Alundra Blayze: Worthy or Not?

[TheOneBigWill]

Debra Ann Miceli (born February 6, 1963) better known as Madusa (shorthand for MADe in the USA) or Alundra Blayze, is a former professional wrestler for the American Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. She is also a former world champion monster truck driver.

In 1993, the WWF reinstated its Women's Championship, a title that had been vacant since 1990. Micelli signed on to be the star of the new women's division. She debuted as Alundra Blayze and wrestled in a six-woman tournament to crown a new women's champion. She defeated Allison Royal in the first round and received a bye into the finals, where she pinned Heidi Lee Morgan to win the title. She defended the belt against Morgan, Leilani Kai, Debbie Combs, and Luna Vachon.

She also traveled to Japan where she defended the title against Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, and Bull Nakano. She was defeated by Nakano in a non-title match during the Japan tour. Nakano emerged as part of the WWF roster in the summer of 1994, and the two feuded. Their first encounter on an edition of Monday Night Raw resulted in a double-count out. Blayze defeated Nakano at SummerSlam, but lost the belt to Nakano on November 20, 1994 in Tokyo, during All-Japan Women's wrestling extravaganza called "Big Egg Wrestling Universe." Five months later, Blayze regained the title from Nakano on an edition of Monday Night Raw on April 3, 1995. Immediately following the win, she was attacked by Bertha Faye, who kayfabe broke her nose. In reality, Miceli left to get breast implants and a nose job. She returned to the ring in August 1995, losing the women's title to Bertha Faye at SummerSlam on August 27. She bounced back two months later to win the title a third time, defeating Faye on October 23.

The WWF then imported Aja Kong from Japan and set up a Blayze/Kong feud. Their first showdown was at the Survivor Series, where Blayze, along with Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, and Chaparita Asari, battled Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, and Lioness Asuka. In the end, Kong pinned Blayze to be the sole survivor. The following week on Raw, Kong and Watanabe defeated Blayze and Inoue when Kong pinned Inoue. Kong then defeated Chaparita Asari a week later. The match was the last women's match in WWF for sometime, and the Blayze/Kong feud never materialized.

Miceli had been informed that the WWF was not going to renew her contract which expired on December 13, 1995 and she was being released. Miceli quickly signed with WCW and showed up on WCW Monday Nitro on December 18, 1995. She denounced the Blayze gimmick, threw the WWF Women's Title belt in a trash can, and reclaimed her Madusa moniker. Rather than hold a tournament to crown a new champion, the WWF once again abandoned the Women's title. In WCW, Madusa had a brief feud with Sherri Martel because Sherri supposedly stole Col. Rob Parker from her and even interrupted their wedding vows in Las Vegas. Martel pinned Madusa in the second ever women's match on Monday Nitro. Their feud ended after that.

With Madusa back in WCW, the company brought in Bull Nakano to feud with her. They battled in a 'Loser Gets Their Bike Bashed' match at Hog Wild. Even though Madusa lost the match, Madusa bashed Nakano's motorcycle anyway after she chased away Sonny Onoo. Nakano went back to Japan and retired from wrestling shortly afterwards, leaving Madusa with no one to wrestle. The company decided to establish the WCW Women's Championship and struck a deal with GAEA Japan organization to bring in women wrestlers. A tournament was held in the fall of 1996. Madusa defeated Reina Jubuki in the first round and Zero in the semi-final, but she lost to Akira Hokuto in the finals of the tournament on December 29 at Starrcade. She also feuded with Luna Vachon, who had repeatedly interfered in Madusa's matches with Hokuto. On June 15, Miceli lost a retirement match to Hokuto at The Great American Bash. Her list of accomplishments and Championships (according to Wiki) are as follows:

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
IWA World Women's Championship (2 times)

American Wrestling Association
AWA World Women's Championship (1 time)
International World Class Championship Wrestling
IWCCW Women's Championship (1 time)

World Championship Wrestling
WCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation
WWF Women's Championship (3 times)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Rookie of the Year award in 1988

Alundra Blayze (Medusa): While ultimately there are several factors that I firmly believe will keep her OUT of the W.W.E.'s Hall of Fame, I would have to say I think she actually deserves to be in it.

Blayze headed up the defunked female's division for a period of time during one of the nice periods of Wrestling, or rather the "colorful" period. She was always the top female in the W.W.F., and had feuds mainly with Bull Nakano. It's listed that she feuded with the likes of Leilani Kai, Debbie Combs & Luna Vachon. While I know she's feuded with Luna in W.C.W., I don't remember this in the W.W.F.

Another issue here is, she will forever be more remembered as Medusa than Alundra. As Alundra she wasn't all that attractive, nor did she have the look that McMahon really craved for his female's. She did get a nose and boob job, but ultimately the female division just wasn't a popular thing in the 90's.

She is also technically a former Cruiserweight Champion, during the dark era of W.C.W., but I wouldn't exactly claim that on my Hall of Fame resume'. In the end, it was her decision to listen to Eric Bischoff and trash the Women's Championship on an episode of Nitro, that will likely forever keep her OUT of the W.W.E.'s Hall of Fame, however, and that to me is a shame, because she was for a moment in time, the very top of the female division in the World Wrestling Federation. What are your thoughts and opinions on Alundra Blayze being a Hall of Fame inductee? Worthy or Not?

 

[klunderbunker]

I'd say no. She was great in the ring but she came along during the time when Women's wrestling meant next to nothing in the big American companies. Had she been there maybe 5-10 years later, she'd be in with no questions about it. However, being from her era and trashing the belt which in a way caused Montreal, and was also just unprofessional in my eyes keeps her out. A pro hall of fame maybe, but not a WWE Hall of Fame.

 

[Bernkastel]

I'd say no, Mrs Blayze was on top of the Women's Division back when the women's division was at its lowest. You could say Alundra was like Bret Hart, she was the top female wrestler when no one cared about the WWE. I'd argue that women like Trish Stratus, Lita, and Sable had a much greater impact on the women's divsion than Alundra Blayze. Besides, at this point, I'd say Alundra Blayze is more of a legend in the Monster Truck world than she ever was as a professional wrestler.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I am not all that familiar with women's wrestling from the 80s and early 90s, so I may run the risk of being incorrect when I say the following: besides (literally) trashing the WWF's Women's Championship when she defected to WCW, I can't remember this women doing anything of significance. I remember seeing her in a few matches in the WWF, but that's about it. And, in terms of wrestling, while she seemed to be decent, I don't think she was a revolutionary/pioneer by any means. So, no, I do not think that she deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, even without considering her antics with the WWF's Women's Championship belt.

 

[NSL]

NO

Besides trashing the title when she jumped ship, she was the head of the women's division when it was arguably at it's weakest. This is equivalent to Hornswoggle being the Cruiserweight champ.

She had the title reigns, and had what little popularity she could garner for the time, but she just isn't important in the history of women's wrestling.

 

[Shocky]

Well I seem to remember Madusa Blaze getting some outrageously large breast implants while in WCW, but outside of that, pretty forgettable. I enjoy the fact that she did what most people were thinking, and that's trash the worthlessness known as the WWF women's championship. That belt then, was just pure trash. I admire Blaze's spirit, but she really did nothign to add any value to that title. Far superior in the ring then most, but Sable meant more to the WWF then Alundra Blaze.

 

[Tastycles]

It's a no from me here. She was the women's champion in an era without any real competition and an era that had literally no fan following. The Women's Title was abandonned before she was there and after she was there. Maybe the WWF thought they could build up a women's division around her, or maybe they just wanted to make sure she wasn't making mony for anyone else. Either way, she wasn't exactly one of the most exposed members of the roster, and her run didn't really work.

But the main reason for her not being included is the stunt she pulled with the title. The point of a hall of fame is to honour those who brought distinction to a particular company. By putting the title in the bin, she brought the opposite of distinction to the WWF. The fact is, is that she will probably be most remembered for this, it's certainly what I associate with her name, and as a result, she can't go in the hall.

 

[bshort31092]

I say yes, mainly because she played a nice role in the Monday Night Wars in addition to being a great women's wrestler. I mean, she threw a WWF Women's Title in the trash can. If that didn't help "blayze" up the Monday Night Wars, then it wasn't a war.

 

[jmt225]

Damn... I came into this Sub-Forum with the idea of creating this thread, thinking no one had done it. I'm glad it was still on the first page.

Anyway, I finally got around to watching the 'The Greatest Stars of the 90's' DVD and on there is a match between Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano. At first, I was about to skip it and go on to the next match, but it was the last match on the 2nd DVD, so I figured fuck it because I didn't feel like getting up (I was eating). But I thought to myself, "Man, this is going to be a boring piece of shit". But holy fuck man, to much to my surprise, this has to be the best Women's Match in WWE history. Trish vs. Lita as the main event on Raw was really good, but this was fucking phenomenal. I hadn’t seen Madusa wrestle in so long that I forgot how talented she was. Honestly, watching that match... all she is, is a lady version of Chris Benoit. I mean, she wrestled just like that motherfucker. And this was before Benoit even made it to the big stage, so she obviously was stealing it from him either.

So, yeah, I think she deserves to be in. I don't remember that much of her work outside of her bouts against that hideous Bertha Faye, and Akira Hokuto (sp?) in WCW. But listen... that match against Bull Nakano makes her one of the greatest Women's Champions in WWE history alone because I guarantee not one match with that belt on the line was as good as that one, and it was mostly due to Blayze's tremendous offensive arsenal.

 

[ztwhite]

It's not exactly like the women's division in wrestling was popular before or during Alundra's reign.

Everyone will agree that the Fabulous Moolah was the greatest female wrestler ever, but one of the feuds she's most remembered for was with Cyndi Lauper - the same chick who sang "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun" ??!! Moolah had no competition either, but kept women around in wrestling, not as managers (even though she accompanied Nature Boy Buddy Rogers to the ring for years) or pretty faces, but as competitors.

Alundra Blaze did the same thing. If she didn't exist or was never allowed to compete, the women's division may have alltogether died (not that I would complain). She bridged the gap between people like Wendi Richter, Leilani Kai and Sherri Martel (The Sensational Sherri) in order for women like Lita, Trish Stratus and Sable.

She may not be a hall of famer based on accomplishments and in-ring performance, but she should be a hall of famer for her historical impact in the wrestling industry.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I have to say no. While I admit that she had some pretty good matches while she was in the WWF back in the 90s, she didn't have much competition at all. The few times she did, she almost always got her ass handed to her. I won't deny that she had some skills and, put in the WWE or TNA women's division today in her prime, she'd probably dominate.

However, she literally threw the WWF Women's Championship in a trash can on Nitro and, to a certain degree, helped cause the formation of the Montreal Screwjob. Basically, she told the WWF to wash her cunt with a warm wet rag while flipping the company as a whole the finger. Few things can be as unprofessional as what she did. She doesn't deserve it and I highly doubt she'll ever go in. If Vince hates Randy Savage so much, I can only imagine how he might feel about her. He could potentially forgive Savage if there's money to be made, but not her.

 

[Bernkastel]

I'd say Blayze has a better chance of getting into the Monster Truck Racing (she's a quite talented driver) Hall of Fame than the WWE Hall of Fame.

People say she revolutionized women's wrestling...in what way? I fail to see how anything changed with her being on top than it did when Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Richter were duking it out for the title. If anything Alundra Blayze was just another average performer.

She only has two feuds that stand out to me, one with Bull Nakano and the other with Bertha Faye. Her feud Nakano was really the only highlight of her career, her feud with Faye was garbage, it's the equivalent of watching Eve and Layla El feud at this point.

Whats even sadder is that Blayze will probably be most remembered for tossing her WWF Women's Championship into the trash when she jumped ship to WCW, a promotion which brought her no more success than her previous one.

In all honesty, I'd say no. She was popular figure in women's wrestling back when the industry as a whole was in bad shape. But unlike the Bret Hart's of that time, Blayze never really had any standout feuds or moments unlike her successors Sable, Lita, and Trish would later come to have.

Wow... I just realized I've responded to this thread twice