ross. He was the head of talent relations at that point and wanted to gauge my interest in a WWE contract. I told him that I wasn’t ready to leave ROH at that point but that I’d keep them in mind. That was until I was offered a six figure contract and I told him that I’d think about it. I talked about it with Daniel and he told me that this may be my only shot at making it to the big leagues and I admitted that I was scared and he told me that he’s sure Vince would take good care of me and I called Jim back and told him that I accepted. Cary wasn’t very pleased but told me that he knew that it was the best for my career and I dropped the World title a week later to Kevin Steen. I didn’t know if it was the best for me but I was off to Connecticut…