Icons of Wrestling #3 – Dok Hendrix

Jamie Lithgow

Height: 6’4”
Weight: 255lbs
Home Town: Badstreet U.S.A.
Years Active: 1995-1999
AKA: Screaming Eagle and some guy called Michael ‘P.S.’ Hayes
Bio: The year of 1995 will go down in history as one of the most must-see in WWE history. Not only were we treated to Lawrence Taylor’s fantastic wrestling ability and Jeff Jarrett’s silky smooth singing voice, but 1995 also brought us the debut of commentator extraordinaire Dok Hendrix. Making his PPV debut alongside Vince McMahon at the inaugural In Your House, this Keith Lemon lookalike would go on to commentate on precisely one or two more PPVs. Dok was so good in the role of heel commentator that he was deployed to where the real action was; as a backstage interview type guy and commentator on Superstars. On the odd occasion Dok would even supplant the legendary Todd Petengill as host of WWE’s Free for All. Y’know, that crappy countdown show they used to broadcast just before PPVs. The pinnacle of Dok’s career in WWE came at the 1996 King of the Ring when he masterfully held the microphone allowing Steve Austin to deliver his seminal 3:16 promo. Sadly Dok’s microphone holding skills were called upon less and less after the dawn of the Attitude Era. Eventually, in a blockbuster announcement in 1999, it was revealed that the artist formally known as Dok Hendrix was in fact Fabulous Freebird and actual wrestling legend Michael ‘P.S.’ Hayes. After this announcement the Dok Hendrix character was retired to allow fans to recover from the shock of such a revelation.

You can find all the pieces from the ‘Icons of Wrestling’ series here.