Assuming Wikipedia got the facts right this time, he held the WWF Tag Team title once (with Ken Shamrock), and was also UWF heavyweight champion once. (He was also WWF Hardcore champion four times, but that one gets an asterisk as it was a “you can pin the champ anywhere at any time” title, and was involved in at least one battle royale-style match where the title could change hands multiple times in 15 minutes.)
A real life former prison guard, Ray Traylor got his start in Jim Crockett Promotions as a jobber on the Saturday night show. Head booker Dusty Rhodes was impressed by the youngster and held him off television for a few months. When he made his return it was as Big Bubba Rogers, bodyguard to Jim Cornette. After feuding with Rhodes Rogers eventually ended up in the WWF as the Big Bossman.
For those with the network you can see some of Traylor’s jobber matches in the WCW Saturday Night section.
In honor of Big Bossman tonight I’m going to have Pepper steak for dinner.
So, um…gosh, what happens in the unlikely circumstances that Dean Ambrose next weekend? We get Ambrose-Reigns at WM with Reigns going over? Hell, if they’re ultimately going to go with Shane getting RAW (hahaha, no, really), then this puts Ambrose over, gives him a brief title run and frees Trips up to be involved in the KILLSHANEATANYCOSTS, er, stale old Authority vs. Renegade someone with an impossibly ludicrous means of gaining control of the company storyline.
What do you mean you don’t remember the very special episode of Blossom where she wins control of a multinational corporation before the reset button at the end of the episode?
Sooooo
How much do WM tickets usually go for? I’m not sure I want to pay triple digits for nosebleed seats.
I remember Ray Traylor when he was Jim Cornette’s bodyguard, Big Bubba Rogers. There was some kind of feud with Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes took a chair that had breakaway wooden slats and smacked Bubba on the head with it. Bubba no-sold it and started loosening his tie like he was ready to kick Dusty’s ass. He didn’t have any mic time as I recall until he went to WWF. The strong-but-silent angle worked for him, as Cornette did all the talking anyway.
One of my favorite angles involving Traylor as Big Boss Man was the feud he got in with the Heenan family. Bobby Heenan was the cohost of the Monday night show with Gorilla Monsoon at the time, when it was more of a talk show format. Heenan kept cracking jokes about Bossman’s mom, and finally Bossman had enough. He grabbed Heenan from backstage and took him out to the ring, then handcuffed him to the security railing. He acted like he was about to give Heenan a beatdown with his nightstick, but security swarmed on Bossman and took him away. Heenan remained handcuffed to the security railing the rest of the show, constantly pleading for help. My roommate at the time, a non-wrestling fan, commented dryly that “So are we supposed to believe this person is so despicable, no one will come to his rescue?”
I call dibs on the guestroom.
It just keeps getting better.
Ms. Cups and I said the moment that the NBA City restaurant died at CityWalk that they should replace it with a WWE restaurant and make that the actual Hall of Fame.
It finally looks like that’s happening.
Next April is going to be awesome.
I’ve never been to a WrestleMania before, but if T-Cups is hosting (since hotel prices in Orlando have already skyrocketed for that weekend), I just may have to fly out there for a bleacher seat and watch through a pair of binoculars. It’d be fun just to experience the spectacle. Plus they’ll probably have Raw in town the night after, and an NXT special a few days before, so it’d be a good use of a week’s worth of paid vacation time.
Now then, time to start designing wrestling-themed foods for the Hall of Fame Restaurant.
Sheamus’ corned beef and cabbage?
Kane’s hellfire Buffalo wings?
Dean Ambrose’s Cincinnati-style chili?
A six-pound plate of meat and potatoes called “The Ryback” what if you finish it in 30 minutes you get a free t-shirt?
Daniel Bryan vegan burgers?
Some sort of dessert called “Brie a la Mode”?
Hulk Hogan’s Whitefish
Andre the Giant Rack of Ribs
Stone Cold Ahi Tuna
John Cena All-American Burger and Fries Kid’s Meal
#2 and #4 are good, but nobody should have to think about Hogan’s dick while they’re trying to eat, and any entrée named after Steve Austin is going to have to be some sort of barbeque (served with JR’s BBQ sauce, of course) or beer-marinated roast.
There are some right around when the first Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup tournament took place (April, 1986); there’s one where he and a partner I can’t remember wrestled against the Road Warriors. (No, they didn’t put Traylor in the Doomsday Device. That would have been something to see.)
It’s not as if WWE has tried a high-profile restaurant before. Oh, wait…
(How many years did it sit dark before they finally took down the awning over the main entrance?)
Uh hello? What about Hulk Hogan’s Pastamania?
The Wild Samoans’ Raw Fish and Unplucked Chicken Platter
George “The Animal” Steele’s Turnbuckle Pie
Gangrel’s Blood Wine
Abdullah the Butcher’s Forehead Fricassee
Brock Lesnar’s Suplex Souffle
Since it hasn’t been said as of yet, Happy Stone Cold Month everyone (3/16)!
SO POP OPEN SOME STEVEWEISERS AND RAISE SOME HELL YOU SONS OF BITCHES!
AND THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE, CAUSE STONE COLD SAID SO!
My favorite Stone Cold moment was when he flipped the double-bird at Mike Tyson. What a watershed moment in WWF history.
They took this off the menu when they went PG.
Good god is the feed crap during the Sami Zayn-Samoa Joe match. I can’t enjoy it because it plays about 5 seconds then freezes for 20. endlessly.
The Iron Sheik actually stood up for Hulk Hogan??? Must be a huge snowfall in Hell right now.
*BAHWANNGGAAAHHH
BAAANNNHHHH*
At this point, I’m not sure that LU would have what could be considered an undercard. Even if the talent isn’t on the level of Prince Puma, they still put on awesome matches. Case in point, Marty the Moth. Somehow he went from being LU’s Santino Marello to their Bray Wyatt. He had an opening match with The Mack - another star who puts on main-event level performances. Maybe there was a touch of post-production work, but Marty looked totally fucking insane! He smiled and laughed like a maniac whenever Mack drilled him out. Sexy Star was in Mack’s corner to lend moral support, but then her Lepidopterophobia kicked in when the lights went out and Marty’s sister Mariposa appeared. Brown fluttery cape with mottled circles, 4 antennae sprouting from her masked face, she looked like a Godzilla opponent. Somehow, somebody dressed as a moth on a wrestling show doesn’t look stupid! This distracted Mack enough for Marty to get the moth dive for the win. Again, how does LU manage to not make this look stupid?
Famous B had another 90’s era cable commercial where he put on a wizard’s hat and transformed a bag lady into a beauty queen. Smapti, have you tried out the phone number?
There’s a backstage fight with Jack Evans and PJ Black taking on Drago. They do an homage to numerous kung fu movies as they all take out nunchucks and whip them around in a badassery demonstration. Drago manages to take down both his assailants with one swipe, but they turn the tables on him and start doing the double stomp on the grounded draconian. Then, things get weird. Aerostar chooses that moment to come back from the past. His magic chest emblem glows, his tattoos become neon light patterns, and he materializes in the locker room to come to Drago’s aid.
Next, Cage takes on Johnny Mundo in a no-DQ match, but Tara, Mundo’s valet comes out and announces he’ll be facing her instead. Wait, what? They’ve had man vs woman matches before, but that was when both contestants were roughly the same size, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch. Cage however, is a fucking monster. He’s Batista-sized, can do aerial lucha moves, and looks like Hercules pulling down marble columns when he bows up. Yet somehow, this turned into an awesome match. Tara emulated Ric Flair, taking the sick bumps like a champ, and the crowd rooted against her. Mundo came in to do interference, and retrieved a couple of beer bottles from under the ring. He smashed one on the top of Cage’s head, then broke another one across his face. I’m sure these were sugar bottles and not actual glass, but shards were hanging off Cage’s face and he shed some blood. Johnny tried a lead pipe on him and Cage no-sold that too. Johnny then bailed, leaving Tara at Cage’s mercy, and of course, he has NONE and gets the win. No punches were pulled on Tara. She and Cage worked a terrific match.
Ivelisse is shown leaving Catrina’s office, joining her fellow Team Dysfunction compadres in the hallway. She tells them they have a match for the Trios championship next week, but if they lose, they have to break up. They squabble about this and blame each other.
Finally, Mil Muertes defends the LU title against Pentagon Jr. and Prince Puma! This is an interesting match in that Puma and Pent frequently team up against the Walking Wall of Death, then when he’s out of commission, they turn on each other. One thing I’ve noticed about Pent - he has Samarai moves. He does a momentary pose of power, like he’s drawing a sword before charging into battle. Muertes however, proves to be too dominant and pins both of them simultaneously for the win. If Roman Reigns did that, he’d get booed out of the building, but somehow it works for Mil Muertes. All the luchas are portrayed as superhuman, and they manage to pull it off. It’s a fun suspension of disbelief.
*BAHWANNGGAAAHHH
BAAANNNHHHH*
Good to see it wasn’t just us.
Also this is the first time I can watch NXT in like 3 months, pretty excited to actually follow the storyline for once.