Mike Rotundo’s Face/Heel Turns

[willywonka666]

I’ve been following him since around 85 or so, and damned if I can remember the circumstances of most of his turns.

He feuded with Kevin Sullivan in Florida, and then he’s a member of the Varsity Club with Kevin as his manager and sometimes partner.

He became “Captain Mike” at some point, and I thought they called him the captain of the varsity club briefly, but did they explain his face turn? He later turned heel and joined the York foundation-is that where he came into money originally?

And at some point, after a run in the WWF as I.R.S. Of course, he returned to WCW and at some point became Michael and sometimes VK Walstreet-I assume the VK was a jab at McMahon

Anyway, are there any explanations for these heel and face turns?

[Squirrel Master]

I don't think they ever explained why Mike would make his next move, except when he started teaming with Norman the Lunatic that they "became friends".

I was just think of starting a Mike Rotundo Appreciation Thread.
Love me some Varsity Club; they ruled.

[somsta]

The vignette WCW did with him becoming Michael Wallstreet is gold.

[horsemen4ever]

He was never a member of the York Fondation. That came later, Miss York worked for him.

[Deleted]

At some point, IRS should have been audited.

[willywonka666]

Feb 25, 2018 20:16:04 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

At some point, IRS should have been audited.

I wanted him to audit DiBiase-I’m not sure who the face would have been in that case

[Joe Neglia]

His first heel turn came during this match against fellow face and TV champ Nikita Koloff. Sullivan had been trying to talk to Rotunda for a couple of weeks before that and this is where he gave in.

Wikipedia says he didn't have an actual face turn to become Captain Mike, and that he left in 1989 for a bit, only to come back in 1990 as babyface Captain Mike the yacht persona. This is not correct. He was working as a low-card heel in January and on Jan 30, he teamed with Cactus Jack against the Dynamic Dudes. After the Dudes won, Cactus attacked his partner. The next month, Cactus and Sullivan were beating up Norman in the ring and Rotunda made the save. Not real sure when he adopted the Captain gimmick after this but it wasn't long after.

He turned heel at Clash of the Champions XIII (Nov 1990) when he came out with York and announced he'd inherited money and legally changed his name to Michael Wallstreet.

He would stay a heel through this (undefeated!) run as Wallstreet, then as IRS in WWF and his return as VK Wallstreet. In 1999 he and other Varsity Club members returned as babyfaces to team with Jim Duggan, but turned heel on him by the end of the match.

Outside of his Japan work (which I'm admittedly not up to snuff on) and later-year cameos, he remained a heel the rest of his career.

[willywonka666]

Feb 25, 2018 23:33:47 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

His first heel turn came during this match against fellow face and TV champ Nikita Koloff. Sullivan had been trying to talk to Rotunda for a couple of weeks before that and this is where he gave in.

Wikipedia says he didn't have an actual face turn to become Captain Mike, and that he left in 1989 for a bit, only to come back in 1990 as babyface Captain Mike the yacht persona. This is not correct. He was working as a low-card heel in January and on Jan 30, he teamed with Cactus Jack against the Dynamic Dudes. After the Dudes won, Cactus attacked his partner. The next month, Cactus and Sullivan were beating up Norman in the ring and Rotunda made the save. Not real sure when he adopted the Captain gimmick after this but it wasn't long after.

He turned heel at Clash of the Champions XIII (Nov 1990) when he came out with York and announced he'd inherited money and legally changed his name to Michael Wallstreet.

He would stay a heel through this (undefeated!) run as Wallstreet, then as IRS in WWF and his return as VK Wallstreet. In 1999 he and other Varsity Club members returned as babyfaces to team with Jim Duggan, but turned heel on him by the end of the match.

Outside of his Japan work (which I'm admittedly not up to snuff on) and later-year cameos, he remained a heel the rest of his career.

Fascinating! I had no idea he was face when he went up against Nikita-I do recall Cactus turning on his partners when they would lose, so maybe I forgot about Rotunda being one of them

[toodarkmark]

The Captain Mike thing came from Rotunda getting a good deal from a boat company for a personal appearance, and he just started using it on the shows.

Feb 25, 2018 23:33:47 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

His first heel turn came during this match against fellow face and TV champ Nikita Koloff. Sullivan had been trying to talk to Rotunda for a couple of weeks before that and this is where he gave in.

Wikipedia says he didn't have an actual face turn to become Captain Mike, and that he left in 1989 for a bit, only to come back in 1990 as babyface Captain Mike the yacht persona. This is not correct. He was working as a low-card heel in January and on Jan 30, he teamed with Cactus Jack against the Dynamic Dudes. After the Dudes won, Cactus attacked his partner. The next month, Cactus and Sullivan were beating up Norman in the ring and Rotunda made the save. Not real sure when he adopted the Captain gimmick after this but it wasn't long after.

He turned heel at Clash of the Champions XIII (Nov 1990) when he came out with York and announced he'd inherited money and legally changed his name to Michael Wallstreet.

He would stay a heel through this (undefeated!) run as Wallstreet, then as IRS in WWF and his return as VK Wallstreet. In 1999 he and other Varsity Club members returned as babyfaces to team with Jim Duggan, but turned heel on him by the end of the match.

Outside of his Japan work (which I'm admittedly not up to snuff on) and later-year cameos, he remained a heel the rest of his career.