VIEW FROM THE RISING SUN
by Masanori Horie

"The Gladiator" Mike Awesome

ECW World Heavyweight Champion Mike Awesome delivering the Awesome Bomb, Spartanburg, South Carolina, September 30, 1999

ECW World Heavyweight champion Mike Awesome (Mike Alfonso) was born in Tampa, Florida on Sunday, January 24, 1965. He had watched and attended the NWA / CWF (Championship Wrestling from Florida) shows at the National Guard Armory every Tuesday night when he was teenager. He was a fan of Jack Brisco and Terry Funk, who were NWA World Heavyweight champions in those days. He was a wide receiver on the King High School football team and did weight-lifting, and then he studied at Hillsborough Community College (two years) and the University of South Florida (one year). He started bodybuilding and construction work part-time because they had no football program.

He is a cousin of Horace "Hogan" Boulder (Mike Bollea) on the mother's side. Horace's father is a brother of Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea). Mike and Horace are the same age and playfellows. On Christmas Day in 1987, they decided to become professional wrestlers after they were advised by Hulk. Mike spotted a TV advertisement of Steve Keirn's Wrestling School during the PWF (Professional Wrestling Federation) show, and he was trained by Keirn for four months, while his cousin was trained in Larry Malenko's wrestling school. They took bump after bump and learned both physical and mental conditioning.

Masanori and "The Gladiator" Mike Awesome, September 15, 1993

Mike, as Mike Awesome, debuted as a pro wrestler on the PWF show at the Sportatorium in Tampa, Florida on Sunday, February 26, 1989. He and Brett "Wayne" Sawyer lost to The Star Riders. He wrestled for various independent promotions in Florida. Then, Steve Keirn sent him to Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler's USWA / CWA area for three months, beginning in March 1990. He was managed by Nate the Rat and challenged for Lawler's USWA title. The August 1990 issue of The Wrestler (page 18) has "Introduction: Mike Awesome." He says he's more than just another bodybuilder who decided to step through the ropes; he's a wrestler with the skills to go a long way. After the USWA, he wrestled for indies again in Florida and had a few matches at WCW TV tapings at the Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia, including a match against Rick & Scott Steiner in 1990.

Mike, as "The Gladiator," got a chance to come to Japan for the first time for Atsushi Onita's FMW (Frontier Martial-arts Wrestling) from September 20 to October 1, 1990. He traveled with Jimmy Backlund (a.k.a. Jimmy Del Ray) and had 11 shows. Actually, at first, the FMW was going to bring a masked "Gladiator" (Big Al Greene [Master Blaster Blade / Wrecking Crew Rage]) from Florida, but Greene chose wrestling for WCW, so FMW's booking agent contacted Mike only a few weeks before his first coming to Japan, where he would establish himself as a super heavyweight headliner with his "Kamikaze Awesome Bomb" and "Running Dive over the top rope to the floor."
Mike Awesome's running dive over the top rope, Tokyo Dome, May 1, 1998

Onita was really impressed with his future potential ability and decided to make him a regular gaijin (foreign) wrestler for FMW in the next year. The Gladiator stayed in Japan for 16 weeks and had 102 matches for FMW in 1991. The FMW had brought gaijin (foreign) wrestlers from Florida and Calgary independent promotions in those days. Mike, his cousin Horace Boulder, Mark Starr, and Big Titan (Rick Bogner / Impostor Razor Ramon) formed a very powerful group, managed by Victor Quinones. Because of Quinones, they were called the "Puerto Rico Army." Mike isn't a Puerto Rican, nor an Arabian, nor a Canadian, nor a Japanese, but he took a leading part in FMW's heel groups, such as "The Sheik Army" (The Sheik, Sabu, Tiger Jeet Singh, Tiger Jeet Singh Jr., Damian, etc.), "Team Canada" (Big Titan, Dr. Luther, Dr. Hannibal, Ricky Fuji, etc.), "Lethal Weapon" (Mr. Pogo, Hisakatsu Oya, Ricky Fuji, etc.), "FMW (Funk Masters of Wrestling)" (Terry Funk, Head Hunters, Super Leather [Corporal Mike Kirchner], etc.), and "Zen" (Atsushi Onita, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Hideki Hosaka, etc.).

Big Titan (Rick Bogner) and Mike Awesome, June 27, 1993

As The Gladiator, Mike had over 70 tours with FMW over eight years and captured the World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight title, Independent World Heavyweight title, World Brass Knuckles Tag Team title, and World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team title. He can pronounce the Japanese language very well, and he knows the Japanese lifestyle and culture. In fact, they are the most important subjects for gaijin (foreign) wrestlers to have success here in Japan.

Sabu came to Japan for the first time for FMW from November 20 to December 9, 1991. Mike and Sabu have been good friends since then. Sabu and Paul Heyman brought Mike to ECW at the end of 1993. By the way, Sudden Impact (Chris Jericho & Lance Storm, a.k.a. the Thrillseekers) came to Japan for the first time for FMW from October 10-24, 1991. Jericho & Storm scored a big upset over Gladiator & Boulder when Jericho packaged Gladiator in 9:51 at Yoshikawa Town Gym in Saitama Prefecture on October 24. Eight years passed like an arrow.

Mike had a serious injury to his knee when he beat Super Leather at Yamagata Prefectural Gym in Yamagata City on August 26, 1998. It took almost a year to recover. Then, Johnny Ace booked him with All Japan Pro Wrestling from August 21 to September 4, 1999. He had a great match with Kenta Kobashi at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on September 4. He beat Taz and Masato Tanaka to win the ECW World Heavyweight title in a Three Way Dance at the "ECW Anarchy Rules" PPV at The Odeum in Villa Park, Illinois on Sunday, September 19, 1999.

Masanori and "The Gladiator" Mike Awesome, September 4, 1999

Flashback "The Gladiator" Mike Awesome:

1991

September 23, 1991---Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
Street Fight / Double Stretcher Death match
The Gladiator & Big Titan beat Sambo Asako & Ricky Fuji (11:12 KO)

1992

September 19, 1992---Yokohama Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
Street Fight / Triple Stretcher Death match
The Gladiator, Big Titan, and Horace Boulder beat Sambo Asako, Ricky Fuji, and Great Punk
(1) Titan beat Punk (8:54 KO)
(2) Titan beat Asako (10:38 KO)
(3) Titan beat Fuji (11:49 KO)

1993

May 5, 1993---Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
No Rope / Barbed Wire / Street Fight / Tornado / Captain Fall / Loser Leave Town / Six-Man Tag Team Death match
The Gladiator, Big Titan, and Ricky Fuji beat Tarzan Goto, Katsuji Ueda, and Great Punk
(1) Titan beat Ueda (3:30)
(2) Goto beat Titan (4:34)
(3) Fuji beat Punk (9:31)

August 22, 1993---Hankyu Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium, Hyogo
Street Fight Tag Team match
Sambo Asako & Mr. Gannosuke beat The Gladiator & Big Titan (9:15 Gannosuke beat Gladiator)

December 26, 1993---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
ECW Holiday Hell '93
Mike Awesome beat Randy Starr (10:00)

1994

January 18, 1994---Misato City Gym, Saitama
"Barbed Wire" Tag Team Tournament Final
(No Rope / Barbed Wire / Street Fight / Tornado Tag Team Death match)
The Gladiator & Big Titan beat Atsushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niiyama (13:20 Gladiator beat Niiyama)---Gladiator & Titan won the FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team title.

February 5, 1994---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
ECW The Night the Line was Crossed
J.T. Smith beat Mike Awesome

March 5, 1994---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Sabu beat Mike Awesome

March 29, 1994---Minami-ashigara City Sports Center, Kanagawa
FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team title match (Street Fight Tag Team match)
The Gladiator & Big Titan beat Atsushi Onita & Sambo Asako (11:47 Titan beat Asako)---Gladiator & Titan kept the title.

April 21, 1994---Aomori Prefectural Gym, Aomori
FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team title match
Mr. Pogo & Hisakatsu Oya beat The Gladiator & Big Titan (13:38 Oya beat Titan)---Pogo & Oya became the second champions.

May 5, 1994---Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
The Gladiator, Big Titan, and Ricky Fuji beat Hiromichi Fuyuki, Jado, and Gedo (15:06 Gladiator beat Gedo)

October 28, 1994---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team title match
(Scramble Bunkhouse Count Anywhere Tag Team Death match)
Mr. Pogo & The Gladiator beat Atsushi Onita & Mr. Gannosuke (14:29 Gladiator beat Gannosuke)---Pogo & Gladiator became the fourth champions.

1995

May 5, 1995---Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
Street Fight Tag Team match
Katsutoshi Niiyama & Masato Tanaka beat The Gladiator & Horace Boulder (10:25 Niiyama beat Boulder)

September 26, 1995---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight title match
The Gladiator beat Hayabusa (Eiji Ezaki) (23:38)---Gladiator became the ninth champion.

October 25, 1995---Region Plaza Joetsu, Niigata
FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight title match
The Gladiator beat Horace Boulder (13:49)---Gladiator kept the title.

1996

March 15, 1996---Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, Hokkaido
FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight title match
Super Leather beat The Gladiator (16:00)---Leather kept the title.

May 5, 1996---Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
FMW World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team title match
Super Leather & Head Hunters beat The Gladiator, Horace Boulder, and Hisakatsu Oya (19:59 Leather beat Boulder)---Leather & Head Hunters became the first champions.

May 27, 1996---Hakata Star Lanes, Fukuoka
FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight title match
The Gladiator beat Super Leather (17:04)---Gladiator became the 11th champion.

July 31, 1996---Multi-purpose Plaza, Hachioji, Tokyo
FMW World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team title match
Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda beat The Gladiator, Hisakatsu Oya, and Ricky Fuji (13:10 Nakagawa beat Fuji)---Tanaka, Nakagawa, Kuroda kept the title.

September 20, 1996---Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, Hokkaido
FMW World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team title match
Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa, and Tetsuhiro Kuroda beat Terry Funk, The Gladiator, and Horace Boulder (16:30 Tanaka beat Boulder)

December 11, 1996---Komazawa Olympic Gym, Tokyo
FMW World Brass Knuckles & Independent World Heavyweight title match
The Gladiator beat W*ing Kanemura (17:14 Awesome Bomb)---Gladiator became the double crown champion.

1997

January 11, 1997 ---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
ECW House Party '97
Mike Awesome beat Balls Mahoney

February 1, 1997 ---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
ECW Crossing the Line Again
Louie Spicolli beat Mike Awesome

February 18, 1997---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
FMW World Brass Knuckles & Independent World Heavyweight title match
The Gladiator beat Masato Tanaka (15:25 Awesome Bomb)---Gladiator kept the title.

July 25, 1997---Taira Cycle Race Track Parking Lot, Fukushima
FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team title match
W*ing Kanemura & Hido beat The Gladiator & Super Leather (10:48 Kanemura beat Leather)---Kanemura & Hido kept the title.

August 5, 1997---Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, Hokkaido
FMW World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team title match
The Gladiator, Hisakatsu Oya, and Mr. Gannosuke beat Hiromichi Fuyuki, Jado, and Gedo (20:28 Gladiator beat Fuyuki)---Gladiator, Oya, and Gannosuke became the fifth champions.

August 31, 1997---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
FMW World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team title match
Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka, and Koji Nakagawa beat The Gladiator, Hisakatsu Oya, and Mr. Gannosuke (12:09 Hayabusa beat Oya)---Hayabusa, Tanaka, and Nakagawa became the sixth champions.

September 28, 1997---Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
FMW World Brass Knuckles & Independent World Heavyweight title match
Masato Tanaka beat The Gladiator (15:18)---Tanaka became the double crown champion.

1998

March 17, 1998---Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Hayabusa beat The Gladiator (14:09 Dragon Suplex hold)

May 1, 1998---Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
Akira Taue, Takao Omori, and Masao Inoue beat The Gladiator, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, and Hideki Hosaka (17:43 Omori beat Hosaka)

July 18, 1998---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn beat Justin Credible & Mike Awesome (Lynn beat Credible)

August 2, 1998---Hara Arena, Dayton, OH
ECW Heat Wave '98
Masato Tanaka beat Mike Awesome (11:49)

August 8, 1998---ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Masato Tanaka beat Mike Awesome

August 26, 1998---Yamagata Prefectural Gym, Yamagata City
The Gladiator beat Super Leather (10:27)---Gladiator had a serious injury to his knee.

1999

September 4, 1999---Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
Kenta Kobashi beat The Gladiator (19:09 Lariat)

September 19, 1999---The Odeum, Villa Park, IL
ECW Anarchy Rules
ECW World Heavyweight title match / Three Way Dance
Mike Awesome beat Taz and Masato Tanaka
(1) Tanaka and Awesome pinned Taz (2:01)
(2) Awesome pinned Tanaka (13:48)---Awesome won the title.

All Japan Pro Wrestling was going to bring him in again as Stan Hansen's tag team partner for their year-end annual tag team tournament from November 13 to December 3, 1999; however, he chose being with ECW, and it is expected that he, as The Gladiator, will come back to FMW again as the World champion in the near future.