Source: SLAM! Sports
Former ECW World Champion Mike Awesome (real name Michael Alfonso), was found dead in his home on Saturday evening. He was 42 years old.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Awesome was found hanging in his home, found by friends, and suicide is suspected.
Awesome has been out of the wrestling spotlight since the acquisition of WCW by the WWE (then WWF). He worked a short program after the merger, but never attained the heights he had as a headliner in ECW and in All Japan.
Best known to fans for his time in ECW, where he feuded in a wild series of matches with Masata Tanaka over the ECW World title as the company debuted on TNN, Awesome jumped ship to WCW while still champion in April 2000. Heyman threatened legal action for the departure, and an agreement was made that Awesome would return to drop the title to a wrestler of ECW’s choosing.
That turned out to be former champion, and WWE employee, Tazz.
“We made history that night,” Tazz told SLAM! Wrestling’s Bob Kapur in August 2001. “Here you have a WWF wrestler wrestling a signed WCW wrestler on an ECW event for the ECW title. That’s history, and I’m a part of that. And I’m happy I did it.”
Tazz insisted that there wasn’t any bad blood between him and Awesome. “I have no problem with Mike Awesome. I had a problem with the way he did business. And Mike knew I felt that way, a lot of guys felt that way about Mike. I think if Mike had to do it all over again, he’d do it different. People make mistakes in life, make wrong moves, and it’s fine. But I personally never had heat with Mike. If the fans want to think that, that’s fine, that’s good for business. But there was never heat.”
Debuting in 1989 after training under Steve Keirn, the the 6-foot-6, 292-pound Tampa, Florida native worked Japan for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as a stint in Memphis.
“I watched professional wrestling as a teenager,” Awesome said in Thom Loverro’s book, The Rise and Fall of ECW. “I was always interested in it. My Dad’s sister married Hulk Hogan’s brother, and they produced a son who was about a year younger than me, my cousin Horace Hogan, who also wrestled and whose real name is Michael Bollea. He and I grew up together. Because his uncle, Hulk Hogan, became a popular wrestler while we were in high school, my cousin got interested in it. We talked about it, and it got me interested in it.”
After years of establishing himself and developing a cult following in Japan’s FMW promotion, Mike Awesome made a big impact on the American wrestling scene on September 19, 1999. Competing in the main event of ECW’s Anarchy Rulz PPV from Chicago, Mike Awesome captured the ECW Heavyweight title, outlasting Taz and Masato Tanaka in a three way dance.
For Awesome, the victory was a vindication of sorts. He’s long been ingnored by promoters in the U.S. In need of a new champion with credibility to replace the departing Taz, Heyman handpicked Awesome for the role of ECW World Champion.
Heyman, an astute follower of international wrestling, had been following Awesome’s career in the Far East, first brought Awesome to ECW on February 5, 1994 when he wrestled J.T. Smith. Although Awesome had other matches with Sabu that year, the match with Smith will long be remembered for Awesome over the top rope dive onto Smith, nearly snapping his back into two over the guardrail. It was one of the most memorable high spots of the year.
Awesome competed primarily in Japan’s FMW promotion under the name G The Gladiator. His longstanding feud with Masato Tanaka translated well for American audiences. The two had many bitter brawls, taking the level of Japanese garbage wrestling to new heights.
The ECW World title win was actually Awesome’s second world title reign. On December 11, 1996, Awesome defeated Wing Kanemura for the FMW Indepependent World title, holding it nine months before dropping it to arch rival Masato Tanaka.
