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Post by hbkjason on Dec 20, 2019 2:01:24 GMT -5
Wrestling Memories: Who’s The Boss Now, Boss Man?
This week I am talking about one of the most shocking storylines to me as a child and that is the Nailz vs Big Boss Man feud. When I first got into wrestling, Big Boss Man was a heel, but I had missed out on his brutality in 1988 and by the time I started watching in 1989 they had toned him down. This made it very easy for me to get behind him when he turned face and I thought he was pretty damn awesome. When he lost all that weight it was very impressive how quickly he could move for a big guy. As I missed his run with Hogan, my best memories of the Big Boss Man are when he had his feud with The Heenan Family. As much as I loved Boss Man, Heenan was hilarious when he would rip on Boss Man’s mama. He had some good matches with the Heenan Family, my personal favorite being the match from the 1991 Royal Rumble where he defeated the Barbarian. Although, I must admit him never winning the Intercontinental title from Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania VII did kind of leave the feud on a bit of an anticlimactic ending. After his hilarious and awesome run with The Mountie, The Big Boss Man was kind of just there. However, all hell would break loose after WrestleMania VIII when we would start hearing these creepy as hell promos by a man from the Boss Man’s past! This man would be Nailz and at the time he was the scariest wrestler I had seen. Even though I was 11 years old at the time. There was something very unnerving about Nailz, he legit looked like a bad dude (which I guess he was after what he did to Vince!) and I was horrified by what I saw. The beating that Nailz put on the Big Boss Man at the end of May 1992 was very, very well done. It looked 100 percent legit and it is stuff like this that I feel the WWF never gets enough credit for. Boss Man took a hell of beating and now when I look back, the similarity of how brutal Nailz was on Boss Man to how Boss Man was to Hulk Hogan back in 1988 is very interesting. The WWF magazine did an awesome spread shortly after this, showing photos of the aftermath of this beating. I hated this as a kid! I looked at these pages once and never again they really did freak me out. Again, the WWF did a great job of making this all seem so real to me. I thought for sure Big Boss Man would get his revenge at SummerSlam 1992, but that was not the case. Instead Nailz gave Virgil a vicious beating and Boss Man was nowhere to be seen. In all honesty, while I wanted Big Boss Man to get his revenge, I was super nervous about what would happen if he got in the ring with Nailz. Boss Man would eventually return and I was excited to see him back, even more, excited when I heard that he was going to face Nailz at the 1992 Survivor Series in a Nightstick on a Pole match which was billed as one of the major matches on the card. Actually, I remember this match having way more attention than the WWF Championship match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. As far as the Nightstick on a Pole match goes it was a decent enough match for what it was, but it was very short. Boss Man would get his revenge and that was really that. After this, Big Boss Man would not really do much else in the WWF, a match with Bam Bam Bigelow at the 1993 Royal Rumble being his last high-profile match before leaving and ending up in WCW. I have great memories of his run with Nailz. While the end match may not have been as epic as I would have liked. It was still great as a kid seeing him get his revenge on Nailz. I was legit scared of Nailz at first, but I think had he stayed around longer that would have gone as once Boss Man defeated him it did kind of humanize him.What are your thoughts on the feud between Big Boss Man and Nailz? Also were you as freaked out as me by those photos in the WWF Magazine or did you know right away they were not real? Also this is my last thread until the new year so I just wanted to say merry Christmas, happy new year and thanks for reading my trips down memory lane. |
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Post by Gorilla on Dec 20, 2019 13:43:27 GMT -5
I hated Bigelow going over Boss Man so easily. A clean pin seemed crazy to me
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Post by The Brain on Dec 20, 2019 16:22:34 GMT -5
I thought the Nailz debut was well done. I liked the vignettes prior as all you heard was his voice saying he was coming for revenge on the Boss Man for his time in the slammer.Vince and Perfect putting over the beating on commentary was the icing on the cake.
Also who could forget Perfect being the great heel instigator here...
And a Merry Christmas to you as well Jason! 
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Post by LA Times on Dec 20, 2019 16:31:12 GMT -5
I hated Bigelow going over Boss Man so easily. A clean pin seemed crazy to me They were phasing out the Hulkamania Era guys at that point and Bossman found a good change of scenery in WCW. |
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Post by hbkjason on Dec 21, 2019 4:43:41 GMT -5
That bit with mr perfect was awesome  |
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Post by JokerFC on Dec 23, 2019 8:46:58 GMT -5
I remember all the Hulkamania guys getting jobbed out at that time....Bam Bam wiped out Bossman totally. I liked the Nailz angle and its a pity it didnt have a better blowoff. I think a cage match would have been more suitable
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Post by hbkjason on Dec 23, 2019 11:23:50 GMT -5
I remember all the Hulkamania guys getting jobbed out at that time....Bam Bam wiped out Bossman totally. I liked the Nailz angle and its a pity it didnt have a better blowoff. I think a cage match would have been more suitable A cage match with "real" prisoners and guards being on the outside is totally something I could have seen them doing. |
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Post by JokerFC on Dec 23, 2019 13:13:26 GMT -5
I remember all the Hulkamania guys getting jobbed out at that time....Bam Bam wiped out Bossman totally. I liked the Nailz angle and its a pity it didnt have a better blowoff. I think a cage match would have been more suitable A cage match with "real" prisoners and guards being on the outside is totally something I could have seen them doing. Yup. Creatively Vince was not in a good place in 1992.....his mind just wasn't on the job 100%. Also seemed like making Summerslam 1992 a success was preoccupying him....understandably so. It was a huge undertaking. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Dec 23, 2019 13:25:04 GMT -5
I remember how Big Boss Man's face turn did a complete turn to his career. He came in and went right into a feud with Hogan and Savage. Then was kept in a tag team for 6 months or so, and finally was put into that feud with Dusty Rhodes. But that face turn in 1990 did something huge for Boss Man.
The beating he took from The Mountie and the Nasty Boys was very intense in 1991 for WWE TV. A year later he takes even a greater beating from Nailz.
His greatest feud ever though has to be with Bobby Heenan. The whole "Boss Man's mom" thing made it so Boss Man had to go through all the Heenan Family members. Just too bad we never got the Rick Rude vs. Big Boss Man match that was being hyped up in late 1990.
The funny thing though about Boss Man putting over Bam Bam Bigelow in 1993 before he left the WWE, is that in 1988, Bam Bam Bigelow put over Big Boss Man before Bigelow left the WWE.
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Post by LA Times on Dec 23, 2019 13:34:33 GMT -5
I remember how Big Boss Man's face turn did a complete turn to his career. He came in and went right into a feud with Hogan and Savage. Then was kept in a tag team for 6 months or so, and finally was put into that feud with Dusty Rhodes. But that face turn in 1990 did something huge for Boss Man. The beating he took from The Mountie and the Nasty Boys was very intense in 1991 for WWE TV. A year later he takes even a greater beating from Nailz. His greatest feud ever though has to be with Bobby Heenan. The whole "Boss Man's mom" thing made it so Boss Man had to go through all the Heenan Family members. Just too bad we never got the Rick Rude vs. Big Boss Man match that was being hyped up in late 1990. The funny thing though about Boss Man putting over Bam Bam Bigelow in 1993 before he left the WWE, is that in 1988, Bam Bam Bigelow put over Big Boss Man before Bigelow left the WWE. Bobby Heenan was telling jokes about the Big Bossman's mom for almost a year before Bossman confronted him about it. Now that's building a feud  |
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Post by JokerFC on Dec 23, 2019 16:18:21 GMT -5
Yup his feud with the Heenan family was great. He was over huge too....great theme tune ALWAYS helps there too
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Post by The Brain on Dec 23, 2019 16:23:08 GMT -5
Yup his feud with the Heenan family was great. He was over huge too....great theme tune ALWAYS helps there too His theme was awesome
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