The Rise & Fall Of Mike Awesome

[wrestlingrecap]

In September 1999, Mike Awesome was the ECW World Champion and arguably one of the best acts in wrestling. Six months later, Awesome jumped ship to WCW and his career changed drastically and never returned to the levels he had achieved in ECW.

wrestlingrecaps.com/2018/05/02/the-rise-fall-of-mike-awesome/

[Natural Born Farmer]

Dude was pretty fantastic in the ring in ECW.  He was always going to struggle elsewhere when they wanted the violence toned down, but it's fun to speculate on how far he might have gone if they'd brought him in with a "the bloody doors off" philosophy.  Him v. Undertaker at WrestleMania while both were in their stride...

[Chuck Conry]

That 70's Guy and The Fat Chick Thriller...Not sure if WWE would have done much with him anyway, but WCW had done messed up the cool image of Awesome before he got there.

[Mozenrath]

WCW did wrong by him, but I do wonder what kind of future he had in WCW or WWF. He was definitely a big fish in a small pond kind of guy, and I doubt guys would be lining up to take 400 powerbombs in one match.

[The 1Watcher Experience]

He peaked too late. If he came along earlier he might have gotten a better push and had a better career. He couldn’t cut a decent promo. He would’ve been put with a manager to cover that up back then though. He was way too reckless and few wanted to work with him after his ECW run. If he’d come along earlier maybe he wouldn’t have gone to FMW or ECW and gotten stuck with being known for that style.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

May 2, 2018 1:35:10 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

WCW did wrong by him, but I do wonder what kind of future he had in WCW or WWF. He was definitely a big fish in a small pond kind of guy, and I doubt guys would be lining up to take 400 powerbombs in one match.

Yea, pretty much

I think he would have been f***ed either way. People weren't going to make him look like a killer while he actually kills them in his matches

WCW paid him a shit ton of money and used him like shit so that's def a problem on their part

[Fundertaker]

May 2, 2018 1:45:13 GMT -5 The 1Watcher Experience said:

He peaked too late. If he came along earlier he might have gotten a better push and had a better career. He couldn’t cut a decent promo. He would’ve been put with a manager to cover that up back then though. He was way too reckless and few wanted to work with him after his ECW run. If he’d come along earlier maybe he wouldn’t have gone to FMW or ECW and gotten stuck with being known for that style.

He was in FMW a lot. Had quite a feud with both Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka (the latter culminating in their One Night Stand match).

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

How would he have faired in New Generation WWF? Say if he had a run from 1995 to 1997, would he have been used the same as Sid and getting a couple World Title runs? Who would he have feuded with?

[MC Blowfish]

He jumped to WCW and it killed his career. The 70s guy and fat chick thriller gimmick were awful. He had a good look and could have had some great matches with The Undertaker and Kane when he went to the WWE. However I think by that time, people in the locker room didn't think too highly of him. The way he handled leaving ECW probably had a negative effect on his career.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

I'm sure his matches are much more difficult to watch in retrospect. Lots of chair shots and stiff strikes to the head. One has to imagine that contributing to his suicide.

[Sephiroth]

May 2, 2018 1:35:10 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

WCW did wrong by him, but I do wonder what kind of future he had in WCW or WWF. He was definitely a big fish in a small pond kind of guy, and I doubt guys would be lining up to take 400 powerbombs in one match.

Instead of the “Goldberg has to redo his streak” angle, it should have been Russo enlisting Awesome as his enforcer to take Goldberg out.

[Deleted]

Mike Awesome, I feel, was more of a Japan guy. Yes, he was awesome in ECW, but I couldn't see him go too far in WCW or WWF.

[Aceorton]

I appreciated the guy's appeal to a certain demographic, but personally I considered his world title win a major jump-the-shark moment for ECW. It felt like Luger showing up on the deck of the ship to challenge Yokozuna. What? Why is he here? Why should we care about this? Taz leaving was such a blow to the company, and they made it worse by forcing a passing of the torch to someone we barely knew anything about instead of giving him a real build-up.

[Mozenrath]

May 2, 2018 12:55:28 GMT -5 Aceorton said:

I appreciated the guy's appeal to a certain demographic, but personally I considered his world title win a major jump-the-shark moment for ECW. It felt like Luger showing up on the deck of the ship to challenge Yokozuna. What? Why is he here? Why should we care about this? Taz leaving was such a blow to the company, and they made it worse by forcing a passing of the torch to someone we barely knew anything about instead of giving him a real build-up.

ECW sometimes built people up great, but they were definitely feeling the problem of forcing for things along in a limited time sometimes. Rhino, in particular, I remember them trying to make him a "kind of a big deal, real quick" talent that did a bunch of big things in a short time because, well, ECW was really low on time to spare by then. The writing had been on the wall.

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

May 2, 2018 4:36:40 GMT -5 David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 said:

How would he have faired in New Generation WWF? Say if he had a run from 1995 to 1997, would he have been used the same as Sid and getting a couple World Title runs? Who would he have feuded with?

He would have accidentally stiffed the 1-2-3 Kid and Shawn would have pulled out his shovel.

[James Fabiano]

Your site's columns are always tops!

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Mike Awesome was like Tazz, he looked like a beast because Heyman was prepared to feed an endless string of guys to him to get him there, but without that he was quickly found out. In WCW, Awesome was surrounded by people just as big, just as athletic as he is, and nowhere near as banged up as they didn't spend years in FMW or ECW, working a dangerous style. If he were good on the mic, he would have found a niche, but he wasn't, he was okay at best so he ended up getting a Russo gimmick to avoid being lost in the shuffle.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

May 2, 2018 14:17:00 GMT -5 2coldMack is even more baffled said:

May 2, 2018 4:36:40 GMT -5 David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 said:

How would he have faired in New Generation WWF? Say if he had a run from 1995 to 1997, would he have been used the same as Sid and getting a couple World Title runs? Who would he have feuded with?

He would have accidentally stiffed the 1-2-3 Kid and Shawn would have pulled out his shovel.

Probably true, unfortunately.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

One of my favorite wrestlers ever but unfortunately one of the least safe wrestlers to work with. He always injured people. That's why he could only work in Japan during the early years of his career.

The best redemption moment in wrestling's history is when everyone even Joey Styles hated him during one night stand 05 but the match was so perfect that everyone at the ballroom shut the f*** up and respected his greatness.

[wrestlingrecap]

May 2, 2018 14:25:54 GMT -5 James Fabiano said:

Your site's columns are always tops!

I'm glad you enjoy them and I'm glad this one sparked a conversation amongst everyone!