Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) was an American
professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the American
professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...
s
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...
(ECW),
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
(WCW) and the
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) under the
ring name
A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...
Mike Awesome and for his appearances in Japan with
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...
and
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
as The Gladiator.
Alfonso achieved the biggest success of his career in FMW as The Gladiator, where he became a three-time
world champion, with
two reigns as
Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and
one reign as
Independent Heavyweight Champion. His second Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship reign from 1996–1997 was the longest reign in the title's history, lasting for 489 days. During this reign, he defeated
W*ING Kanemura to
unify the title with the Independent Heavyweight Championship at the
1996 Year End Spectacular. He would then tour with ECW, where he became a
two-time World Heavyweight Champion. He was a member of two separate
stables
Team Canada in both FMW and WCW.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1989–1990)
Alfonso was trained to wrestle by
Steve Keirn, debuting on February 26, 1989, at the
Eddie Graham Sports Complex in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
.
[Loverro, Thom (2006). '' The Rise and Fall of ECW''. Pocket Books. . p. 127] Alfonso trained for about one year along with former professional wrestlers,
Dennis Knight (Mideon, Phineas Godwin) and "Big"
Al Green before making his debut.
Alfonso competed in
Florida Championship Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until ...
,
USWA, NWA and
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
, before making his way to FMW in Japan.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Initial years (1990–1992)
Alfonso moved on to
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, joining
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...
(FMW) in September 1990 and using the
name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
The Gladiator. He was recruited by FMW as the replacement for
Al Green, who was originally scheduled to compete as Gladiator but moved to WCW. Alfonso debuted in FMW as a monster
villain
A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...
on September 20 in a
street fight with
Mr. Pogo against
Atsushi Onita and
Jimmy Backlund, which Alfonso's team won. Gladiator was Pogo's ally who feuded with Onita and competed with Pogo against Onita and his partners. He lost to Onita in a
Chain Deathmatch on October 1, after which Alfonso returned to United States. Onita was impressed by Gladiator and called him back for more tours with FMW. He returned to the company as Mr. Pogo's partner in a
tag team tournament on January 6, 1991, where the duo lost their first match in the tournament against Onita and Sambo Asako. Pogo and Gladiator made to the semi-final, where they beat
Grigory Verichev and Boris Gogichashivili and then defeated Onita and Asako in the final on January 15 to win the tournament. The success of the tournament led Alfonso to work full-time with FMW.
In the summer of 1991, Gladiator would form a villainous alliance with
Tarzan Goto,
Big Titan and
Horace Boulder after Mr. Pogo's departure from FMW and resumed the feud with Atsushi Onita. On August 17, Gladiator participated in the
Barbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament, in which he defeated Horace Boulder in the quarter-final and lost to Sambo Asako in the semi-final. During this time, Gladiator was inspired by
Damian's
lucha libre
''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...
videos on travels, which led him to adopt a high-flying style despite his big size. The following month, Gladiator and Big Titan defeated Sambo Asako and
Ricky Fuji in a street fight
stretcher match at the
2nd Anniversary Show. This partnership led the two to form a tag team which lasted nearly three years. In the fall of the year, Gladiator and Titan participated in the
World's Strongest Tag Team Tournament to determine the inaugural
WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team Champions, but were eliminated from the round robin stage with total six points. Gladiator and his allies would join
The Sheik and
Sabu to resume the feud with Onita and his allies throughout 1992. At
3rd Anniversary Show, Big Titan, The Gladiator and Horace Boulder defeated Sambo Asako, Ricky Fuji and The Great Punk in a street fight stretcher match. Later that year, Gladiator and Boulder participated in the
Street Fight Tag Team Tournament, where they qualified for the semi-final against Tarzan Goto and Big Titan, which they lost.
Team Canada and W*ING Alliance (1993–1995)
In 1993, Gladiator formed the first villainous
faction in FMW called Team Canada with Ricky Fuji, Big Titan, Horace Boulder,
Dr. Luther and Dr. Hannibal after The Sheik and Sabu
turned
fan favorites and formed an alliance with Atsushi Onita. At
4th Anniversary Show, the team of Gladiator, Ricky Fuji and Big Titan defeated
Katsuji Ueda, The Great Punk and Tarzan Goto in a
Captain's Fall Losing Captain Leaves Town No Rope Barbed Wire Tornado Street Fight Deathmatch, which Team Canada won. The group strengthened its dominance after Mr. Pogo returned to FMW in the summer of 1993 and took over as the leader of the group. Gladiator and Titan were defeated by Sambo Asako and
Mr. Gannosuke at
Summer Spectacular. The team of Gladiator, Titan and Fuji gained more success by defeating Asako, Katsuji Ueda and
Grigory Verichev in a street fight at
Year End Spectacular.
The following year, Gladiator and Titan participated in a
double-elimination tournament for the newly created
Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship, in which they defeated
Hideki Hosaka and
Hisakatsu Oya in the quarter-final,
Jinsei Shinzaki and Masaru Toi in the semi-final and Mr. Gannosuke and Tarzan Goto in the final to succeed in their block and then defeated Atsushi Onita and Katsutoshi Niiyama in the tournament final on January 18, 1994, to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship, marking Alfonso's first
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
in FMW.
They successfully defended the title against Atsushi Onita and Sambo Asako in a street fight on March 29 and then lost the title to Mr. Pogo and Hisakatsu Oya in their second title defense on April 21. The title loss created dissension between Titan and Gladiator. At
5th Anniversary Show, Gladiator, Titan and Fuji took on
Fuyuki-Gun in a match, where Gladiator and Titan had a miscommunication with each other but fortunately still managed to win their match. However, Gladiator abandoned his partners after the match to quietly join Team Canada. As a result, Gladiator began feuding with Titan and defeated him in their first
singles match against each other on July 31. Gladiator won a rematch at
Summer Spectacular, before finally losing to Titan on September 7 to end the rivalry.
In October, Gladiator joined the new
W*ING Alliance with Mr. Pogo,
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga,
Yukihiro Kanemura, Goro Tsurumi, Horace Boulder, Hideki Hosaka and Hisakatsu Oya. The group mostly consisted of wrestlers from the former
W*ING promotion, who held Atsushi Onita and FMW responsible for ending the promotion and had formed the alliance to bring the demise of FMW just like W*ING suffered its demise. On October 28, Gladiator and Pogo defeated Atsushi Onita and Mr. Gannosuke to win the vacant Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. They lost the tag titles to Onita and Gannosuke in a rematch on February 24, 1995. At
6th Anniversary Show, Gladiator and Horace Boulder lost to Katsutoshi Niiyama and
Masato Tanaka. Later at the event, Mr. Pogo turned on W*ING Alliance by blowing a
fireball on Yukihiro Kanemura after Pogo and Kanemura lost their match, which led Gladiator, Boulder and Hisakatsu Oya to follow Pogo and join Lethal Weapon.
Longest reigning world champion (1995–1997)
The retirement of Atsushi Onita led FMW to change its direction from
deathmatch wrestling to technical wrestling style and Gladiator received a strong
push as the archrival of the company's new top star
Hayabusa. He was
book
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
ed to win the
Grand Slam Tournament in September, in which he defeated Hayabusa in the tournament final on September 26 to win the company's top title, the vacant
Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and cemented his place as the company's top villain. Gladiator made his first successful title defense against
Horace Boulder on October 25. He suffered a knee injury in the fall of 1995, which forced him to vacate the title on January 5, 1996.
Gladiator returned from injury to challenge
Super Leather for the title on March 15, but was defeated by Leather. During this time,
Víctor Quiñones' group Puerto Rican Army overturned W*ING and Lethal Weapon to become the top villainous group in FMW and Quinones was luring away members of both factions into his Puerto Rican Army, which led Gladiator to
turn fan favorite for the first time in his career. At
7th Anniversary Show, Hisakatsu Oya, Horace Boulder and The Gladiator lost to Super Leather and
The Headhunters in a match for the inaugural
World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.
On May 27, Gladiator defeated Super Leather to win his second Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship. Gladiator successfully defended the title against Leather in a rematch on September 1. On September 15, Gladiator and Horace Boulder turned on Ricky Fuji during a match against
Hideki Hosaka,
Hido and
Taka Michinoku. The entire Lethal Weapon attacked Fuji and turned on him to join
Terry Funk's new group Funk Masters of Wrestling, which led Gladiator to turn into a villain again. On October 12, Gladiator attacked
W*ING Kanemura after Kanemura successfully defended the
Independent Heavyweight Championship against Hisakatsu Oya and Gladiator challenged Kanemura to a
title unification match for both Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and the Independent Heavyweight Championship at
Year End Spectacular, which Gladiator won and
unified both titles to become the first-ever FMW Double Champion. Gladiator successfully defended his Double Championship against Masato Tanaka on February 18, 1997. Gladiator would then resume his feud with the returning Atsushi Onita as the team of Gladiator, Terry Funk and
Cactus Jack was defeated by Atsushi Onita, Masato Tanaka and W*ING Kanemura at
8th Anniversary Show on April 29. The following day, on April 30, Gladiator surpassed Atsushi Onita's fourth reign of 337 days to become the longest reigning Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion by having reigned for 338 days at that point.
On August 5, Hisakatsu Oya,
Mr. Gannosuke and The Gladiator defeated
Fuyuki-Gun at a Fuyuki Army show to win the World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to the team of Hayabusa,
Koji Nakagawa and Masato Tanaka on August 31. At
Kawasaki Legend: Fall Spectacular, Gladiator lost the Double Championship to Masato Tanaka, thus ending his Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship reign at 489 days and his Independent Heavyweight Championship reign at 291 days, making him the longest reigning Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and the longest reigning Independent Heavyweight Champion.
ZEN and departure (1997–1998)
Following
Terry Funk's departure from FMW, Funk Masters (FMW) of Wrestling began to cripple as Atsushi Onita denounced himself as a FMW wrestler and formed
ZEN
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
on September 30, 1997, to feud with FMW. On October 21,
Super Leather and The Gladiator lost a match to their former teammates
Hisakatsu Oya and
Mr. Gannosuke, after which Gladiator attacked Leather and officially ended Funk Masters of Wrestling. Later that night, Gladiator attacked
Hayabusa after ZEN members defeated Hayabusa's team in the main event and then Gladiator raised the flag of ZEN and joined ZEN, which marked the first time in his career that he had become Atsushi Onita's ally after having feuded with him for the past seven years. Gladiator had lost his significance as a main event competitor after losing the Double Championship despite being the longest reigning champion and became a mid-card member of ZEN. The group turned fan favorites in the fall of 1997 when three of its members Mr. Gannosuke,
Yukihiro Kanemura and
Hido turned on Atsushi Onita and left the group and they would form
Team No Respect in 1998.
In March, Gladiator participated in a
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
to determine the #1 contender for the Double Championship at
9th Anniversary Show. He defeated Hisakatsu Oya in the quarter-final and Yukihiro Kanemura in the semi-final to become the runner-up of the tournament as he lost to Hayabusa in the final. At FMW's first
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
event
FMW 9th Anniversary Show, Gladiator teamed with ZEN teammate
Tetsuhiro Kuroda to take on TNR members Super Leather and Horace Boulder in a losing effort. Later at the event, Atsushi Onita lost a match to TNR member
Kodo Fuyuki, which forced Onita to end ZEN. Gladiator became a
free agent after ZEN's dissolution on May 5. Gladiator's last pay-per-view appearance in FMW was at the
Welcome to the Darkside pay-per-view on August 22, where he defeated Naohiko Yamazaki,
Yoshinori Sasaki and Mr. Pogo #2 in a
gauntlet match. On August 26, Gladiator wrestled his last FMW match, in which he defeated longtime rival Super Leather. Alfonso injured his knee during the match and went on a hiatus, during which he returned to United States and toured with
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...
(ECW) for the rest of the year. He left the company due to disagreement over Kodo Fuyuki's style of
book
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
ing.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1998–1999)
Alfonso wrestled as The Gladiator for a brief period in
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
in 1998 and 1999.
Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1994, 1997, 1998, 1999–2000)
In 1993, Alfonso appeared in
NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome), he was convinced to do so by
Sabu, whom he befriended during their time in Japan. After Sabu started working for ECW, he returned to Japan and told Michael about the promotion and how he should work there. Although he was initially hesitant, citing a lack of interest, Sabu managed to talk Alfonso into it, who used his frequent-flier miles to go to Philadelphia and wrestle a match for ECW.
[Loverro, Thom (2006). '' The Rise and Fall of ECW''. Pocket Books. . p. 128]
On February 5, 1994, at ECW's event,
The Night the Line Was Crossed, Awesome nearly injured wrestler,
J.T. Smith when he performed a high-risk dive to the outside of the ring. Smith's back was folded backwards against the guard rail during the impact. This spot appeared in many ECW highlight reels including the intro to a variety of their television programs for years to come (according to ECW announcer
Joey Styles his own reaction to the spot inspired his "Oh my God" catchphrase).
Awesome returned to ECW in January 1997 at
House Party, defeating
Balls Mahoney. At
Crossing the Line Again the following month, he lost to
Louie Spicolli, departing ECW once more thereafter.
In July 1998, Awesome began appearing for ECW again and continued 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. Awesome lost to Tanaka again at the August
Heat Wave
A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
event. In September 1998 at
UltraClash, Awesome tore his
anterior cruciate ligament in a bout with
Balls Mahoney; he did not wrestle again until September 1999.
Almost immediately upon arriving in ECW for his third stint in September 1999, he shocked the wrestling world by winning the
ECW World Heavyweight Championship at
Anarchy Rulz by defeating the reigning champion
Taz and nemesis Masato Tanaka in a
three-way dance, which was signed on the spot. Awesome continued to be a major factor in ECW early in 2000, including teaming with
Raven to beat Tanaka and
Tommy Dreamer for the
ECW World Tag Team Championship.
He gained a new manager, Judge Jeff Jones, who managed Awesome to the top of winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice in 1999.
World Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)
On April 10, 2000, Awesome made a surprise appearance on ''
WCW Monday Nitro''—aiding
The New Blood by attacking
Kevin Nash—while still reigning as ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
Awesome's friend
Lance Storm
Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadians, Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known ...
has said that he had refused to sign a new contract with ECW until
Paul Heyman paid him overdue wages.
Due to concerns over legal issues, WCW refrained from having Awesome appear on their television shows with the ECW belt. Eventually, a compromise was reached. Awesome (a WCW employee and ECW champion) appeared a few days later at an ECW event in Indianapolis, Indiana, accompanied by WCW's head of security, 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) (who incidentally lost it approximately 20 minutes later to Justin Credible). In a
shoot interview released by Highspots in 2005, Awesome expressed that he would have rather faced off with his former ECW and WWE colleague
Rhyno and suggested that they could have put on a more entertaining match regardless of the circumstances and the manner in which he had left ECW.
Now with WCW, Awesome continued to be a major factor with the New Blood for the next month, teaming with
Billy Kidman occasionally to aid him in his feud with
Hulk Hogan. Awesome also engaged in an on-and-off feud with Kevin Nash, as well as feuding with
Diamond Dallas Page and
Kanyon. In May 2000, Awesome threw Kanyon off the top of the first level of a
triple cage onto the entrance ramp, which started his "Career Killer" gimmick.
After
Bash at the Beach in July 2000, his gimmick was tweaked, with him becoming infatuated with
heavyset women and calling himself "The Fat Chick Thriller" and feuded with
Scott Steiner and
Lance Storm
Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadians, Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known ...
for the
WCW United States Championship.
On the September 6, 2000, edition of Thunder, Awesome's gimmick was changed to "That '70s Guy" (a reference to the TV series ''
That '70s Show''), for which he dressed in 1970s-inspired attire and hosted the "Lava Lamp Lounge"
interview segment. He was additionally given a bus that resembled the one featured on ''
The Partridge Family
''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...
'' to drive into arenas as part of his entrance.
During this time, he had a feud with
Vampiro, which resulted in brawls between Awesome and Vampiro's allies, the rap duo
Insane Clown Posse (
Violent J and
Shaggy 2 Dope). Awesome battled both ICP members in a handicap match on an episode of ''Nitro'', during which he hit Shaggy with a powerbomb on the roof of the bus that caused Shaggy to fall to the concrete floor below.
On the January 3, 2001, edition of Thunder, Awesome dropped the 1970s gimmick in favor of a "Canadian Career Killer" gimmick and joined WCW's
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, on January 15, however before the bout could take place, Team Canada attacked Kidman backstage, leaving him unable to compete. Kidman's bald stablemate
Konnan replaced him and got the win, giving the Animals the right to cut off Awesome's longtime
mullet.
Awesome then faded into the background, mostly helping Storm in his battles against
Ernest "The Cat" Miller. On the final Nitro on March 26, 2001, Awesome and Storm were defeated by
Chuck Palumbo and
Sean O'Haire in a
WCW World Tag Team Championship match.
In an shoot interview released by Highspots in 2003, Awesome said that the infamous incident between
Vince Russo and
Hulk Hogan at
Bash at the Beach 2000 may have been one of the underlying reasons as to why he was plagued by a string of unfavorable gimmicks. As a cousin of
Michael Bollea (Horace Hogan, who also left WCW following the incident), Awesome suggested that Russo may have thought that he was just "too close of kin" to Hulk Hogan and decided to take it out on him.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1996, 2001–2002)
He first made an appearance in WWF as a jobber on December 12, 1996, losing to
Justin Credible
Peter Joseph Polaco (born October 16, 1973) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Justin Credible.
Debut ...
(known then as Aldo Montoya) in a dark match for
WWF Superstars of Wrestling.
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'' during a match which saw
Test defending his
Hardcore Championship 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.
Awesome was the first "Invader" to gain gold in the WWF, stealing away with the Hardcore belt before any WWF wrestlers could catch him.
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, thanks to distraction from
Edge.
Awesome defeated Edge on the July 16 episode of ''Raw''.
The feud continued when Edge introduced his tag team partner
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
into the rivalry. Awesome and Lance Storm were defeated by
Edge and Christian at
Invasion on July 22, Awesome's first WWF pay-per-view match. From here Awesome's
push diminished and he began appearing mostly on WWF's
b-shows, before being sidelined with an injury in November 2001.
Awesome returned to the
SmackDown! brand on the July 27, 2002, edition of ''
Velocity
Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
'' where he was defeated by
Tajiri.
Awesome was a mainstay on ''Velocity'', SmackDown!'s tertiary show, for the next few months
jobbing to wrestlers such as
Faarooq,
Bull Buchanan,
Mark Henry and
Funaki.
Awesome was released from the WWE on September 27, 2002, along with
Shawn Stasiak and
Horace Hogan. 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".
Later career (2002–2006)
From 2002 to 2006, Awesome competed on the
independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...
in the United States and Japan where he returned to
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
as "The Gladiator" once again.
On the independent circuit, he had a short stint with
Major League Wrestling
Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...
(MLW) where he won the
MLW World Heavyweight Championship from
Satoshi Kojima, only to lose it ten minutes later to
Steve Corino (Kojima's employers,
AJPW would not allow him to drop the title to an employee of a rival company
Zero-1).
He worked for
Pro Wrestling Noah from 2004 to 2005.
In February 2006, after 17 years in the ring, 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".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003)
In April 2003, Awesome debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...
(TNA). He wrestled several matches for the promotion before leaving in May 2003.
His TNA in-ring debut was on April 16, 2003, where Awesome defeated
Perry Saturn by DQ when
The Sandman and
New Jack interfered. On April 23, Awesome teamed with
Brian Lee and
Slash in a losing effort against Perry Saturn, New Jack and The Sandman. On May 14, Awesome competed in his final TNA match where he lost to
Mike Sanders in a Tables Match.
Return to WWE (2005)
Awesome made an appearance at WWE's (formerly the WWF)
ECW One Night Stand reunion pay-per-view on June 12, 2005, defeating
Masato Tanaka. The crowd greeted Awesome with jeers at the beginning of the match, and commentator
Joey Styles made frequent references to Awesome's leaving of ECW for WCW and during the match, after Awesome performed a
suicide dive, Styles infamously said, "And it's a shame he didn't succeed in taking his own life", but by the end the crowd were chanting "This match rules!" and gave both men a
standing ovation.
Other media
Alfonso appeared in at least four wrestling video games including ''
ECW Hardcore Revolution'', ''
WCW Backstage Assault'', ''
Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Ōdō Keishō'', and ''
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns''. The ECW toy series manufactured by Original San Francisco Toymakers released a Mike Awesome action figure in 2000. A WCW action figure of Awesome was released by Toy Biz in 2001.
Personal life
Alfonso attended King High School in Tampa, Florida and trained at Stan's Gym, an old school muscle gym, on 56th Street. On May 11, 1991, he married his high school sweetheart Delisa Diann Bowers in Hillsborough, Florida. They had two children together; son Casey (born 1996) and daughter Carissa (born 2000). Alfonso was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed fishing and trail bike riding with friends and his son.
He enjoyed mountain biking and would ride frequently at Alafia River State Park in Florida, close to his Tampa home.
Alfonso was the cousin of
Hulk Hogan's nephew
Michael Bollea, who was better known for his stint in
WCW under the name Horace Hogan.
After Awesome's retirement from professional wrestling, he served as a real estate agent in New Tampa, Florida.
Death
On February 17, 2007, a group of Alfonso's friends found him dead after he had hanged himself inside his Tampa home.
WWE acknowledged his death on the February 20 broadcast of ''
ECW on Sci-Fi'' with an "In Memory..." graphic at the opening of the program, and two days later his family received flowers at Serenity Meadows Funeral Home in
Riverview, Florida.
Championships and accomplishments
*
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...
**
ECW World Heavyweight Championship (
2 times)
**
ECW World Tag Team Championship (
1 time) – with
Raven
*
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...
**
FMW Independent World Heavyweight Championship (
1 time)
**
FMW World Brass Knuckles Championship (
2 times)
**
FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship (
2 times) – with
Big Titan (1),
and
Mr. Pogo (1)
**
FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (
1 time) – with
Mr. Gannosuke and
Hisakatsu Oya
**
FMW Tag Team Tournament (1991) – with Mr. Pogo
**
FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship Tournament (1994) – with Big Titan
**
Grand Slam Tournament (1995)
**
FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament (1997) – with
Hisakatsu Oya and
Mr. Gannosuke
*
Major League Wrestling
Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...
**
MLW World Heavyweight Championship (
1 time)
*''
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
''
**Ranked No. 7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''
PWI 500'' in 2000
*
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
**
Countdown To Armageddon Battle Royal (2000)
*
World Wrestling Federation
**
WWF Hardcore Championship (
1 time)
*''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...
''
**
Worst Gimmick (2000)
See also
*
List of premature professional wrestling deaths
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Awesome, Mike
1965 births
2007 deaths
2007 suicides
21st-century American professional wrestlers
21st-century male professional wrestlers
American expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
American male professional wrestlers
C. Leon King High School alumni
ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions
ECW World Tag Team Champions
FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champions
FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Champions
FMW Independent Heavyweight Champions
FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Champions
MLW World Heavyweight Champions
Professional wrestlers from Tampa, Florida
Suicides by hanging in Florida
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions