10 Awesome Wrestling Debuts That Quickly Faded Away
9. Mike Awesome
Former ECW, WWE, and WCW hoss Mike Awesome rarely gets the respect he deserves. Incredibly fast and athletic for a man of his size (6’4”, 295lbs), Awesome is one of the most exciting big men that the sport has ever seen. He was capable of pulling-off huge flips, dives, and bumps with the ease of a Cruiserweight, and his fast, powerful style made him a huge hit with ECW crowds in-particular.
WCW signed him in 2000, and it looked like he was heading for the stratosphere. Awesome was still ECW Champion at the time, and made an impactful debut by jumping one of the company's biggest stars, Kevin Nash. Nobody could believe that WCW had signed ECW’s top champion at the time, and while WCW was well on its way to the graveyard by this point, Awesome’s signing still felt like a huge “get” for the company.
Awesome played a major role in the first few weeks, and it looked like WCW were gearing him up for a big World Title push. He feuded with Nash, DDP, and Kanyon, whom he famously threw from the first level of a triple cage, but his downturn was right around the corner. Awesome inherited the horrendous “Fat Chick Thrilla” gimmick little over a month after debuting, and that was the end of his credibility.
WCW took one of ECW’s most exciting athletes and a potential World Title contender and turned him into a joke. As if that gimmick wasn’t bad enough, Awesome became “That ‘70s Guy” a few months later, dressing in garish 1970s inspired outfits and hosting the “Lava Lamp Lounge” talk show segment. An egregious use of a fantastic talent.