So, I just rode past the Vault and “Into the Vault 1996” has been greenlit. While I’m getting that together and seeing what was already covered in 1996, let’s stop by the Wrestling Salvage Yard real quick. We’ve got a tough one here in Nathan Jones.
It Came From Australia
“The Colossus of Boggo Road” is such an ominous, badass nickname. Just let me get that off my chest before we dive in. Jones was a giant at 6’11 and around 320lbs. Hailing from Australia, he was locked up at 17 for eight bank robberies in Tasmania in the late 1980s. The man was at least 14-years old when he was sticking up places.
Incarcerated in Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol, he picked up powerlifting and went from looming, large teenage to monster to loom, large, frightening behemoth. This guy was literally hulking.
His early 1990s was spent entering strong man and powerlifting competitions. He would rack up a number of gold medals in both and beat some of those sports’ top names and former champions. Nathan Jones would become the strongest man in Australia in 1995.
Nathan Jones Enters The Business
Now, he entered wrestling 1997 and with his powerlifting and strong man accomplishments should’ve made the news on that alone. Hell, turning his life around, becoming a national and international champion, and entering the business during a boom period? Training at Ultimate Pro Wrestling in Los Angeles? That company was getting buzz during the boom.
The guy was very marketable.
But no, he didn’t pop up on most people’s radar until 2001 when he wrestled for WWA Australia. There, he had a good run as a top guy even with the former WCW popping up. It was when he signed with WWE in 2002 that his wrestling career took a nose dive. See, while Nathan Jones had the perfect look for a WWE monster and was easily marketable, he was lousy in the ring.
What’s worse than “lousy”? Jones was dismal. He wrestled a few matches on SmackDown and was presented as the protégé of the Undertaker. His weakness was exposed early on and WWE wrote him out of a match at WrestleMania XIX.
After heading down to Ohio Valley Wrestling for the summer and fall to get himself together, he returned to SmackDown and was placed in Heyman’s group with Brock Lesnar and Matt Morgan. Heyman had a new Dangerous Alliance and they all looked like large, muscular killers. Only Jones was now quasi-dismal.
Less than a month after Survivor Series 2003, Nathan Jones just left the company.
Salvaging The Colossus
The sole reason this is so difficult is that Jones was bad in the ring. WWE has tons of experience in covering up weaknesses but this was going to be a task. Having the experience doesn’t mean they were successful most of the time. Jones was one project WWE just wasn’t going to finish.
However, it could’ve been done if WWE took the same approach it took with The Great Khali, a wrestler who was less mobile than Jones…and was also involved with Undertaker and Big Show at different periods.
The company should’ve stuck with his ex-con gimmick, used him mostly in attack angles, brought the Big Boss Man in as a no-nonsense bounty hunter hired by an unknown future GM. He works with Jones in a program and Jones goes over as a vicious heel. I wouldn’t expect a decent match but there was something salvageable here.
There’s a minor chance Jones could’ve worked in WWE for a brief time if the company used him as a special attraction. Actually, it would’ve been better if WWE looked at his body of work beforehand. There’s no way they just picked Jones up work unseen.
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