Michael Bell

Style: Neo Figurative Art;

Place: Poughkeepsie

Born: 1971

Death: 2008

Biography:

Michael Bell was an American professional wrestler who worked for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as Mike 'Mad Dog' Bell. He was the brother of Mark Bell and Chris Bell, director of the 2008 documentary, Bigger, Stronger, Faster, and the 2015 follow up documentary, Prescription Thugs, in which Mike Bell's life and death by prescription drugs are explored. Bell struggled with weight issues as a child and was called 'Pugsley' whenever he entered his school bus. He was inspired to begin weight lifting and playing football. Bell got his nickname 'Mad Dog' by beating up the bullies that teased him during school. Eventually, Bell became captain of his high school football team, and enrolled at the University of Cincinnati on a football scholarship. Bell played Division I football until a knee injury ended his aspirations. In college, when Bell thought he was no longer his football team's biggest and strongest player, he switched to wrestling as he grew up watching the sport. He was trained by David Schultz and Paul Roma. Bell worked as a jobber for WWE (then-designated, the World Wrestling Federation, or, WWF) during the early-1990s, even performing on its flagship TV show, Monday Night Raw. Like many jobbers of that era, Bell worked on a match-by-match substructure for the WWF, never being under continuous contract with the promotion. He would occasionally tag team with fellow jobber Tony DeVito, even teaming with him upon Bell's debut, where they lost to The Natural Disasters. Bell faced various wrestlers such as The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, The 1-2-3 Kid, and Owen Hart, all in a losing effort. During his time in the company, he additionally used steroids to stand out against the other wrestlers, but this further led to increasing drug use and depression. This was featured in the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster. It can also be seen in Prescription Thugs, a documentary created by his brother about prescription drug abuse in America. As the company stopped calling and Bell never obtained a full time contract, he said 'I had a bottle of liquid lead, a bottle of nyquil, and like four boxes of sleeping pills. I went down to the river, down by the railroad tracks, parked my car and took everything. There’s no way I should be alive right now', indicating he was going to commit suicide. Bell's final match with the company was on October 13, 2003, where he and brother Mark teamed up to face Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak in a losing effort.