The Texas Wrestling Academy (formerly known as The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy) is a

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 or ...

training school that was operated by Shawn Michaels and Rudy Boy Gonzalez. The school has produced many well-known wrestlers such as Daniel Bryan,

Brian Kendrick Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE. Kendrick is also known for his appearances with Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrest ...

Paul London Paul Michael London (born April 16, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is best known for his time with WWE. After being trained at the Texas Wrestling Academy, London began competing for Ring of Hon ...

Lance Cade Lance Kurtis McNaught (March 2, 1981 – August 13, 2010) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he performed under the ring names Garrison Cade and Lance Cade. After be ...

MASADA Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the D ...

Shawn Hernandez Shawn Hernandez (born February 11, 1973) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrestling, where he performed under the ring name Hernandez. He is an eight-time tag team champion, having won the Impact Wo ...

Matt Bentley Matthew James Bentley (born December 10, 1979) is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) by the ring name Michael Shane, later changed to "Maverick" Matt Bentley. He was trained by his c ...

and Milano Collection A.T.

History

After briefly retiring from active wrestling in 1998 after back surgery, Shawn Michaels opened the ''Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy'' on April 5, 1999, with Ken Johnson,

Jose Lothario Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya * Jose the Galil ...

and Rudy Boy Gonzalez. They also started a professional wrestling promotion to go along with the school called the Texas Wrestling Alliance (TWA).

Tribute show

A tribute to

, who trained at the SMWA, took place on March 5, 2011, at the Texas Wrestling Academy gym in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Cade died on August 13, 2010, as a result of heart failure.

References

Professional wrestling schools Independent professional wrestling promotions based in Texas {{Texas-sport-stub