Michael David "Mike" Adamle (born October 10, 1949) is a sports personality and former National Football League player. He is best known as the co-host of American Gladiators for seven years and as arguably one of the worst greatest wrestling personalities in the history of the WWE.
On January 27, 2008 at the Royal Rumble, Adamle began working as an interviewer for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), making multiple mistakes with every onscreen appearance. On his debut, he referred to Jeff Hardy as "Jeff Harvey" and still managed to become the play-by-play commentator on ECW. He was well known - and mocked (by his color partners Tazz and later Jerry Lawler, former ECW owner and booker Paul Heyman, and former talent Lance Storm, among MANY others) - for being unable to keep up with the commentary, using terribly unfunny Catch Phrases, and generally being a poor substitute for Joey Styles.
On the July 28, 2008 episode of RAW, Executive Vice President Shane McMahon announced that Adamle was the new General Manager for the Raw brand. Even though his new character allowed him to carry a script on camera, he still made mistakes in every episode. In November, during an in-ring segment with Shane McMahon and Randy Orton, Adamle resigned from his position as General Manager, but no reason was ever given for Adamle's real life departure. (However, it was lampshaded on one episode of RAW that the other wrestlers - particularly Chris Jericho - couldn't stand him.) Later that year, he moved to WMAQ, NBC's owned-and-operated affiliate in Chicago, to become a sports anchor, where he stayed until retiring in 2017.
Tropes associated with Mike the Miz—er, Adamle!:
- Accidental Misnaming: Most notably, he helped put over Jeff Harvey as he pursued the "WEBA" Championship.
- For this, Adamle was 'honored' with inclusion in Botchamania's main titles.
- "Let's go over to The Taz...."
- "And here comes CW Punk!"
- "YOU MANGAAAAAAA! The Samoan Bulldog—"
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: His announcement that he was stepping down as Raw GM engendered the biggest pop he has ever received in his WWE career.
- Adamle even botched that farewell by getting up from the announce table too early.
- Ascended Extra: Mike came to Vince's attention back when he was doing color commentary for the original XFL, alongside Jesse Ventura.
- Cuckoolander Commentator: At one point he forgot what a desk was called. Presumably, he was used to sitting at an announcer's booth, but still.
- "Undertaker gettin' BIZZAY!"
- Damned by Faint Praise: WrestleCrap named him the "least horrendous" recipient of their annual Gooker Award to date.
- Dull Surprise: Adamle's promos really must be witnessed. He makes Cena look like Meryl Streep.
- Kirk Summation: Adamle, channeling (and misquoting) his idol Ronald Reagan, told Kane, “HAND. ME. THAT. BAG.” the same way the Gipper told Mikhail Gorbachev to "take down that wall."WrestleCrap: And while most people would not put the surrender of a small sack on the same level of importance as the re-unification of Berlin, it would be Adamle’s biggest accomplishment as Raw General Manager.
- Malaproper: Poor Mike's knowledge of the product was less than nil. ("A Swing-a-Poor Cane Match!").
- Newscaster Cameo: Before Raw, his biggest claim to fame was co-hosting American Gladiators. —Scratch that, before Raw, his biggest claim to fame was the Family Matters episode "Surely You Joust", which featured Adamle calling a match between Urkel and Carl.
- Older Than He Looks: When he debuted on Raw in 2008, he was 59.
- The Peter Principle: He played NFL football as a running back in the 70's, announced and hosted numerous sports programs such as American Gladiators and the Summer Olympics, and has competed in a Ironman Triathlon while he was SIXTY years old. A most impressive resume. Alas, his obituary will probably include mention of his 2008 stint on Raw somewhere.
- Poke the Poodle: Heel Commentators everywhere, take note. Mike delivered a blistering burn to Morrison, whom he described as having "the build of Tarzan[?], but he hits like Jane."
- Pungeon Master: "JomamajomamajomamajomamaJAMAICANMECRAAAAAAZY!"
- You Ghana make me crazy Kofi!
- Put on a Bus: We... don't talk about Mike Adamle.
- Shipper on Deck: While GM of RAW, he constantly referred to John Cena and Mickie James as a cute couple, much to their annoyance. Probably doesn't help that rumors of Cena and James having an affair have persisted for the last few years.
- "Tommy Dreamer is taking it to Morrison!" Well, that certainly adds a new dimension to the storyline.
