Xcite wrestling is back in Hornell, Dec, 12, 2025 at The Bullseye Saloon with a steel cage
By BILL COLLMER, Hornell Sun Senior Sports Writer (photos courtesy Derek Snyder)
Professional wrestling dates back to the 19th century, by the beginning of the modern Olympics in 1896 the separation of Worked, i.e. purely performative, choreographed wrestling from the competitive sport was completed in the 1920s. Its popularity declined during World War II, but was revived in the late 1940s to 1960s, the First Golden Age of professional wrestling in the United States.
There was a decline in public interest in the 1970s and early 1980s, but with cable television in the mid-1980s there followed a Second Golden Age as the United States experienced a professional wrestling boom period Wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Roddy Rowdy Piper and Ric Flair became national stars. The nature of professional wrestling was changed dramatically to better fit television, enhancing character traits and storylines. Television has also helped many wrestlers like John Cena and The Rock break into mainstream media, becoming influential celebrities of pop culture.
In 2008 the movie The Wrestler was released starring Mickey Rourke. The Wrestler told the less glamourous side of the pro wrestling story, for every Hulk Hogan wrestling at Madison Square Garden on national television there’s a Randy “The Ram” Robinson played by Rourke working at a Supermarket during the week and wrestling on independent shows in New Jersey on weekends.
Michael Johnson is training to be professional wrestler with hopes of making it to the big time. Johnson grew up in Hornell the youngest son of Kirk and Lynn Johnson. Both of his older brothers and his parents were wrestling fans tuning into WWE Raw and WCW Nitro every Monday night. Their uncles were also big wrestling fans. One year for Christmas their uncle took them to watch a WWE House Show in Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Where they watched Stars like Triple H, Chris Jericho and Edge and Christian.
Now 32 years old, Johnson lives in Waverly, NY and works during the day as a supervisor at the CVS Warehouse in Wavelry and at night he has been training three or four days a week in Horseheads for the past three and a half years at the Fighting Arts Pro Wrestling Institute with trainers Pat Sawyer, Malcolm Calloway and with local Wrestling Legend and Campbell native Matt Knowles better known to wrestling fans as H.C Loc.
Johnson is also wrestling under the name Phinehas Sun at Independent Wrestling Shows for Xcite Wrestling. Xcite Wrestling has provided the best pro wrestling action in upstate New York region since 2012. Bringing a blend of big-name talent with a local flare.
The name Phinehas Sun has a special meaning for Johnson.
“Music has always been a passion of mine before I started wrestling, I would go to concerts and festivals I’ve watched a lot of great bands, one of my favorite bands is Phinehas they are a metalcore band out of California. I first saw them in Horseheads at the I matter festival then happened to see them again in New Jersey, I would talk with the lead singer after every set. The Sun part of the name is to honor my dad who passed away in 2012, he had changed his last name to Sun before he passed away, so I took that and ran with it to honor him,” Michael Johnson Said.
Johnson has also wrestled for Ultimate Wrestling, Extreme Wrestling Force where he had his first official singles match and he wrestled one match in New Jersey for Super Powers of Pro Wrestling.
“Growing up I always loved Pro Wrestling, watching Raw and Smackdown on TV, it’s something that my uncle and I had in common was our love for Pro Wrestling, so we’d talk about that. I think I’ve only been to 3-or-4 house shows for WWE, I took my daughter to an NXT show right before Covid started. At the time I started I was going through a really rough time mentally and wrestling became my escape, and it helped and now I have people I can lean on when I need someone to talk to, so if you’re struggling you should find an outlet, and talk to someone it helps,” Johnson said.
Johnson started out in a tag team called The Hardcore Degenerates, with a very large man named Big Smoke (6’6” 280 LBS) and they were managed by Rob Cook. Cook is a New York independent Wrestling veteran who is in several Wrestling Hall of Fames. He had a big influence on Johnson.
“Working with Rob Cook was fantastic he helped me gain a lot of confidence, I still reach out to him for advice, “Johnson said.
Johnson is now in another Tag Team with David Black called the Hemlock Sindicate. He likes being in a tag team but also likes performing in singles matches as well.
“It really depends on the situation and the story behind it. David Black and I had been talking about being a tag team before I was paired with Big Smoke and Rob Cook, the chemistry he and I have is outstanding and we’re only going to get better as time goes on,” Johnson said.
Johnson has made it a family affair bringing in his older Brother Zackery Johnson in to train and work as a ringside camera man. His mother Lynn often accompanies him to shows and sells his merchandise before and after shows. Could we eventually see a brother versus brother match?
“My goal for Zackery is to at least get one match out of him against me, but other than that he wants to stick to production. It’s kind of hinted at every time he’s in my way at ringside I always tell him to get out of my way or I’m going to lay him out or I call him stupid,” Johnson said.
Matthew Knowles started wrestling in 1996, From 1996 to 1999, Knowles wrestled on the independent circuit on the east coach appearing on occasion as enhancement talent with WCW and WWE. He started out competing under his given name but then changed his ring name to H.C Loc, the HC for Hard Core Music. Knowles also competed in the WWF’s first-ever intergender match on the April 6, 1998, edition of Monday Night Raw losing to WWE Hall of Famer Luna Vachon.
Knowles greatest success came in ECW and Ring of Honor, Knowles originally worked as a member of the ECW ring crew, constructing and dismantling the ring before and after shows. He also acted as a referee who wrestled on occasions.In Ring of Honor, he captured the tag team Championship as a member of the Carnage Crew with Tony Devito. Devito was also an ECW Alum where he wrestled in the Da Baldies faction.
“It was an amazing experience. It was truly like being part of a team. Part of a family. That family vibe still exists when any of us see each other,” Matt Knowles said.
Knowles retired from in competition in 2011 but has recently come out of retirement to wrestle for Xcite Wrestling and other independent promotions on the east coast.
“I was actually given the opportunity to be an assistant coach way back in the mid-90s when I was still training myself. I guess I was doing well and I was asked to help some of the brand-new guys get started. But it was after my run in ECW when I really dove in to training people on a regular basis. I was lucky to have seen and done a whole lot by that point and I had learned a lot so guys would always ask me for advice. It just seemed natural for me to start teaching what I had learned, “Knowles said.
Knowles credits his success for being persistent, he never took no for an answer.
“I’ve always been a very goal-oriented person. Almost obsessive. I just knew it’s what I wanted to do and made sure I was the guy always learning and always available until I got my break,” Knowles said.
When Knowles started training, he was 5’9” 195 LBS, not your typical size for a Professional Wrestler. Johnson is 6’1” 150 LBS.
“Well, when I started there weren’t any guys my size on TV yet, so I wasn’t sure that they’d even let me train. Luckily, they did and eventually the landscape of the business changed, and it wasn’t all about giants anymore. I always tell people that talent comes in all sizes. If they work hard, they’re talent will be more important than their size,” Knowles said.
Johnson has trained with other professional wrestlers like Simon Gotch, Bill Collier, Eddie Edwards, Bobby Fish, Sami Callahan, Super Crazy, Mattick, and Steve Corino. He’s also had the opportunity to meet current WWE Star Tomasso Ciampa and the legendary tag team the Hardy Boys.
Growing up Johnson was a big fan of WWE Superstars the Undertaker, The Dudley Boys, Edge and Christian, and The Hardy Boys.
Johnson has wrestled in Hornell several times at the YMCA, in a recent show on September 6th he wrestled in a No Disqualification match for the Fighting Arts championship but came up short against rival Kayda Cyn.
XciteWrestling: Off The Rails 9/6/25
“I have three favorite matches so far, the No Disqualifications match I just had in Hornell with Kayda Cyn, the match I had with versus Mattick on a Project X taping, and the match I had with my tag team partner David Black,” Johnson said.
Phinehas Sun with Angel Duvall VS. Mattick
Phinehas Sun vs David Black (Highlights) – Xcite Wrestling (7-7-24)
Johnson’s favorite opponent so far is Kayda Cyn, he has wrestled around 50 matches so far in his young wrestling career including a few Battle Royals.
Wrestling isn’t an easy profession, and Johnson is finding that out the hard way.
“In my opinion the hardest part starting out is going against what you’ve taught yourself, when you fall your natural instinct is to try and catch yourself, so untraining yourself so you don’t catch yourself is difficult,” Johnson said.
“It’s 100% harder than I thought it was going to be, in ring cardio is way different from just running, chaining, learning moves, hitting the ropes, just changing the ring from a 16-foot to an 18-foot ring can make a difference in running the ropes,” Johnson added.
Johnson has avoided serious injuries so far
“I’ve had my nose busted open, and I threw my back out doing a suicide dive once,” Johnson said.
Johnson would like to wrestle for at least another 12-or-13 years and would love to get a shot at wrestling for AEW or the WWE.
“If I got a call tomorrow to go to a tryout for any of the big companies I’d go. It never hurts to give it a shot, Johnson said.
“My advice is always to be humble and work very hard. Keep your mouth shut and ears open when a veteran of the sport is offering advice. Work very hard at all the tasks that go in to a wrestling show that aren’t just your match. Help with the ring. Set up chairs. Make yourself valuable. If you show how bad you want it and you earn respect,” Knowles said.
Knowles is helping launch a new venture in Savona, NY at the Mud Creek Bison Ranch. Finger Lakes Extreme Wrestling (FLEX) debuts Friday September 26th
“FLEX Wrestling is the result of all I’ve learned over 40 years coming together with some brilliant partners to put on an event that will truly be special. There are wrestles coming in from all over
the country. Some with 30 plus years’ experience and some that are the absolute cream of the crop of this new generation that will be the superstars of tomorrow. If anyone is a fan and has seen independent wrestling before, I promise this will be like nothing you’ve experienced. We’ve partner with a world class venue that will offer fans a live experience, similar to the lights and sound and production they see on TV but at maybe one tenth the ticket price. Its and unbelievable value for our fans,” Knowles said.
The Hornell YMCA is doing some renovations, so Xcite wrestling won’t be back to the YMCA until March of 2026 where they are trying to do quarterly shows there. However, Xcite wrestling will be returning to Hornell on Dec, 12, 2025 at The Bullseye Saloon with the return of the steel cage.
“The Hornell crowd has been very welcoming for being a football town they love wrestling, they are always out there cheering for their hometown people Kayda Cyn, Cerin Rahne, and Chael Connors, it has been extremely fun and Xcite loves going there so we’re going back,” Johnson said.
Johnson is loving it so far and looks forward to trips around New York, wrestling anywhere from Binghampton to Rochester.
“There are so many stories from being on the road the best times in wrestling can be created in the ring but the most memorable moments are created with the people you travel with, they aren’t just your opponent or someone you train with they become friends and family. A bunch of us have been out to a driving range or up to my house for food and a card game. The wrestling community has been one of the best communities I have been a part of, and I wouldn’t change it for any other,” Johnson said.
Pro Wrestling Hall of famer Ric Flair famously said, “To be the man, you have to beat the man,” Michael Johnson is training every day to be the man, but will he eventually beat the man make it big?
“He has to keep working hard just like he’s been doing. It takes years and he’s just at the start of his journey. But he’s definitely on the right track. His hometown friends and fans will want to keep an eye on him. One day they’ll be proud to say “I knew him when”, Knowles said.
Knowles sees a little of himself in Johnson
“He’s a not so big guy from a not so big town. Just like me. I worked my butt of and I made it. He can too!!,” Knowles concluded.
The old saying goes, Hard work pays off. Michael Johnson is hoping that saying comes true and we’re watching him wrestle on National T.V in the near future.
If you would like to train to be a professional Wrestler
Contact: fightingartswrestling@gmail.com
To follow the career of Phinehas Sun on social media
YouTube
to Book Phinehas sun he can be reached via e-mail: Phinehassun@gmail.com
Derek Snyder photo slideshow:
