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On this episode of 10 Bell Pod, Nickohlessa, Tyler Wood, and The Man Scout Jake Manning dig into the life, career, and tragic end of Mike Awesome.

From his rise as a foundational monster in Japan’s FMW, where his size, speed, and brutality made him a legend, to his turbulent runs through ECW, WCW, WWE, we talk about how timing, injuries, politics, and bad creative repeatedly undercut a generational talent.

It’s a full scope look at a wrestler who redefined what a “big man” could be, helped reshape modern wrestling’s pace and spectacle, and whose story ends with a sobering reminder about mental health, CTE, and the quiet struggles even the strongest people carry.

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On this episode of 10 Bell Pod, Nick, Tyler, and The Man Scout Jake Manning take a rare deep dive into the life and career of Nicole Bass.

Nicole was a bodybuilder, actor, Howard Stern regular, and one of the most physically imposing figures to ever step into a wrestling ring.

We discuss her elite bodybuilding career, mainstream fame, and chaotic run through ECW & the WWF at the height of the Attitude Era.

It’s a look at missed potential, industry failure, media spectacle, and the complicated reality of a woman who briefly broke wrestling’s mold.

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Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠

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Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠

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EPISODE NOTES

Nicole Bass: Strength, Spectacle, and the Cost of Being Early

Framing
This episode exists to explain why Nicole Bass is remembered far more than her in ring résumé should allow. Using her life as a case study, we look at what happens when elite athleticism collides with late-90s wrestling culture, shock radio, and an industry that didn’t yet know what to do with women who didn’t fit the mold.

This isn’t a nostalgia trip or a hit piece. It’s about timing, labor, exploitation, and how spectacle often replaces development.

Core Takeaways

• Elite athlete, wrong system: Bass was a legitimately world-class bodybuilder, but entered pro wrestling at a time when training was minimal, women’s wrestling was an afterthought, and “monster” roles replaced long-term development.

• Visibility without protection: Howard Stern gave Bass massive exposure, but that visibility came without structural support, setting a pattern that followed her into wrestling.

• Wrestling’s 90s shortcut culture: She was thrown into ECW, WWF, and even WrestleMania-level spots before the industry had modern developmental pipelines, especially for women.

• The Chyna match that never happened: Wrestling routinely books “big man vs big man,” yet balked at giving Bass a meaningful counterpart, opting instead for novelty and humiliation angles.

• Labor without leverage: Her WWE tenure ends not with a creative reset, but a lawsuit, highlighting how little power performers had when crossing management or locker room norms.

What Usually Gets Missed
Nicole Bass wasn’t a failed wrestler. She was an elite athlete who arrived too early, in an industry more interested in using her than building her.

If this episode does its job, you don’t walk away thinking “what a sideshow,” but instead wondering how many careers wrestling burned through before it figured itself out.