Balistik Blabber: Mike Awesome!

This is the 15th ýBalistik Blabberý article and in case you just joined the bandwagon, Iým your host Wrestling game, bringing wonderful and sometimes awful memories of ex-WWE stars back into the spotlight! To my regular readers, thanks again for all the support! Your suggestions for this article are always appreciated!

I promised you something ýawesomeý for this weekýs articleý and after researching the history of this guy, I am elated to say he is more than just ýawesomeý; he could very well be EPIC. I bring you one of the most agile heavyweights to grace the ring.

MIKE AWESOME!!

Nowadays we see a lot of ýpowerý wrestlers doing lots of ýpowerý moves like chokeslams, sidewalk slams and powerbombs. Unfortunately, most of them stick to just those moves causing critics to label them Joe-ý5-movesý-Wrestler or something like that. Then we have Michael Lee Alfonso~

The cousin and childhood buddy of Horace Hogan, Michael and Horace were impressed at the success of Horaceýs uncle Hulk Hogan during the 1980s. Before I continue, I just want to point out people donýt seem to think this 2nd degree connection makes Mike and Hulk Hogan related but oh well, you decide~ After training under Steve ýDoink 2ý Keirn, he started wrestling for Steve in Pro Wrestling Federation (PFW) in 1989. After that he wrestled for the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) for awhile and suddenly got a big break appearing in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for the first time asý

A LUCHADOR!!!

As ýThe Proý, he basically jobbed but that is irrelevant. The following year (1990 to those not doing their math), Mike was on his way to Japan to work for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW)!!! He used the name ýThe Gladiatorý and began wearing face paint as part of the gimmick.

Standing 6 feet 7 inches, this guy was a sight to behold in Japan! Even more surprising, he was fast! He could run, he could jump, he would even do planchas and top rope maneuvers! It was in this fashion he made an impact in the company! It was here he would begin his monstrous feud with Japanýs rock-headed Masato Tanaka and carry it over to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)! Working between FMW and ECW from 1990 to 2000, he got his first major title victories. These include the ýFMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championshipý together with Rick ýBig Titaný Bogner in 1993 and then the ýFMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championshipý against none other than the companyýs top performer HAYABUSA in 1995!!! After the match the two warriors embraced and showed respect for one another, truly a classic matchý and it is now YOUR assignment to find and watch this match on YouTube! Itýll be worth your while trust me~

Mike was forced to vacate the title due to an injury but later recaptured it in 1996. In a grand victory over W*NG Kanemura later that year he unified it with ýFMW Independent Heavyweight Championshipý making him a double-belt champion! The guy was ON FIRE as he added the ýFMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titlesý to his record the following year and thus making him a triple-belt champion!!!

Just a random story during his stay in Japan: he got in trouble with the Yakuza! To those who donýt know, the ýYakuzaý is Japanýs version of the ýSicilian Mafiaý or the ýChinese Triadý. It happened in one FMW show where some Yakuza were beating the crap out of his friend Sabu (!) and he made the save. This forced Mike and the rest of the foreign talent of FMW to hide out in their lockers because the other members of the Yakuza were waiting to do evil things to them in the hallway! Thankfully, FMW veteran Atsushi Onita was able to grant them safe passage out of the arena and into safety!

Soon after the fall of FMW, Mike returned to ECW (1998) for his second run, along with Masato Tanaka to continue their hellacious feud. With each man picking up the victory after every other match they had, it seemed neither man would be the clear cut winnerý until that yearýs ýAugust Heat Waveý PPV where Tanaka got the win at the end of Mikeýs second ECW run. It would be on his 3rd time with ECW would he earn its top prize in a slobber knocker of a 3-way dance. Fighting against Taz and Tanaka, Mike would end the bout with his signature ýAWESOME BOMBý on Tanaka to become the ýECW Heavyweight Championý in 1999! The gold keeps on pouring with the attainment of the ECW World Tag Team Titles with Raven in 2000!! It seemed like everything was going Mikeýs way until that faithful April of 2000ý Mike jumped ship to WCW while still the ECW champ, causing mayhem between the 2 companies! Before things got ugly with legal mumbo jumbo, a compromise was reached and Mike Awesome relinquished his title to Taz and continued on with WCW which would lead to one of his most embarrassing gimmicks everý ýThe Fat Chick Thrillerý and then laterý ýThat 70ýs Guyýý Iýd like to skip the details but that wouldnýt make this a ýfairý look into his career so instead, Iýll summarize: both these gimmicks were ýso-soý compared to his ýneutral characterý. Thankfully, being the great wrestler he is, he still managed to put up impressive matches with these gimmicks. These matches include a grudge with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse. Other highlights of this time would be when he Awesome Bombed Hulk Hogan through a table (seriously, not a lot of people got to do that) and also when he threw Chris Kanyon off the first level of a three-level steel cage. Oh yeah, did I mention that ýThat 70ýs Guyý got a talk show segment called the ýLava Lamp Loungeý? Check this one out; he looks like a certain ýShame".

After nearly a WHOLE YEAR of having these gimmicks, he finally dropped them and became ýThe Career Killerý. Surely you get the point just by reading those three words? It got changed to ýThe Canadian Career Killerý when he joined ýTeam Canadaý with Lance Storm and Elix Skipper (I miss these guysý). Together they did great, except one time when Mike lost to Konnan in a ýHair VS Hairý match, costing him his mullet~ In 2001, WCW was finally purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (GASP! THE WORD THAT MUST NOT BE SPOKEN!!!) thus officially tying him to the biggest wrestling company of the country. He was put into the ýInvasioný storyline and even got his first title, ýThe WWF Hardcore Titleý (how befitting) when he attacked Rhyno who had just beaten Test for said belt. This was the only decent push he had until he lost the title to Jeff Hardy. Not happy with how the WWF runs things and completely livid at the intense backstage politics, he was extremely (no pun intended) overjoyed when he was fired. After the release, Mike went back to the indies, even appearing on Total Nonstop Action (TNA), and then for ýMajor League Wrestlingý (MLW) in 2003. Here, he became MLW champion for 10 minutes after beating All Japan Pro Wrestlingýs (AJPW) Satoshi Kojima. It wouldnýt be until 2 years later we would see him again facing his long-time rival Tanaka on the 1st ýOne Night Standý PPV. Although Joey Styles and some of the fans seemed to hate him for his past actions, the crowd still cheered both men and gave a standing ovation to its finish: Awesome Bombing Tanaka to a table outside the ring, followed by a slingshot plancha and the pin.

In the following year of 2006, Michael Alfonso announced his retirement from professional wrestling. He wanted to be with his family and said that the only thing that would bring him back to the ring was a ýdecent payý, something he claims he rarely gets. It seemed like a pretty good end to a high-octane wrestling careerý

Sadly on February 17, 2007, Michael was found lifeless in his Tampa, Florida home. He was 42 years old and survived by his wife and two children. Why it had to end like this we may never know but wherever he is, I can assure you heýs still as awesome as he was when he was in the ring giving us great wrestling entertainment!

Thank you Mikeý rest in peace!

Thanks for reading and Iýll catch you all on the next issue of ýBalistik Blabberý to see which ex-WWE talent will be remembered!

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