In 2000, Awesome shocked the wrestling world, and angered his fellow ECW wrestlers, by making a surprise appearance on World Championship Wrestling Monday Nitro with his ECW belt. At 6th Anniversary Show, Gladiator and Horace Boulder lost to Katsutoshi Niiyama and Masato Tanaka. Rood was the AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion from June 11, 1984 to July 22, 1984, AWA Southern Tag-Team Champion with King Kong Bundy from October 8, 1984 to October 22, 1984, NWA Southern (Florida) Heavyweight Champion (2x) from January 16, 1985 to April 10, 1985 and from July 21, 1985 to October 2 . He will be remembered lovingly by his wife of 31 years Dawn (ne Draves) and sons . Sadly, the events surrounding the Mike Awesome deathhavelargely overshadowed his career in the squared circle. My partner TJ Smart and I . Failed to remove flower. [8] Gladiator returned from injury to challenge Super Leather for the title on March 15, but was defeated by Leather. Aug 5: WWE SummerSlam, > Archives
He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and trail bike riding with his numerous loving friends and his son, Casey. }).render().setUser('blogofdeath').start(); Your email address will not be published. when he was pinned by Jeff Hardy, thanks to distraction from Edge. [20] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17991309/mike-awesome. In WWE (then still the WWF), Awesome won the Hardcore title in June 2001 from Rhyno after sneaking into the building and later was part of the WCW/ECW-WWF invasion storyline. > Video
In 1996, The Gladiator defeated Wing Kanemura for the FMW Independent World title. loop: false,
Burton was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, to George and Blanche (Christianson) Knutson on August 13, 1934. What we can learn from this eulogy is that a few minutes, a good laugh and a good story is all you need to create something memorable. width: 'auto',
Following Terry Funk's departure from FMW, Funk Masters (FMW) of Wrestling began to cripple as Atsushi Onita denounced himself as a FMW wrestler and formed ZEN on September 30, 1997, to feud with FMW. His signature move, the Running Powerbomb, quickly became a fan favorite. The two had many bitter brawls, taking the level of Japanese garbage wrestling to new heights. 's tertiary show, for the next few months jobbing to wrestlers such as Faarooq, Bull Buchanan, Mark Henry and Funaki. Thanks for your help! Rest In Peace Mike. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Mike Awesome (17991309)? Flowers are accepted, however, those who wish may donate in memory of Michael to The American Diabetes Association 4902 Eisenhower Blvd. Queen Elizabeth 's eldest granddaughter, Zara Tindall, and her husband Mike Tindall comforted one another following the monarch's funeral service at . The following day, on April 30, Gladiator surpassed Atsushi Onita's fourth reign of 337 days to become the longest reigning Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion by having reigned for 338 days at that point. John M. "Mike" Simon, age 76 of Defiance, peacefully passed away at home surrounded by his family on Monday morning, January 16, 2023. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Mike moved to Va Beach in 1951 . Mike and Zara Tindall and other members of the royal family enter Westminster Abbey for the Queen's state funeral. For the last 7 years, he was living with dementia and Carla cared for him. "Mike-Mike is an awesome man. WWE Hall of Famer "Ravishing" Rick Rude was an amazing individual in and out of the ring. [24], From 2002 to 2006, Awesome competed on the independent circuit in the United States and Japan where he returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling as "The Gladiator" once again. He is no relation of fellow ECW alumnus Bill Alfonso. mike was one of the most atlectic big men there was we will miss u. mike AWESOME was a true wrestler no gimics needed with that man in ECW he was like a god, in WCW he was made 2 look like clown shoes and didnt deserve that disrespect. Alfonso attended King High School in Tampa, Florida and trained at Stan's Gym, an old school muscle gym, on 56th Street. }
January 24th, 1965 February 17th, 2007. [11], Due to concerns over legal issues WCW refrained from having Awesome appear on their television shows with the ECW belt. Ohh yea MIKE AWESOME was the man in ECW, as a matter of fact the day he died i watched him win the ecw tittle on, mike, you made a difference to alot of people, and were always my fav wrestler, it makes me sad to hear of your untimely death, may you be at peace buddy. The Rosary will be recited at 6:30 p.m., and the Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated October 13 at 10:00 a.m., followed by interment at Saint Michael Cemetery. Michael R. Sonksen President Bob Bergthold Vice President. After 3 years in college, he began training as a pro wrestler under Steve Keirn. Its not your job to do. He was booked to win the Grand Slam Tournament in September, in which he defeated Hayabusa in the tournament final on September 26 to win the company's top title, the vacant Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and cemented his place as the company's top villain. live: true,
On May 14, Awesome competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Mike Sanders in a Tables Match. Actor: WCW Monday Nitro. Today's Scripture. "Beautifully Imperfect". I just found out a second ago by looking up his matches on YouTube. [28] They had two children together; son Casey (born 1996) and daughter Carissa (born 2000). He was honestly the best. They married in 1991, and have two children, Casey and Carissa. HOPfully the wwe keeps on track and mackes memorly dvds for all of our heros growing up. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Professional Wrestler. You had to kiss everybody's ass You had to be on your political toes all the time. You would not believe the backstage politics. The following year, Gladiator and Titan participated in a double-elimination tournament for the newly created Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship, in which they defeated Hideki Hosaka and Hisakatsu Oya in the quarter-final, Jinsei Shinzaki and Masaru Toi in the semi-final and Mr. Gannosuke and Tarzan Goto in the final to succeed in their block and then defeated Atsushi Onita and Katsutoshi Niiyama in the tournament final on January 18, 1994, to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship, marking Alfonso's first title in FMW. He retired from wrestling and was a real estate agent in New Tampa. ). Alfonso was trained to wrestle by Steve Keirn, debuting on February 26, 1989, at the Eddie Graham Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. He wrestled in Japan and with a number of otherpromotionsfor brief periods of time. Reportedly, Michael Alfonso got into a heated dispute with his wife after she said she wanted a divorce. there is nothing cowardly about suicide it actually probably takes a lot of balls to go out like that. $1 Million - $5 Million. Alfonso wrestled as The Gladiator for a brief period in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1998 and 1999. Born Michael Alfonso, he broke into the business in the 1980s learning his trade in the Pro Wrestling Federation. On April 23, Awesome teamed with Brian Lee and Slash in a losing effort against Perry Saturn, New Jack and The Sandman. Mikes body was discovered by a group of friends on February 17, 2007. Pogo and Gladiator made to the semi-final, where they beat Grigory Verichev and Boris Gogichashivili and then defeated Onita and Asako in the final on January 15 to win the tournament. You are given the most precious gift there is and you give it back? Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. He was recruited by FMW as the replacement for Al Green, who was originally scheduled to compete as Gladiator but moved to WCW. It was one of the most memorable high spots of the year. Almost immediately upon arriving in ECW for his third stint in September 1999, he shocked the wrestling world by winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Anarchy Rulz by defeating the reigning champion Taz and nemesis Masato Tanaka in a three-way dance, which was signed on the spot. He reminds me of the legendary don muraco, when he was in his wwf prime. Gladiator successfully defended his Double Championship against Masato Tanaka on February 18, 1997. The family will receive friends from 6:00 pm 8:00 pm Thursday, February 22, 2007 at Serenity Meadows Funeral Home, 6919 Providence Road, Riverview, FL 33569. I wish he didnt do it, of course, but dont sit there and pass judgement on him. scrollbar: true,
Mike Leach Funeral Service | Mike Leach Last Tribute Video | Mike Leach Funeral Arrangements | Mike Leach Obituary Details.Legendary College Football Coac. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Alfonso appeared in at least four wrestling video games including ECW Hardcore Revolution, WCW Backstage Assault, Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: d Keish, and Fire Pro Wrestling Returns. He was born August 17, 1944 in Richmond, Va to Edward M. James and June T. James. Heyman, an astute follower of international wrestling, had been following Awesomes career in the Far East, first brought Awesome to ECW on February 5, 1994 when he wrestled J.T. He continued to defend his ECW title touring the United States and Japan performing on Nitro Pay-Per-View television. He was best known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment under the ring name Mike Awesome and for his appearances in Japan with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling as The Gladiator.[1][4]. > Obituary Archive
Awesome was quoted saying, "Being in the WWE (formerly the WWF) sucked. This partnership led the two to form a tag team which lasted nearly three years. Could of.. Should of.. Would of. Awesome continued to be a major factor in ECW early in 2000, including teaming with Raven to beat Tanaka and Tommy Dreamer for the ECW World Tag Team Championship. Obituary: height: 350,
The crowd went berzerk. Alfonso wrestled for 17 years, mostly in Japans Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling promotion, where he was known as G The Gladiator. He won the World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship twice as well as the World Street Fight Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Michael Francis Heim (Mike) age 63, of Ocean City, New Jersey (formerly of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania) passed away suddenly on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. Awesome returned to the SmackDown! Being the member of the Monkees dubbed "the Smart One" was not an unqualified blessing for Michael Nesmith, who has died aged 78 of heart failure . Mike Awesome commits suicide. Obituary Example for a Blended Family Here you have a WWF wrestler wrestling a signed WCW wrestler on an ECW event for the ECW title. > Sporting Connection
photo: wwe.com. Express your sympathy by sharing this obituary with family and friends. Michael Lee "Mike" Alfonso (January 24, 1965 - February 17, 2007) was an American professional wrestler. But there was never heat.. The last two years had been particularly difficult for him both . Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. I was so happy when I was told I was gone". A celebration of Michaels life will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, February 23, 2007 at Serenity Meadows. Awesome lost to Tanaka again at the August Heat Wave pay-per-view event. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. Harold Dean Matticks (Hal), passed away at the age of 87 on February 15, 2023, in Albany, OR. 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