Debra Miceli
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- This article is about the professional wrestler and monster truck driver; for the ancient Greek mythological figure, see Medusa
| Debra Lewandowsky | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Alundra Blayze Madusa Madusa Miceli |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in |
| Billed weight | 136 lb |
| Born | February 6, 1963 Milan, Italy |
| Resides | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Trained by | Eddie Sharkey |
| Debut | 1987 |
| Retired | 2001 |
Debra Ann Miceli (born February 6, 1963) better known as Madusa (shorthand for MADe in the USA) or Alundra Blayze, is a former professional wrestler for the American Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation.
Contents |
[edit] Wrestling career
[edit] American Wrestling Association (1987–1988)
After completing Eddie Sharkey's training camp in Minneapolis, Minnesota and working briefly with Pro Wrestling America, Miceli started wrestling in 1987 in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as Madusa Miceli, a heel women's wrestler and manager to Kevin Kelly, Nic Kiniski, and AWA World Champion Curt Hennig.
She won the AWA Women's Championship in a tournament final over Candi Devine on December 27, 1987. She feuded with Devine and then Wendi Richter for the belt, but lost it to Richter on November 26, 1988.
[edit] All Japan Women and the LPWA (1988–1991)
In 1988, Miceli was the first woman to be awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year.
Miceli wrestled for All Japan Women at the beginning of 1989, where she won the IWA Women's title from Chigusa Nagayo before dropping it back to her some time after, she then began training in Japan and learned the Japanese wrestling style. In late 1989 she returned to the US and wrestled for the LPWA where she wrestled the likes of The Nasty Girls, Leilani Kai, Sheba, Black Venus and The Goddess (Candi Devine) She then challenged LPWA Champion Susan Sexton to a 2/3 falls match for the title and lost, she then left the LPWA to return to Japan for a one year contract, being the first North American female to be given a full time contract with the promotion, there she feuded with Aja Kong which culiminated in a Shoot Boxing Match in May 1990 which resulted in a draw, the two then squared off in a "Streetfight" in July 1990, which Kong won, after the match they hugged out of respect and soon thereafter Madusa turned heel and join forces with Kong's stable along with Bison Kimura.
In 1991 after returning to the US, Madusa returned to the LPWA as a psycho heel with a personality disorder, she would dress in different attires and gimmicks each week to mess with her opponents heads, this didnt last long and Madusa returned to Japan again to work with the JWP promotion briefly.
In the fall of 1991 she worked for the TWA feuding with Luna Vachon, whom she faced in a Hair vs Hair Mixed Tag Team Match in September 1991, her opponent was her husband Eddie Gilbert and Luna teamed with Cactus Jack,, Madusa and Gilbert prevailed and Luna had her head shaved.
[edit] World Championship Wrestling (1991–1993)
She then went to WCW in late 1991. She briefly feuded with Bambi, Judy Martin, and Lady Blossom. She then went on to help Paul E. Dangerously form his Dangerous Alliance of Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, and Larry Zbyszko. She often interfered in their matches and most often accompanied Rude to the ring. At Beach Blast 1992 on June 20, she lost a bikini contest to Missy Hyatt. In October, Dangerously kicked her out of the Dangerous Alliance, and she got revenge when she defeated him (by countout after he ran from her) in a match on November 18, 1992 at the Clash of the Champions.
[edit] World Wrestling Federation (1993–1995)
In 1993, the WWF re-instated its Women's Championship, a title that had been vacant since 1990. Micelli signed on to be the star of the new women's division. She debuted as Alundra Blayze and wrestled in a six-woman tournament to crown a new women's champion. She defeated Allison Royal in the first round and received a bye into the finals, where she pinned Heidi Lee Morgan to win the title. She defended the belt against Morgan, Leilani Kai, Debbie Combs, and Luna Vachon. She also traveled to Japan where she defended the title against Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, and Bull Nakano. She was defeated by Nakano in a non-title match during the Japan tour.
Nakano emerged as part of the WWF roster in the summer of 1994, and the two feuded. Their first encounter on an edition of Monday Night RAW resulted in a double-count out. Blayze defeated Nakano at SummerSlam, but lost the belt to Nakano on November 20, 1994 in Tokyo, during All-Japan Women's wrestling extravaganza called "Big Egg Wrestling Universe." Five months later, Blayze regained the title from Nakano on an edition of Monday Night RAW on April 3, 1995. Immediately following the win, she was attacked by Bertha Faye, who kayfabe broke her nose. Blayze was out of action for five months to recover. In reality, Miceli left to get breast implants and a nose job.[citation needed] She returned to the ring in August 1995, losing the women's title to Bertha Faye at the SummerSlam 1995 on August 27. She bounced back two months later to win the title a third time, defeating Faye on October 23.
The WWF then imported Aja Kong from Japan and set up a Blayze/Kong feud. Their first showdown was at the 1995 Survivor Series, where Blayze, along with Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chaparita Asari, battled Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, and Lioness Asuka. In the end, Kong pinned Blayze to be the sole survivor. The following week on RAW, Kong and Watanabe defeated Blayze and Inoue when Kong pinned Inoue. Kong then defeated Chaparita Asari a week later. The match was the last women's match in WWF for sometime, and the Blayze/Kong feud never materialized, even though it had been advertised by WWF Magazine as one of the matches at the Royal Rumble 1996.
[edit] World Championship Wrestling (1995–2001)
[edit] 1995–1997
Miceli had been informed that the WWF were not going to renew her contract which expired on Dec 13, 1995 and she was being released. Miceli quickly signed with WCW and showed up on WCW Monday Nitro on December 18, 1995. She denounced the Blayze gimmick, threw the WWF Women's Title Belt in a trash can and reclaimed her Madusa moniker. This incident is widely perceived as a catalyst for the "Montreal Screwjob" in 1997. Rather than hold a tournament to crown a new champion, the WWF once again abandoned the women's title. In WCW, Madusa had a brief feud with Sherri Martel because Sherri supposedly stole Col. Rob Parker from her and even interrupted their wedding vows in Las Vegas. Martel pinned Madusa in the second ever women's match on WCW Monday Nitro. Their feud ended after that.
With Madusa back in WCW, the company brought in Bull Nakano to feud with her. They battled in a 'Loser gets their bike bashed' match at Hog Wild 1996. Even though Madusa lost the match, Madusa bashed Nakano's motorcycle anyway after she chased away Sonny Onoo. Nakano went back to Japan and retired from wrestling shortly afterwards, leaving Madusa with no one to wrestle. The company decided to establish the WCW Women's Championship and struck a deal with GAEA Japan organization to bring in women wrestlers. A tournament was held in the fall of 1996. Madusa defeated Reina Jubuki in the first round and Zero in the semi-final, but she lost to Akira Hokuto in the finals of the tournament on December 29 at StarrCade 1996. She also feuded with Luna Vachon, who had repeatedly interfered in Madusa's matches with Hokuto. On June 15, at the Great American Bash 1997, Miceli lost a retirement match to Hokuto.
[edit] 1999–2001
Madusa returned to WCW in April 1999 as part of Randy Savage's faction 'Team Savage' with Gorgeous George and Miss Madness, but she was eventually kicked out by Savage due to a dispute in July 1999.
After a three month sabbatical, Madusa made her return to television on the October 18 edition of Monday Nitro. With the mysterious "Powers That Be" now at the helm of WCW, they ordered her to participate in a "New York" Evening Gown Match with Mona. Mona was fine with the stipulation because she often wrestled in an evening gown. On the other hand, Madusa was less than enthusiastic about the idea as she believed it was beneath her to participate in such a match, not to mention wrestle in an evening gown. Mona came out in a blue evening gown whereas Madusa made a half-hearted effort regarding her wardrobe in that she came out in a casual "Tommy Sports" dress with shorts on underneath instead of panties. Despite being a reluctant participant, Madusa took her frustration out on Mona and dominated the majority of the match. Towards the end of the match, Madusa lost her focus and started screaming at the ringside announcers because she was unhappy about doing the match in the first place. Mona then came from behind and stripped Madusa of her gown, down to her shorts and a sports bra. Madusa then grabbed the microphone to complain even more and told "everyone behind her" to kiss her buttocks. "The Powers That Be" continued to make her life miserable as they had her strut out in a revealing red bikini to shill the new WCW cologne at Halloween Havoc 1999. An angry Madusa went up to the announcers to air out her grievances by saying that was not happy that the "The Powers That Be" made her come out in an "itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie" bikini. She exclaimed that it was "bullshit" and proceeded to dump the contents of the bottle over Bobby Heenan. The next night on Nitro, Madusa was entered into the tournament for the WCW Championship belt that was put up for grabs after it was decided that it no longer belonged to Sting. When the tournament pairings were shown, Madusa's opponent was marked as a question mark. Her opponent turned out to be the monstrous Meng. Madusa gave her best effort in the match, but Meng appeared to be invulnerable to her attacks. The match came to an end when Meng placed the Tongan Death Grip, a nerve grip, on her for the win. Evan Karagias came into the ring following the match and assisted her backstage.
The next week on Nitro, "The Powers That Be" gave Madusa a break by putting her back into the championship tournament. They paired her off against Karagias. During a pre-match interview, Karagias said that Madusa was "hot" and that he was not quite sure as to how he would handle wrestling a woman. Madusa used this knowledge to the best of her advantage and instead of wrestling Karagias, she used her feminine wiles to 'sexually tease' him throughout the contest. During the match, the two didn't exactly grapple, but rather, they exchanged romantic pleasantries throughout the contest. For starters, Madusa felt up his chest, pinched his behind and batted his baseball cap off in a playful manner. Evan returned the favor by grappling her into some promiscuous wrestling positions and whispering sweet nothings into her ear - to her liking no less. At one point, a smirking Madusa backed him into a corner and attempted to seduce him by pointing her large breasts in his direction. The match came to a conclusion when she smothered him with a large kiss all the while pinning him for a victory. Karagias did not mind losing the match and he made her his manager from that point forward. The two then developed a romantic relationship. Madusa was eliminated from the championship tournament the next week on Nitro when Jeff Jarrett interfered in the match, causing Chris Benoit to pick the victory. After her elimination, Madusa put all her focus in managing Karagias. She'd frequently get involved - often using her feminine wiles to distract her opponents so that Karagias could win. During one match she thrust a dazed Johnny Boone's face against her cleavage, pulled his shirt over his head, and pushed him over so Karagias could pin him. It did not take long for the newly formed tandem to find success as she helped lead him to the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship at Mayhem 1999. Soon after his title win, Madusa became interested in Evan's Cruiserweight Championship belt.
While they were making out in a dimly-lit room, Madusa told Karagias that she needed a title shot at WCW StarrCade. Karagias graciously accepted her challenge. However, plans were changed, and she had to earn her title shot the next week on Nitro by defeating Mona and Evan Karagias in a three-way match. Madusa and Mona started the match, while Evan went to the announcer's table. After laying waste to her with a missile dropkick, Mona looked to have Madusa beaten, but Karagias made the save. As he went to check on Madusa, she took advantage of their relationship, rolling him up for the victory and title shot at Starrcade. The next week on Nitro, Madusa caught him flirting with Spice of the Nitro Girls backstage. Madusa attempted to attack the Nitro Girl, but Karagias and several officials broke the two up. Madusa challenged Spice to a match later in the night. Madusa dominated the unexperienced wrestler throughout the contest. Karagias then came to the ring and prompted Madusa to quit wailing on her. Spice saw her opening and charged towards a distracted Madusa. She quickly pinned her for the upset victory. After the match, an agitated Madusa argued with Karagias because he caused her to lose the match. Madusa then treated Evan to a bridging German suplex, ending their romantic relationship for good. On that week's edition of WCW Thunder, Spice officially became Evan's new manager. She was also in his corner at StarrCade for his title defense against Madusa. Their relationship lasted for all of six days as Spice gave Evan a low-blow during the match. Madusa quickly pounced on the opportunity by pinning him to become the new WCW World Cruiserweight Champion. Spice them aligned herself with Madusa and became her manager. The relationship only lasted about a month as Spice returned to her role as a Nitro Girl when WCW relaunched the previously disbanded group a few weeks later.
On the January 10, 2000 edition of Nitro, Madusa inexplicably came out wearing a blue wig and an ill-fitting bikini top. On this edition of Nitro, Madusa came out to tend to Asya after she was struck by Oklahoma with a bottle of barbecue sauce during a match. Oklahoma then struck Madusa from behind with a broom, which began her feud with Oklahoma. In an evening gown match with Oklahoma on an episode of WCW Thunder on January 12, Madusa easily defeated Oklahoma by stripping off his dress. After the match, Oklahoma retaliated and struck Madusa with a glass bottle containing barbecue sauce. Oklahoma then disrobed Madusa to reveal her blue undergarments. Oklahoma then proceeded to pour the BBQ sauce down her cleavage. Oklahoma then kicked Madusa in the back, and she fell to the floor outside the ring. She eventually lost the belt to Oklahoma at Souled Out 2000 on January 16. During her reign, Madusa only defended the Cruiserweight Title on television on two other occasions. She defeated Asya on the first edition of Thunder of 2000, a male plant on the January 15, edition of WCW Saturday Night, and Sherri Martel in a non-title match on Thunder. After her title reign came to a close, Madusa continued to feud with Oklahoma for a few more weeks. In on-camera interviews, Oklahoma often poked fun at the amount of plastic surgery Madusa has legitimately had over the years. On the February 7 edition of Nitro, Oklahoma brought out a doctor by the name of Dr. Jeter, who claimed that Madusa was one of his clients and that he had done cosmetic surgery on her. Jeter claimed that he did a nose job, eye job, lip job, boob job, and even a buttock augmentation on Madusa. Oklahoma then said that Madusa had no place in the WCW Women's Division and that there was not anything natural about her. She responded by thrashing both Oklahoma and Dr. Jeter. The conclusion of Madusa's feud with Oklahoma occurred on the February 21 edition of Nitro in a match where she was disguised as La Parka for a match with The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea. Because La Parka was looking thin - not to mention especially voluptuous - Oklahoma could easily tell that this was an impostor and ripped off the mask to reveal an embarrassed Madusa. The real La Parka then entered the ring and hit Oklahoma with a chair.
WCW did not have much in the way for Madusa creatively, and she only made a few appearances during the rest of the year. She then became an instructor at the WCW Power Plant to help train the women for wrestling matches. She did that until the foreclosure of the company in 2001. Before WCW's collapse, she engaged in a brief feud with Torrie Wilson and Shane Douglas. The two defeated Madusa and Billy Kidman at Fall Brawl in a mixed tag team scaffold match.
Madusa wrestled only one match after she left WCW when she wrestled Nikita Fink at an independent show in Arizona in May 2001. She retired from pro wrestling for good in 2001.
[edit] Monster Jam (2000-Present)
Madusa drove a monster truck with her name on it from 2000 to 2006, and now drives for Team BigFoot. She won the 2004 Monster Jam World Finals for freestyle, and 2005 Monster Jam World Finals for racing. In 2006 her contract was not renewed and she did not follow up for a third title. Now she drives BigFoot/ Madusa.
[edit] Personal life
Madusa was married to "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert in the early 1990s. After their divorce she married former NFL player Ken Blackman on February 14, 1998.[1] The couple later divorced.[citation needed]
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Wrestlers managed
- Entrance Music
- "Blayze Of Glory" (WWF)
- "Bad Man" (WCW)
- "Are You Ready Boys?" (WCW)
- "Pocket Full of Potassium Nitrate" (WCW)
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
Motorsports
-
- USHRA Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Co-Championship in 2004
- USHRA Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship in 2005
Professional wrestling
-
- IWA Japan Women's Championship (2 times)
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- PWI Rookie of the Year award in 1988
[edit] Notes
- ^ Murphy, Mike. "Blackman wed to WCW star", The Cincinnati Post, E. W. Scripps Company, 1999-06-11. Archived from the original on 2004-12-25. "Seven months later, on Feb. 14, 1998, the bruising football player and world class wrestler married in Jamaica."
