Was Mike Awesome Really A Judas?

[TUFFY54]

As a huge fan of the orginal ECW, I remember how shocked I was when Mike Awesome showed up on Nitro while still the ECW champion. Seeing how this happened in 2000 and the internet wasnt nearly what it is today, the only explantation I got was the one that Paul Heyman gave on ECW. It went a little something like this.

Heyman: "Mike Awesome is a fucking greedy piece of shit. ECW made him famous in America and he stabed us in the back and pissed all over you fans for a little more money in WCW. You fans deserve better than that no good piece of shit and I say good ridance!" In addition to this, Joey Styles trashed him at One Night Stand. He said he was a Judas, and greedy bastered, and low life piece of shit, a selfish prick, and said he hoped he broke his neck during the match.

Recently I had a chance to watch a shoot inteview with Awesome from 2006 and he gave a very diffrent side of the story. Here is a summery.

Awesome: "I worked for ECW a few times when I was home from Japan and thought it was a pretty good company. In 1999 my son was getting older and my wife was pregnant so I wanted to come back to America and spend more time at home. Heyman got in touch with me and promised me the world. They were going to put the belt on me make me the star of the company. I would have been making less money than in Japan, but was promised pay increases as we went along. I took it so I could be at home with my family". He said that Heyman offered him a big signing bonus, and after that check went through he signed the contract. Unfortunatly, that was pretty much the last time he got paid in ECW. He said that every week Paul gave him a new lie about why his check wasnt in the mail. He was having to pay for his mortage and wifes doctor visits out of his savings and was miserable. After a few months of this, he got a call from Hulk Hogan. Hogan is his real life cousin and told him that it was bullshit to bust your ass and not get paid. He said they could definatly use him in WCW and to come on down. Awesome said that he would tell Paul he he needed his money, and if he didnt pay he would go to WCW. He told Paul this and Paul freeked out and said that the check was in the mail. Awesome got the check and it bounced. A few days later he was on Nitro. Awesome also said why he didnt drop the title before he went. Hogan told him not to because he would be worth twice as much money as the champ. Awesome said that if Heyman gave him is money after he told him he was leaving, he would go out there and drop it to anyone. After the check Heyman sent bounced, he said to hell with it and got the huge WCW payday he deserved.

Hearing both sides of the story, I gotta side with Mike Awesome. While we can never know the exact details, it is an admited fact that nobody was getting paid in ECW. Van Dam, Dreamer, and the Dudleys have all said in interviews that they were working for free at the end because they wanted to save the company they loved. Heres the problem with that, Mike Awesome didnt help build a company that he loved. Heyman lied to him and got him to leave a great job with guarenteed pay to come to a company and get stiffed every week. Imagine you quite your job to work for a company that offered you better money and working conditions. After being there six moths you havent been paid and the working conditions are shit. Now imagine you have bills to pay and a child on the way. If your freind called you and said that he could get you a good job with more money than you've every made, you would probley well up with tears of joy.

Mike Awesome wasn't a Judas at all. He was a great wrestler that got fucked over and made a good buisness decision to try and fix it. The real scumbags are Paul Heyman and Joey Styles for completly screwing him and then lying about it and trashing him to the fans.

P.S. If anyone was ever wondering why Awesome got such shitty gimicks in WCW heres why: Awesome was Hogans cousin and good friend. Russo fucking hated Hulk Hogan and gave that idiotic shoot on him at Bash at the Beach that caused WCW to lose their biggest star and get slammed with a huge defimation lawsuit. Russo couldnt take his rage out on Hogan so he fucked Awesome. Ladies and gentlemen, thats why one of the most incredibly talented and amazing wrestlers this industry has every seen became That 70's Guy and the Fat Chick Thriller. Yeah, WCW was terrible.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

doesn't change my mind, to be honest. EVERYONE in ECW has admitted they didn't get paid for long spurts and that's the reason they're performing, for money. i don't blame Awesome, i would've done the same thing. hell i don't think i would've gave Heyman a chance to mail me the check. i would've just gave them the ECW belt and left, don't even drop it to anyone. if i was losing money for doctor's visits and mortgage payments, that's the line for me.

all in all, wrestling is a business first. they're in it for the money. after years of punishing your body, especially in ECW, you're looking for a payday. whether in ECW or whether you just want to get noticed by the other companies. smart move by Awesome and i don't blame him a bit

 

[pepentorresHHH]

If what awesomne is true then i totally agree with him..... ECW was a place where they punished the human body the most between the big 3 and to not get paid for it for 6 MONTHS its total bullshit....i would have done the exact same thing awesome did...like it was said... This is a business first and foremost.... You dont go out there and wrestle just because you like it!

 

[neildittmar]

Ah, the Mike Awesome ECW/WCW situation. Cool that it's being brought up here and I like the differing perspective of the events from Awesome. I honestly hadn't heard them in detail before.

I was a HUGE fan of the original ECW and saw Awesome doing what he did as tantamount to sacrilege at the time. Here was a guy that ECW, the little company that could, believed in insofar that they spotlighted him in main event matches against Masato Tanaka (an unknown in the United States), put the belt on him when there were long-term veterans there that were equally deserving, and showcased him as a credible big man in a sport full of them.

Today, I still don't think what Awesome did was right. If he wanted a fresh start, regardless of the reasoning, then he should've concluded his old business the right way and started anew. In wrestling, that means going out on your back and particularly if you're a champion, dropping the strap to the "next in line" chosen by the company. It's the right thing to do (you don't lose credibility) and it's the smart thing to do (you don't burn a bridge or acquire a negative stigma).

So one could conclude that I'm siding with Heyman and ECW then? Wrong. In any type of employer/employee relationship, pro-wrestling or othewise, you have to PAY your employees. Awesome fulfilled his side of the contractual obligations. By Awesomes account, Heyman did not. This gave him every right to leave and breach contract. Geez, even if he didn't want to appear on ECW programming ever again, then I certainly wouldn't blame him. In that case he should've contacted Heyman, told him he was going to WCW, and if he felt so compelled, remark that he'd see him in court for back wages.

Awesome didn't do this though. He brought the ECW title on WCW programming, was announced as a world champion from a "major independent promtion", and tarnished the ECW world championship to an extent by doing so. The company was already hurting pretty bad, as evidenced by Heymans inability to pay Mike for his work. Why did Awesome feel the need to kick the company while it was down, insult the workers still there, and do it all for his personal gain (ie; he'd be worth twice as much as the champ with the belt.)

In my opinion, both sides are to blame. Awesome was right in leaving, but did it in entirely the wrong way. That's why he was labeled as a Judas and what I feel stemmed so much animosity against him.

 

[mreastbay]

You know, why do have sympathy and understanding as to why he did it from a financial and personal stand point, Im a fan. I dont watch wrestling to worry about the wrestlers personal lives. If i connect with a wrestler, sure Ill care more if he had come accross hard times (Eddie Guerrero being a prime example), but I never got that far with Mike Awesome. And considering the recent history betwixt ECW and WCW at the time PLUS adding on that he was related to Hogan......well, that makes me a lil more suspicous of the motives of jumping. Tho no doubt the money had to have been THE key factor, otherwise he wouldve dropped the belt to anyone regardless (which we all know he ended up doing, to a WWF/E wrestler to add to the irony of it, think WCW wouldve had a problem with him losing it to Dreamer if they knew it would otherwise go to Tazz?)

I wasnt the most hardcore ECW fan, but I am a hardcore wrestling fan......tradition is a big thing to me. Awesome dropping the belt at the time wouldve made him showing up on Nitro the next day more shocking, really. But instead, i lost respect for the wrestler. Making me really care less what he did to Nash. It was a Dud........and was it any suprise that Hogan had a hand in it? Im sure to ECW he was a judas....but he was just a wrestler, who made a mistake that, in another Irony, was supposed to skyrocket his career......and look what happened. Karmas a b**ch, eh?

 

[DeathClutch]

I like Haymen as a whole, he's the only promoter that NEVER lied to the fans but sure did to the boys which sucked over all.

Awesome was simply AWESOME in ECW he really kept the belt looking good but ECW had RVD, Sabu & Tazz and dare say New Jack but Paul tried the smart route with pushing a new star unfortunatly money didn't come in like he expected.

Mike was right to look after his families interest before busting his ass off for nothing, but we all know ECW was on life support around this time, just ashame they couldn't of somehow made money to survive because over all ECW TV was pretty good around 2000-2001 (last ppv anyways).

However NO Mike wasn't a judas he busted his butt off for nothing and his family NEEDED money and paul kept dodging the money so no.

 

[TUFFY54]

A lot of people have said that he should of done the right thing and dropped the belt before he left. In almost any other situation I would agree. I always sided with McMahon in the Montreal incident because Bret wouldn't do what was right. Vince told him that he couldn't afford his contract and said he would release him to go to WCW to get paid. Bret not dropping the belt because it was Canada was ridiculous. (As Vince once said, "I didnt know Bret was from Montreal", that would be like Kurt Angle saying he wouldn't drop the belt in America!) In this instance though, he did the right thing by not dropping the belt. He was destroying his body for ECW and all Paul did was feed him lie after lie with no money. He gave Paul one last chance and he blew it. Keeping the belt allowed him to get the payday he needed to take care of his family. I'll agree that his career in WCW was a dud, but he had a dud career while making over a million dollars a year plus first class accomidaions. Not to mention being able to be with his family more than ever.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I never cared one shred for Mike Awesome, guy was extremely overrated but there are two sides to this particular coin.

Loyalty is something that everyone loves. Everyone wants someone to work for them that's loyal to them and will do what it takes to ensure the job gets done. That's all well and good, but loyalty is also something of a two way street. Mike Awesome is someone that expected to be compensated for his loyalty, as everyone does to some degree, and it didn't really happen with him.

Paul Heyman is not a businessman and is someone that, at times, doesn't seem to understand certain aspects of life. Mike Awesome had an opportunity that could mean a better life and financial stability for his family and anyone that believes he should put ECW over that is a fucking idiot. It'd be one thing if Awesome was making some real money from Heyman and just flipped him the bird in every sense of the word, but that's not what happened. There were lots of guys that worked ECW matches for little to no pay a lot of times. It showed that they loved the company and what was going on and that's great. But good intentions don't put food on the table, clothes on your back or a roof over your head at night. Mike Awesome needed money and he wasn't really making any in ECW.

I think that some ECW fans need to get their heads out of their asses and look at the real world for what it is. Paul Heyman is not a prophet, everything he did and said wasn't some gospel and he shouldn't have made financial promises to wrestlers that he wasn't able to keep. Nobody's perfect after all, but pro wrestling is a business. Wrestlers do it because they like it and because they want to be able to make a living doing it. It's not a fucking fantasy league, or at least it's not supposed to be.

 

[Tech N9ne]

First of all, Great fuckin' thread dude..........

I agree 100% with Jack-Hammer. Except for not caring one shred about Awesome. I did like to watch the guy in ECW. I thought he was exactly what his name said, AWESOME! He was a big man that did some crazy shit to say the least. Kind of funny to say a big man's best opponent was such a small guy. But his matches with Spike Dudley were something else.

There was a time it felt like Spike would go over him. All the bumps that Spike took for the company, paired with The Acid Drop, made it seem like they might actually give Spike the title. BUT, truth be told, Awesome always left him in a bloody mess, within numerous broken tables. There was a point when he was the best attraction in ECW. I believe RVD was hurt, and most guys had moved on from the company. Including guys like Sandman and Shane Douglas to name a couple.

Anyway, enough Mike Awesome history. I tend to agree with him simply for the fact that he wanted to have a better life for his family. He couldn't be greedy. To leave Japan, for less money, to be closer to his family, is commendable! But there was also the promise he WOULD make more money over time.

WCW was shelling out tons of money back then, especially to lure away WWE and ECW guys. If Heyman made promises of money, among other things, that he did not keep. He deserved to lose Awesome anyway.

To me, it seems like Heyman is the greedy piece of shit in this situation, and guys like Joey Styles just followed along with what his boss said, or might have even told Styles to say.

 

[blackmetalbuick]

Have any *real* hard feelings between the two sides been confirmed? I'm sure Heyman used it as an opportunity to cut a good promo about it on TV, and they've continued to act this way by criticizing Awesome at the ONS PPV. But on the other hand, I've always heard stories that Heyman was more than supportive when his boys got called up to bigger and better things. Maybe not so much in favor of WCW as WWF, but still. Heyman knew ECW had a niche audience and knew he could hardly pay these guys. They used the whole "talent grabbing" thing openly in storylines. I just finally got around to reading "Have a Nice Day" by Mick Foley, and read about how Foley would cut promos calling hardcore wrestling garbage and the fans blood-thirsty and indifferent, and this was part of an angle where Foley was encouraging Tommy Dreamer to take a WCW contract. Foley even ended up wearing a Bischoff t-shirt to the ring.

I for one kinda hope the supposed issues between Awesome and Heyman were exaggerated for entertainment's sake. I don't blame Awesome at all for wanting a good paycheck. Again to reference Foley's book, he talked about fans chanting "you sold out", and he clarified that selling out means going against your principals for money. But he proceeded to run down his list of principals as "do what I love for a living, do it in front of the biggest crowds possible, and make as much money as I can". I'm sure that goes for most performers out there. Maybe a few guys are happy being a big fish in a small pond in the independents, but most guys want to keep moving up and making more money.

I don't fault Awesome at all, except seeing him put to poor use in WCW made me wish he had stayed in ECW.

I can't believe I see people calling him overrated. The guy was freakin amazing. I've been marking out lately when I see Sheamus doing the shoulder block over the ropes from the apron because he's the first big guy I've seen doing stuff like that since Awesome.

 

[X]

Mike Awesome has long been one of my favorite wrestlers, his feud with Masato Tanaka blew my mind in ECW and FMW and opened me up to entire new kinds of wrestling I had no idea existed beforehand. So maybe I'm a bit biased in my opinion here, but I see nothing wrong with what Awesome did.

Paul Heyman is a fucking moron. There cannot possibly be a single more overrated "mind" in the history of professional wrestling. For someone who habitually lost millions of dollars, continuously, like it was his fucking job to, it baffles me how people still beg and clamor for Heyman to take over TNA. 'Cause that's just what TNA needs, another has-been from the 90s. Paul Heyman can call Awesome a judas all he wants, but he has no room to talk. YOU DIDN'T FUCKING PAY THE GUY! Why the fuck should he travel around the country on his own dime to wrestle for you for free, knowing he isn't going to be paid? Why? Because you gave him a short world title reign? Doesn't mean you don't have to pay the guy.

It's really as simple as that. There is zero reason Awesome should have been working for Heyman, wrecking his body, for FREE. And the fact that that piece of shit Heyman still talks shit about Awesome after he took his own life several years ago is fucking despicable and makes me lose even more respect for that pig.

Seriously, fuck Heyman. He has no leg to stand on in this issue, none. It's also laughable how he thinks he made Awesome's career. No, you didn't, he made his own career busting his fucking ass in Japan in wars in the FMW promotion. With his size and athletic ability the guy could have been a star in several promotions, but no, Heyman and then WCW fucked that up royally and in turn fucked the man's life up.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Mike Awesome had a job. Jobs require reasonable payment. Heyman couldn't pay enough. Awesome goes somewhere that will.

Can you really blame the guy? I mean even in the 90s I understood why he did what he did. Most wrestlers have familes to feed. It wasn't for fucking greed it was for fucking food. It pisses me off to hear the crap that is still being said by Heyman- especially about Mike Awesome, who I think repaid everything he did at the first One Night Stand.
He didn't have to do that match either; but he did. He wanted to make some form of an apology and he did even though he didn't have to do that either.

Mike Awesome was like any other man trying to get by by pouring blood and sweat into a company. He realized money was coming up short in ECW, so who cares he went to WCW? $$$ walks, especially when you have a family to support.

 

[mrmachinegunn]

I remember watching one nite stand and thinking mike awesome stole the show!

But joey styles really pissed me off during the match constantly bringing the man down even though he was having a great match he couldnt bring himself to praise him people like him need to get over the fact that ecw is gone and shut down due to complete mismanagment by paul heyman and his false promises.

It is any mans right to walk away and find a job that pays if his current job wont i couldnt look my family in the face if i was working my ass off and coming home with nothing to show for it.

Ecw was a complete shambles and no man owes anything to them who wasnt paid for what they do people who say mike awesome owed them are diluded as if they werent getting paid for there job would they stick around?

Paul heyman is the most over rated egotistical idiot out there and joey styles isnt far behind him.

Sorry for my rant but mike awesome was no judas and deserves to rest in peace.

Thanks for looking From ayrshire scotland.

 

[OutsiderDX]

Mike Awesome leaving was not the problem.

The way Mike Awesome left was.

He was going to get paid in WCW, so his family was going to be taken care of. But if he was champ he would have gotten paid MORE.

So for the EXTRA money, he greatly hindered the families of the other 30 wrestlers in the ECW. He wasn't a Judas to the ECW name/company. He was a Judas to the men and women who were trying to make a living. He was Judas to his co-workers who he spent with in that locker room, to the men who took care of him in the ring.

He should have dropped the title, did the honors and then gotten his STILL fat paycheck from Uncle Ted.

 

[slapper97]

First off, RIP Mike Awesome.

Second, who can blame him for doing what he did if what he said is true? As a family man, I would have done the EXACT same thing. Family first. Screw a company that doesn't pay you.

Third, his match with Tanaka at ONS is still one of my favorite matches of all time; my buddies and I watch this match at every party we have, we are all huge wrestling fans. We do a shot for Mr. Awesome before the match, shots at all the great spots, then a shot after the match in his memory. Yeah, any excuse to do a shot, right? Even people at the parties who aren't wrestling fans sit and watch this one. Anyway, it's a great match; if you've only given it one look before, go back and watch it again....and again....and then again.

Last, thanks for posting this thread! Best posting in a while.

 

[mral82]

What all you people forget was that Ric Flair, Madusa Micelli, Tazz all did the same before as Mike Awesome the brought the Previous Championships w/ them and the reason was to make a Impact. As far as Bret goes I believe he woulda dropped it the next night if not due to the Screwjob. Mike awesome was the 1st man of the WECW faction to show up during the Invasion as he took the Hardcore Title. If I was him I do the same as he did family comes 1st over any bizniz sorry. I'm glad Heyman has moved on to other ventures besides wrestling as I hatin seein blood every single match. So R.I.P Awesome and I'm glad you went somewhere that had a better since for the biz and no he wasn't a Judas.

 

[Monky]

I could see where you could call Mike Awesome a Judas for bringing the ECW title on Nitro. At the time, I thought he was a Judas. But looking back on it, obviously Mike Awesome was right in leaving, and honestly Mike Awesome showing up on Nitro really didn't hurt ECW. It's not like he trashed it or anything. If anything the controversy may have helped ECW.

As for Paul Heyman and Joey Styles' reactions, I suspect that they were playing up their frustration to make good TV. A large part of ECW's appeal was that they were the underdog going against WCW and WWF. Bashing Mike Awesome for leaving made sense from a worked storyline perspective.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

You can sorta see how Mike Awesome (R.I.P.) can be a judas because if i remember correctly a formore women's champ from the WWF went on Nitro with WWF's title and threw it i the trash. Mike should have just lost the title while in ECW and just left and never looked back like some other ECW wrestlers did.

You also have to admit that calling Mike a judas is like calling Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, The Dudley Boyz, all Judases because they all went to WCW or WWF at one point or another because of the money that would have made them retire faster and make a better life for there families, is Mike Awesome a Judas in my mind i don't think he is but he did turn his back on the fans of ECW when he took there title with him to Nitro

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Mike Awesome wasn't a Judas at all. He was a great wrestler that got fucked over and made a good buisness decision to try and fix it. The real scumbags are Paul Heyman and Joey Styles for completly screwing him and then lying about it and trashing him to the fans.

P.S. If anyone was ever wondering why Awesome got such shitty gimicks in WCW heres why: Awesome was Hogans cousin and good friend. Russo fucking hated Hulk Hogan and gave that idiotic shoot on him at Bash at the Beach that caused WCW to lose their biggest star and get slammed with a huge defimation lawsuit. Russo couldnt take his rage out on Hogan so he fucked Awesome. Ladies and gentlemen, thats why one of the most incredibly talented and amazing wrestlers this industry has every seen became That 70's Guy and the Fat Chick Thriller. Yeah, WCW was terrible.

I don't like what Awesome did, but I dont blame him for doing what he did. Hell, if what Mike said in that interview is true, and that he left a well-[aying job in Japen to wrestle for ECW and hardly got paid then what would anyone else have done in that situation? The guy needed money to feed his family.

If Paul Heyman lied to him about what he would be making in ECW then Awesome did nothing wrong in leaving the company. Did he actually appear on Nitro with the belt or just turn up while still recognised as the ECW champion? Because I don't think I would have shown up with the belt myself, but when Heyman isnt keeping his promises to you, your whole time in ECW has been a mass of lies and bouncing cheques, and your family need feeding then Mike Awesome did nothing wrong.

Bullshit how he was treated in WCW, if Russo buried him as a way of getting back at Hulk Hogan then that is pathetic. Mike Awesome was very talented, I think he deserved a much higher status in WWE and WCW than he got, and as we saw at One Night Stand, he could still go in the ring. It is sad that he is no longer with us, after his suicide

RIP Mike

 

[harrythem]

I think Awesome was rather smart for taking the ECW title to WCW. Yeah, wasn't helpful to ECW but, let's be honest, they weren't bothering to pay him so why should he really give a fuck about them? The fact that he was still the ECW champ raised the price WCW was willing to pay him to make the jump. Hell, I'd do the same thing if I had the chance.

And, honestly, the whole title situation from there with Awsome, Taz, Dreamer etc made for a few good weeks of TV, something ECW was struggling to provide at that time.