Hi Scott,
What was the deal with the Bam Bam face turn in 1995? I know he didn't get along with the Kliq and they supposedly turfed him out of the fed that fall, but did Vince have bigger plans for him that he was talked out of? Seems weird he'd put him in the main event of WM (as a heel, but the match set up the face turn) and the main event of KOTR if he was just going to give up on him shortly thereafter.
Titan Sinking! Read it and love it!
Yes, Vince had bigger plans for Bam Bam, and made grand promises of being the #1 babyface and a big Summerslam payoff with a main event tag match featuring Bam Bam & LT against the Corporation. And then Wrestlemania bombed and he quickly lost faith in Bam Bam (no thanks to the Clique bitching about him) and shit happened. I don't know that Bam Bam could have pulled off that position anyway, but the booking did him absolutely no favors either way.
Now that's a tough one. Is Brickhouse pretty good?
ReplyDeleteI think I'll vote for that. Ernie Ladd is way before my time and I don't really care what Stevie Ray has to say about anything.
It's weird to think that they had main event plans for Bam Bam the way he was treated. It looks more like they needed a guy for LT to lose to and they chose Bam Bam and then he went back to down the card.
ReplyDeleteIf they DID have main event plans for him....then fuck.
Bam Bam deserved a medal for getting a passable match out of LT. Clearly the Clique had no clue. Could you imagine Kevin Nash having to wrestle LT and make it watchable?
ReplyDeleteBut Diesel trained with LT and taught him how to powerbomb!
ReplyDeleteI know Ladd -- and Stevie Ray would need to say fruit booty for me to vote for him.
ReplyDeleteI think Vince was confident that LT's celebrity appeal would score a decent buyrate for WM and Bam Bam could have ridden LT's coattails for another big payday at Summerslam, which seemed good in theory so long as LT was the draw that Vince imagined him to be.
ReplyDeleteDiesel's run could've used a challenger like Bam Bam. It would've been better than fighting Sid for 3 months or Mabel.
ReplyDeleteAs a 10 year old mark, Bigelow looked like such a geek losing to LT at Mania, losing to 1-2-3 Kid at the Rumble, and losing to Diesel on Raw setting up getting kicked out of the Corporation, that I just couldn't care about him as a babyface. the KOTR Main EVent was probably the least I've ever cared about a big match as a child.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Bam Bam could have been a big draw, but WWF should have used Bam Bam like they do with Kane/Big Show where they give them a main event push for one of the B-PPVs in order to fill time during the slow months.
ReplyDeleteThey should have done Bam Bam/Diesel for the first IYH at least instead of doing it on Raw.
Vince: Tone Deaf. Then. Now. Forever.
ReplyDeleteI think Ladd would be interesting
ReplyDeleteThe worst part of that main event tag match was Tatanka being in it. He did absolutely nothing after selling out to the corporation to deserve being in a big match.
ReplyDeleteTatanka was obviously there to do the job, but since it was just a tag match, it wouldn't have hurt Nash here to do the job so it could build more heat for the Sid feud.
ReplyDeleteInstead they figured making Sid run from Diesel like a pussy would make people pay to see the lumberjack match.
ReplyDeleteBigelow's "main event face" entrance gear with the gauntlets was pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteBam Bam's highest point in WWF was probably working with Bret as Bret was a genius in the ring and could elevate anyone to look like a main event guy in the ring.
ReplyDeleteBam Bam had a big buzz surrounding him in 87; they did the heel managers bidding for this services (a great angle that time has erased). He was there for not even six months I don't think and disappeared. Bigelow had a unique look and moved well for a big guy, but he should gone alot further than he did. RIP big man.
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of the King of the Ring 93 match.
ReplyDeleteDid Diesel teach him out to blow the spot? Eh, still looked better than the Powerbomb Diesel did to Shawn earlier in the night.
ReplyDeletethere were really no other options for LT's opponent at that time. Backlund? Owen? King Kong Bundy? Even Shawn would've been a bad idea
ReplyDeleteMaybe if he slap jacked the interviewer.
ReplyDeleteI remember there was an issue with Bam Bam in the late 80s, but I forgot what it was, but I'm guessing he was rubbing people the wrong way. Although he had a ton of potential, B3 was still faily green back then and the guy became more seasoned by his 93 run where WWF really should have pushed the guy.
ReplyDeleteYou still haven't answered the most important question. Did LT send "company" to Bam Bam's room the night before the match to soften him up as LT was known to do.
ReplyDeleteSo will a white guy win the poll?
ReplyDeleteErie Ladd scamming Rufus R Jones out of $1000 is one of the funniest heel moments ever.
ReplyDeleteI actually think the best realistic (i.e., not Shawn) bet to get a match out of LT would have been Double J. There are various reasons *not* to go with him, but I think the match would have been good.
ReplyDeleteHmm, interesting. Plus Road Dogg is there to run interference. And this would be coming off that angle Jarrett did with Shatner,
ReplyDeleteNo Butch Reed?
ReplyDeleteI think it could be argued his high point was his first debut where all the managers were bidding for him. What a build up. Them if course they dumped it and turned him face.
ReplyDeleteBB got the monster push in 87. He beat Bundy and Gang in the Surser and only lost to Andre. If you read Scott's WMIV recap he stresses at the time that his friends and he all agreed that BB was a lock to steamroll the tournament and win the title.
ReplyDeletei hear an offkey version of that intro now.
ReplyDelete"Sounds goddamn catchy, pally."
I have that one too. And Ron Simmons, New Jack, Ranger Ross, Abdullah the Butcher, D'Lo Brown, Godfather, Michael Tarver, and the Rodney Mack & Jazz shoot.
ReplyDeleteMissed the flight
ReplyDeleteHIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH ENERGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
ReplyDeleteDEFINITELY Brickhouse Brown.....if for no other reason than laughs
ReplyDelete