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Before his latest run in ECW Mike Awesome wrestled virtually his entire career in Japan, with the exception of a few short stints in ECW. He was an unknown commodity to most of the US wrestling audience and demand for his services in the US were limited. The only promotion that wanted him was ECW.
Despite his lack of demand in the US Mike Awesome was given a substantial contract (especially for ECW’s standard) and security after signing a 3-year contract. On top of that he was given the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on his first full-time night in the company. THE TOP F’N BELT IN THE COMPANY ON HIS FIRST NIGHT!!! Think about that. He was thought so highly of that he was given the top spot in the company from day one. I don’t think I can emphasize that enough.
For all the trust that ECW put in Mike Awesome he decided that he would jump ship after ‘honoring’ less than 20% of his commitment to ECW. Six months ago no one cared about him. Now that he has made somewhat of a name for himself in the US he bailed at the first opportunity. Not only did he bail he was willing to trash the ECW World Hwt belt on live TV. There’s loyalty for you.
This past weekend he didn’t show up at any of the ECW shows. He lied about weather problems and missed flights to excuse himself. But the lying didn’t end there. He also misrepresented himself to WCW, letting them know that he was free to sign with them. Wrestling is an industry where it’s very common to look out for yourself first but what Mike Awesome did was nauseating.
Am I glad Mike Awesome is gone? Knowing what I do about him now, absolutely.
Up to this point I was a big Mike
Awesome fan. Physically he was the ideal champion to me (although charisma
and mic skills left something to be desired). He has the best combination
of size, power and agility of any wrestler I have ever seen. Most champions
that can wrestle aren’t very big, both in terms of height and weight
(Hart, Michaels, Flair, etc..). Those that do have the size (Andre,
Nash, Hogan, Big Show, etc.) typically can’t wrestle to save their
lives. But Mike Awesome has both of those. He has the height
and build, especially compared to ECW wrestlers. He can do convincing
power moves (most likely because they’re stiff) and yet is athletic
enough to jump off of the top rope without a problem. On top of that
he’s willing to take bumps himself. I always looked forward to
watching him wrestle and his matches with Tanaka have always been favorites
of mine. Having seen all of this go down now I find myself more
disappointed than anything else about this whole situation.
What would you do?
Mike Awesome committed himself to WCW while under a contract with ECW. This left ECW, and more specifically Paul E., to decide what to do about this situation.
The first move was informing WCW that Awesome had an enforceable contract. This prevented WCW from having Awesome on the Nitro without legal action from ECW. Since he was under contract WCW wouldn’t have had much of a case had it gone to court. Because of that WCW agreed to keep him off the show. The first move was the correct, albeit obvious, move.
The second move was deciding what to do with Mike Awesome. Knowing that he was willing to leave and trash ECW on TV there’s no way that you could ever bring Awesome back to ECW. If you don’t let him go to WCW you’re subject to paying him for another 2 1/2 years for someone who is virtually useless to you. At this point you’re willing to dump him to anyone that will take him. Obviously WCW wanted him (or else this whole episode never would have began) so the leverage was on ECW’s side, especially with the big Nitro show being so close.
Negotiating a cash settlement for Awesome’s release was the best way to go. One, you rid yourself of a contract you no longer want. Second, you get money in your pockets and take some out of your rival’s pockets. Terms of the settlement are unknown but have been reported being “well into the six figure range”. I read this as between $250,000-$500,000, though that is merely speculation on my part. I also agree with this move as it’s making the best of the situation.
Any legal battle that Paul E would have undertaken against WCW would have been counterproductive. Sure, they likely would have won a legal battle if it came to that but legal battles take time, energy and money. If you want to see the effect of a legal battle on a promotion just take a look at the WWF during the steroid scandal in the early 90s.
Also, as part of this agreement, ECW also negotiated (among other things) to have Awesome wrestle in ECW this Thursday in order to drop the belt. This is an important issue to Paul E. as he wants to keep the lineage of the Title intact. Myself, I would have taken the belt and cut my ties with Awesome and put it up in a 8 man tournament. I like the sounds of Raven, Dreamer, RVD, Sandman, Justin Credible, Lance Storm, Rhino and Jerry Lynn at Hardcore Heaven in a single elimination tournament.
Overall, I think Paul E handled this situation about as well as he could have under the circumstances.
What WCW gains from this is really puzzling to me. My thought is that they think that ECW is their biggest threat and by cutting off their head, so to speak, they will cripple ECW (which was one of Bischoff’s goals his first time around). This really backfired on WCW to me when Awesome ultimately ended up not throwing down the belt on Nitro, ala Shane Douglas with the NWA belt. This really took away any gains that WCW might have made with this move. To me they didn’t do anything crippling to ECW, they just added a wrestler to their already overstocked roster. If anything I think this will light a fire under ECW, ultimately making them stronger. I can only imagine what Paul E.will do with ECW now that he’s pissed off.
As an aside, I believe Awesome
will end up being an afterthought in WCW in a few months much like what happened
with Bigelow a couple years ago. It’s the whole big fish, small
pond theory.
Where do you go now?
It’s obvious that Awesome will drop the belt at the show on Thursday (Imagine how awkward/tense the locker room will be that night). The big question is who to put the belt on now. I’d like to see a 3 way dance between Awesome, Raven and Dreamer. This accomplishes a number of things. First, there’s a storyline in place between the three. With Awesome taking out both Dreamer and Raven on the last TNN show a three way dance makes sense. Secondly, with a three way dance Awesome could be the first person pinned, leaving Dreamer and Raven to battle for the belt. This way there’s actually some drama to who will win. In addition, Raven and Dreamer battling after eliminating Awesome and going forward in the weeks and months to come would add to their existing feud. In this scenario it wouldn’t really matter to me who would win between those two. If forced to choose I would go with Dreamer because 1. Raven pursuing Dreamer for the belt is more appealing to watch than vice versa and 2. It says to the locker room that loyalty to ECW is important and no one has been more loyal to ECW than Tommy Dreamer.
If that scenario doesn’t
play out I could live with RVD or Sandman winning the belt. Beyond
those four the obvious candidates would be either Impact Player and Rhino.
At this point I’m not sold on those three or anyone else in ECW holding
the top belt.
More good stuff next
week.
Past editions of Dueling Chair Shots