Madusa

Debra Ann Miceli
Debra Ann Miceli
	File:Madusa 2006.jpg
Born	February 6, 1963 (age 61); Milan, Italy
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Alundra Blayze; Madusa; Madusa Miceli
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	136 lb (62 kg)
Trained by	Eddie Sharkey
Debut	1987
Retired	2001

This article is about the professional wrestler and monster truck driver; for the ancient Greek mythological figure, see Medusa

Debra Ann Miceli (born February 6, 1963 in Milan, Italy) better known as Madusa (shorthand for Made in the USA) or Alundra Blayze, is a former professional wrestler for WCW and WWF. She has also recently driven the Madusa monster truck for Clear Channel Communications on Monster Jam, and will drive a truck of the same name for Team Bigfoot beginning in 2007.

Wrestling career

American Wrestling Association (AWA)

After completing Eddie Sharkey's training camp in Minneapolis, Minnesota and working briefly with Pro Wrestling America, Miceli started wrestling in 1987 in the 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 Title in a tournament final over Candi Devine on December 27, 1987. She feuded with Devine and then Wendi Richter for the belt and lost it to Richter on November 26, 1988. She then left for IWA in Japan, where she won the Women's Title twice and learned the Japanese wrestling style. She was the first woman to be awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year.

World Championship Wrestling (WCW)

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 on June 20, 1992, 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. It was during this time that she was briefly married to wrestler Eddie Gilbert.

World Wrestling Federation (WWF)

In 1994, the WWF re-instated its Women's Championship, a title that had been vacant since 1990, and Micelli signed on to be the star of the new women's division. She debuted as Alundra Blaze, and wrestled in a six-woman tournament to crown a new women's champion. She defeated Allison Royal in the first round, received a bye into the finals, where she pinned Heidi Lee Morgan to win the title. She became the first born Italian to win the title.

She would go on to defend the belt against Morgan, Leilani Kai, Debbie Combs, and Luna Vachon. She also travelled 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 the Summerslam pay-per-view in August 1994, but would lose the belt to Nakano on November 20, 1994 in Tokyo, during All-Japan Women's wrestling extravaganza called "Big Egg Wrestling Universe."

It would be five months before Blayze could regain 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 "broke" her nose. Alundra Blayze was out of action for five months. The story was that she was recovering from her broken nose. In reality, Miceli left to get breast implants and a nose job. Blayze returned to the ring in August 1995, losing the women's title to Bertha Faye at the 1995 Summerslam on August 27, 1995. She bounced back to win the title a third time, defeating Faye on October 23, 1995 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.

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.

However, that would be the last women's match in WWF for sometime and the Blayze/Kong feud never materialized, though, it had been advertised by WWF Magazine as one of the matches at the Royal Rumble 1996.

Return to WCW

It turned out that Miceli had not been happy with the Blayze character and began negotiating with her old employer, WCW. The WWF found out and fired her for talking to the competition while still under contract. Miceli quickly signed with WCW and showed up on WCW Monday Nitro on December 18, 1995. In one of the most unforgettable moments in Pro Wrestling history, she denounced the Blayze gimmick, threw the WWF Women's Title Belt in a trash can (in a move similar to that of Riddick Bowe throwing away the WBC Heavyweight Championship in 1993) and reclaimed her Madusa moniker in one of the most memorable moments in the history of both companies. (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 first 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 WCW Hog Wild in the summer of 1996. Even though Madusa lost the match (Bull Nakano pinnd her with a bridging back suplex), Madusa got to bash 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 a women's championship and struck a deal with the 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 (who lost to Madusa earlier in the tournament as Reina Jubuki) in the finals of the tournament on December 29, 1996 at StarrCade. Madusa never could win the title. She claimed to have won it in Japan, but records indicated otherwise. She also feuded with Luna Vachon, who had repeatedly interfered in Madusa's matches with Hokuto. On June 15, 1997, at the Great American Bash, Miceli lost a retirement match to Hokuto.

Third WCW stint

Madusa returned to WCW in April 1999 as part of Randy Savage's faction 'Team Savage' with Gorgeous George and Miss Madness. She was eventually kicked out by Savage due to a dispute in July 1999.

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Madusa attempts to seduce Evan Karagias on WCW Monday Nitro in November 1999.

After a three month sabbatical, Madusa made her return to television on the October 18, 1999 edition of WCW 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 otherhand, 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" would continue to make her life miserable as they had her strut out in a revealing red bikini to shill the new WCW cologne at WCW 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. 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 monsterous Meng. Madusa gave her best effort in the match, but Meng appeared to be invulnerable to her attacks. The match would come 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" surprisingly 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 wasn't 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 didn't 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 as Jeff Jarrett interfered in the match, thus 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 thrusted a dazed Johnny Boone's face against her plentiful cleavage, pulled his shirt over his head, and pushed him over so Karagias could pin him. It didn't take long for the newly formed tandem to find success as she would help lead him to the WCW Cruiserweight Championship at WCW 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 officially earned her title shot at StarrCade when she rolled up Karagias for the victory. 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, thus 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 would last 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 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.

File:Madusa wig.jpg

Madusa wears a wig on WCW Monday Nitro.

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Oklahoma pours BBQ sauce on Madusa's cleavage in January 2000.

Though her reign as WCW Cruiserweight champion was short-lived, a few memorable moments took place nonetheless. On the January 10, 2000 edition of Nitro, Madusa inexplicably came out wearing a blue wig,and an ill-fitting bikini top, that had a difficult time containing her immense, pendulous breasts. Madusa's bizarre look was akin to a female Anime character come to life in that female Anime characters have colorful hair, curvaceous physiques, and wear gaudy outfits. 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. And thus her feud with Oklahoma started.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of her reign as Cruiserweight champ took place in an evening gown match with Oklahoma on an episode of WCW Thunder on January 12, 2000. 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 mountainous 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 WCW Souled Out in January 16, 2000. During her reign, Madusa would only defend the WCW Cruiserweight Title on television on two other occasions. She defeated Asya on the first edition of WCW Thunder of 2000. She also defeated a male plant on the January 15, 2000 edition of WCW Saturday Night. Madusa would also defeat Sherri Martel in a non-title match on Thunder.

After her title reign came to a close, Madusa would continue to feud with Oklahoma for a few more weeks. In on-camera interviews, Oklahoma would often poke fun at the amount of plastic surgery Madusa has legitimately had over the years. On the February 7, 2000 edition of Nitro, Oklahoma brought out a doctor by the name of Dr. Jeter. Dr. Jeter 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 wasn't anything natural about Madusa. Madusa responded by thrashing both Oklahoma and Dr. Jeter. The conclusion of Madusa's feud with Oklahoma occurred on the February 21, 2000 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 didn't 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 WCW Fall Brawl in a mixed tag team scaffold match. Madusa wrestled exactly one match after she left WCW as she wrestled Beth Phoenix at an independent show in Arizona in May of that year. She retired from pro wrestling for good in 2001.

Cosmetic surgery

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Madusa after her second breast augmentation, circa 1999.

Madusa has had a number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed on her body over the years. She has gotten rhinoplasty surgery on at least one occasion. She has gotten a breast augmentation on at least two occasions. She has also gotten a breast reduction. Cosmetic surgery has played a tremendous factor in the changes to Madusa's physical appearance over the years. Sometimes it would even carry over into the ring.

Upon returning to World Championship Wrestling in 1999, Madusa's breasts were noticeably larger and greatly exaggerated in contrast to any other point in her wrestling career. Madusa later conceded that she had indeed gotten a larger, more prominent set of breast implants just prior to her return to WCW. In an interview Mark Madden of WCW Magazine conducted with her in the summer of 1999, Madusa candidly revealed her reasoning behind the considerably larger set of implants. Madusa stated that the larger, aggrandized breasts gave her much more confidence in herself. "I got those for me," Madusa said. "I wanted to embellish my own beauty, to give myself more confidence. When I got them, I was 5-10, 150 pounds and really, I had nothing. I looked silly. So I got them and I think they look good." On the other hand, Madusa's augmentation had a few drawbacks. Madusa was criticized by some people within the Internet Wrestling Community for the move as they felt as though that her breasts had become much too large and thus it affected her once-stellar in-ring capabilities for the worse.

Following the demise of WCW, Madusa confirmed on her official website that she had gotten a breast reduction. She had the implants removed in either 2001 or 2002. The biggest contributing factor to the breast reduction was that she felt her breasts were much too large and pendulous, thus making it discomforting to her physical well-being. For instance, Madusa couldn't run for long distances as it would bring much discomfort to her. But considering that she was retired from professional wrestling, the implants were no longer necessary for her new line of work as a Monster truck driver where it wasn't essential for her to display her body in an overtly sexual manner. Madusa has stated numerous times on her official website that she regretted getting breast implants in the first place. After the reduction, Madusa revealed her bra size to be a D cup (her size after post-reduction surgery). [1]

Personal life

Madusa was married to Eddie Gilbert in the early 1990s. After their divorce she married former NFL player Ken Blackman in the late 1990s and into the turn of the millennium.

Madusa drove a monster truck of the same name for Live Nation in their Monster Jam series, but was recently released over contract issues. On May 12, 2006 she announced that she had signed up to drive a Madusa truck for Team Bigfoot, beginning later in 2006.