How big could Mike Awesome have been in WCW?

[Hollywood Naitch]

After watching clips of Mike Awesome on You Tube recently, it got me thinking.

Here was a guy who had the potential to really make a big impact in WCW. After walking out on ECW and making an instant impact on his WCW debut by destroying Hulk Hogan and aiding the New Blood, the opportunity was there to really make something of Mike Awesome in WCW, but he basically achieved nothing.

After his initial impact, Awesome was stuck with 2 stupid gimmicks, the "Fat Chick Thriller" and "That 70's Guy", which totally prevented him from climbing the card and being taken seriously as a legitimate threat to any of the stars in WCW. I believe that WCW totally missed the boat on this guy, as he really could have been something special. Awesome was huge, always over with the fans and had an awesome (excuse the pun) moveset for a guy his size.

WCW had noone like Awesome, who at 6'6 could dive effortlessly over the top rope, hit an incredible array of powerbombs, and had a flying top rope splash as part of his repetoire. I would have loved to have seen WCW takes ECW's idea and have Awesome press one of the smaller cruiserweights above his head in the ring, and toss them out into the crowd, where planted guys could have caught them. As many of the fans would not have seen ECW, this would have been shocking and a great spectacle for many of the crowd and really got Awesome over as a monster.

WCW pushed jokes like Jeff Jarrett to World Title level in their dying days, but in Awesome they actually had a man who could have been a worthy challenger for the title rather than reyling on washed up past-it talent who were just their to take a paycheck. If they had pushed Awesome as a monster heel, capitalising on his notoriety from ECW, destroying mid-carders on his way to the gold, it would have certainly worked. A match with Goldberg or Scott Steiner for the title is something I would have loved to see.

As he was related to Hulk Hogan through marriage, and knowing Hogan's influence in WCW, it really surprised me that Awesome was never seriously pushed. I think he could definitely have been a World Title contender in WCW, there were so many people badly underused by that promotion in its final years, and Awesome was certainly one of those.

How far do you think he could have gone, had he been used right?

 

[fraserbee]

Interesting. Had Mike Awesome arrived in WCW, doing the things he did in 1992 when Sting and Vader were on top then he would have been a really big deal. Unfortunately there were three reasons he didn't really make it when he arrived in 2000.

1. He wasn't really that amazing. His big spot was the dive over the top rope, but by this time, The Undertaker was doing the same move better and he was bigger than Awesome too. On top of that, Awesome wrestled as a big guy because everywhere he had been prior to this, he'd been the biggest guy there. In WCW he was around about the same size as Hall, Page, Crush and Hogan and was a good bit smaller than Nash and Sid. He just didn't stand out from the crowd.

2. By this point Vince Russo was in charge and Russo delt with characters. Mike Awesome didn't have one and wasn't good enough in interviews to show his personality, so Russo had to give him one (hence the 70s guy and the fat chick thriller).

3. His moveset was not compatable with the guys he would be wrestling at the top of the card. His powerbomb looked great but it was a little bit dangerous. I remember he hurt Booker T doing the running Awesome Bomb when Booker's head hit the turnbuckle. Once you do that none of the big stars like Hall, Nash or Hogan were going to agree to taking that type of moves. He was geared to wrestle little guys and he never adapted well to working with the big guys.

That's pretty much why I think his WCW run failed and, indeed, why his WWF one did too. Had he stayed with ECW, perhaps it could have survived a bit longer and he would have stayed on top and built up somewhat more or a legacy. We will never know.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Awesome had all the traits of a guy who could have headlined in WCW and/or WWF (after the acquisition). Two things probably stood in his way - the politics in WCW, Nash et al were not going to let their spot being taken over by some flash in the pan from the 'minors' (I'd imagine the fact the Awesome bomb kicked Jack-knife's butt wouldn't help either). Two, WCW already had a number of ECW alumni who I'm sure were less than happy with the perceived betrayal of Paul E and it's hard to go from top dog in a smaller pool to a small fish in a lake without friends. If you want an idea of the hostility he had in certain areas, just listen to Joey Styles commentary of Mike's match at One Night Stand '05.

RIP Mike Alfonso - you deserved better sir.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Interesting. Had Mike Awesome arrived in WCW, doing the things he did in 1992 when Sting and Vader were on top then he would have been a really big deal.

Agreed

2. By this point Vince Russo was in charge and Russo delt with characters. Mike Awesome didn't have one and wasn't good enough in interviews to show his personality, so Russo had to give him one (hence the 70s guy and the fat chick thriller).

I think Awesome could have got over just booked as a dominant force, but if he had limited mic skills, then he should have been given a manager as a mouthpiece. Awesome was no worse on the mic than many of the talents that WCW and WWE pushed over the years. A manager would have covered up these shortcomings, and Awesome could have been booked as a wrecking machine. Even if he didn't make it main event level, a mid-card title should have certainly been within his grasp with a decent push

3. His moveset was not compatable with the guys he would be wrestling at the top of the card. His powerbomb looked great but it was a little bit dangerous. I remember he hurt Booker T doing the running Awesome Bomb when Booker's head hit the turnbuckle. Once you do that none of the big stars like Hall, Nash or Hogan were going to agree to taking that type of moves. He was geared to wrestle little guys and he never adapted well to working with the big guys.

I don't think he was ever really given the opportunity to work with the bigger guys. It is interesting what you say about Nash and Hall not being willing to take an Awesome Bomb, when Nash's Jack Knife is consistantly sloppy and dangerous, much more so than Awesome's. I agree his moveset would have to have been toned down from in ECW, but Goldberg is well known for being extremely stiff in the ring. Again, I think Awesome would have succeeded with a modified moveset.

 

[MrHashasheen]

After his initial impact, Awesome was stuck with 2 stupid gimmicks, the "Fat Chick Thriller" and "That 70's Guy", which totally prevented him from climbing the card and being taken seriously as a legitimate threat to any of the stars in WCW.

That was the point. He was being buried by Russo after Hogan, his relation and the guy who got him into WCW walked out on the promotion after the Bash incident.

WCW pushed jokes like Jeff Jarrett to World Title level in their dying days, but in Awesome they actually had a man who could have been a worthy challenger for the title rather than reyling on washed up past-it talent who were just their to take a paycheck.

It's a job. Everyone was there to take a paycheck. Awesome left ECW because he wanted a paycheck. And the only reason Jarrett got pushed was because he was such good friends with Russo (the man gave him 3 US title runs and 4 World championships after he jumped to WCW in '99)

1. He wasn't really that amazing. His big spot was the dive over the top rope, but by this time, The Undertaker was doing the same move better and he was bigger than Awesome too. On top of that, Awesome wrestled as a big guy because everywhere he had been prior to this, he'd been the biggest guy there. In WCW he was around about the same size as Hall, Page, Crush and Hogan and was a good bit smaller than Nash and Sid. He just didn't stand out from the crowd.

That's not a real reason. 'Taker was in the WWF, not WCW. Also, being a mid-sized guy doesn't suddenly change his style. Nash and Sid were only two main-eventers, ignoring guys like Sting, Savage, DDP, Flair, etc...

2. By this point Vince Russo was in charge and Russo delt with characters. Mike Awesome didn't have one and wasn't good enough in interviews to show his personality, so Russo had to give him one (hence the 70s guy and the fat chick thriller).

He had a gimmick. He was the career-killer. Russo just buried him to spite Hogan after he walked out.

3. His moveset was not compatable with the guys he would be wrestling at the top of the card. His powerbomb looked great but it was a little bit dangerous. I remember he hurt Booker T doing the running Awesome Bomb when Booker's head hit the turnbuckle. Once you do that none of the big stars like Hall, Nash or Hogan were going to agree to taking that type of moves. He was geared to wrestle little guys and he never adapted well to working with the big guys.

Right and wrong. Awesome trained in Japan with FMW to do their stiff style of wrestling along with hardcore, which suited ECW as well. And that didn't go over too well with most of WCW's older talent, who were pretty brittle and protected themselves immensely in any match to do his moves.

 

[The Man They Call WMD]

I read somewhere that Russo and hogan had problems in the back. Russo couldn't do anything to Hulk because he is Hulk Hogan. So to get at Hogan he made a joke out of his family member Mike Awesome. Thats the only reason, Awesome was very talented and wrestled great matches in Japan and ECW. Also he didn't betray ECW like mentioned above. Yes he held them hostage but only after he wasn't paid for three months and Heyman kept lying to him about the money. I would have done the same thing so my kids could eat and have a place to live...

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I read somewhere that Russo and hogan had problems in the back. Russo couldn't do anything to Hulk because he is Hulk Hogan. So to get at Hogan he made a joke out of his family member Mike Awesome. Thats the only reason, Awesome was very talented and wrestled great matches in Japan and ECW. Also he didn't betray ECW like mentioned above. Yes he held them hostage but only after he wasn't paid for three months and Heyman kept lying to him about the money. I would have done the same thing so my kids could eat and have a place to live...

I think if you check, I said 'perceived' betrayal and whether we think he was right or wrong he was still perceived by many as a Judas. Many members of the ECW crew at that time were in the same position and stayed with Paul (mostly because WCW and WWF didn't want them). The other thing that screamed betrayal is he turned up on Nitro with the ECW WHC without Paul's say so. As you say, not getting paid (particularly when you wrestled the ECW style) meant he had to take matters into his own hands BUT at the same time he didn't have to piss on the company that raised his rep to the extent WCW wanted him in the first place.

Awesome was only related to Hogan by marriage (his father's sister married Terry's brother), I doubt Hulk was overly concerned by Russo's treatment of him. If he had really cared about Mike, he'd have brought him into WCW earlier - we know he had the sway. Once he was in WCW? Well Mike was consistently prominent on TV, even if the characters didn't get 'over' and when you look at the treatment of the Cruiserweights, MIA, the New Blood, Jim Duggan et cetera. Russo booked Mike terribly but than again, he booked everyone terribly - it'd be hard to prove it was deliberate.

 

[6timehitta]

Mike Awesome, was exactly that, Awesome. He kind of was the Hernandez of 10-15 yrs ago. All do respect to Mike he wasn't a mic wiz or anything, not only that he was willing to put his body through anything. Look at his classic battles with Masato Tanaka back in Japan, they were stuff on legend to be honest. Mike Awesome was not only adept at fighting, but he was one of, if not the best flying big men of all time. Tope con Hilo's with ease. Suicide Dives that'd make Rey Mysterio blush. And top rope moves that would make the top lightweights in the world look like they were back in wrestling school. Mike Awesome had All World Talent, and it was fucked up by Russo and a bunch of cock gummers that were in it all for themselves.

 

[The Man They Call WMD]

I think if you check, I said 'perceived' betrayal and whether we think he was right or wrong he was still perceived by many as a Judas. Many members of the ECW crew at that time were in the same position and stayed with Paul (mostly because WCW and WWF didn't want them). The other thing that screamed betrayal is he turned up on Nitro with the ECW WHC without Paul's say so. As you say, not getting paid (particularly when you wrestled the ECW style) meant he had to take matters into his own hands BUT at the same time he didn't have to piss on the company that raised his rep to the extent WCW wanted him in the first place.

Awesome was only related to Hogan by marriage (his father's sister married Terry's brother), I doubt Hulk was overly concerned by Russo's treatment of him. If he had really cared about Mike, he'd have brought him into WCW earlier - we know he had the sway. Once he was in WCW? Well Mike was consistently prominent on TV, even if the characters didn't get 'over' and when you look at the treatment of the Cruiserweights, MIA, the New Blood, Jim Duggan et cetera. Russo booked Mike terribly but than again, he booked everyone terribly - it'd be hard to prove it was deliberate.

While I agree that If Hogan wanted him there earlier, he prob would have been there and had a major role.(the disciple/ brutus beefcake) If he could headline a PPV any one could in my eyes. Sidenote- the only beefcake segment I ever liked is when the Rockers split the split occurred in his barbershop.

How ever I have to disagree on your point that bringing the belt was such a big betrayal. You reap what you sow... Heyman disrespected the NWA belt and threw it down and was cheered for it. Also Awesome came back and allowed himself to be squashed by Taz. Heyman created the problem by not paying his wrestlers.

I'm a huge Joey Styles fan and ECW fan but calling Awesome A judas wasn't deserving.
Another thing while Taz was ECW champion after he won it from Awesome Taz as champ was squashed by WWE champion HHH on RAW. This made the ECW title look even more week. The whole incident wasn't Awesomes fault it was Heymans.... Awesome deserved better

 

[Lucha-Libre is wrestling]

Mike Awesome had great wrestling skills in the ring, he was a monster wrestler with moves of a high flyer, I agree his mic skills were poor but WCW and WWE booked him all wrong. Well WCW booked everybody they sign from ECW wrong and guys that were let go from WCW and went to ECW became stars. ( Awesome,Sandman,Eddie Guerrero,Chris Benoit,Micky Whipwreck, Stone Cold and so on the list is really long.)

 

[Tech N9ne]

I think if he had arrived earlier then he did, there is a pretty good chance he would have been a pretty big name.

If he would have gone to WCW in their early days, 91-94, I think he could have got over. I think by the time he finally did go, WCW just had too much other shit going on. So they made him a joke. Without the ECW tie, he might have been taken a little more serious when he was younger. He was literally "AWESOME" over seas and ruled ECW when Heyman landed him.

If he would have been in WCW, I can see him feuding with Sting, Vader, Luger, Flair and many others. Then, when Hogan came in 1994, he would have been the perfect big man Heel to oppose Hogan.

Mike Awesome wasn't the typical big man. He had more overall in ring talent than a lot of the all time greats. Given his ability for his size, I think he would have been a major player during The NWO years. By the time he actually did go to WCW, he would have already had 6-7 years time on that and would have been a much more serious asset to WCW as their days came to a close.

He also would have been a bigger name when WWF bought WCW. He could have played a HUGE role during The Invasion storyline.

On how he would have been used... I think without his ECW time, WCW would have pushed him like ECW did. As that huge beast that could basically do it all. I think his ECW time hurt him somewhat, when it came to WCW AND WWF.

EDIT: What about Awesome being in The Four Horseman, instead of Steve "Mongo" McMichael? Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Mike Awesome. Sounds a lot better to me. Mongo did his thing, but was overall TRASH.

 

[MancMark]

I've always loved Awesome, because he was awesome. He was great big man. I was really excited when he debuted in WCW, and he had some real momentum going for him. Some of his early matches were really good. Quite why he got the stupid gimmicks I'll never know. Most of Russo's work can't be explained.
His in-ring work was really good for a man of his size. For a big man, he wasn't the huge, but he seemed bigger because he worked with such aggression. The array of powerbombs and genuine athleticism really made me like him. If you look at Hernandez in TNA now, half of the shit he does belongs to Mike Awesome. He's a Mexican (and worse version of) Mike Awesome.

He never got over in WWE either, but then neither did most of the invasion guys. From what I gather, he never liked the way they operated backstage there and the heat he got when he walked in. He was talented, no doubt. With Hogan as a relative (by marriage) I was expecting a bigger push in WCW. You only have to look at him tearing the roof off at One Night Stand to know he had it. As far as I'm concerned, he had the fucking lot. A huge, and I mean huge, loss to wrestling. I miss him greatly.

Also (this is directed at the author of this thread "The Natural") it's nice to see another Manc who appreciated Awesome.

 

[MrHashasheen]

I think if you check, I said 'perceived' betrayal and whether we think he was right or wrong he was still perceived by many as a Judas. Many members of the ECW crew at that time were in the same position and stayed with Paul (mostly because WCW and WWF didn't want them). The other thing that screamed betrayal is he turned up on Nitro with the ECW WHC without Paul's say so. As you say, not getting paid (particularly when you wrestled the ECW style) meant he had to take matters into his own hands BUT at the same time he didn't have to piss on the company that raised his rep to the extent WCW wanted him in the first place.

WCW didn't want him. Awesome wanted out and Hogan told him to come to WCW with the belt to get a better contract. I've got a link to an interview where he mentions it somewhere on my computer...

As for betrayal and not sticking it out, Awesome was brand new in ECW. What reason did he have for brand loyalty. He wasn't Tommy Dreamer or Sandman, and holding a belt doesn't mean much when you're not getting paid and have bills to take care of. And as for disrespecting the belt, well, Heyman's done it to the NWA, so I could care less about his whining. Plus, he made 40,000 on Awesome leaving, so he really can't complain.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

EDIT: What about Awesome being in The Four Horseman, instead of Steve "Mongo" McMichael? Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Mike Awesome. Sounds a lot better to me. Mongo did his thing, but was overall TRASH.

I think that would have been a great idea. What the hell was Steve McMichael, who was a football player, doing in the fucking Horsemen, one of the greatest factions of all time.

With Awesome part of the group, you would have the veteran superstar in Flair, the technical wizards in Malenko and Benoit who could have also competed as a tag-team (I would love to have seen that) with Awesome as the Enforcer of the faction (that wasn't a play on Arn Anderson's nickname btw), using his muscle to watch the backs of his team mates.

The storyline could have been that eventually Awesome got tired of his back-up role and being under-appreciated by Flair which led to him destroying Malenko and Benoit with Awesome Bombs after a match, and then setting his sights on the Nature Boy and the World Title, kind of like Diesel turning on HBK in the WWF.

If it had been done right, with the fans slowly getting behind Awesome while he was beginning to lose his temper with his treatment in the Horsemen, it could have been a big success, as Flair in the mid 90s was still capable of carrying a feud with anyone and Awesome could have been booked as a credible challenger to Naitch.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Mike Awesome had great wrestling skills in the ring, he was a monster wrestler with moves of a high flyer, I agree his mic skills were poor but WCW and WWE booked him all wrong. Well WCW booked everybody they sign from ECW wrong and guys that were let go from WCW and went to ECW became stars. ( Awesome,Sandman,Eddie Guerrero,Chris Benoit,Micky Whipwreck, Stone Cold and so on the list is really long.)

While I agree that WCW did book most of the guys they signed from ECW badly, every one of the wrestlers you listed found fame in ECW and THEN went to WCW....except Austin who went to ECW after Bisch fired him over the phone...the fucker

 

[The Eighties]

He was an interesting one, the whole "Heavyweight with cruiserweight moves" gimmick was unique and I imagine didn't sit well with Nash and Sid, for starters it made both look even more pedestrian than they already were and it would go against the grain of how to work as a big man in the oldschool tradition.

The moment he opened his mouth it was game over so he'd need to be booked and protected just right to get over, if he was actually protected properly he could have been a solid main event guy, not a real top draw but someone that was in and around the scene. However he had no chance in WCW, between the guys who he'd make look bad and the glass ceiling he was doomed to fail.