Steve Szyndrowski may not have made the Sandburg High School wrestling team, but the man now known as Steve Michaels ended up making his living as a professional wrestler.
“I never will forget that the coach at the time said, ‘Hey, maybe wrestling’s not your thing. You should try something else,’ and cut me from a no-cut team, which I find ironic,” said Michaels, of Orland Park.
“I did football for four years. I did track. I threw shot put for my junior and senior year. I was even on the chess team my freshman year. I did a lot of other things but I wasn’t ever on the actual wrestling team,” he said.
Michaels pursued other career paths after graduating from Sandburg in 2005, but meeting World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer Afa Anoaʻi during the organization’s WrestleMania Axxess fan convention in 2015 in California changed everything.
“Before I could even say hi to him, he said, ‘You wrestle?’ At this point I’m 28. I remember telling him, ‘I don’t know if I could cut it.’ He smiled at me and said, ‘You never know unless you try,’” Michaels recalled.
That suggestion coupled with meeting Tommy Dreamer at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, or C2E2, solidified pursuing pro wrestling full time.
“In the middle of the conversation, he looked at me and said, ‘Are you a wrestler?’ I laughed and said, ‘You’re the second person that asked me this in a month,’” Michaels said.
“He basically told me that when he was working for (World Wrestling Entertainment), he was told to hire guys that had looked like me so I should really consider doing it. That’s what really pushed me over the edge.”
After moving to Florida, Michaels trained at Team 3D Academy, which was owned by the namesake Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Hall of Famers, also known as World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famers The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley).
Michaels then trained with Jesús Rodriguez (Ricardo Rodriguez in World Wrestling Entertainment) and Mecha Wolf at Pro Wrestling 2.0, which is owned by Alex Porteau (Alex “The Pug” Pourteau in World Wrestling Federation), eventually wrestling on that promotion’s shows and becoming PW2.0 heavyweight champion.
“I have focused on this strictly for six years now,” said Michaels, who began wrestling in 2018 and had his first Chicago-area matches at the former Berwyn Championship Wrestling, where he became its heavyweight champion.
Michaels, who grew up watching wrestling with his father and who has the late Greg Szyndrowski’s initials on his wrist tape at every show, will defend his Rocket Pro Wrestling heavyweight championship against a surprise opponent at Christmas Chaos on Dec. 7 at St. Joseph Park in Joliet.
“The whole family at (Rocket Pro Wrestling) had treated me so well from the start. I’m grateful to work for them,” said Michaels, who joined in 2021 on the encouragement of “The Shogun” Chris L.O.G.A.N. and “All-Day” Marshe Rockett.
“RPW has become my home promotion. I have so many of my family, so many of my friends come out month after month to see me work there,” he said. “For this to be the place where my home crowd, the people who I grew up with, see me get to that level (of champion) meant so much.”
Rockett vs. Joe Hendry from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling headlines Christmas Chaos.
“For him to take the time out of his schedule to work with us and to work on our show, that means a lot because we’re doing something good here,” Michaels said.
Christmas Chaos marks the third year of Rocket Pro Wrestling welcoming Windy City Ghostbusters’ toy drive for La Rabida Children’s Hospital on Chicago’s South Side. Attendees who bring a new, unopened toy or donate cash receive a raffle ticket to win a Michaels’ prize pack and take a photo with him on the entrance ramp.
The Windy City Ghostbusters concluded its year-round annual collection in 2023 by donating more than 1,300 toys and presenting an $8,000 check to La Rabida.
“We believe they do a lot of good work that goes under the radar. They do a lot of work with low-income families. They do a lot of work with specialty cases as well,” said Michaels, the charity liaison and former team president of the group of Ghostbuster enthusiasts who make and wear movie-accurate costumes.”
Michaels, who made his first proton pack out of wood when he was 18 and now sports a fiberglass version with lights and sounds, estimated there are 85 active Windy City Ghostbusters members including Joliet, Oak Lawn and Plainfield residents.
Donations for the third annual toy drive also may be dropped off before Dec. 15 at Amazing Fantasy Books & Comics at 20505 S. La Grange Road, Frankfort; 16649 Oak Park Ave., Unit A, Tinley Park; 113 E. 9th St., Lockport; and HobbyTown, 15601 S. 94th Ave., Orland Park.
“Once everything is donated it all gets brought back to my house. I sort everything, count everything and bag everything so it’s more organized,” Michaels said.
“One of our team members has an Ecto, the Ghostbusters car. We’ll load up a trailer attached to it, we’ll drive up to the hospital and we’ll make a big delivery to the hospital and drop off all these toys,” he said. “That’s one of the coolest things. To be able to see the generosity of the community is absolutely amazing.”
Michaels has wrestled for promotions in states including Alabama, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Tennessee and since 2019 been part of Kentucky-based Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he won the its Southern tag team championship.
“It was such a prestigious title. It was the same belts that John Cena held, that Brock Lesnar held when they were there. To hold that with my faction, The Legacy of Brutality, meant so much,” said Michaels about sharing the title with Big Zo, Ca$h Flo, Hy-Zaya and Josh Ashcraft.
Since winning the Rocket Pro Wrestling heavyweight belt in March, Michaels has defended it at Illiana Pro Wrestling in Richton Park and Unify Championship Entertainment Wrestling, which he called a huge deal because it was the first time a Chicago-area champion had defended a title on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu.
Michaels returned to Sandburg in 2023 and 2024 to speak to students.
“It was such an honor for me to get to go back and discuss my career,” he said. “I never was the greatest student but to be able to tell these kids, ‘Hey, it’s OK, you can still be successful,’ that’s special to me.”
Christmas Chaos
When: 5 p.m. Dec. 7
Where: St. Joseph Park, 700 Theodore St., Joliet
Tickets: $25-$35
Information: 630-327-8297; rocketprowrestling.com
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
