It's fair to say that big Mike's WWE tenure wasn't quite as 'awesome' as he probably hoped it would be. Arriving as part of the ECW/WCW invasion in mid-2001, Awesome got off to a flyer by becoming the first Alliance member to win WWE gold, capturing the Hardcore Championship on an episode of Raw. It was all downhill from there. Those who had seen him contest superb matches against the likes of Masato Tanaka, Kid Kash and Hayabusa in ECW and FMW knew what the surprisingly agile 6ft6in/290lb Awesome could do, if given the chance. He was a rare talent, a large man capable of doing things and wrestling at a pace that few others could. Of course, his credibility had been diminished (read: torpedoed) somewhat in WCW, thanks to Russo-penned nonsense like the asinine 'Fat Chick Thriller' and 'That 70s Guy' gimmicks. Perhaps if Awesome had went to New York instead of Atlanta things would have turned out differently. WWE could have certainly used a talent like Awesome in the 90s, either in their hardcore division or as a bona fide WWE Title contender. I'd imagine that Awesome would have matched up very well Triple H, The Undertaker and Mick Foley back then. Although, saying that, considering how Undertaker and his damning appraisal was one of the main reasons why Awesome flopped during the Invasion, perhaps not. Still, Awesome would have been a hell of a signing back then, on paper if nothing else.
