Sharpshootin' with The Franchise

Simply Awesome: Just as wrestling fans were beginning to get over the untimely passing of Bam Bam Bigelow, we’re hit with the shocking suicide death of former ECW Champion, Mike Alfonso, a.k.a Mike Awesome. Alfonso was found dead in his apartment this past Saturday night.

When are all these young wrestlers going to stop dying? Awesome had just recently retired from wrestling and was only 42 years old. He was on top of the wrestling world just seven years ago when he won the ECW World Heavyweight Title for the second time. I always admired him because he never wrestled the typical big man match, flying around the ring with an agility impressive for a man of his size. While he was one of the top foreign stars in the FMW promotion in Japan. it wasn't until the late 90's that he really made a name for himself in Extreme Championship Wrestling. In April of 2000, he was involved in one of the most unusual matches in wrestling history when he showed up unannounced on WCW Monday Nitro despite the fact that he was the current ECW Champion. Awesome always maintained that he never had a contract with ECW and could jump to the competition whenever he felt like it. He later agreed to return to ECW for one night only to drop the belt against WWE wrestler, and former ECW alum, Tazz. It was an unprecedented match, a WCW wrestler against a WWE wrestler in an ECW ring. When Awesome returned to WCW full-time, he had a good run as a member of Team Canada (despite not being Canadian). After WCW was bought by WWE in March 2001 he faded away, but did return to steal the show in the ECW One Night Stand PPV in June 2005 in his match against Masato Tanaka. Rest in Peace, Mike.

Hall of Fame Bound: Speaking of wrestlers who passed away at a very young age, WWE announced this week that they would be inducting Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig, to the WWE Hall of Fame during Wrestlemania weekend. Hennig will join Dusty Rhodes (and a few more unannounced wrestlers) in this year’s class. As I’ve mentioned before, Hennig’s death in 2003 was so shocking to me because he was one of my favorites growing up. I would even argue that he was the most technically-sound wrestler of his era. Needless to say, this induction is way overdue.

The Road Begins: WWE presented its No Way Out PPV this past Sunday and things went as planned leading up to Wrestlemania 23. Now all the focus will go on hyping the “granddaddy of ‘em all” which goes down April 1st from Ford Field in Motown. WWE is doing a fantastic job building to their version of the Super Bowl by announcing most of the big matches early on and allowing people to get excited about them. One of the major problems in this current wrestling scene is that there are way too many PPVs. There are so many shows now, every angle and feud has to be rushed and there is no time to get the fans emotionally involved. This year, however, they seem to have realized that the earlier the matches are announced, the more time there is for momentum to build. They've already announced the two main events featuring Cena vs. Michaels and Batista vs. Undertaker. Not to mention Trump vs. McMahon in their hair vs. hair match. Also announced are the first two competitors in this year’s Money in the Bank ladder match - Edge and CM Punk. Look for them to announce the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin as special guest referee in the Trump vs. McMahon showdown.

Second Coming: Pride Fighting Championships, the number one MMA promotion in Japan, is holding its second-ever PPV event on US soil this Saturday night. The rise and fall of Pride FC is fascinating because just two years ago they were the worldwide leader in Mixed-Martial-Arts with UFC a distant second. Now the tables have turned dramatically with many people predicting Pride will either fold or merge with UFC by the end of 2007. Coming to the United States is part of their plan to broaden their appeal and save their sinking ship. If you’ve never watched a Pride show before, tune in this Saturday night. They always put on amazing PPVs. Fights to look out for on are: Mauricio Shogun vs. Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs,. Sokoudjou, Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz and, in the main event, the baddest Middleweight on the planet, Wanderlei Silva, defending his title against Dan Henderson.

Looking Back: I thought for a trip down memory lane this week, we could enjoy the Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect I-C title showdown from Summerslam 1991. Gorilla Monsoon, Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan on the call. Oh, how I miss these old matches.