The Final Years of Mike Awesome

When one thinks of Mike Awesome, his epic battles in ECW and FMW with Masato Tanaka will likely come to mind. There is also his incredible run as the ECW World Champion, which ended controversially when he jumped to WCW while still holding the title, leading to the only time a WCW-contracted wrestler would battle a WWF-contracted wrestler at an ECW show. Of course, the good would come with the bad, with his horrifically booked runs as ‘That 70s Guy’ or the ‘Fat Chick Thriller’ in WCW’s dying days. 

Whatever the thoughts are, one thinks of a man in his prime doing what he does best on a big stage. But what happened to the man after his prominent runs in ECW, WCW and WWF? And what led to the tragic end of his life? These are the final years of Mike Awesome.

2002

Despite being one of the first WCW wrestlers to appear on camera at the beginning of the Invasion angle in 2001, even winning the WWF Hardcore Title, Mike Awesome was soon relegated as just another number in the background. Despite the promising start and being in a tag match on the Invasion PPV alongside former Team Canada member Lance Storm, Awesome was not long for the WWF world. On September 27, 2002, Awesome was released from his contract, ending his WWF career only a year after it began. Years later, Jim Ross, the head of Talent Relations at the time, would recall why Awesome was cut loose on his Grilling JR podcast.

“He didn’t connect with the audience. It’s the intangible thing you can’t colour or smell or paint a colour on or whatever. He just didn’t have the charisma to connect with the audience. He was a mechanic, and sometimes can be a little bit too stoic.”

To Awesome, being released from WWE was a blessing in disguise, as he realized he wasn’t built for the overly political nature of the company at the time.

Within two months of being released, Awesome had made his way back to All Japan Pro Wrestling, competing on several tours, first under his Mike Awesome alias, before reverting to “The Gladiator” alias he had used in his earlier days. Despite most of his time in AJPW, he would also make a brief appearance in a new start-up promotion at the end of 2002, Major League Wrestling, defeating Jerry Lynn in a Number One Contender match at MLW King Of Kings.

2003

2003 would be one of Awesome’s more productive years, competing in several promotions. After working a few tours with All Japan, Awesome was reassured he would become a regular for their tours, working as one of the more known Gaijin. He would work a match with the legendary Great Muta, but unfortunately, Muta was sick and, thus, not in his peak condition. Despite his illness, Muta insisted on spraying Awesome with the Green Mist, leading to Awesome getting very sick. At the time, Muta had a lot of pull with All Japan, so it wasn’t as if Awesome was in a position to say no.

Awesome would also work a few more stints with MLW, even defeating Satoshi Kojima for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, he was acting as a conduit to transfer the title to Steve Corino, who beat him later that night for the Championship. Aside from MLW, in North American wrestling, he would have a brief stint in NWA TNA, working as a member of Reverend Jim Mitchell’s Disciples Of The New Church. 

The rest of 2003 would see several tours with All Japan and the occasional indie show.

2004

2004 would be an exciting yet familiar year for Awesome. While he would start the year with All Japan again, by the end of the year, he would have been all over the place regarding Japanese wrestling. After departing AJPW, he would work shows for Pro Wrestling ZERO1, which would see him team up with Dustin Rhodes (using the name Dusty Rhodes Jr!) against his longtime rivals Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda. He would also work for HUSTLE before making his new home in Pro Wrestling NOAH for the remainder of the year.

On the North American front, he would only work a few shows for Jersey All Pro Wrestling. However, in one of those bouts, he would team with Vader against the company’s champion Dan Maff and his partner, Samoa Joe. Imagine that had to be one hell of a hard-hitting match.

Mike Awesome with Vader from All Japan Wrestling in 2004.

2005

2005 would again see Awesome beginning the year on a trek to Japan, competing for Pro Wrestling NOAH for the first few months. 

But when talking about 2005, one has to discuss the WWE presentation of ECW One Night Stand on June 12th, 2005, from the Hammerstein Ballroom.  Awesome was brought in for what would, by all accounts, turn out to be his final match, and what a match it was. Once again pitted across the ring from Masato Tanaka, the two would put on an instant classic that reminded the whole world why Mike Awesome was such a unique talent. But the match was not without controversy.

As Awesome had departed ECW years earlier in a controversial fashion, the fans didn’t exactly welcome Awesome into the Ballroom with cheers, instead choosing to give the big man quite a bit of a hard time. While his performance would soon change their minds, even ending the match with a standing ovation for both men and their performance, there was one man not so easily swayed by his opinion, that being Joey Styles.

Throughout the match, Styles obliterated Mike Awesome for his departure from ECW for WCW years earlier, even frankly stating, “It’s a shame he didn’t succeed in taking his own life.” While at the time, this just seemed like very sour grapes on Styles’ behalf, even understandable given his association with the ECW name and brand, it would take on a much darker tone just a few years later.

2006

2006 was a tranquil year for the man formerly known as The Gladiator. In February of that year, he announced that he was retiring from wrestling, partially allegedly stemming from feeling the WWE underpaid him for his performance at One Night Stand, where he and Tanaka put on the match of the night. As it stood, that was his final match, and he went on to become, as many other former wrestlers seem to, a real estate agent in the Tampa area where he was born and raised.

2007

After Mike’s wife noted she was leaving him, there was a confrontation between the two, which led to his arrest for domestic abuse.

Upon his release, Mike Alfonso was found dead by a group of friends in his home, having hung himself. At the time of his death, he was 42 years old, tragically leaving behind his wife, high school sweetheart Delisa, and their two children, Casey and Carissa. 

At the time, Mike worked as a realtor at Coldwell Banker in the Tampa area, while it was also noted that he was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and trail bike ridings.

A celebration of Michael's life took place at 10 a.m. Friday, February 23, 2007, at Serenity Meadows.

Given the dearth of mental health resources that have come to be over the past 15 years since Awesome’s passing, one has to wonder if he had access to those types of options and if things could have been different. Instead, we remember a man taken by his hand at a relatively young age who had much more to offer to his family and friends and the wrestling world.