Francine reviews Mike Awesome vs. Taz - April 13, 2000

A day that, back in the the era was happening. Was unheard of to see a WWF superstar battle, a w CW superstar for ECW's Championship show, an ECW show, It's Mike Awesome.

First test, and wasn't it a house show?

Yes?

Yes, which was beyond comprehension, Like we blew everybody's minds that night, Like the fans in attendance went ape shit.

When this happened.

I remember, uh from being in the back. I remember a tremendous amount of heat on Mike Awesome, the boys, like everybody was mad at him. And I always got along with Mike, Like I know a lot of people didn't like him, some did, some didn't whatever. I hung out with Mike outside of work too, him and his wife, and he was always a complete gentleman, very very nice

I think they took Mike in just when his music was playing.

I could be wrong about that, but they don't remember him being in the back because I just remember there was this buzz like there was so much heat. Right he when he left, he left with the belt, correct?

Correct? There he shows up on Nitro out of the he comes out of the crowd. He beats up Kevin Nash. So right off the bat, he's putting a big spot in WCW because he's already because they say he's the ECW champion. What's he doing here?

Okay, yeah, so there was heat.

I don't remember, like I wasn't preppy to the fact if Paul knew, you know, he was doing that. Like, I don't know the backstory. I just remember that night. Jeff Jones like was kind of like, was Jeff there?

I want to say, yeah, well he was with Mike, so yeah, right.

Yeah, So Jeff I think was like running to the car, trying to because he wouldn't come in the back because he I think he I don't know if Mike thought that he had heat or if he had legit heat for taking the bell and the boys were pissed at him.

I don't know. But all I know is when those two came out.

The place went nuts because, like you said, we have a WWF guy the WCW and you're at an ECW house.

You're at a house show.

So I just can't remember. I don't believe Taz will announced.

No, I don't. I think it was a surprise.

Yes, I believe Taz is as a surprise. So Taz leave's technically in September of previous year. He debuts for the w W in January. After all, the big hula that dated build him up. So when Taz is now coming in in April, this is a much much tanner and much more orange colored Taz in his WF shirt coming out to this ECW show is now a WWF superstar. So you not only do you have this awkward situation with Mike Austen, but now you've got this guy left in a very emotional way, is now back to reclaim

Just I think he was like doing us the favor of coming in and uh, you know, but where's Tommy Dreamer?

Get I come? Uh, Spike Dudley can't roll up Mike Assam and have the belt for a night, you know, like because we.

Wanted to drop the crowd.

Okay, it was one of those things I think, like picture this, like, you know, the big deal this week was sting coming back to aw ai w's working with impact, Like things are going crazy. Everybody's ganging up on Vince, which I think is brilliant. I love I love the joining. If this were you know, uh what year was it, I.

Don't even know, nineteen, This was two thousand, Okay, so the year two thousand.

If we had Twitter, this would have been like the news story.

Of oh ECW would have been trending.

Yeah, Like it would have been.

A big, big deal having somebody that was already in the company do it.

What's the big deal to that?

Like?

Who cares if no offense? But who cares if one of our guys who are already with us in the locker room rolls up my gossom and takes this.

Yeah, but you know you send out Chili Willy to roll him up. And then this guy who's gonna be on WCWTV just lost to Chili Willie for the world title. You know, that's the kind of logic I would use.

Don't don't underestimate Chili Willly.

I just saw he was on the card. That's why I love Chili Willy.

He's got some balls. All of like tough.

But I mean, I don't know what anybody who's that big and can move and dance like him can do whatever the hell he wants.

To do what he wants. He's a tough mother trucker. But no, I just feel like, you know, it was a pop, It was a surprise. We'd like to surprise people. It was a house show. It got people talking. You know, I don't think it would have had as much impact if if we just used some rando, as you call.

It, the word you always use love rando.

I think having Taz there was a great move. Nobody expected it.

Yes, April thirteen, two thousand, Indianapolis, Indiana. So not necessarily you know, ECW home territory. So it's really you guys are just on the you're you're literally just taking the belt off of him. The footage ends up being played on I think smeckdown because this ends up leading to ECW World Champion Taz facing WWF champion Triple h H squashs him, you know, five minutes to include a run

World together collide.

So we'll pick up.

And I haven't seen this since that night, so it's been there.

We go. So this is actually the WWE website, uh footage of it, so it's a little bit better quality than what is on Like yeah, okay, ye, so this is where they just announced that Tazz is WWF music hits, not a ECW music is WWF music hits. And like I said, he's a little tanner, his shirt is very orangey and look at the crowd.

They're going crazy.

This was a great surprise, right yeah, gone, We never think we're gonna see him again, and here he comes on a house show.

Mind you.

That's why I loved Healse shows. You never knew what was going to happen. Belts could change, people can leave, come back.

It's great.

And look at the places going nuts. I mean it's a smaller it's a smaller place. You know, you could feel every bit of that. I'm sure. Now do you remember watching this on a monitor in the back or you just kind of.

I don't even know. If we had a monitor, we might have been all watching it through the curtains. House shows, I don't I don't know if we had monitors at the house shows, I can't remember, but we were definitely all watching through the curtain for sure.

And they go right, they go right to the outside. So this is a brawl.

Yeah, But you know, you got to respect Mike too, because he did the right thing here.

He came back and he dropped He dropped it clean, and he left.

So say what you want about him leaving, but at least you know he came back and did what he was supposed to do.

Now, what do you think about kind of the after effects some people felt towards Mike, aussays, if you remember just As kills him on commentary during One night Stand, call him a Judas and calling him this and really derogatory stuff, kind of like carrying that, you know, almost six years later, still.

You know, I think it's the way he went about it.

If he would have, you know, stayed, dropped the belt and then left, he wouldn't have had all that heat on him because he would have went out the right way. Again, I don't blame anyone for leaving for a better future, for more money to take care of their family. But it's the way that you leave. And I think that's why people were bitter at Mike.

Right, okay, for the way that he left.

Now, do you think Taz talked a little trash in his ear? Right there? His head was moving a little bit.

He says, move, I'm out of here. Yeah, he leaves.

We didn't even see him after this, so you know, and and that's that, and and the place popped.

It's a very small building, you know.

But that's that's Jeff Jones calling right there, Jeff Jones calling. Jeff Jones is calling to say, hey, listen, this is what happened. I would love to know. I've never heard that from Jeff Jones's side of what he's You know, I had to go through that night because he used to come back to you guys, right.

Yeah, yeah, Mike didn't take him to.

But then he didn't take.

But didn't look like so Mike Awesome. You know, obviously he went for the guaranteed money. He went for the big contract. Blah blah blah. They take him, They turn him too, that seventies guy, Mike Awesome. They turned him. It was Mike Awesome, the fat chick. Thriller. I mean Kim driving around in the Partridge Family bus, which I did ask Shane about, and Shane did go check out the Partridge Family bus, of course he did. Oh you know you never saw that. Oh my god, Oh my god.

It is.

There? It is you see that. Look at that picture.

I love it.

That's that's seventies guy, Mike Austin, the full blown What do you call that polyester?

I guess right, that's a leisure suit.

That's a seventies leisure suit. Look I I like I said, I liked Mike a lot.

There's the fact, Chick Thriller, I can't say that anymore.

Yeah, it's it's unfortunate.

He had his demons and I'll never forget Sean Stasy act telling me he saw him. Uh, because you know, he hung himself, so he saw he saw him through the window.

Oh he Sean Stasy is the one that found the body.

I'm pretty sure Sean and he called somebody. I'm trying to remember the way the story went or what or somebody saw him through the window. I don't know if it was Sean, but they saw that he hung himself. So very sad.

Yeah, it says right here on Wikipedia says February seventeen, thousand and seven a group of his friends found him dead after he'd hung himself inside his Teppa home. He was only forty two.

Forty two, married, he had children.

Right, Uh, he was cousin of Hulk Hogan's nephew Michael Blea, who known his first Hogan. No relation to Bill Alfonso after all. No, that doesn't say if he had.

Thought he had children. Maybe I'm wrong, but married his high school sweetheart.

I oh, they had two children, two kids.

I'm pretty sure he had kids, so Hazy and Chrissa.

She was a very sweet girl. It did just a heartbreaking story. But again I think it. You know, it wasn't that he left, It was the way that he left that got him all the heat.

So unfortunate.

And this ties into why this is on my mind is because, like you mentioned, Taz in aw Is, you know, got it, He's got a team Taz. And how about this too. They've referenced Taz and his son, and I guess his son is training to get into the business. And in the storyline, it's that his son is learning to train at Cody Rhodes's school, not learning from his father, and that's where the conflict arose between the Roads camp and Taz Camp.

So they're taking a page from Cobra Kai.

Yeah, a little bit, that's what they're doing right there.

Okay, see, I don't watch it, so I didn't know the backstory, but that sounds a lot like Cobra Kai to me.

But hey, use it, go for it makes sense.

You know what, just from you know the Taz character and what he was in the nineties, and you know, obviously we got to see him be a little more comedic and show his personality. You would think that, like the nineties, Taz wouldn't want his kid even becoming arrest.

All I know is, when you know, when I first joined Twitter, Taz was one of the first people to reach out to me and asked me to be on his podcast.

Or his radio show show.

Yeah yeah, and we you know, we talked a little bit about the locker room and he pretty much kind of apologized and said.

I'm not that person anymore.

Wow, you know, and I and I just said, oh, I always got along with you.

He goes, oh, I was a dick, and he said, but I'm not that person anymore.

And I said, well, it's good that you could admit that you've you've grown, you know, and he goes, yeah, he goes, I don't take it that seriously anymore and just making light of it.

But you know, also saying.

He basically said he lived a gimmick, you know, and he now really eyes that there's more life than just the gimmick.

Brother. Yeah, you know, it was refreshing. It was nice.

And but I I never had a problem with Taz, so I always pretty much got along with him.

And except for that one time when Shane and I came to the rig and he told me, don't stand near me because my heels.

I was like six five and heels because don't stand neary.

I stood right behind him, and you can see, Like my head was he can't.

He carried himself. Well, you would have thought he was the way he walked around, but then you see him next to the Atlas guy's walking down the aisle. You're like, you know, maybe he needs the boots, you know, maybe he shouldn't wrestle in his street clothes.

Listen, if you believe it, they'll believe it. I said it in the you know, to Baby Doll earlier. If you believe it, everybody will believe it. He he was perfect with his character.

So I was a task fan and.

I didn't wear and if I wore orange, Oh, brother, I would hear it.

Oh, I.

Love that. That's so cool. Is awesome, big big tak fans, so great.

We're very happy for his success in a W, so I hope it continues.

Yes, we will be coming to a W soon. Francine and I. We're gonna be a hot mixed gender tag team. Oh yeah, it's gonna be You're gonna yeah, it's gonna be the experience and the you know, the the young up start myself, you know, on my.

Way, I thought I was the young help start.

No, no, you're gonna teach me everything. You know you know all the dirty tricks.

Got you got you look for that soon people.

Well we're coming to come on Tony CON's and E c W. Mark you can tell him I'm Hackmeyer's son. All right, Well we'll say goodbye for this week. Another E c W moment to discuss. Uh another day we'll we'll find something cool and uh we will catch you next week. So for the Queen of Extreme Francine, this is the chat, sir, and we'll catch you on the flip side.

Yeah, Oh, Francine Francine Queen Extreme Extreme. Odds up here head head the Queen Extreme Podcast. Odds up here, Hey head, it's the Queen Extreme Podcast.

It's the Queen of Extreme.

Bring in the legendcy is the Woman of the Dreams Legend On the scene. Francine Podcast.

What you mean? What your tram?

Places to show you what you need?

You find the stand of Queens from the Beginning of Time. Odds here our heart radio, shine only a head and tell you a story from the wind the Legend odds up here, The Queen Nobody's like Frans scene IDEs up here here here The Queen Extreme Podcast odes up here here Head the Queen Extreme Podcast pzes up here here here, The Queen Extreme Podcasts pzes up here here, The Queen Extreme podcast podcast