10 Original Failed WWE Pushes You Completely Forgot About

3. The Battle For Bam Bam

Honky Tonk Man Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

A war was waged in 1987 between some of WWE's most devious minds, all for the services of a flame-headed hybrid star.

Bam Bam Bigelow brought size, strength, athleticism and f*cking fire tattooed on his skull to the company with murmurings that this unique collection of attributes would be enough to unseat Hulk Hogan as the organisation's top star. To this end, they sent out Jimmy Hart, Slick, Bobby Heenan and others to campaign for his signature.

In the end, the monstrous-looking star was a good egg after all. He chose fellow new arrival Oliver Humperdink over last manager standing Slick as a way to set up an early angle with Nikolai Volkoff, and he was off and running in a career that bizarrely went nowhere fast.

Booked to last longest in Hulk Hogan's 1987 Survivor Series team before linking arms with 'The Hulkster' himself in taped tag matches ahead of WrestleMania IV, Bigelow was gone from the company just two months after the 'Show Of Shows amidst creative and contractual disinterest on both sides.

None of the above was mentioned when he was reinstalled as a killer heel after finally returning to the company four years later.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett