Mike Awesome

Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007), better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and in World Wrestling Entertainment and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the name The Gladiator. Throughout his wrestling career, Awesome became a two-time world champion... more

Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007), better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and in World Wrestling Entertainment and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the name The Gladiator. Throughout his wrestling career, Awesome became a two-time world champion, winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice. Alfonso grew up with Michael Bollea. As a result of Awesome's aunt (his father's sister) marrying Hulk Hogan's brother, Awesome and Bollea (the future Horace Hogan) were cousins and the two began to consider a career in wrestling during Hulk Hogan's famous WWF run in the 1980s. Alfonso received training from Steve Keirn's training camp based out of the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF). After wrestling for the PWF in 1989, teaming occasionally with Brett Sawyer, Alfonso moved around... less