Michael Hinkley, aka Crash Cassidy, has now stepped off the grid iron and into the squared circle as a professional wrestler.
A former Auburn High School and Bluefield College football player has turned his attention to the wrestling ring.
At 6’3, 280, Michael Hinkley was an imposing figure on the offensive line, and his persona, Crash Cassidy, is slowly taking him to the top of the independent wrestling circuit. Hinkley’s stature is also imposing in the ring.
Cassidy feels sports taught him a lot.
“But some of the most important awards I received were Mid-South Conference Champion of Character and being a Scholar-Athlete at Bluefield College with a 3.4 grade point average. Sports made school so much harder, because I was tired from 5 a.m. workouts, 7 a.m. film meetings, then classes all morning and practices at nights. It was harder, but it made me a tougher and better person,” he said.
He was a four-year starter and two-time first team all-conference lineman for Auburn and placed fourth in state shot put competition as a junior.
Later, he was invited to play in the NCAA Division II-NAIA all-star game at the end of his season at Bluefield.
It was the time on the grid iron which helped better prepare him for the ups-and-downs along with the bumps and bruises of the wrestling ring.
“It has helped me with my strength, speed and agility, but paying attention to detail and being coachable are the most valuable things I learned. Everyone is going to mess up at some point but being able to watch the film back and critique what I did wrong and fixing it in the next match is key to success,” Cassidy said.
Auburn did not have a wrestling team when he was in school, but he practiced with the Bluefield College club team his senior year and gained a good amount of knowledge that has carried over to professional wrestling.
Michael Hinkley is a former offensive lineman at Bluefield College where he graduated this past spring.
His interest in the squared circle can be traced to time spent at his grandmother’s house. “I have watched wrestling for as long as I could remember. My grandma used to babysit me when I was five or so and would always record shows from the night before so I could watch during the day. I would wrestle with all the neighborhood kids on my trampoline, and we also had all of the video games that we’re produced.”
As a teenager, he attended a live wrestling event in Roanoke that lit the real spark.
”I loved everything about it, the story telling, the fan reaction Superstars get, and the explosive pyro during entrances. When I was at Bluefield College, I met a few football teammates that also enjoyed it and we would always buy the pay per views and watch together,” Cassidy said.
He was told throughout college he had the look of a wrestler, but he wouldn’t even think about it until his football career was over. He was recruited by a few Arena football teams, but instead stayed in college and finished his degree.
He then started training at Jimmy “Boogie Woogie Man” Valiant’s, Boogie’s Wrestling Camp (BWC) in Shawsville and graduated in September.
He then trained with Joe Brody in Bluefield, West Virginia and had a tryout for WWE wrestler Heath Slater’s camp, Face-2-Face Wrestling, in Morrow, Georgia.
His ultimate goal was originally to wrestle alongside some of the independent stars he watched growing up as a youngster—Scotty Rocker, Shawn Cruz, Frank Parker, Rick Kelly, Scotty Raines and Mike Williams.
“There are a lot of them still in the business that have been wrestling 15+ years, and it makes me nervous even being in the same locker room as them,” he said.
The plan for his in-ring character, Crash, was simply a play on words that had an intimidating sound to it.
Now, he said, Crash Cassidy is more than just a character. As a matter of fact, it has lofted him to comic book hero heights.
“I coach football at Auburn High School where I graduated from [wrestling camp], and after our big win against Floyd County, I walked off the field and the student section began to chant ‘Crash… Crash… Crash,’ and now it happens to me all the time. Everyone calls me Crash and looks up to me almost as a heroic figure. It’s a fun character to be,” he said.
He faced Rocker during his graduation match from training camp and got to face Shawn Cruz for his first championship win, both dreams come true, he said.
He is affiliated with USA Championship Wrestling and Pure Pro Wrestling, and recently won the United States Heavyweight title.
USA Championship Wrestling does a live show every Thursday night at 8 p.m. in Bluefield and Pure Pro Wrestling has its next event Oct. 6 in Montvale.
Crash Cassidy can be seen at both live events.
