Mike Boehne, who was known as “The Underwear Model” Eric Priest and “The Gold Standard,” has died in a motorcycle accident. He was 50.
The 6-foot-3, 238-pounder was born on February 15, 1975, in Detroit. He fell in love with pro wrestling through WWF WrestleMania I, especially the tie-in with Mr. T, as Boehne was a big fan of The A-Team. His first attempt at weightlifting was with a Mr. T branded weight set.
Being a wrestler “is all I’ve ever wanted to be,” Boehne said in 2005.
He debuted in 2000, after training with Ace Steel and Danny Dominion, and most of his successes came in the US Midwest.
On Reddit, Robert “Ego” Anthony wrote that “Priest was one of the good ones and well respected by everyone in Chicago. During the height of his career he helped and looked out for the younger generation. He was a trainer and gave advice to younger wrestlers so they could get better.”
Among the names that Boehne helped train were Josette Bynum and Keith Walker.
In a 2005 interview with Kid Chino, Priest said that Danny Dominion came up with the Underwear Model gimmick.
“We were sitting around talking about my character and we had nothing. Actually, I was trying to be a tough guy, I wanted a ‘Stone Cold’ type name,” explained Priest. “He started laughing and said: ‘Dude, you are not a tough guy, you’re too pretty. You should be like ‘Beverly Hills 90210‘ Boy or ‘The Underwear Model.’ We started laughing and I was like, ‘Yeah, I could wrestle in my underwear and I could do this and that.’ So we decided to give it a shot. Six years later, I am still in my underwear! As goofy as the name is, it is a blessing because people remember ‘the underwear guy.’ Plus it’s instant heat.”
By 2008, Priest — who also wrestled briefly as Golden Vampire and Uncle Chester — had stopped full-time wrestling, and his journey had allowed him to work some WWE, TNA and ROH enhancement matches, and taken him out to California to work for Hoodslam. Wrestling called him back though, and he continued to work, on and off, until 2018, and helped train wrestlers. “I never thought of being a trainer. When I was asked to train, I called Danny Dominion up and asked him what he thought. He said go for it! I love training people. It can be frustrating but there is nothing more rewarding that helping someone live out there dream and achieve success,” said Priest in 2005.
In the relaunched AWA under Dale Gagne, Priest was its World Champion, only 18 months into his career.
“The AWA did impress me at first. The owner, Dale Gagne, really tries to run a first rate show. It is nothing like working for regular indies. Plus he usually runs fairs so the crowd is in the thousands compared to regular indies that draw in the hundreds. Plus, it was my first experience wrestling with and around legends like The Honky Tonk Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Sgt. Slaughter,” Priest said in 2005. “My time with them was some of my best and worst experiences in wrestling. I learned a lot about the business, I made some great connections and I really got my name out all over the country. Unfortunately my relationship with them has soured. But that’s business, right?”
There were plenty of colleagues eulogizing Priest.
On Facebook, Nick Headford wrote, “Eric Priest, you were the coolest guy I knew in the business and truly honored to call you brother. I will miss our conversations, laughs and most of all our friendship. I was fortunate to share your last match with you. Dude, this is so heart wrenching for me right now. Gone way way too soon. Rest easy my brother.”
Jim Blaze also posted his thoughts to Facebook: “Today, we lost a good man. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family. I’m grateful for the time I got to be around him at Damage Inc and the BBQ at Nick’s. Rest easy Eric Priest.”
Steve Stone wrote, “we just talked 3 weeks ago about finally starting that podcast. We both wanted to get our aggression out and focus our past addiction issues on something we loved. We always ended every convo with I love you and I can’t believe I’ll never hear that deep belly laugh of yours again. One of my best matches was with you at the i8 tournament. We were both so proud of it. Life is short. Life isn’t fair. The evil always seems to stay alive and well while the good die young and innocent.”
Announcer Mick Karch wrote that “Eric Priest was a true gentleman. I worked with him in the early 2000s with Steel Domain Wrestling. Hadn’t seen him in quite a while and then we reconnected at the Midwest Wrestling Reunion in Chicago a handful of years ago. I am stunned.”
Rik Morris wrote that “Eric Priest was not just the coolest wrestler I ever met but also quite possibly the coolest person, period. He always has time to listen or offer advice or whatever. It’s not an exaggeration to say he was my most trusted friend on Facebook and to say I’m absolutely crushed right now and in a very very bad mental state is an understatement. This is not supposed to be this way.”
Boehne is survived by his son and family. Further details on the motorcycle accident on February 22, 2025, are not known at this time.
