Mike Awesome

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Mike Awesome
Statistics
Ring name(s) The Pro
The Gladiator
Mike Awesome
Billed height 6 ft 6 in. (198 cm)
Billed weight 280-326 lbs. (132 kg)
Born January 24, 1965(1965-01-24)
Tampa, Florida
Died February 17, 2007 (aged 42)
Tampa, Florida
Trained by Steve Keirn
Debut 1989
Retired 2006

Mike Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and in World Wrestling Entertainment and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the name The Gladiator[1]. Throughout his career, he was known for being exceptionally agile for his size.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Career

Alfonso grew up with Michael Bollea. As a result of Awesome's aunt (his father's sister) marrying Hulk Hogan's brother, Awesome and Bollea (the future Horace Hogan) were cousins and the two began to consider a career in wrestling during Hulk Hogan's famous WWF run in the 1980s.[2] Alfonso received training from Steve Keirn's training camp based out of the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF)[3]. After wrestling for the PWF in 1989, teaming occasionally with Brett Sawyer, Alfonso moved around throughout various independent promotions, including a brief stint in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) under the tutelage of Nate The Rat, a manager there. In that same year, he made his first television appearance for World Championship Wrestling -- as a masked jobber from San Juan, Puerto Rico named The Pro.

Early 1980s: "Big Mike" graduated from King High School in Tampa and worked out at the infamous Stan's Gym on 56th Street. He exuded energy and had an aggressive sense of humor, the baseline of his career to come. Mike was known to say "I can’t see him, but I can smell the smallness". His work ethic made him a fixture and standout at the hardcore bodybuilding cauldron.

[edit] 1990-2000

Alfonso moved on to Japan, joining Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in late 1990 and using the name The Gladiator.

In 1993, Alfonso appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome) before returning to FMW. In 1994, the Gladiator finally captured his first title, teaming with Big Titan to defeat Atsushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niyama in the finals of the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship Tournament.[4] They lost the title that April, but Awesome won them again with new partner Mr. Pogo in October.[4] As the Gladiator, he faced and defeated Hayabusa for his first major singles title, the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in September of 1995, but was forced to vacate it due to (legit) injury the next February.[5] In May of 1996 he won the title for a second time, then unified it with the FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship after defeating W*ING Kanemura in that December.[4] The next August, teaming with Hisakatsu Ooya & Mr. Gannosuke he won the vacated FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles, holding all three belts at once, but within a month lost all three during an epic feud with Masato Tanaka.[4]

Awesome was involved in a backstage altercation with members of a Yakuza group at an FMW event, as a result of several Yakuza members beating up his friend and fellow wrestler Sabu. As a result, Awesome, along with the rest of the foreign wrestlers, didn't leave their locker room for over two hours, because Yakuza members were waiting in the hallway. It took Atsushi Onita to smooth things over with the group and get the foreign wrestlers safe passage out of the arena.

In the summer of 1998, Awesome began appearing for ECW again, continue his feud with Masato Tanaka in the United States. Awesome began in ECW by losing to Tanaka on an episode ECW's weekly Hardcore TV. However, following the match, he delivered an Awesome Bomb to Tanaka over the top rope through a table set up on the outside. In his final appearance of his second ECW stint, Awesome lost to Tanaka again at the August Heat Wave pay-per-view event (which Awesome claimed he was never paid for).

After returning to Japan, Alfonso seriously injured his knee during a match with Super Leather, taking him out of wrestling for nearly a year. When he returned, he continued to wrestle as The Gladiator for a brief period in All Japan Pro Wrestling[5] before returning to ECW. Almost immediately upon arriving in ECW for his third stint, he shocked the wrestling world by winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Anarchy Rulz by defeating the reigning champion Tazz and arch nemesis Masato Tanaka in a three-way dance, which was signed on the spot.

[edit] 2000-2001

Awesome continued to be a major factor in ECW early in 2000, including teaming with Raven to beat Tanaka & Tommy Dreamer for the ECW World Tag Team Championship.[4] He also gained a new manager, Judge Jeff Jones.

In April of 2000, Awesome shocked the wrestling world again, this time by making a surprise appearance on WCW Monday Nitro -- aiding the New Blood by attacking Kevin Nash -- while still reigning as ECW World Champion[1]. Awesome's friend Lance Storm has said that he had refused to sign a new contract with ECW until Paul Heyman paid him overdue wages.[6] Due to concern over legal issues WCW refrained from having Awesome appear on their television shows with the ECW belt. Eventually, a compromise was reached which resulted in one of the more bizarre moments in professional wrestling history. Awesome (a WCW employee and ECW champion) appeared at an ECW event, accompanied by WCW's head of security,[7] where he lost the title to Tazz (a World Wrestling Federation employee), who lost it a week later to Tommy Dreamer (a full time ECW wrestler).[8]

Now with WCW, Awesome continued to be a major factor with the New Blood for the next month, teaming with Billy Kidman occasionally to aide him in his feud with Hulk Hogan. Awesome also engaged in an on-and-off feud with Kevin Nash, as well as feuding with Kanyon. During 2000, his gimmick was tweaked, with him becoming infatuated with heavyset women and calling himself ""The Fat Chick Thriller" Mike Awesome""[1]. Awesome later changed his gimmick and became "That '70s Guy" Mike Awesome (a reference to the hit TV series, That '70s Show), dressing in various 1970s inspired outfits and hosting the "Lava Lamp Lounge" interview segment. At one point, he was even given a bus painted in the style of the one featured on The Partridge Family to drive into arenas for his entrance.[1][9] During this time, he had a feud with Vampiro, which created many brawls between Awesome & Vampiro's allies in the Insane Clown Posse. At one point, Awesome battled Shaggy 2 Dope & Violent J in a Handicap match, which led to Awesome Powerbombing 2 Dope on top of a bus (who then slid off, injuring himself). In May of 2000, Awesome was involved in a memorable moment during which he threw Chris Kanyon off the top of the first level of a triple cage onto the entrance ramp.

[edit] 2001-2005

He dropped the '70s gimmick in favor of a "Career Killer" and later "Canadian Career Killer" gimmick and joined the Team Canada stable with Lance Storm and Elix Skipper. A feud with the Filthy Animals led to Awesome challenging Billy Kidman to a Hair-vs-Hair match, however before the bout could take place, Team Canada attacked Kidman backstage leaving him unable to compete. Konnan (who had no hair) took his place, and got the win, giving the Animals the right to cut off Awesome's long-time mullet[1]. Awesome then faded into the background, mostly helping Storm in his battles against Ernest "The Cat" Miller.

After the March 2001 purchase of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Awesome became part of The Invasion storyline in the WWF. His WWF debut came on the June 25, 2001 episode of Raw is War during a match which saw Test defending his WWF Hardcore Title against Rhyno. After Rhyno Gored Test against a wall and pinned him he stood celebrating his new title only to be attacked by Awesome wielding a metal pipe. He then powerbombed Rhyno onto a ladder and pinned him, becoming champion himself due to the 24/7 rule.[10] Awesome was the first "Invader" to gain gold in the WWF, stealing away with the Hardcore belt before any WWF wrestlers could catch him[1]. Awesome's hardcore reign came to an end a few weeks later on the July 12 edition of SmackDown! when he was pinned by Jeff Hardy.[10] Awesome's push slowly declined and he began appearing mostly on WWF's B-shows. He was left off the majority of the Invasion storyline pay-per-views, and was eventually sidelined with an injury in November 2001.

After The Alliance ended, Awesome was not used much in storylines or matches and was drafted to SmackDown! with the brand extension. As a part of the SmackDown! roster he was still rarely seen on TV, eventually being released in September of 2002.

In R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez's book, The Death of WCW, Awesome was quoted saying "Being in the WWE (formerly the WWF) sucked. I hated it. You had to kiss everybody's ass... You had to be on your political toes all the time. You would not believe the backstage politics. You were getting stabbed in the back constantly. I was so happy when I was told I was gone [fired]."

After his release, Awesome made a few appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling but mainly competed on the independent circuit in both the United States and Japan. On the independent circuit, he had a short stint with Major League Wrestling where he won the MLW World Heavyweight Championship from Satoshi Kojima, only to lose it ten minutes later to Steve Corino[1] (Kojima's employers, AJPW would not allow him to drop the title to an employee of a rival company ZERO-1).[11]

[edit] Retirement

Awesome made an appearance at the WWE's 2005 ECW One Night Stand reunion pay-per-view, again facing Masato Tanaka. Throughout the match, Joey Styles (who was doing commentary) frequently made references to the way Awesome left ECW in 2000, calling him a "Judas" and making somewhat disparaging comments about him and even going as far as to say that its a shame he didn't succeed at taking his life after doing a suicide dive, but also handing out praise for his in-ring work. The crowd also greeted Awesome with jeers at the beginning of the match, but by the end -- which Awesome won after Awesome Bombing Tanaka to the outside of the ring and through a table and following that up with a slingshot splash -- were chanting "This match rules!" and gave both men a standing ovation[1].

In February of 2006, Awesome announced his retirement from wrestling, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and adding that he felt underpaid for his work at the One Night Stand event and that he would only return to the ring "if the money was right".[12] In his retirement he took up selling real estate.[13]

[edit] Death

On February 17, 2007,[14] at around 10:30 p.m, a group of Awesome's friends found him hanged in his Tampa home. It is believed he committed suicide.[14][13] WWE recognized Awesome's death on-air by displaying an "In Memory..." graphic at the beginning of the February 20 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, and an article about his death was posted on WWE.com, saying that Awesome was found dead but omitting the cause of death.

[edit] In wrestling

  • Catchphrases
    • "Right here!" / "Right here, baby! (Pointing to himself with both thumbs)"
    • "Awesome Bomb, baby!"
    • "I am Awesome!"
    • "Why? Cause I'm AWESOME!"
  • Nicknames
    • "The Fat Chick Thriller" (WCW)
    • "The Career Killer" (WCW)
    • "That 70's Guy" (WCW)
    • "The Gladiator" (FMW / ECW)
    • "The Canadian Killer" (WCW)

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Black, Jake. "Mike Awesome 1965 - 2007", The Wrestler, London Publishing, May 2007, pp. 53-55. Volume 15, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  2. ^ Oliver, Greg. "Mike Awesome found dead", Slam! Sports, 19 February 2007. 
  3. ^ Variale, Philip. "Three Months of Tragedies", Pro Wrestling Illustrated, London Publishing, June 2007, pp. 105-107. July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  4. ^ a b c d e Mike Awesome career highlights
  5. ^ a b The Wrestling Gospel Mike Mooneyham 25 February 2007
  6. ^ Evers, Lance. "Mike Awesome 1965-2007", StormWrestling, 2007-02-20. 
  7. ^ Molinaro, John F.. "Tazz wins ECW World title", Slam! Sports, 2000-04-14. 
  8. ^ Kapur, Bob. "Tazz talks: ECW, Tough Enough, WWF", Slam! Wrestling, 2001-08-05. 
  9. ^ Evers, Lance. "Mike Awesome Stories", StormWrestling, 2007-02-21. 
  10. ^ a b History of the Hardcore Championship
  11. ^ Martin, Findlay, Power Slam (issue 109 p.23), SW Publishing, August 2003.
  12. ^ Warned.net article - Mike Awesome retires.
  13. ^ a b Mike Alfonso Coldwell Banker biography. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
  14. ^ a b Meltzer, Dave. Former ECW champ Mike Awesome passes away. Wrestling Observer. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.

[edit] External links

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