Michael Porter (born Kim Michael Porter, January 14, 1951 – October 23, 2010) was an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

ring announcer and internet radio host. Porter was born in Gridley, California, and began his career in 1969 in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and

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region working under the guidance of legendary promoters Roy Shire, Louie Miller and Terry Garvin. Porter was best known for working as a house show ring announcer for the World Wrestling Federation (now

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

) from 1988 to 1993 (mostly on the west coast, including the historic Cow Palace in San Francisco, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena - now

Oracle Arena An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

- in Oakland and ARCO Arena - now Sleep Train Arena - in Sacramento). He worked security at '' WrestleMania VII'' at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1991. He had announced for such independent feds such as the United Wrestling Alliance ( Marysville, California) in 2002-2003, Pro Championship Wrestling ( Oroville, California) in 2006 and Devil Mountain Wrestling ( Martinez, California) in 2007-2008. Porter hosted a pro wrestling interview program ''Michael Porter's WrestleShoot'', which started as a weekend radio show on Marysville, California, radio station KMYC-AM 1410 and aired there during 2004 and 2005. The show was later broadcast on the internet radio network,

Blog Talk Radio BlogTalkRadio is a web-based platform that allows podcasters and radio sites and talk show hosts to create live and on-demand talk format content for distribution on the web and podcast distribution channels. Its claim to fame is a web-based 'st ...

. Porter interviewed varying levels of talent from independent stars to members of the WWE Hall of Fame. He also co-hosted the popular Cloverleaf Radio on the same channel. Porter remained close friends with many WWE stars like

Rowdy Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his ...

Koko B. Ware James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he ...

, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Honky Tonk Man and

Mean Gene Okerlund Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wres ...

. Porter died on October 23, 2010, at his home in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. He was suffering through various health problems from obesity to diabetes and was a two-time cancer survivor. Good friends of Porter's, internet radio host Wacko Bob (Robert Guercia) & indy pro wrestler Rick Ryder would reunite with their old wrestling internet radio show ''The Dark Match'' on Blog Talk Radio and pay tribute to him only a few days after his death with The Stro and Bill Apter as guests on the show.

''Michael Porter's WrestleShoot''

On June 22, 2008, after co-hosting ''Cloverleaf Radio'' and ''The Dark Match'' for a number of months, and after a one-year stint on KMYC-AM radio in the 1990's, Porter relaunched his radio program ''Michael Porter's WrestleShoot'' on internet radio using the service

. He interviewed personalities from independent wrestlers to hall of famers and became a featured program on BTR until his death in 2010. On October 23, 2012, exactly two years after his death, ''Michael Porter's WrestleShoot'' returned to BTR with close friends Mike Summers (now of Action Video Entertainment of

Mt. Shasta, California Mount Shasta (also known as Mount Shasta City) is a city in Siskiyou County, California, at about above sea level on the flanks of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark. The city is less than southwest of the summit of its na ...

, and Action VR Network of

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) and Paula Jo Schaber as hosts and producers. (Schaber has since passed away and "Wacko" Bob Guercia now serves as co-host and producer.) The program aired on Sundays on BTR and also spawned a spin-off program called ''RollerShoot'', a program devoted to

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

. On August 5, 2013, ''Michael Porter's WrestleShoot'' ended its five-year run with BTR with its final program by re-airing the pilot from 2008. Michael Porter's WrestleShoot - Final Episode on MP Channel
Blog Talk Radio, August 5, 2013 The program returned to internet radio on its new home, The Wacko Radio Network (now Action VR Network), on December 4, 2016, now airing on Mixlr. In 2017, repeats and marathons of the program began airing on Action VR 2. Summers, Guercia as The Star Wacko Bob (A Heel Persona), former wrestler "Pretty Boy" Doug Masters and former '' WWE Tough Enough'' participant

Brian Danovich ''WWE Tough Enough'' was an American professional wrestling reality competition series that was produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season ...

(until his passing) served as hosts until the last all-new episode on May 31, 2020.

Career highlights

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

:*Ring Announcer/Security/Ring Crew (House shows and '' WrestleMania VII'', 1988-1993) *United Wrestling Alliance :*UWA Commissioner (2003) :*UWA Hardcore Champion (2003) *Pro Championship Wrestling :*Ring Announcer (2005) *Devil Mountain Wrestling :*Ring Announcer (2007)

References

External links

''Michael Porter's WrestleShoot'' on Blog Talk Radio

''Cloverleaf Radio'' on Blog Talk Radio

"The Dark Match" Tribute to Michael Porter

''AVE Radio Network'' on Blog Talk Radio

Action VR Network on Mixlr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Michael Professional wrestling announcers 2010 deaths 1951 births People from Gridley, California