Mike Knox

Michael Shawn Hettinga (July 17, 1978) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment as Mike Knox.

Independent circuit (2000–2005)
Hettinga worked for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) in 2000. He tagged with Samoa Joe at UPW Proving Ground on December 12, 2000 in the Galaxy Theatre of Santa Ana, California and defeated the debuting Al Katrazz with Basil. He also wrestled at UPW live against Samoa Joe for the Heavyweight Championship, but was unable to win the title.

After being trained by Steve "Navajo Warrior" Islas, Knox started wrestling for Islas' organization Impact Zone Wrestling in 2002. He was booked to win the Heavyweight Championship on two occasions and the Tag Team Championship with friend and rival Derek Neikirk on one occasion.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2010)
Knox was signed to a World Wrestling Entertainment developmental deal in February 2005, and made a handful of appearances on WWE shows, including one appearance as a masked "jihadist" for Muhammad Hassan, in the infamous segment that led to Hassan's ousting from WWE.

ECW (2006–2008)
Knox debuted on the June 20, 2006 episode of ECW as a heel by interfering in Kelly Kelly's striptease segment, coming from the backstage area and covering her with a towel before escorting her off stage, though he was unnamed on-screen at the time. It was later revealed that Kelly was Knox's on-screen girlfriend, and he informed her that he did not appreciate her stripping in front of anyone but him. For his in-ring debut, a win over Danny Doring, Kelly accompanied him to the ringside acting as a valet. Knox was pushed strongly, interfering in matches, and squashing his opponents. He later formed a short-lived tag team with Test before starting a feud with CM Punk, after growing jealous of Kelly Kelly's admiration towards Punk. CM Punk won every match in the feud, including a qualifying match for December to Dismember's Elimination Chamber match.

Knox made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series where he teamed up with Rated-RKO, but was the first man eliminated after taking a superkick from Shawn Michaels. Upon his elimination, he was subsequently mocked by D-Generation X, as he was virtually unknown compared to the other participants. His next pay-per-view appearance saw him abandon Kelly Kelly during a mixed tag team match against Kevin Thorn and Ariel at December to Dismember, resulting in his team's loss. He then attacked her on the next ECW episode, breaking the duo up for good.

After being taken off television, Knox returned on February 13, 2007 episode ECW, where he lost easily to CM Punk. Knox was again taken off television for several months in order to return to Deep South Wrestling. On March 1, Knox and Derek Neikirk, the reformed Team Elite, were booked to win the Tag Team Championship after defeating the Major Brothers. After DSW closed, however, Knox was sent to WWE's Florida-based territory Florida Championship Wrestling.

Knox returned on the September 11 episode of ECW, defeating Balls Mahoney. The next week, he lost in a rematch to Mahoney. He then easily defeated Nunzio the week after. The next week Knox wrestled against ECW Champion CM Punk, again losing to Punk after a Go To Sleep from Punk. After months without any notable storylines, he began a feud with Tommy Dreamer whom he defeated in a series of matches, including an Extreme Rules match on the 100th episode of ECW. He then began a feud with Finlay. After weeks of confrontations between the two, they finally had a match on the September 26 edition of ECW, where they had an ECW Championship scramble qualifying match, which was won by Finlay.

Raw (2008–2009)
On the October 27 and November 3, 2008 episodes of Raw, two vignettes were aired to promote his arrival on the brand. His look drastically changed as well from his previous clean cut look to long unkempt hair and a long beard. He debuted the following week, on November 10, defeating D-Lo Brown. He attacked Rey Mysterio two times over a period of three weeks. After losing to Mysterio, Knox attacked Rey once again. Interviewer Todd Grisham, asked Knox why he attacked Rey Mysterio and he answered saying he didn't know why. In a house show at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Knox won a battle royal to become an entrant at the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out. At the event, he was eliminated by Chris Jericho and was the second competitor eliminated overall.

SmackDown (2009–2010)
On April 15, Knox was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. He made his debut for the brand on the May 8, 2009 episode of SmackDown, defeating R-Truth in a singles match. This was his last win on Smackdown as after that he occasionally competed on Smackdown and WWE Superstars, always putting over other talent. On the August 14 episode of SmackDown, Knox debuted new elements to his character that included knowledge of biology and the human anatomy, using this knowledge to methodically inflict pain upon his opponents. His final PPV appearance was at Wrestlemania XXVI, where Knox competed in a 26 man Battle Royal (a dark match) and finished fourth. On April 23, 2010, WWE announced that Knox had been released from his contract.

Independent circuit (2010–present)
Mike Knox competed against Corporal Robinson and Raven at Bloodymania IV. Corporal Robinson won the match.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2012-Present)
Main Article: Aces & Eights

In May 2012, Knox competed in a dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling against the Television Champion Devon. Knox made his television debut on the January 3, 2013, episode of Impact Wrestling, being revealed as a member of the villainous Aces & Eights stable after being unmasked by Kurt Angle. Knox gained his revenge on Angle the following week, hitting him in the neck with a ball-peen hammer. After Angle was stretchered away, Knox lost his debut match to Sting and was afterwards, attacked with his own hammer. On March 10 at Lockdown, Aces & Eights, consisting of Knox, now billed as Knux, Devon, DOC, Garett Bischoff, and Mr. Anderson were defeated by Team TNA, consisting of Eric Young, James Storm, Magnus, Samoa Joe, and Sting in a Lethal Lockdown match, with Young pinning Knux for the win.

Personal life
On April 7, 2008, a child in Locust Grove, Georgia discovered a stash of steroids, testosterone, human growth hormones, receipts for travel and science lab information hidden in the attic of her family's home which Hettinga used to occupy with another wrestler. Also found was a contract from the WWE, and a memorandum to WWE wrestlers in 2004 about their new dress code policy. Hettinga has given a statement to the police to the effect that the items were not his.

Other Media
The Video Games he has appeared in are WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 and 2011.

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Inverted fisherman buster – DSW / UPW
 * Knox Out (Swinging reverse STO) – WWE


 * Signature moves
 * Bicycle kick
 * Big boot
 * Running crossbody – 2009–present


 * Managers
 * Kelly Kelly

Championships and accomplishments

 * Deep South Wrestling
 * DSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Derek Neikirk


 * Impact Zone Wrestling
 * IZW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * IZW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Derek Neikirk


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI ranked him #87 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2009