In 1993, the Big Boss Man finished up his first run with the WWE. His last big PPV appearance was at Royal Rumble 1993 in a loss to Bam Bam Bigelow. The year prior was spent feuding with Nailz for some reason. He would find himself in WCW where he stayed until 1998. That’s where we are now with the Boss Man and this edition of the Wrestling Salvage Yard!
Was the Big Boss Man salvageable in WCW or was it a blessing to return to WWE?
The Big Boss Man in WCW
First off, it was 100-percent a big career move for Boss Man to return to WWE. His run in WCW was pretty damn meh for such a talented big man. Honestly, his career in the Atlanta-based company isn’t worth delving into as his he was never used favorably.
Sure, he won some feuds but creatively, those feuds weren’t worth mentioning. Also not worth mentioning are the gimmicks he was given–but we will. Traylor returned as The Boss but WWE was quick to shut that business down. He would return to his Big Bubba Rogers persona before becoming the Guardian Angel. These gimmicks were during the early 90s which made sense for Traylor to have some kind of character gimmick.
The thing is that Big Bubba Rogers wasn’t particularly interesting if you’ve already seen it or had seen Mr. Hughes. Let’s not talk about the Guardian Angel, folks. He had a brief stay with the new World order before getting booted and wrestling under his real name as part of WCW’s resistance against the black and white faction. Mind you, he wasn’t a major part of Team WCW but he was definitely a part of the home army.
By April 1998, WCW had done all they could with the Big Boss Man and just let him chill at home until his deal expired. A truly uneventful end to a mostly meh stint.
Salvaging The Big Boss Man
Technically, he was salvaged upon returning to WWE. While I actually preferred the agile super heavyweight prison guard-era Boss Man from an in-ring perspective, Attitude Era Boss Man actually made sense. He was no longer one of the more memorable and successful occupational gimmicks in WWE. Now he was a bodyguard and part of The Corporation. The gimmick just worked, he’d lost some weight, and didn’t have to change anything about his in-ring style.
For a period during the Attitude Era, his career actually got a second wind. It makes me wonder how he would’ve been utilized during the New Generation. Back to WCW; salvaging Boss Man is definitely a task. I’d say that his Ray Traylor gimmick could’ve worked in WCW when the company was starting to circle the drain and starting to attempt a product similar to the Attitude Era.
The main problem is that “Ray Traylor” doesn’t really do anything outside of sound like a local jobber. He needed some kind of name but the gimmick of Ray Traylor—as basic as it was in WCW—was the Boss Man’s best gimmick in the company. Boss Man was very similar to the likes of Mike Enos and Barry Darsow in WCW where once they were stripped of their WWE gimmick, there was absolutely nothing special about them.
They were just guys who wrestled blah matches. So, was the Big Boss Man salvageable in WCW? There was a window if but ultimately I’d have to say no, there was no saving or making Boss Man interesting in WCW.
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