Mike Rickard
Remembering Mike Awesome 1965-2007
By Mike Rickard II
Feb 19, 2007, 18:20

A student of Steve Keirn, Michael Alfonso aka Mike Awesome began wrestling in 1989 for the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF) where he teamed with veteran grappler Brett Wayne Sawyer.  From there, Awesome took the route most wrestlers did back then; working various territories as he honed his craft.  For the next few years, Awesome appeared under various identities for promotions as varied as the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Japan’s Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW).  In 1993, Awesome returned to the United States where he worked a short program in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the organization where he would eventually achieve his greatest success in North America.

After a brief run in ECW, Awesome returned to Japan where he continued working in FMW as the Gladiator.  As the Gladiator, Awesome achieved considerable success in FMW, working programs with stars such as Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka.  In FMW, the Gladiator racked up title after title including the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Title, the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title, and the FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Titles. 

Following four plus years of success in Japan, Awesome returned to ECW where he began making a name for himself in North America.  Awesome feuded with Masato Tanaka just as he had in Japan, impressing the hard to please ECW fans with cruiserweight skills in a heavyweight package.  Unfortunately Awesome’s career crashed to a halt after a knee injury sidelined him for nearly a year. After his knee healed, Awesome spent a brief stint in All Japan Pro Wrestling before returning to ECW.

In 1999, Awesome surprised the fans when he appeared at the ECW Anarchy Rulz PPV.  Even more surprising was the revelation that Awesome was to be added to the ECW World Title match between Taz and Masato Tanaka.  Awesome scored his first ECW Championship that night by winning the Three Way Dance.  Awesome continued his war with Tanaka, trading the ECW Championship with Tanaka and eventually battling Tanaka in tag action for the ECW Tag Team Championship. 

It was only a matter of time before Awesome’s talent saw him signed to one of the Big Two.  In 2000, WCW lured Awesome away from ECW and he debuted on their Monday Night Nitro show as ECW champion.  At first the move was seen as a major coup until ECW took legal action against WCW, claiming that Awesome was still under contract to them.  Much has been said and written about the situation by the parties involved; that Awesome was under contract and that he wasn’t.  What is known is that WCW reached an agreement with ECW where Awesome would return to the promotion in order to drop the ECW title to a wrestler of ECW management’s choosing.  In the end, Awesome returned to ECW for one night where he lost the ECW title to Taz.

With the ECW debacle behind him, Awesome was put in the New Blood vs. Millionaire’s Club storyline but like most of his colleagues in WCW, he found himself anchored down with bizarre gimmicks.  After the New Blood program faded, he became That 70’s Guy, a gimmick made even worse when he developed a storyline fascination with fat chicks. 

After the demise of WCW, Awesome found continued work on the national scene when he was signed on to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as part of their Invasion storyline.  Again, bad booking plagued him and he soon found himself out of the spotlight in the WWF and relegated to the WWF’s “b-shows”.  Following his stint in the WWF, Awesome had no problem finding work in the United States, working for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) and a variety of independent promotions including Major League Wrestling where he renewed his war with Masato Tanaka.  In 2005 he returned to ECW for the One Night Only PPV where he faced his longtime rival Tanaka in what was seen by many as a show-stealing match.

World Wrestling Insanity extends its condolences to the family and friends of Mike Awesome.