How should WCW have used Mike Awesome?

[EP 54 is banned from Collision]

Goldberg feud: Have Awesome debut, win his first match, then say 'one down, 172 to go'. Then he goes on a streak of his own, except because he's a heel, he cheats to get wins. After each win he counts down towards zero. The Goldberg-Awesome match is the 173rd match of Awesome's streak, billed as Goldberg saving his record from this impostor.

[The Quintessential Studmuffin]

Arrive
AWESOME BOMB
leave
repeat

[ICBM]

Oct 17, 2014 22:20:50 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

Awesome was always a curious signing by WCW if you ask me. If anything he was a baffling signing in 1999 by ECW as well at a time when they simply needed to put the world title on Rob Van Dam and not worry about Taz leaving. I still would like someone to explain why Heyman put the belt on this guy. I figured he had no shot of getting over in WCW, since there wouldn't be guys like Tanaka and Spike willing to just kill themselves with violent table and chair spots to get Awesome over. Awesome really wasn't even that big of a guy compared to WCW's super heavyweight types.

Giving Van Dam the title in 99 would have been hot shooting in my opinion and likely was the opinion of Paul Heyman. He booked a long arc to make Van Dam the focal point of the show and build desire for his reign as world champ. He got hurt. It was the risk Heyman ran and it burned him. Look at who they built while Van Dam was being positioned. Rhino may look like a jabrone now but he was over huge as a heel in 99&00. Having him ready for a. Van Dam world title program later would have been worth the wait on Van Dam. But against, he got hurt.

On Mike Awesome in wcw. You had him come in sort of like the hired gun at first. He leaves people laying and they did sell his status as ECW champion and being a big deal to WCW fans. I don't usually applaud WCW. Announcers but they did sell him. Then he threw Kanyon an over baby face, off the second tier of the triple cage. They sold that right away as a crazy violent act and awesome didn't care. Then they didn't follow up. He gets lost in the shuffle of NB vs millionaires. They should have just kept having him be a killer. Not a mad fat chick thriller.

[Hit Girl]

A dominant force.

[Sephiroth]

Oct 17, 2014 12:18:59 GMT -5 @tafkaga said:

I would have put Mike Awesome with James Vandenberg who could do his talking for him and pushed him as a hired gun/silent hitman character. Vandenberg would reveal that he and Awesome were hired by a nameless client to destroy a WCW megastar's career and personal life, with Vandenberg as the brain and Awesome as the brawn. Awesome would destroy lower midcard opponents on Nitro and WCWSN while building intrigue behind the story. Wrestlers would get paranoid when either Vandenberg or Awesome were around and go out of their way to avoid them completely. Finally, the target would be revealed as one of the heels who I wanted to turn babyface. Awesome ends up somehow getting paired with that particular wrestler, then turns on him during the match and puts him in the hospital. Meanwhile, Vandenberg pulls things out of the injured party's past to humiliate him or even screw up his family life. The injured guy finally comes back on crutches or something and does a full face turn as he humbly addresses what has happened to him. Then Awesome viciously attacks him again and gets "fired" for beating up WCW officials who try to stop him. Finally, the babyface comes back to the company and demands that Awesome be reinstated for one match in a steel cage, where he finds a way to get revenge on Awesome without diminishing his stature.

Vandenberg had already moved to ECW as The Sinister Minister by then.

Awesome was a great high flyer for a guy his size. He could have worked well with any number of WCW's talents at the time and helped usher in a post Hogan main event scene. I think he found easily have been to late WCW what Brock Lesnar ended up being in the WWF only a few years later.

[Deleted]

Oct 19, 2014 14:32:04 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Oct 17, 2014 12:18:59 GMT -5 @tafkaga said:

I would have put Mike Awesome with James Vandenberg who could do his talking for him and pushed him as a hired gun/silent hitman character. Vandenberg would reveal that he and Awesome were hired by a nameless client to destroy a WCW megastar's career and personal life, with Vandenberg as the brain and Awesome as the brawn. Awesome would destroy lower midcard opponents on Nitro and WCWSN while building intrigue behind the story. Wrestlers would get paranoid when either Vandenberg or Awesome were around and go out of their way to avoid them completely. Finally, the target would be revealed as one of the heels who I wanted to turn babyface. Awesome ends up somehow getting paired with that particular wrestler, then turns on him during the match and puts him in the hospital. Meanwhile, Vandenberg pulls things out of the injured party's past to humiliate him or even screw up his family life. The injured guy finally comes back on crutches or something and does a full face turn as he humbly addresses what has happened to him. Then Awesome viciously attacks him again and gets "fired" for beating up WCW officials who try to stop him. Finally, the babyface comes back to the company and demands that Awesome be reinstated for one match in a steel cage, where he finds a way to get revenge on Awesome without diminishing his stature.

Vandenberg had already moved to ECW as The Sinister Minister by then.

Awesome was a great high flyer for a guy his size. He could have worked well with any number of WCW's talents at the time and helped usher in a post Hogan main event scene. I think he found easily have been to late WCW what Brock Lesnar ended up being in the WWF only a few years later.

Oh well, then sub in another manager who could talk and be menacing.  Better yet, bring back Gary Hart. 

[DZ: WF Legacy]

I was long into my "only watch WCW out of sheer desperation" phase, and I remember flipping on Thunder in 2000 or so and seeing Mike Awesome as That 70s Guy. That was the last time I recall watching WCW up until the simulcast buyout. I'm not going to pretend to be a huge fan of the guy, but...what the hell happened there with him?

[Deleted]

Oct 19, 2014 16:38:55 GMT -5 DZ: WF Legacy said:

I was long into my "only watch WCW out of sheer desperation" phase, and I remember flipping on Thunder in 2000 or so and seeing Mike Awesome as That 70s Guy. That was the last time I recall watching WCW up until the simulcast buyout. I'm not going to pretend to be a huge fan of the guy, but...what the hell happened there with him?

Pop culture reference, man!  C'mon don't you understand booking psychology???

[somsta]

Oct 19, 2014 16:38:55 GMT -5 DZ: WF Legacy said:

I was long into my "only watch WCW out of sheer desperation" phase, and I remember flipping on Thunder in 2000 or so and seeing Mike Awesome as That 70s Guy. That was the last time I recall watching WCW up until the simulcast buyout. I'm not going to pretend to be a huge fan of the guy, but...what the hell happened there with him?

Vince Russo happened. And, bro, it was a genius move, because bro, and you want the truth, this is one hundred percent true, bro, you're talking about it 14 years later, bro.

[ICBM]

Above they mentioned James Mitchell in ECW. I love how they just referred to him as The Devil for a while. The first few times I saw it, I was like "come on man, this is Busch league". Then I started appreciating it and even looking forward to the spots. He really was very good. I know he isn't a WWE kind of guy but can you imagine if he had come in during 97/98 under that gimmick? Say he comes in on vignettes and when he finally emerges on live TV he has Kane turn on Paul Bearer. Mitchell would run circles around Percy Pringles And I loved Perc. Percy had a tendency to come off as corny and Mitchell was total dark reality. A little over the top but in wrestling you need it and it wasn't so bad that it ruined it. He managed Mikey Whipreck as the devil. Mickey was a hard worker and got good sympathy but can you imagine the destructive power if he had been Rhyno's mouthpiece instead? Or Awesome's as some have speculated

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

I think that the original plan for him was supposed to have Awesome throw the ECW belt on the trash on his first night in, maybe the amount of heat he would've generated would've turned him into a main eventer, instead he just attacked Nash without explaining the viewers who he was. Also Russo screwed him after Hogan left.

[Dean-o]

It sounds so simple. You signed the world champion of the #3 company in the world and you're in the middle of a war with the #1 company in the world.

Treat him like such.

[________ has left the building]

He should had been kept away from Kevin Nash in his first WCW appearance. Big Kev dwarfed him in the ring and made him look much smaller than he actually is. They should had him Spike Dudley a couple of cruiserweights before moving on to bigger names.