10 Wrestler Deaths WWE Completely No-Sells

5. Mike Awesome

Test WWE
WWE

Did the over-acknowledgement of a bad (though, in hindsight, relatively innocuous) thing Mike Awesome did in his career have something to do with the silence around his death? And did these supposedly incendiary actions - akin at very least to Madusa binning the belt or Shane Douglas throwing the NWA one down years before that - not warrant more attention with the odd wry smile and happy memory in a tribute piece to the man?

Not according to WWE.

The former ECW Champion infamously jumped to WCW while holding the gold in 2000 because he wanted to be paid for a living, and the doomed Atlanta outfit failed him just like they did everybody else as they spiralled towards doom. WWE did no better, and Awesome's last major contribution in 2005 was remembered more for Joey Styles heaping such scorn on him that he discussed what it might be like when Awesome died.

We all found out the answer to that when 'The Gladiator' took his own life in 2007. Suicide is anything but painless, and that's a conversation the market leader likes to avoid.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett