Mike Hughes (born November 17, 1974) is a Canadian

professional wrestler 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 or ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, Hangman Hughes. Hughes has competed on the North American independent promotions throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s as a co-founder and mainstay of Real Action Wrestling as part of the heel stable the "Kardinal Sinners" which includes "The Natural" Bobby Rude, Kingman and the Acadian Giant. Hughes briefly appeared with

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 ...

in 2003 and performed for the Puerto Rico-based International Wrestling Association in the mid-2000s.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Born in Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Hughes met

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and

Glen Kulka Glenn Kulka (born March 3, 1964) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, hockey and football player who competed in Canadian independent promotions during the late 1990s and had a brief stint in the World Wrestling Federation in 1997. He al ...

at a local gym while touring Canadian independent promotions during the late 1990s. After expressing interest in a professional career, the three encouraged him and Kulka suggested contacting promoter Emile Dupre to begin training. During 1998, Hughes began training under "Handsome" Hubert Gallant and the Cuban Assassin among other wrestlers in Dupre's Grand Prix promotion in

Shediac, New Brunswick Shediac (official in both languages; ''Shédiac'' is colloquial French) is a heavily Acadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The town is home to the famous Parlee Beach and is known as the "Lobster Capital of the World". It hosts ...

(he would later befriend fellow student Kingman, both of whom would eventually become charter members of Kardinal Sinners two years later).

Real Action Wrestling

Making his debut in

Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...

in 1999 later touring with

Leo Burke Léonce Cormier (born June 29, 1948) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He was born in Dorchester, New Brunswick. He competed across Canada, in several American promotions, and wrestled internationally for both Puerto Rico's World Wr ...

and The Beast, he traveled to the United States for a brief stint in EWA before returning to the Maritime territory and establishing Real Action Wrestling with promoter Skot Gallant that same year. Although planning to tour

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, he was convinced by Gallant to jump to RAW and help promote the promotion resulting in Grand Prix promoter Emile Dupre blacklisting Hughes from the promotion and the Maritime territory. After the promotion was sold to

Warren Olsen A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

in 2000, Hughes stayed with the promotion and eventually won the promotion's heavyweight championship. During the next two years, he and the heel stable "Kardinal Sinners" including "The Natural" Bobby Rude, Kingman and the Acadian Giant dominated the promotion until its close in July 2002.

Recent years

After competing on the independent circuit for a time, he began wrestling semi-regularly for the British promotion

All-Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...

in January 2002. Making an appearance on

WWE Heat ''WWE Heat'' (formerly known as ''Sunday Night Heat'' and also known as ''Heat'') is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and aired from August 2, 1998 to May 30, 2008. Ori ...

in May 2003, he would later compete in the first ever Maritime Cup tournament in October 2003 making it all the way to finals before losing to current Smackdown Live star Bobby Roode. In early 2004, he would be brought into the International Wrestling Association in

by Luke Williams. Facing many of the top stars in the promotion including Apolo and

Ricky Banderas Gilbert Cosme Ramírez (born May 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known by his ring names El Mesías, Mil Muertes, Ricky Banderas and King Muertes. He began his career in the International Wrestling Association based in ...

, he would eventually win the promotion's Hardcore title. Hughes would then get the invitation to participate in the prestigious Catch Tournament held in Hanover Germany alongside of such notables as Dave Taylor, Kendo Kashin, Robbie Brookside,

Lash LeRoux Mark LeRoux (born November 22, 1976) is an American cartoonist, caricature artist and retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Lash LeRoux. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from the late- ...

, and Rick Steiner. Following the tournament he returned to Puerto Rico. In 2006, Hughes travelled to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to help

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

fighter,

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known for his ...

train for his return to PRIDE on May 5 in a bout against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's James "The Colossus" Thompson. Fujita went on to win the bout via KO in round 1 at 8:25. Hughes then traveled to Japan in September to compete at

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners ...

, where he defeat Japanese legend Mr.Saito in his debut at Sumo Hall under the name Hangman Hughes. Hughes later returned to Japan and toured with New Japan Pro-Wrestlings often tag partnered with Harry Smith. In 2007, he appeared on the documentary television series "

Wrestling Reality ''Wrestling Reality'' was a documentary television series created by independent filmmaker Greg Hemmings, airing on The Fight Network. It followed the lives of a group of independent professional wrestlers in the Maritime provinces of Canada. The ...

" which featured many Canadian independent wrestlers including "Wildman" Gary Williams, Sidewinder, Marisa,

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

and Krysta Lynn Scott. Hughes then appeared in another documentary TV series named after his and Peter Smiths Tag team "The Kardinal Sinners" alongside Gary Williams, Smith, Rick Doyle and British wrestler Frankie Sloan. He and

Brody Steele Peter Smith (born August 5, 1967) is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known as his ring name, Brody Steele. Steele starred as one of the four leading characters in the Wrestling Reality documentary-reality television series that aired on ...

, a former member of the Kardinal Sinners, defeated

Yoshihiro Tajiri is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter primarily known under the ring name Tajiri (sometimes stylized as "TAJIRI"), he has also competed under his real name as well as under the names Aquarius and Kikkoman and briefly worked as the ...

and

Hiroshi Nagao is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps most famous for competing for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Hustle. Throughout Nagao's career, he would compete mainly on the mid-card. Personal life Hiroshi has a background in sports. ...

for the WWA Korea World Tag Team Championship on May 14, 2007. On September 30, 2007, he defeated Duke MacIsaac in

North Sydney, Nova Scotia North Sydney (Scottish Gaelic: ''Suidni A Tuath'' or ''Am Bàr'') is a former town and current community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Located on the north side of Sydney Harbour, along the eastern coast of Cape Breto ...

to win the ECPW Heavyweight Championship. Hughes also spent time in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador as part of Legend City Wrestling from 2011-2015 where he was spent time booking and running the company alongside the company's primary owner, Dan Bjorkdahl. Hughes left the company at a time when they were having financial hardship, and had a falling out with the company owner in 2015. The company ceased operations early in 2016.

Red Rock Wrestling

In 2009, Hughes and his wife started their own wrestling promotion called Red Rock Wrestling (RRW). The first show was on Friday, May 29, 2009 at Stratford Town Hall Gymnasium in Stratford, Prince Edward Island. He was awarded the promotions heavyweight championship, which he defended against Titus in a winning effort. RRW's second show was held on Friday, September 25, 2009 at Stratford Town Hall. He teamed up with

Robbie McAllister The Highlanders were a Scottish professional wrestling tag team consisting of storyline cousins Robbie McAllister (Derek Graham-Couch) (born 20 September 1974) and Rory McAllister (Russell Murray) (born 28 March 1976) who were best known for w ...

, defeating the team of Titus and Brody Steele. As of 2019, Hughes has won the RRW Heavyweight Championship a record seven times.

Personal life

Hughes married his longtime girlfriend, Sheri Atkinson, in 2010 and they reside on PEI.

Championships and accomplishments

*East Coast Pro Wrestling :*ECPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current) *Real Action Wrestling :*RAW Heavyweight Championship (4 times) *Legend City Wrestling :*LCW Heavyweight Championship (3 times) * International Wrestling Association :*

IWA Hardcore Championship IWA Hardcore Championship was a title contested under Hardcore wrestling rules (with the application of the 24/7 rules) in the International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico. On October 4, 2008, the title was unified with the IWA Puerto Rico H ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) *MainStream Wrestling Entertainment :*MSW Championship (1 time) *Innovative Hybrid Wrestling :*IHW Heavyweight Championship* (1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' :*PWI ranked him # 344 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2005 *WWA Korea :*WWA Korea Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Brody Steele *Ultimately Championship Wrestling :*UCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with "Wildman" Gary Williams *New Breed Wrestling :*NBW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Red Rock Wrestling :*RRW Heavyweight Championship (7 times, current)

References

External links

Supreme Wrestling Center: Mike Hughes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Hangman/Kowboy Mike 1974 births Canadian male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Prince Edward Island 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers