Peace on Earth? Goodwill to men? Bah, humbug!, says Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Mike Awesome. Awesome could think of no better Christmas present than to have the opportunity to dish out some season’s beatings to ECW President, Paul Heyman.
The former top dog in ECW is blaming Heyman for his loss of the World Heavyweight Title to his arch enemy, Masato Tanaka. In a media conference call with SLAM! Wrestling and other pro-wrestling journalists, Awesome promised that at a television taping to be held Thursday in White Plains, New York, he would embarrass Heyman in his hometown and make him pay for screwing him out of the coveted strap.
Former ECW World Champion Mike Awesome
“I bet they (his family) would love to see me Powerbomb him over that top rope through a table because if he’s crossed everyone else the way he’s crossed me then they definitely want to see it too!,” proclaimed an irate Awesome.
At the December 17th television taping to air on this Friday’s ECW On TNN broadcast, Tanaka challenged Awesome following his planting of Spike Dudley in the first row. Heyman signed the bout on the spot but Awesome maintains he had no idea the title was up for grabs.
“I hold Paul E. ultimately responsible for what he did out there. He did not have to make it a title match! I never said I wanted a title match! I never said anything about the belt on the line! It’s just Tanaka was out there and I wanted to go kick his ass,” he told Joey (Oh, my God!) Styles when the ECW commentator (on behalf of Paul Heyman) interrupted the media conference call to pose a few questions of his own.
Awesome suggested a careful review of the event would reveal that Heyman never once said the bout was a title match. “Did you hear me say title match? Did you hear Jeff (Jones) say title match? Nobody said title match. I didn’t even know Paul (Heyman) said put the belt on the line. He just said…Go ahead. Give ’em the match,” Awesome said to Styles as he also sent out a warning to Cyrus too for “stirring things up” by advising Heyman to book the match in the first place.
Styles continued to hammer at Awesome’s shaky relationship with his manager. He stated Jones wouldn’t take too kindly to being strangled in a fit of rage on the TNN broadcast. Awesome shot back by saying The Judge overstepped his bounds by claiming to be the sole reason for his success in ECW.
“Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ve already straightened Jeff out. He understands who’s the boss in this deal here. He understands that I call the shots, that I’m the man. So, tomorrow at the house show he’ll be right there by my side but he won’t be running his mouth like he did the other night. He’ll be right there doing what he’s supposed to do: getting the table and setting it up for me. Basically, that’s the judge’s role,” Awesome fired back.
Styles persisted in planting the seed of dissent.
“Look, he flew you into Anarchy Rulz and you got the World Heavyweight Title. He’s an opportunist. Maybe he figures you’re done. He’ll move on to Tanaka. He’s a parasite. He’ll just jump from wrestler to wrestler just to keep his job in ECW.”
“Well, that’s something to consider but I don’t think it’s going to happen because Jeff Jones knows that I am the ultimate champion and that I’m going to kick Tanaka’s ass. Jeff would be a fool to even think something like that,” Awesome replied though he later admitted he wouldn’t rule out Jones stabbing him in the back because The Judge had made some foolish decisions in the past.
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