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Via Wikipedia:
Bad News' attitude and demeanor in the WWF was almost a precursor to what Steve Austin did in the late 90's. He would often double cross both faces and heels and was "allies" with no one. This was never more evident than his back to back Survivor Series appearances where he walked out on his team both times.
Bad News did have a nationally televised match with Hulk Hogan on a February, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Hogan won the match. However, the most memorable part of the contest was Bad News, seemingly frustrated with his inability to get the advantage, walking to the back. As Hogan began to celebrate what he thought would be a countout win, Bad News came back down the aisle holding an enormous snowshovel, at which point Hogan got a terrified look on his face that I still remember to this day - probably because it was one of the only things to EVER legitimately scare me on a wrestling program as a kid.
His two most memorable feuds were with Jake Roberts and Randy Savage. During the former, Bad News claimed he was not afraid of Jake's python Damien, and even came up with pets of his own to counter the snake - "Harlem Sewer Rats." Unfortunately, the animals never came into play. He also had a main event feud with Randy Savage, which was set off by Bad News giving one of the more memorable interviews of the late 80's, where he accused WWF president Jack Tunney of giving Randy Savage preferential treatment due to Savage's manager (and wife) Elizabeth "doing favors" for Tunney. He obviously never won the title, but he was still one of the scariest heels of that period.
The Dynamite Kid praised him in his autobiography as one of the toughest bad-asses he ever met in wrestling.
R.I.P. "Bad News" Allen Coage.
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From Wikipedia:
Career
Alfonso received training from Steve Keirn's training camp out of the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF). After wrestling for the PWF in 1989, teaming occasionally with Brett Sawyer, Alfonso moved around, appearing in various promotions including a brief stint in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) under the tutelage of Nate The Rat, a manager there. In that same year he made his first TV appearance as a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) masked jobber named The Pro from San Juan.
1990-2000
Alfonso moved on to Japan, joining up with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) in late 1990, gaining the name The Gladiator.
In 1993, Alfonso appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome) before returning to FMW. In 1994, the Gladiator finally struck gold, teaming with Big Titan to defeat Atushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niyama in the finals of the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag-Team Title Tournament. In October 1994, he teamed with Mr. Pogo to win the belts again. As The Gladiator, he faced and defeated Hayabusa for his first major singles title, FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title in September 1995 and later vacated due to injury. In May 1996 he won the title for a second time and also unified it with the FMW Independent World Title after defeating W*ING Kanemura in December 1996. In August 1997, teaming with Hisakatsu Ooya & Mr. Gannosuke he won the vacated FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles, holding all three belts at once. But a month later, everything began falling apart, as the Gladiator lost all of the titles in September, due to an epic feud with Masato Tanaka.
In the summer of 1998, he again appeared in ECW as Mike Awesome, mainly to continue his feud with Masato Tanaka. Awesome would begin by losing to Tanaka on an episode of Hardcore TV; following the loss, he delivered an Awesome Bomb on Tanaka over the top rope through a table, which was set up on the outside. Awesome (along with Justin Credible) then lost a tag match on July 18 to Masato Tanaka and Jerry Lynn, after Credible was pinned by Jerry Lynn. In his final appearance, Awesome lost yet again to Masato Tanaka on August 2 at ECW's Heat Wave 1998 Pay-Per-View event.
During a match with Super Leather, Alfonso seriously injured his knee, taking him out of wrestling for nearly a year. When he returned, as The Gladiator, he wrestled for a brief period in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Alfonso would soon return to ECW, as he shocked the wrestling world by winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at ECW's Anarchy Rulz 1999 Pay-Per-View; the scheduled title match was Taz defending against Masato Tanaka, but Awesome showed up in the audience, which angered Taz and inspired Paul Heyman to turn the bout into a 3-Way Dance as a result. In December 1999, Awesome was defeated by Masato Tanaka for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, but Awesome regained the title a week later.
2000-2001
Awesome continued to be a major factor in ECW early in 2000, including teaming with Raven in to beat Tanaka & Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Tag-Team Titles. Awesome was often managed by Judge Jeff Jones in his ECW tenure.
In April 2000, Mike Awesome made a surprise appearance on WCW Monday Nitro, aiding the New Blood by attacking Kevin Nash. This presented a problem for ECW, because Awesome was still the reigning ECW World Champion, and it was only the threat of a federal injunction that prevented WCW from having Awesome appear on WCW television with the belt. In one of the more bizarre moments in pro wrestling, Awesome (who was now under contract with WCW) returned to ECW for one night to drop the title to Tazz (who was under contract with the World Wrestling Federation at the time) in an ECW ring at an ECW event.
According to a shoot interview that HighSpots conducted with Mike Awesome in 2003, from the night that he won the title to the day he signed a contract to join WCW, Awesome was never contractually obligated to ECW.
Awesome continued to be a major factor with the New Blood for the next month, teaming with Billy Kidman occasionally, to help Kidman against Hulk Hogan. Awesome also continued his on-and-off feud with Kevin Nash, while feuding with Kanyon. During 2000, Awesome began changing his gimmick slightly, coming out as That 70s Guy. He dressed in various throwback outfits, hosted his own "Lava Lamp Lounge" show, and even drove a painted bus around to arenas. He also began to become infatuated with "heavyset" women. Awesome had feuds with Jeff Jarrett and a minor one with Vampiro, which created many brawls between Awesome & Vampiro's allies in the Insane Clown Posse. At one point, Awesome battled Shaggy 2 Dope & Violent J in a Handicap match, which led to Awesome Powerbombing Shaggy 2 Dope on top of his van (Shaggy 2 Dope then slid off, injuring himself). In November 2000, Awesome renewed an earlier feud with Bam Bam Bigelow,
2001-2005
Going into 2001, Awesome dropped the 1970s gimmick joined with Lance Storm & Elix Skipper in Team Canada after assaulting "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Team Canada's feud with the Filthy Animals led to Awesome challenging Billy Kidman to a Hair-vs-Hair match. Before the bout could take place, Team Canada took out Kidman in the back. However, Konnan (with no hair) took his place, and got the win. The Filthy Animals then cut off Awesome's long-time mullet haircut. Awesome later faded into the background for a time, helping to aid Storm in his battles against Ernest "The Cat" Miller. With Awesome & Skipper's aid, Storm defeated Miller at one point to become the WCW Commissioner, allowing Team Canada to run with a lot of power for a few weeks. However, at Superbrawl, Storm lost to Miller, who regained his Commissionership.
Mike Awesome became part of The Invasion storyline in the WWF. He ended up making his WWF debut on the June 25, 2001 episode of Raw is War during a match which saw Rhyno defending his WWF Hardcore Title against Test. Rhyno gored Test against the wall and made the pin to become the new champion but while Rhyno was celebrating, Mike Awesome came out of nowhere and attacked Rhyno in the head with a metal pipe. He then powerbombed Rhyno onto a steel ladder and made the pin, and, due to the 24/7 Hardcore Title rule, the ref made the count, giving Awesome his first WWF victory and, shockingly, the WWF Hardcore Title. Awesome became the first Invader to gain gold in the WWF, stealing away with the Hardcore belt before any WWF wrestlers could catch him. It struck a blow against the WWF, as well as giving Awesome his first gold in more than a year. Awesomes' hardcore reign came to an end a few weeks later on the July 12, 2001 edition of Smackdown! when he was pinned by Jeff Hardy, he never got a rematch. Awesome's push slowly declined as he would appear mostly on WWF's Sister Shows (WWF Jakked and WWE Heat. He was left off the majority of the Pay-per-view's (PPVs) involved in the WWF/Alliance storyline, and was eventually sidelined with an injury in November 2001.
After The Alliance storyline ended, Mike Awesome was not used much in the storylines or matches, and after a WWE Draft Lottery, Mike was drafted to SmackDown!, but was rarely seen on TV and was used as a jobber on WWE Velocity in 2002, losing to the likes of Sho Funaki and Ron Simmons. He was released from the WWE in September 2002.
Mike Awesome made a few appearances at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), but mainly competed on the independent circuit in the United States and Japan. Awesome's most notable activity on the independent circuit occurred throughout late 2002-summer 2003, as he competed in Major League Wrestling. Awesome would defeat Masato Tanaka in a #1 Contender's (for the MLW Heavyweight Championship) on the Revolutions card (May 9, 2003), and then challenge (the reigning-champion) Satoshi Kojima at Hybrid Hell (June 20, 2003); Awesome would win the title, only to lose it 10 minutes later in an impromptu challenge by Steve Corino. One of Awesome's final appearances in MLW occurred on September 19, 2003 at War Games, where he defeated Joe Seanoa.
2005-retirement
At ECW One Night Stand 2005, Awesome faced Tanaka once again inside an ECW ring. Awesome won the match after Awesome Bombing Tanaka to the outside of the ring, and through a table and a slingshot Awesome Splash onto Tanaka. After the match Mike Awesome powerbombed referee Jim Molleneux. Throughout the match, both ECW fans and Joey Styles, who was announcing the match, made note of the fact they had not forgiven Awesome for betraying ECW five years previously, but conceded that the match he was watching with Awesome was very good while the fans yelled "This match rules!".
During February, Awesome announced his retirement from wrestling so that he could concentrate on spending time with his family and selling real estate. Awesome added that he would only wrestle "if the money was right," and added that he felt that he was underpaid for his performance at ECW One Night Stand 2005, due to the fact that Awesome felt that his match with Masato Tanaka stole the show.
Courtesy of JaytheGameFan, here are several great matches involving Awesome:
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka at MLW Revolutions -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1hgmp6
The Gladiator vs. Masato Tanaka in FMW, 9/28/97 -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/omfuec
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka at Zero One's Manifesto 1 show -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/uhnyng
Kenta Kobashi vs. The Gladiator - All Japan 9/4/99 -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YCFF7STT
Mike Awesome vs. Samoa Joe in MLW -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e15aqw
The Gladiator vs. Hayabusa in FMW, 7/30/95 -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9VS8V085
Mike Awesome vs. Hayabusa in FMW, 9/26/95 -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1BN6Z2PE
Allen Coage a/k/a Bad News Brown
10/22/1943 - 3/6/2007
10/22/1943 - 3/6/2007
[/size][size=+1]LISTEN UP ALL YOU BEERBELLIED SHARECROPPERS, IT'S...[/size]
[size=+1]The Bad News Allen Coage Memorial Thread[/size]
[size=+1]The Bad News Allen Coage Memorial Thread[/size]
Via Wikipedia:
Bad News' attitude and demeanor in the WWF was almost a precursor to what Steve Austin did in the late 90's. He would often double cross both faces and heels and was "allies" with no one. This was never more evident than his back to back Survivor Series appearances where he walked out on his team both times.
Bad News did have a nationally televised match with Hulk Hogan on a February, 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Hogan won the match. However, the most memorable part of the contest was Bad News, seemingly frustrated with his inability to get the advantage, walking to the back. As Hogan began to celebrate what he thought would be a countout win, Bad News came back down the aisle holding an enormous snowshovel, at which point Hogan got a terrified look on his face that I still remember to this day - probably because it was one of the only things to EVER legitimately scare me on a wrestling program as a kid.
His two most memorable feuds were with Jake Roberts and Randy Savage. During the former, Bad News claimed he was not afraid of Jake's python Damien, and even came up with pets of his own to counter the snake - "Harlem Sewer Rats." Unfortunately, the animals never came into play. He also had a main event feud with Randy Savage, which was set off by Bad News giving one of the more memorable interviews of the late 80's, where he accused WWF president Jack Tunney of giving Randy Savage preferential treatment due to Savage's manager (and wife) Elizabeth "doing favors" for Tunney. He obviously never won the title, but he was still one of the scariest heels of that period.
The Dynamite Kid praised him in his autobiography as one of the toughest bad-asses he ever met in wrestling.
R.I.P. "Bad News" Allen Coage.
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Mike Alfonso a/k/a Mike Awesome
1/24/1965 - 2/17/2007
1/24/1965 - 2/17/2007
[/size]
Awesome sharing a moment with his favorite punching bag
Awesome, showing compassion, decides not to drop Tanaka on his head on the outside of the ring for once.
Awesome sharing a moment with his favorite punching bag
Awesome, showing compassion, decides not to drop Tanaka on his head on the outside of the ring for once.
From Wikipedia:
Career
Alfonso received training from Steve Keirn's training camp out of the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF). After wrestling for the PWF in 1989, teaming occasionally with Brett Sawyer, Alfonso moved around, appearing in various promotions including a brief stint in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) under the tutelage of Nate The Rat, a manager there. In that same year he made his first TV appearance as a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) masked jobber named The Pro from San Juan.
1990-2000
Alfonso moved on to Japan, joining up with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) in late 1990, gaining the name The Gladiator.
In 1993, Alfonso appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome) before returning to FMW. In 1994, the Gladiator finally struck gold, teaming with Big Titan to defeat Atushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niyama in the finals of the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag-Team Title Tournament. In October 1994, he teamed with Mr. Pogo to win the belts again. As The Gladiator, he faced and defeated Hayabusa for his first major singles title, FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title in September 1995 and later vacated due to injury. In May 1996 he won the title for a second time and also unified it with the FMW Independent World Title after defeating W*ING Kanemura in December 1996. In August 1997, teaming with Hisakatsu Ooya & Mr. Gannosuke he won the vacated FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles, holding all three belts at once. But a month later, everything began falling apart, as the Gladiator lost all of the titles in September, due to an epic feud with Masato Tanaka.
In the summer of 1998, he again appeared in ECW as Mike Awesome, mainly to continue his feud with Masato Tanaka. Awesome would begin by losing to Tanaka on an episode of Hardcore TV; following the loss, he delivered an Awesome Bomb on Tanaka over the top rope through a table, which was set up on the outside. Awesome (along with Justin Credible) then lost a tag match on July 18 to Masato Tanaka and Jerry Lynn, after Credible was pinned by Jerry Lynn. In his final appearance, Awesome lost yet again to Masato Tanaka on August 2 at ECW's Heat Wave 1998 Pay-Per-View event.
During a match with Super Leather, Alfonso seriously injured his knee, taking him out of wrestling for nearly a year. When he returned, as The Gladiator, he wrestled for a brief period in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Alfonso would soon return to ECW, as he shocked the wrestling world by winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at ECW's Anarchy Rulz 1999 Pay-Per-View; the scheduled title match was Taz defending against Masato Tanaka, but Awesome showed up in the audience, which angered Taz and inspired Paul Heyman to turn the bout into a 3-Way Dance as a result. In December 1999, Awesome was defeated by Masato Tanaka for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, but Awesome regained the title a week later.
2000-2001
Awesome continued to be a major factor in ECW early in 2000, including teaming with Raven in to beat Tanaka & Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Tag-Team Titles. Awesome was often managed by Judge Jeff Jones in his ECW tenure.
In April 2000, Mike Awesome made a surprise appearance on WCW Monday Nitro, aiding the New Blood by attacking Kevin Nash. This presented a problem for ECW, because Awesome was still the reigning ECW World Champion, and it was only the threat of a federal injunction that prevented WCW from having Awesome appear on WCW television with the belt. In one of the more bizarre moments in pro wrestling, Awesome (who was now under contract with WCW) returned to ECW for one night to drop the title to Tazz (who was under contract with the World Wrestling Federation at the time) in an ECW ring at an ECW event.
According to a shoot interview that HighSpots conducted with Mike Awesome in 2003, from the night that he won the title to the day he signed a contract to join WCW, Awesome was never contractually obligated to ECW.
Awesome continued to be a major factor with the New Blood for the next month, teaming with Billy Kidman occasionally, to help Kidman against Hulk Hogan. Awesome also continued his on-and-off feud with Kevin Nash, while feuding with Kanyon. During 2000, Awesome began changing his gimmick slightly, coming out as That 70s Guy. He dressed in various throwback outfits, hosted his own "Lava Lamp Lounge" show, and even drove a painted bus around to arenas. He also began to become infatuated with "heavyset" women. Awesome had feuds with Jeff Jarrett and a minor one with Vampiro, which created many brawls between Awesome & Vampiro's allies in the Insane Clown Posse. At one point, Awesome battled Shaggy 2 Dope & Violent J in a Handicap match, which led to Awesome Powerbombing Shaggy 2 Dope on top of his van (Shaggy 2 Dope then slid off, injuring himself). In November 2000, Awesome renewed an earlier feud with Bam Bam Bigelow,
2001-2005
Going into 2001, Awesome dropped the 1970s gimmick joined with Lance Storm & Elix Skipper in Team Canada after assaulting "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Team Canada's feud with the Filthy Animals led to Awesome challenging Billy Kidman to a Hair-vs-Hair match. Before the bout could take place, Team Canada took out Kidman in the back. However, Konnan (with no hair) took his place, and got the win. The Filthy Animals then cut off Awesome's long-time mullet haircut. Awesome later faded into the background for a time, helping to aid Storm in his battles against Ernest "The Cat" Miller. With Awesome & Skipper's aid, Storm defeated Miller at one point to become the WCW Commissioner, allowing Team Canada to run with a lot of power for a few weeks. However, at Superbrawl, Storm lost to Miller, who regained his Commissionership.
Mike Awesome became part of The Invasion storyline in the WWF. He ended up making his WWF debut on the June 25, 2001 episode of Raw is War during a match which saw Rhyno defending his WWF Hardcore Title against Test. Rhyno gored Test against the wall and made the pin to become the new champion but while Rhyno was celebrating, Mike Awesome came out of nowhere and attacked Rhyno in the head with a metal pipe. He then powerbombed Rhyno onto a steel ladder and made the pin, and, due to the 24/7 Hardcore Title rule, the ref made the count, giving Awesome his first WWF victory and, shockingly, the WWF Hardcore Title. Awesome became the first Invader to gain gold in the WWF, stealing away with the Hardcore belt before any WWF wrestlers could catch him. It struck a blow against the WWF, as well as giving Awesome his first gold in more than a year. Awesomes' hardcore reign came to an end a few weeks later on the July 12, 2001 edition of Smackdown! when he was pinned by Jeff Hardy, he never got a rematch. Awesome's push slowly declined as he would appear mostly on WWF's Sister Shows (WWF Jakked and WWE Heat. He was left off the majority of the Pay-per-view's (PPVs) involved in the WWF/Alliance storyline, and was eventually sidelined with an injury in November 2001.
After The Alliance storyline ended, Mike Awesome was not used much in the storylines or matches, and after a WWE Draft Lottery, Mike was drafted to SmackDown!, but was rarely seen on TV and was used as a jobber on WWE Velocity in 2002, losing to the likes of Sho Funaki and Ron Simmons. He was released from the WWE in September 2002.
Mike Awesome made a few appearances at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), but mainly competed on the independent circuit in the United States and Japan. Awesome's most notable activity on the independent circuit occurred throughout late 2002-summer 2003, as he competed in Major League Wrestling. Awesome would defeat Masato Tanaka in a #1 Contender's (for the MLW Heavyweight Championship) on the Revolutions card (May 9, 2003), and then challenge (the reigning-champion) Satoshi Kojima at Hybrid Hell (June 20, 2003); Awesome would win the title, only to lose it 10 minutes later in an impromptu challenge by Steve Corino. One of Awesome's final appearances in MLW occurred on September 19, 2003 at War Games, where he defeated Joe Seanoa.
2005-retirement
At ECW One Night Stand 2005, Awesome faced Tanaka once again inside an ECW ring. Awesome won the match after Awesome Bombing Tanaka to the outside of the ring, and through a table and a slingshot Awesome Splash onto Tanaka. After the match Mike Awesome powerbombed referee Jim Molleneux. Throughout the match, both ECW fans and Joey Styles, who was announcing the match, made note of the fact they had not forgiven Awesome for betraying ECW five years previously, but conceded that the match he was watching with Awesome was very good while the fans yelled "This match rules!".
During February, Awesome announced his retirement from wrestling so that he could concentrate on spending time with his family and selling real estate. Awesome added that he would only wrestle "if the money was right," and added that he felt that he was underpaid for his performance at ECW One Night Stand 2005, due to the fact that Awesome felt that his match with Masato Tanaka stole the show.
Courtesy of JaytheGameFan, here are several great matches involving Awesome:
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka at MLW Revolutions -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1hgmp6
The Gladiator vs. Masato Tanaka in FMW, 9/28/97 -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/omfuec
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka at Zero One's Manifesto 1 show -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/uhnyng
Kenta Kobashi vs. The Gladiator - All Japan 9/4/99 -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YCFF7STT
Mike Awesome vs. Samoa Joe in MLW -
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e15aqw
The Gladiator vs. Hayabusa in FMW, 7/30/95 -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9VS8V085
Mike Awesome vs. Hayabusa in FMW, 9/26/95 -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1BN6Z2PE
in' there.
k 
