Vital Statistics[]
Wrestler Name: Colt Murphy
Real Name: Michael Murphy Winchester
Birthday: January 16, 1957
Hometown: Mount Pleasant, IA
Billed From: West Hartford, CT
Marital Status: Single
Alignment: Tweener
Height: 6'
Weight: 203
Theme Music: "Another Bites the Dust" by Queen
Wrestling Debut: August 6, 1978 (Cedar Rapids, IA)
MVW Debut: February 1, 1981
Debut Opp: J.T. Green
Last Match: August 2, 1995
Last Opp: Felony
Style: Aerial Brawler
Finishing Move: Revolver (spinning DDT from middle turnbuckle)
Favorite Moves:
Weapon:
Notable Feuds:
Image: Steve Corino
Personal History[]
Michael Murphy Winchester was born to Theodore and Ava Winchester III on January 16, 1957, in Omaha, NE. He is the third son of the couple. The family moved from Montgomery, IA (where they had been living) to Cedar Rapids in 1973. In the following year, Hawkeye Championship Wrestling began.
Michael grew up around many of the wrestlers throughout the early years of HCW. Michael dropped out of high school when the family moved. He received his GED within a couple months of moving to Cedar Rapids. He enrolled at the University of Iowa and studied Art History and Secondary Education. In 1978, he graduated with a degree and received a job teaching art at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, IA. While teaching, he also began wrestling for his father in Cedar Rapids as the chief antagonist for the National Rasslin' Alliance. He particularly feuded with Mr. Remington and John Browning.
When the NRA came over to the MVW, he joined the group and changed his gimmick to match the group and took on the name Colt Murphy. He wrestled in the MVW until 1995 when the school board gave him an ultimatum about wrestling or teaching being his job. Michael decided to reopen Hawkeye Championship Wrestling and work as the head booker and promoter. This arrangement appeased the Mount Pleasant school board and kept him working in both arenas that he loved.
In 1996, he met Suzanne Pierce, a first-year math teacher from Floyd, IA, who had just graduated from Iowa State University. They began dating in January 1997 and were married in March 2002. They have one son, Theodore Winchester IV, who was born in June 2005.
As of June 2011, Michael and Suzanne are still teaching in Mount Pleasant. Teddy, as their son is known, just finished his fourth-grade year at Mount Pleasant Elementary.