Mid 20th Century
112-713: Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name (The) Big Boss Man , as well as for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the Boss , the Man , the Guardian Angel , and Big Bubba Rogers . During his appearances with the WWF, Big Boss Man held
224-574: A Nightstick on a Pole match . The Big Boss Man's last pay-per-view match came at the 1993 Royal Rumble , where he suffered his first clean loss on a pay-per-view to Bam Bam Bigelow . He left the WWF shortly after a house show in Gatineau, Quebec , on March 14, 1993. During the next few months he made appearances in Japan, Australia, the USWA and SMW . On December 4, 1993, he made a one-time return to
336-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
448-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
560-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
672-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
784-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
896-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1008-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1120-655: A deer, and was badly injured. He spent a year recovering from his injuries, and he was badly affected by close friend Curt Hennig 's death in 2003. In July 2004, Traylor unsuccessfully ran for Commission chairman for Paulding County, Georgia . He was the owner of a Dallas, Georgia , storage company called RWT Enterprises. Traylor died of a heart attack on September 22, 2004, at his home in Dallas, Georgia. According to The Wrestling Observer , Traylor and his family were visiting with his sister at his home, and while his two daughters went upstairs to play, his wife Angela briefly left
1232-403: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . The Terminator (wrestler) Marcus Laurinaitis (born February 21, 1965)
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#17328012683061344-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1456-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1568-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1680-679: A mask before his identity was revealed. Big Boss Man was one of the first members of McMahon's heel stable , The Corporation , and served as a bodyguard for other members, such as Vince's son Shane . While in The Corporation, Big Boss Man won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Ken Shamrock and won the WWF Hardcore Championship four times overall. On the November 30, 1998, episode of Raw
1792-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
1904-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
2016-611: A new NWA under the name The Terminator. He joined Devastation Incorporated managed by Skandor Akbar and tagged with The Angel of Death and Black Bart. He made a run with The Fabulous Freebirds, Sting, Rick Steiner and the Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner tag team. One of his earliest encounters with the Fabulous Freebirds was at the New Orleans Superdome in a First Blood cage match where The Terminator
2128-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2240-520: A non-title match while Big Boss Man's partner Shamrock defeated the other New Age Outlaws member Billy Gunn in a separate singles match. Big Boss Man and Shamrock eventually lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to the team of Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett on the January 25, 1999, episode of Raw is War . At WrestleMania XV , Big Boss Man and The Undertaker faced each other in a Hell in a Cell match, which The Undertaker won. After
2352-526: A result, Big Boss Man was the holder of two championships in WWF, although Big Boss Man lost the WWF Hardcore Championship to New Age Outlaws member Road Dogg nearly two weeks later. Big Boss Man entered the 1999 Royal Rumble match as the 22nd entrant, and he eliminated both X-Pac and D'Lo Brown before being eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. At the same Royal Rumble event, Big Boss Man defeated New Age Outlaws member Road Dogg in
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#17328012683062464-547: A team with Booker T , after Vince McMahon ordered him to be Booker T's enforcer. On the December 27 episode of SmackDown! , Boss Man and Booker T defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a handicap match. On the January 7, 2002, episode of Raw , Boss Man and Booker T were defeated by Austin and The Rock. On the January 17 episode of SmackDown! , Boss Man lost to Diamond Dallas Page . At the Royal Rumble , Boss Man competed in
2576-597: A team. Shortly afterwards Johnny Ace left Florida Championship Wrestling to compete in Jim Crockett Promotions as one of the “Dynamic Dudes” (with Shane Douglas ). The team known as the Bounty Hunters won the Florida tag team titles in November, but when one of the Bounty Hunters was injured Marcus stepped in and teamed up with the other Bounty Hunter to defend the tag team titles. The team held
2688-752: A tiebreaking cage match, which Rhodes won on February 27. Traylor also defeated Ron Garvin in a Louisville Street Fight at Starrcade 1986 . In 1987, Traylor joined the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) after it was purchased by Jim Crockett . On April 19, Traylor challenged and won the UWF Heavyweight Championship from One Man Gang , who was leaving the UWF for the World Wrestling Federation . Following his title win, he aligned himself with General Skandor Akbar and his Devastation Inc. stable. Traylor would hold
2800-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
2912-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3024-632: Is War , Big Boss Man defeated Mankind to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. A few weeks later, Big Boss Man and Shamrock were initially defeated by the WWF Tag Team Champions the New Age Outlaws at the December 1998 pay-per-view Rock Bottom: In Your House ; however, on the following day's Raw is War broadcast, Big Boss Man and Shamrock defeated the New Age Outlaws in a rematch to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. As
3136-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
3248-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
3360-635: Is an American retired professional wrestler , better known by his ring name , The Wrecking Crew (Fury) & Terminator . He wrestled primarily in Florida (FCW), Japan (All-Japan Pro Wrestling & New Japan Pro Wrestling), and Europe (CWA), as well with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He is the brother of fellow professional wrestlers John Laurinaitis and Road Warrior Animal . Marcus made his debut in 1987 after being trained by his brothers Joseph and John, as well as by Gene Anderson and Nelson Royal , and initially worked for Dusty Rhodes in Texas for
3472-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
Big Boss Man - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
3696-481: The 1990 Survivor Series , along with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Tugboat , to defeat Earthquake's team. In the fall of 1990, Boss Man began feuding with Bobby Heenan and Heenan Family after Heenan continually insulted Boss Man's mother. He won a series of matches against Heenan Family members in 1991, including The Barbarian at the Royal Rumble and Mr. Perfect (via disqualification) at WrestleMania VII in an Intercontinental Championship match, which featured
3808-578: The Dungeon of Doom , and feuded with former Dungeon of Doom member John Tenta , along with newcomer Glacier . By the end of the year, he had turned on the Dungeon of Doom and joined the nWo . His stay in the nWo was brief, with Traylor knocked out by an unknown assailant at the start of the February 17, 1997, edition of Nitro , with Traylor later explaining Eric Bischoff fired him from the nWo while he
3920-611: The International World Champion , Rick Rude , in a non-title match. A face, he received a title match against Rude at Starrcade '93: 10th Anniversary , but lost. In light of legal complaints from the WWF regarding the similarity of "The Boss" to "Big Boss Man", Traylor was renamed "The Guardian Angel", and wore similar attire to those in the organization he was named after . In early 1995, he turned heel, and became again known as "Big Bubba Rogers". He defeated Sting at Uncensored in 1995. In 1996, Rogers joined
4032-583: The International Wrestling Association of Japan , where he competed in a tournament for the vacant IWA World Heavyweight Championship . He made it to the final by defeating Freddie Krueger before losing to Jim Duggan. Traylor had two daughters, Lacy Abilene Traylor and Megan Chyanne Traylor, and was married to Angela, his childhood sweetheart. Traylor suffered a motorcycle accident on his Harley-Davidson in May 2002 after he hit
4144-820: The Million Dollar Championship belt from Jake Roberts , who had stolen it. Boss Man retrieved a bag containing both the belt and Roberts' pet python, Damien. On The Brother Love Show , he refused to accept DiBiase's money for the bag, and returned it to Roberts. As a face, Boss Man adopted a new entrance theme called "Hard Times" that was performed by the lead singer of Survivor , Jimi Jamison . Boss Man then feuded with former partner Akeem, defeating him in less than two minutes at WrestleMania VI . As part of his face turn, he later stopped handcuffing and beating jobbers after matches. He made peace with Hogan, appearing in his corner in his match against Earthquake at Summerslam 1990, and teaming with him at
4256-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
4368-588: The Tag Team Championship . Meanwhile, Boss Man concluded his feud with Hogan in a series of Steel Cage matches ; one of the most memorable aired on the May 27 Saturday Night's Main Event XXI , with Hogan's WWF Championship on the line. During the match, Hogan superplexed Boss Man off the top of the cage. The Big Boss Man turned face on the February 24, 1990, episode of Superstars , when Ted DiBiase had paid Slick to have Boss Man retrieve
4480-661: The WWF Championship , and formed a team with Akeem (formerly billed as One Man Gang, his UWF opponent) to form The Twin Towers . They feuded with Hogan and Savage (who had formed The Mega Powers ), and were a key part in the top storyline of Savage turning on Hogan, leading to the WrestleMania V main event; in the later part of a tag match between the four on The Main Event II , Hogan abandoned Savage to attend to
4592-873: The WWF World Tag Team Championship once and the WWF Hardcore Championship four times . Traylor was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016. A former corrections officer in Cobb County, Georgia , Traylor debuted in 1985. He then began working as a jobber for Jim Crockett Promotions , under his real name. During this time, he faced the likes of Tully Blanchard , The Barbarian , Ivan Koloff , The Midnight Express , The Road Warriors , and Wahoo McDaniel . Seeing his potential, head booker Dusty Rhodes pulled Traylor from TV for 12 weeks, in order to repackage him as "Big Bubba Rogers" with Traylor debuting as Rogers on
Big Boss Man - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
4816-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
4928-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
5040-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
5152-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
5264-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
5376-604: The March 19 episode of Sunday Night Heat , he introduced Bull Buchanan as his protégé. They teamed to defeat The Godfather and D'Lo Brown at WrestleMania 2000 , and the Acolytes Protection Agency the next month at Backlash . On the June 5 Raw is War , after losing to The Hardy Boyz and subsequently arguing, Boss Man knocked Buchanan out with his nightstick when his back was turned and the team split up. In
5488-501: The May 31 edition of WorldWide. As Big Bubba, Traylor was a silent bodyguard for Jim Cornette , who, along with The Midnight Express , was feuding with the James Boys (Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T. A. , under masks). He got a solid push as a seemingly unstoppable heel and feuded with Rhodes (the top face at the time) in a series of Bunkhouse Stampede matches in 1986. He and Rhodes were tied for wins in this series, leading to
5600-654: The McMahon-Helmsley Regime's vendetta against Test. The alliance between Boss Man and Prince Albert ended on the January 13, 2000, episode of SmackDown! after they lost to the Hardy Boyz . Over the following weeks, Boss Man feuded with both Prince Albert and Test, with Test winning the WWF Hardcore Championship from Boss Man on the January 17, 2000, episode of Raw is War . Boss Man entered the 2000 Royal Rumble match , where he eliminated Rikishi , Chyna and Faarooq, before being eliminated by The Rock. On
5712-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
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#17328012683065824-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
5936-408: The November 15, 1999, episode of Raw is War . At Armageddon , Big Show defeated Big Boss Man to retain the title. On the following episode of Raw is War , Big Show defeated Big Boss Man and Prince Albert in a handicap match to retain his title, marking the end of the feud. On the December 30, 1999, episode of SmackDown! , Boss Man and Prince Albert defeated Test in a handicap match as part of
6048-604: The Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated by Rikishi . The team quietly split in late January 2002, and Boss Man returned to Jakked/Metal and Heat . In April, he formed a short-lived tag team with Mr. Perfect after both were drafted to the Raw brand . On the April 1 episode of Raw , Boss Man and Mr. Perfect lost to The Hardy Boyz. On the May 26 episode of Heat , he lost his final WWE match to Tommy Dreamer . Once again, he
6160-467: The WWF Championship; during the feud, Big Boss Man showed up at Big Show's father's funeral, made some disrespectful remarks, then chained the casket to the back of his car and drove off. Big Show attempted to save the coffin by jumping on it, riding it for a few yards before losing his grip and tumbling off. Big Boss Man became the #1 contender for the WWF Championship by defeating The Rock on
6272-509: The WWF as "Big Boss Man", a character inspired by his previous career as a corrections officer. Wrestling as a heel and managed by Slick , Boss Man's post-match routine often included handcuffing his defeated opponents to the ring ropes and beating them with a nightstick or ball and chain. After defeating Koko B. Ware at the inaugural SummerSlam , Boss Man began his first major WWF angle by attacking Hulk Hogan on "The Brother Love Show" . During this feud, he also challenged Randy Savage for
6384-456: The WWF as a special guest referee to officiate the main event of a house show in Anaheim, California , between Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett . Boss Man was expected to rejoin to the WWF but elected to sign with WCW instead. Traylor returned to the United States to debut for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as "The Boss", on the December 18, 1993, episode of WCW Saturday Night , pinning
6496-591: The War Machine to submit by gouging his eyes with a spiked armband. After losing the heavyweight championship, Traylor began pursuing the UWF Tag Team Championship which were held by The Lightning Express as he teamed with The Angel of Death , The Terminator , and Black Bart but was never able to win the titles. Traylor made his first tour to Japan in March 1988 for All Japan Pro Wrestling as Big Bubba. In May 1988, Traylor joined
6608-532: The Wrecking Crew got national exposure by competing at Clash of the Champions XXII on January 13 where they defeated Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn . After their success at the clash the team rode on a wave of success defeating Gunn and Zenk repeatedly as well as looking impressive against temporary teams such as 2 Cold Scorpio & Johnny B. Badd and Marcus Bagwell & Joey Maggs. By March
6720-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
6832-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
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#17328012683066944-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
7056-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
7168-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
7280-603: The championship for nearly 3 months defending it against Steve Cox , Barry Windham , and Michael Hayes before losing the title to "Dr. Death" Steve Williams on July 11, 1987, in Oklahoma City during the Great American Bash 1987 tour. In the second WarGames match on July 30, 1987, The Road Warriors , Nikita Koloff , Dusty Rhodes, and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen and Traylor as The War Machine at 19:38 when Road Warrior Animal forced
7392-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
7504-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
7616-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
7728-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
7840-400: The entrance way; minutes into the match, Big Boss Man picked it up, taunted Pepper, struck Snow with the carrier, and carelessly tossed it behind him. Commentator Jim Ross then immediately apologized to viewers for the act, and stated that Pepper had been removed from the box before the match. Snow ended up as the winner of the match, thus regaining the WWF Hardcore Championship. Snow's reign
7952-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
8064-566: The finals of a tournament to crown new CWA Tag Team Champions after Larry Cameron had died during a match. Rage & Fury held the belts for only 3 weeks before being unseated by CWA regulars August Smisl and Ulf Herman in Vienna, Austria . The Wrecking Crew also worked in South Africa at this time for promoter Paul Lloyd touring through Johannesburg, Durbin and Cape Town. In 1995 the Wrecking Crew toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling over
8176-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
8288-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
8400-617: The gold until the Nasty Boys beat them on a card in Nassau, Bahamas on January 6, 1990. While competing in Florida Marcus ended up teaming with Al Green (who was known as “The Bounty Hunter”), initially as a makeshift team because Green’s other partner got injured but soon the two started teaming regularly first under the name The Terminators then later on as The Wrecking Crew where Laurinaitis became known as "Fury" and Green
8512-461: The gold. Marcus and Johnny defended the titles for over 3 months until they came across Florida newcomers The Nasty Boys ( Jerry Sags and Brian Knobs ) who took the gold from them. The brothers would come back strong only 3 weeks later to regain their gold and hold on to it until March 24, 1989, where the Nasty Boys once again beat them for the gold. During their second run with the gold Marcus and Johnny also toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling as
8624-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
8736-596: The hurt Miss Elizabeth and went backstage. After being double-teamed for a while, Savage eventually rallied until Hogan returned to the match. After Savage tagged Hogan in, he slapped Hogan and left him to defeat The Twin Towers on his own, which led to The Mega Powers' demise as Savage beat Hulk in the backstage medical room where fellow wrestlers, managers and staff had to break them up. At WrestleMania V, The Twin Towers defeated The Rockers ( Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty ) and then, for most of spring and early summer 1989, feuded with Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) over
8848-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
8960-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
9072-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
9184-453: The match and retained the WWF Hardcore Championship. Big Boss Man would later win back the WWF Hardcore Championship in a triple threat match involving Snow and Big Show nearly two weeks later. Big Boss Man held the championship for slightly over three months, although he only defended it sparingly, which included the likes of Al Snow, Faarooq , Kane , and The Godfather . While as WWF Hardcore Champion, Big Boss Man feuded with Big Show over
9296-491: The match, The Undertaker hanged him from the roof of the cage (an illusion made possible by a full-body safety harness concealed under Big Boss Man's outfit). While a video package of the WrestleMania Rage Party was then shown, Big Boss Man had to be safely taken down onto a stretcher so that he could get to a hospital just fine with minor injuries. In the WWF's hardcore division, Big Boss Man's major feud
9408-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
9520-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
9632-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
9744-518: The return of André the Giant . At SummerSlam , he defeated The Mountie , who he feuded with to see who the real officer of the WWF was in a Jailhouse Match, a match in which the loser must spend a night in jail; this was the only such match ever held by the promotion. In 1992, Boss Man began feuding with Nailz , an ex-convict character who, in a series of promos aired before his debut, claimed Boss Man had been his abusive Officer in prison, and warned he
9856-1132: The room at about 10:00 p.m., and returned to find him dead on the sofa. He was 41 years old. Traylor was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016, with his wife and daughters accepting the award on his behalf. Big Boss Man appears in video games including WWF Superstars , WWF WrestleMania Challenge , WWF WrestleFest , WWF Rage in the Cage , WWF Attitude , WWF WrestleMania 2000 , WWF SmackDown! , WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role and WWF No Mercy . He further appears posthumously in WWE Legends of WrestleMania , WWE All Stars , WWE '13 , WWE 2K16 (as DLC ), WWE 2K17 (including his 1999 appearance as DLC), WWE 2K18 , WWE 2K19 , WWE 2K20 , WWE 2K22 , WWE 2K23 and WWE 2K24 . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
9968-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
10080-403: The summer of 2000, Boss Man disappeared from the WWF's primary television shows, wrestling mainly on Jakked and Heat , where he had a minor feud with Crash Holly until suffering a legit injury in April 2001, keeping him out of The Invasion storyline, which featured invading WCW and ECW wrestlers , for much of the year. When he returned on the December 20, 2001, of SmackDown! , he formed
10192-462: The team was contesting a series of matches with future WCW World Tag Team Champions 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell as well as feuding with the identical twin duo known as The Cole Twins (Keith and Kent Cole). The feud with the Cole Twins was soon expanded to also include Bagwell and Scorpio as well as Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce . As the feud wore on the Cole Twins got
10304-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
10416-414: The title to Snow. Big Boss Man and Snow settled their feud in a Kennel from Hell match at Unforgiven , in which a blue solid steel cage surrounded the ring itself and also the ringside was surrounded by a chain-link fenced "cell". The object of the match was to escape from the cage and the cell while avoiding "attack dogs" (which turned out to be disappointingly docile) positioned outside the ring. Snow won
10528-548: The tour Marcus returned to Florida where he participated in a tournament to crown a new NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship , losing in the final to Mike Graham . When Marcus returned he also teamed up with his brother Johnny to challenge for the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship chasing the champions Mike Graham and Steve Keirn until September 20, 1988, where the Laurinaitis brothers won
10640-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
10752-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
10864-471: The upper hand in the feud over the two big men. The Wrecking Crew also faced ”Cactus” Jack and The Barbarian in a series of house show matches. As summer turned to fall, the Wrecking Crew’s time with WCW ended, returning to the independent scene. In 1994 the Wrecking Crew traveled to Europe to work for Otto Wanz ’ Catch Wrestling Association . On July 24 they defeated David Finlay and John Hawk in
10976-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
11088-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
11200-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
11312-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
11424-653: Was one of the last to survive the blood bath until Terry Gordy eventually defeated him. In late 1987 Marcus toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling in November and December. While in Japan he teamed up with Tom Zenk to participate in the 1987 version of the World's Strongest Tag Determination League where he competed against such teams as Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu (the winners), Jimmy Snuka and Bruiser Brody , The Great Kabuki and John Tenta , and Terry and Dory Funk, Jr. The Terminator and Zenk finished in 11th place only ahead of Mark and Chris Youngblood . After
11536-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
11648-496: Was renamed “Rage”. The team competed for the International Wrestling Federation based in Florida showing themselves to be a force in the tag team division. On May 28, 1992, the duo beat IWF Tag Team Champions The Long Riders ( Brett Colt and Kip Winchester ). By late 1992 the Wrecking Crew got signed by World Championship Wrestling , making their debut in January 1993. Shortly after their debut
11760-467: Was seeking revenge. On the May 30 episode of WWF Superstars , Nailz – clad in an orange prison jumpsuit – ran into the ring and attacked Boss Man, handcuffing him to the top rope and repeatedly choking and beating him with the nightstick. Boss Man took time off TV to sell his ( kayfabe ) injuries, eventually returning and having a series of matches with Nailz in the latter half of 1992. The feud culminated at Survivor Series , when Boss Man defeated Nailz in
11872-474: Was sent home and the company let his contract expire. Traylor rejoined the WWF shortly after his WCW release and once again became "Big Boss Man". On October 12, 1998, he returned to television with a new look, abandoning his blue police shirt for an all-black SWAT -style uniform, including a tactical vest and gloves. He served as Vince McMahon 's bodyguard during his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin and his later feud with D-Generation X (DX), briefly wearing
11984-400: Was short-lived as Big Boss Man regained the WWF Hardcore Championship on the subsequent episode of SmackDown! . Two weeks later, Big Boss Man kidnapped and ransomed Pepper, arranging a meeting in which he fed Snow a meat dish supposedly made from Pepper's remains. On the same night, Big Boss Man lost the WWF Hardcore Championship to the returning British Bulldog , in which Bulldog then gifted
12096-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
12208-787: Was taken off the main roster after an injury from a motorcycle accident. Traylor was assigned to train developmental wrestlers in Ohio Valley Wrestling . He wrestled one match for OVW when he teamed with John Cena and Charlie Haas defeating Lance Cade , René Duprée and Sean O'Haire on November 6, 2002. He was released from WWE in 2003. He took a nearly two-year hiatus. After leaving WWE, and being inactive in wrestling Traylor returned on June 20, 2004, to teaming with Greg Valentine losing Jim Duggan and Tonga Kid at Empire Wrestling Federation Ted DiBiase 's Christian Event in Wilcox, Arizona. Traylor's final matches were in
12320-422: Was temporarily paralyzed. Traylor returned on September 1, now using his real name and vowing to rip Bischoff's head off, feuding with the nWo. He formed an alliance with The Steiner Brothers , who also sought Ted DiBiase as their manager. The union abruptly ended when Scott Steiner turned on them to join the nWo in February 1998. After losing his final WCW match to Goldberg on the March 30 episode of Nitro , he
12432-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
12544-479: Was with Al Snow , a feud that eventually involved Snow's pet chihuahua, Pepper. Big Boss Man had first won the WWF Hardcore Championship from Snow at the July Fully Loaded pay-per-view. One month later at SummerSlam , the two had a Falls Count Anywhere match that spilled into the backstage area, the street and, finally, into a nearby bar. Just prior to the match, Snow had set Pepper's pet carrier near
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