Jersey Cowboy

Michael Anthony Cotignola, III (born July 9, 1980) is an American independent pro-wrestler and author better known by the ring-name "The Jersey Cowboy." The Jersey Cowboy was active in several New Jersey wrestling promotions, including Old Time Wrestling, Jersey All-Pro Wrestling, East Coast Pro Wrestling, JWA-United, Bodyslam Wrestling Organization and National Wrestling Superstars.
Early life
Cotignola was born in North Plainfield, NJ. He attended Raritan Valley Community College where he majored in Liberal Arts. Cotignola intended to pursue a career as a teacher and an author. Cotignola had several poems published by vanity publisher the International Library of Poetry; however, he was displeased because these books were not available at retailers, thus making him an unknown poet. A fan of professional wrestling for many years, Cotignola took time off of college to pursue a wrestling career.
Professional Wrestling Career
The Monster Factory / Old Time Wrestling (1999-2000)
Cotignola began his professional wrestling career at the Monster Factory, a wrestling school located in Bellmawr, NJ. Here he began his training under . On Paulsboro Day in 1999 he wrestled in front of a small crowd under the moniker "MAC III" and was defeated with a sitout powerbomb. At a later show in Gloucester, NJ, Cotignola was given a school shirt of the high school where the event took place, set as a plant, and was attacked by the heels at the beginning of the show. A group of faces came out of the locker room to save the "high school student," thereby setting up the rest of the show.
Due to financial troubles, Cotignola left the Monster Factory in 2000. He never had a sanctioned match in OTW.
Jersey All-Pro Wrestling (2001-2002)
In 2001, Jersey All-Pro Wrestling held a tryout similar to WWE's Tough Enough program, promising free training to the winner. Jay Lethal won the tournament, and Cotignola became one of JAPW's students. Soon after he began competing in JAPW's student shows. It was in JAPW that Cotignola had the opportunity to train under , who held a clinic at the JAPW school, focusing on ring psychology.
The Jersey Cowboy made his in-ring debut as a mid-carder at 2001's Student Slaughter, wrestling against "GQ" Gavin Quest. GQ defeated the Cowboy via pinfall. Cotignola wrestled in the next three student shows, participating in singles and tag-team matches, and a battle royale (in which he was the last man eliminated). At JAPW's eighth student show, Cotignola received a Student Championship title match against reigning champion "The Future Natural" Tony Lazaro. Though the Cowboy was defeated by Lazaro, he was a fan-favorite with the local crowd.
In 2002, Jersey All-Pro Wrestling had to close its school because the Charity Hall was sold to a developer, forcing JAPW to find a new home.
East Coast Pro-Wrestling (2002)
On the advice of the trainers at JAPW, Cotignola and several of his "classmates" went to East Coast Pro-Wrestling to continue their training and wrestling careers. He debuted on ECPW TV against the Metal Maniac and proceeded to wrestle other big names in ECPW as a mid-carder. As a face, the Jersey Cowboy quickly became a fan-favorite in ECPW and a respected worker in the locker room. He had notable feuds with the Metal Maniac and "Mr. Ratings" Dan de Man.
In the summer of 2002, Cotignola decided to join the US Army, with plans to go to basic training that September. After informing his promoter, "Mr. Italy" Gino Caruso, of his decision, plans for his exit from ECPW were made. First, the Jersey Cowboy defeated "GQ" Gavin Quest via disqualification when the Metal Maniac stormed the ring and interfered. This began the Cowboy's feud with the Metal Maniac. In their next confrontation, Jersey Cowboy achieved an upset victory over the much larger Metal Maniac. In a post-match attack, the Maniac beat-down the Jersey Cowboy and cut off his ponytail to humiliate the younger wrestler. While the feud was supposed to culminate in a match that pitted the Jersey Cowboy against Metal Maniac, Maniac no-showed the event. Jersey Cowboy instead wrestled Dan de Man under the same stipulation, and lost due to outside interference.
US Army (2002-2005) and Bodyslam Wrestling Organization (2003)
Cotignola entered a state of semi-retirement while serving in the United States Army as an infantryman in the Big Red One.
The Jersey Cowboy had one match for Bodyslam Wrestling Organization immediately after he finished basic training, a three-way match against "GQ" Myke Quest and Chris Cabana, which he won with his patented Crazy Flip (springboard imploding 450° senton); that was his only match while enlisted in the US Army.
Word of his previous wrestling career spread throughout his company, earning him the nickname "Cowboy" among comrades (who found it easier to pronounce his ring name rather than his real name).
JWA-United (2006-2007)
Cotignola wrestled briefly for JWA-United Wrestling in the summer/fall of 2007, which was based in New Brunswick, NJ. He formed a tag team with "The Indian Warrior" Draven, known as Cowboys & Indians.
National Wrestling Superstars (2007-2009)
After serving in the US Army, Cotignola took some time to get on his feet in the civilian world. In November 2007 he made is NWS debut in a squash match in which he was a member of a 3-man rookie team who faced Prince Saddam Insane and TNT. In December 2008, Jersey Cowboy teamed up with NWS Cruiserweight Champion JD Smooth, the only match where Jersey Cowboy wrestled as a heel.
The Jersey Cowboy wrestled throughout 2008 as a face in NWS, quickly gaining popularity with the NWS audience. He competed mainly as a singles wrestler, but also wrestled in a few tag-team matches. Although he won a cruiserweight battle royale, which guaranteed him a title shot against NWS Cruiserweight Champion JD Smooth, the match was announced as a non-title bout on the night of the fight.
In October 2008, The Jersey Cowboy was involved in a feud with the Indian Warrior Draven. The match was billed as "Cowboys vs. Indians" and was a falls count anywhere match. Early in the match, Draven Irish whipped the Cowboy into one of the ring posts on the outside of the ring. The Jersey Cowboy's left ring finger got caught in the turnbuckle assembly, tearing it open. The match was not stopped, and continued to its climax where Draven used his signature move, the Cradleshock off of a stage through a table to get the victory via pinfall. Post-match, Cotignola went to a local hospital for stitches.
Semi-Retirement
In March 2009, Cotignola wrestled in a special "Loser Leaves NWS" grudge match against GQ Myke Quest. GQ was also the Cowboy's first professional opponent (then wrestling as GQ Gavin Quest); this match was added to the show's undercard at GQ's request as a "going-away present" for Cotignola. The match was well-received by NWS management and the capacity crowd because of the two wrestlers' excellent chemistry. GQ managed to kick out of Cowboy's finisher, The MACAttack, and defeat the Jersey Cowboy. This was the Jersey Cowboy's last match; after this match, he again entered a state of semi-retirement when he moved his family to Wyoming.
Military career
Active Duty
Cotignola knew that he could not support himself with only his wrestling career. A proud American, Cotignola enlisted in the US Army in 2002. He attended basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia to become an infantryman. He was then stationed at Ledward Barracks in Schweinfurt, Germany for most of his military career; however, Cotignola served in Operation Iraqi Freedom II from 2004-2005. When his 3-year contract was up, Cotignola was honorably discharged from the Army in September 2005. He attained the rank of specialist.
National Guard
In 2009, Cotignola enlisted in the Wyoming Army National Guard. Though his MOS remained 11B, the state of Wyoming no longer maintains infantry in the National Guard. This will result in Cotignola's eventual need to reclass.
Writing career
The Heartbreak Cycle
On August 12, 2009, Cotignola self-published a book of poetry titled The Heartbreak Cycle: A true story of love and lust using Createspace.com. It is a collection of love poetry that tells the story of fifteen years of his romantic life. The Heartbreak Cycle became available for download on Kindle in mid-February 2010.
This book chronicles the romantic life of the author, beginning in Hillside Middle School (as it was called back when it housed grades 6-8) and ending nearly five years into his marriage (when the book was published). Cotignola maintains that the events contained within are true, and denies taking poetic license while writing the book—the source material is factual, written in poetic form. Cotignola made it a point not to include any sonnets in The Heartbreak Cycle.
Other literary projects
Cotignola has confirmed via various social networking sites that he is working on the following projects:
* A trilogy of fantasy novels.
* A science fiction novel, the prologue of which he intended as a gift to purchasers of "The Heartbreak Cycle."
* A campaign setting based on his fantasy novels that will be compatible with the Pathfinder role-playing game.
In Wrestling
* Finishing Moves
** The MACAttack (springboard backflip three-quarter facelock falling reverse DDT)
** The Crazy Flip (springboard imploding 450° senton) -- innovated
* Signature Moves
** Moonsault Chaser (a somersault across the opponent followed by a standing moonsault)
** Moonsault Amdrag (a standing moonsault combined with a Japanese armdrag)
** , with theatrics
** Leg Drop Bulldog
** Flying Headscissors Takedown
** Hurricanrana
** Wheelbarrow Bulldog
* Entrance Themes
** "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC (JAPW)
** by Kid Rock (ECPW, BWO, JWA-United)
** "Dirty Black Summer" by Danzig (NWS; remixed with parts of "Cowboy" and "Cocky" in the beginning, both by Kid Rock)

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