wrestlingguy
"Bitter Old Man"
I am sad to say that Mike Awesome, a wrestling superstar with several wrestling organizations in the 90's through this decade, has passed away. Wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer reports the following:
Meltzer reports that Mike Awesome was found on Saturday night around 10:30 PM. Friends had arrived at his home to pick up him up, and he never answered the door. Awesome was found hanging in his home, and it is believed his death was due to suicide pending results of the autopsy.
Here is a brief bio on Awesome:
ECW World Heavyweight title defeating Taz (September 19, 1999);
ECW World Tag Team titles w/Raven defeating Masato Tanaka & Tommy Dreamer (March 10,2000);
ECW World Heavyweight title defeating Masato Tanaka (December 23, 2000);
FMW Brass Knuckles title;
WWF Hardcore title defeating Rhyno (June 25, 2001 on RAW);
In the Beginning.
Mike Awesome and Horace Hogan are cousins (Mike Awesome and Hulk Hogan are NOT related)
1989: Mike Awesome first appeared as an early WCW masked jobber named "The Pro" from San Juan, Puerto Rico..
Mike Awesome got his big break in Japan's now defunct Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling as "The Gladiator"..
It was in Japan's FMW where he started his long running feud with Masato Tanaka..
Extrme Championship Wrestling
December 26, 1993--ECW: Mike Awesome defeated Randy Starr
February 5, 1994--ECW: J.T. Smith defeated Mike Awesome (ECW debut)..
Mike Awesome would travel back and forth between Japan and the United States..
January 11, 1997--ECW: Mike Awesome defeated Balls Mahoney
February 1, 1997--ECW: Lou Spicolli defeated Mike Awesome
July 18, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
July 24, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
August 2, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome
August 7, 1998--ECW: Jerry Lynn & Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
August 8, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome
Extrme Championship Wrestling - ECW World Champion
When ECW Champion Taz signed with the WWF, Paul Heyman passed the ball to Mike Awesome..
September 19, 1999 - Anarchy Rules: Taz vs Masato Tanaka (Title match) was turned into a three-way-dance!
~~~Taz was eliminated first.. Awesome then delivered an Awesome Bomb on Tanaka to become ECW Heavyweight Champion!
October 23, 1998--ECW: Mike Awesome defeated Mikey Whipwreak to retain the ECW Heavyweight Title
November 7, 1998--ECW November to Remember: Mike Awesome defeated Masato Tanaka to retain ECW Heavweight Title
December 13, 1999 - Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome for the title..
December 23, 1999 - Awesome recaptured the title from Tanaka a few days later..
January 9, 2000 - Guilty as Charged: Mike Awesome demolished Spike Dudley to retain ECW Heavyweight Title..
March 2000: Mike Awesome won the ECW Tag Team title with his partner Raven defeating Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka..
March 12, 2000--ECW Living Dangerously 2000: Mike Awesome defeated Kid Kash to retain ECW Heavyweight Title
~~~The Impact Players defeated Raven/Awesome and Dreamer/Tanaka in a 3-WAY to win the Tag Team titles..
World Championship Wrestling & Contraversy
Mike Awesome jumped to World Championship Wrestling as the reigning ECW Heavyweight Champion..
Mike Awesome joined WCW as part of the 'New Blood' team (Billy Kidman, Shane Douglas, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, etc)
This led to threats of legal action from ECW, Awesome agreed to return to ECW to drop the title to 'anyone'..
~~~So with WCW head of security Doug Dillinger by his side, Mike Awesome particpated in one of the most unique main events..
~~~Taking place at a ECW venue, Mike Awesome (a WCW wrestler) took on Tazz (a WWF wrestler) for the ECW Heavyweight Title..
~~~Tazz, on loan from the WWF, defeated Mike Awesome and was embraced by the ECW locker room..
~~~Awesome entered and departed the arena through the crowd, to avoid the tense ECW locker room..
Awesome started working for World Championship Wrestling full time..
Awesome also got to powerbomb Hulk Hogan through a table!
Awesome got to throw Chris Kanyon off the top of the first tier of a triple tiered cage!
It's not suprise that Awesome soon got the 'career killer' gimmick..
Spring Stampede 2000: Awesome is defeated by Scott Steiner in the finals of a tourniment to crown a new US Champion..
Soon Awesome's push ran thin and WCW decided to sadle him with one of the worst gimmick's of all time..
Awesome began dressing in retro clothing and called himself "That 70's Guy" and drove a patridge family bus..
"The 70's Guy" was even given a tacky interview segment on Nitro called "The Lavalamp Lounge"..
Halloween Havoc 2000: An overzealous fan tries to DDT Mike Awesome as he and Vampiro brawl in the crowd..
~~~Vampiro and Awesome turn their attention to the fan and pummel the crap out of him - Mike Awesome beat Vampiro...
WCW realized that gimmick wasn't going to work, so they tried another one....
"The Fatchick Thriller"
Awesome finally got a serious gimmick, joining Team Canada (even though he isn't Canadian)..
World Championship Wrestling went downhill and was purchased by Vince McMahon and WWFe..
March 2001 - Final Nitro: Palumbo/O'Haire (WCW Tag Champs) defeat Awesome/Storm to retain..
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Mike Awesome quickly accepted a buyout from his WCW contract and signed with the World Wrestling Federation..
Mike Awesome was one of the first wrestlers to "invade" the WWF as part of the WCW Invasion storyline..
June 25th 2001 - RAW: Mike Awesome snuck into the building and defeated Rhyno for the WWF Hardcore Title!
Mike Awesome's push slowly deflated, perhaps due to former boss Paul Heyman's WWF TV writing influences..
Invasion PPV: Edge & Christian defeated Mike Awesome & Lance Storm..
August 1, 2002 - Smackdown!: Mike Awesome made his return on Velocity getting defeated by Farooq..
September 27, 2002: Mike Awesome was given his release by World Wrestling Entertainment..
Japan
Mike Awesome rejuvinated his career wrestling in Japan, teaming briefly with Bryan Clarke..
March 7, 2004 - Z1 Hustle-2: Masato Tanaka & Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeated Gladiator & Sabu & Justin Credible..
April 16, 2003 - NWA^TNA: Mike Awesome (debut) defeats Perry Saturn by DQ when Sandman and New Jack interfered..
April 23, 2003 - NWA^TNA: Perry Saturn & New Jack & Sandman beat Brian Lee & Slash & Mike Awesome..
~~~This was a barbed wire match with tables and a ladder and a stapler and a baseball bat at the top of the ladder!
May 14, 2003 - NWA^TNA: Mike Sanders defeats Mike Awesome in a TABLES match with help from Glen Gilbertti..
September 6, 2003: Toshiaki Kawada won the Triple Crown at Budokan Hall, beating Shinjiro Otani in the four-man tournament finals..
~~~Shinjiro Otani beat Satoshi Kojima and Toshiaki Kawada beat The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) in first round matches..
September 19, 2003 - MLW War Games: Mike Awesome beat Joe Seanoa (Samoa Joe of ROH)..
October 22, 2003: Mike Awesome suffered a broken orbital bone earlier this week in a match in Japan..
May 8, 2004 - Z1 Hustle-3: Sabu/Kintaro Kanemura/Gladiator beat Masato Tanaka/Tetsuhiro Kuroda/Tomoaki Honma (Death Match)..
June 5, 2004--Jersey All Pro Wrestling: Vader & Mike Awesome defeated Dan Maff & Samoa Joe..
October 2004: Mike Awesome (The Gladiator) debuts for the Pro Wrestling NOAH group in Japan..
June 12, 2005 - ECW One Night Stand: Mike Awesome defeated Masato Tanaka in the clear-cut match of the night!
Early 2006: Mike Awesome confirmed that he had retired from wrestling to spend time with family and sell real estate..
February 17, 2007: Mike Awesome (42) was found dead at his home in Tampa as a result of an apparent suicide by hanging..
Awesome's significance to the Fat Community took place in late 2000, when he became a character known as the Fat Chick Thriller. During that time, he would always have a BBW accompnay him to ringisde. While this was excellent for our community, the character never really took off, and was abandoned shortly thereafter.
Meltzer reports that Mike Awesome was found on Saturday night around 10:30 PM. Friends had arrived at his home to pick up him up, and he never answered the door. Awesome was found hanging in his home, and it is believed his death was due to suicide pending results of the autopsy.
Here is a brief bio on Awesome:
ECW World Heavyweight title defeating Taz (September 19, 1999);
ECW World Tag Team titles w/Raven defeating Masato Tanaka & Tommy Dreamer (March 10,2000);
ECW World Heavyweight title defeating Masato Tanaka (December 23, 2000);
FMW Brass Knuckles title;
WWF Hardcore title defeating Rhyno (June 25, 2001 on RAW);
In the Beginning.
Mike Awesome and Horace Hogan are cousins (Mike Awesome and Hulk Hogan are NOT related)
1989: Mike Awesome first appeared as an early WCW masked jobber named "The Pro" from San Juan, Puerto Rico..
Mike Awesome got his big break in Japan's now defunct Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling as "The Gladiator"..
It was in Japan's FMW where he started his long running feud with Masato Tanaka..
Extrme Championship Wrestling
December 26, 1993--ECW: Mike Awesome defeated Randy Starr
February 5, 1994--ECW: J.T. Smith defeated Mike Awesome (ECW debut)..
Mike Awesome would travel back and forth between Japan and the United States..
January 11, 1997--ECW: Mike Awesome defeated Balls Mahoney
February 1, 1997--ECW: Lou Spicolli defeated Mike Awesome
July 18, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
July 24, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
August 2, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome
August 7, 1998--ECW: Jerry Lynn & Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome & Justin Credible
August 8, 1998--ECW: Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome
Extrme Championship Wrestling - ECW World Champion
When ECW Champion Taz signed with the WWF, Paul Heyman passed the ball to Mike Awesome..
September 19, 1999 - Anarchy Rules: Taz vs Masato Tanaka (Title match) was turned into a three-way-dance!
~~~Taz was eliminated first.. Awesome then delivered an Awesome Bomb on Tanaka to become ECW Heavyweight Champion!
October 23, 1998--ECW: Mike Awesome defeated Mikey Whipwreak to retain the ECW Heavyweight Title
November 7, 1998--ECW November to Remember: Mike Awesome defeated Masato Tanaka to retain ECW Heavweight Title
December 13, 1999 - Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome for the title..
December 23, 1999 - Awesome recaptured the title from Tanaka a few days later..
January 9, 2000 - Guilty as Charged: Mike Awesome demolished Spike Dudley to retain ECW Heavyweight Title..
March 2000: Mike Awesome won the ECW Tag Team title with his partner Raven defeating Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka..
March 12, 2000--ECW Living Dangerously 2000: Mike Awesome defeated Kid Kash to retain ECW Heavyweight Title
~~~The Impact Players defeated Raven/Awesome and Dreamer/Tanaka in a 3-WAY to win the Tag Team titles..
World Championship Wrestling & Contraversy
Mike Awesome jumped to World Championship Wrestling as the reigning ECW Heavyweight Champion..
Mike Awesome joined WCW as part of the 'New Blood' team (Billy Kidman, Shane Douglas, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, etc)
This led to threats of legal action from ECW, Awesome agreed to return to ECW to drop the title to 'anyone'..
~~~So with WCW head of security Doug Dillinger by his side, Mike Awesome particpated in one of the most unique main events..
~~~Taking place at a ECW venue, Mike Awesome (a WCW wrestler) took on Tazz (a WWF wrestler) for the ECW Heavyweight Title..
~~~Tazz, on loan from the WWF, defeated Mike Awesome and was embraced by the ECW locker room..
~~~Awesome entered and departed the arena through the crowd, to avoid the tense ECW locker room..
Awesome started working for World Championship Wrestling full time..
Awesome also got to powerbomb Hulk Hogan through a table!
Awesome got to throw Chris Kanyon off the top of the first tier of a triple tiered cage!
It's not suprise that Awesome soon got the 'career killer' gimmick..
Spring Stampede 2000: Awesome is defeated by Scott Steiner in the finals of a tourniment to crown a new US Champion..
Soon Awesome's push ran thin and WCW decided to sadle him with one of the worst gimmick's of all time..
Awesome began dressing in retro clothing and called himself "That 70's Guy" and drove a patridge family bus..
"The 70's Guy" was even given a tacky interview segment on Nitro called "The Lavalamp Lounge"..
Halloween Havoc 2000: An overzealous fan tries to DDT Mike Awesome as he and Vampiro brawl in the crowd..
~~~Vampiro and Awesome turn their attention to the fan and pummel the crap out of him - Mike Awesome beat Vampiro...
WCW realized that gimmick wasn't going to work, so they tried another one....
"The Fatchick Thriller"
Awesome finally got a serious gimmick, joining Team Canada (even though he isn't Canadian)..
World Championship Wrestling went downhill and was purchased by Vince McMahon and WWFe..
March 2001 - Final Nitro: Palumbo/O'Haire (WCW Tag Champs) defeat Awesome/Storm to retain..
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Mike Awesome quickly accepted a buyout from his WCW contract and signed with the World Wrestling Federation..
Mike Awesome was one of the first wrestlers to "invade" the WWF as part of the WCW Invasion storyline..
June 25th 2001 - RAW: Mike Awesome snuck into the building and defeated Rhyno for the WWF Hardcore Title!
Mike Awesome's push slowly deflated, perhaps due to former boss Paul Heyman's WWF TV writing influences..
Invasion PPV: Edge & Christian defeated Mike Awesome & Lance Storm..
August 1, 2002 - Smackdown!: Mike Awesome made his return on Velocity getting defeated by Farooq..
September 27, 2002: Mike Awesome was given his release by World Wrestling Entertainment..
Japan
Mike Awesome rejuvinated his career wrestling in Japan, teaming briefly with Bryan Clarke..
March 7, 2004 - Z1 Hustle-2: Masato Tanaka & Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda defeated Gladiator & Sabu & Justin Credible..
April 16, 2003 - NWA^TNA: Mike Awesome (debut) defeats Perry Saturn by DQ when Sandman and New Jack interfered..
April 23, 2003 - NWA^TNA: Perry Saturn & New Jack & Sandman beat Brian Lee & Slash & Mike Awesome..
~~~This was a barbed wire match with tables and a ladder and a stapler and a baseball bat at the top of the ladder!
May 14, 2003 - NWA^TNA: Mike Sanders defeats Mike Awesome in a TABLES match with help from Glen Gilbertti..
September 6, 2003: Toshiaki Kawada won the Triple Crown at Budokan Hall, beating Shinjiro Otani in the four-man tournament finals..
~~~Shinjiro Otani beat Satoshi Kojima and Toshiaki Kawada beat The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) in first round matches..
September 19, 2003 - MLW War Games: Mike Awesome beat Joe Seanoa (Samoa Joe of ROH)..
October 22, 2003: Mike Awesome suffered a broken orbital bone earlier this week in a match in Japan..
May 8, 2004 - Z1 Hustle-3: Sabu/Kintaro Kanemura/Gladiator beat Masato Tanaka/Tetsuhiro Kuroda/Tomoaki Honma (Death Match)..
June 5, 2004--Jersey All Pro Wrestling: Vader & Mike Awesome defeated Dan Maff & Samoa Joe..
October 2004: Mike Awesome (The Gladiator) debuts for the Pro Wrestling NOAH group in Japan..
June 12, 2005 - ECW One Night Stand: Mike Awesome defeated Masato Tanaka in the clear-cut match of the night!
Early 2006: Mike Awesome confirmed that he had retired from wrestling to spend time with family and sell real estate..
February 17, 2007: Mike Awesome (42) was found dead at his home in Tampa as a result of an apparent suicide by hanging..
Awesome's significance to the Fat Community took place in late 2000, when he became a character known as the Fat Chick Thriller. During that time, he would always have a BBW accompnay him to ringisde. While this was excellent for our community, the character never really took off, and was abandoned shortly thereafter.
