If you looked at Ray Traylor when he first came into the wrestling business, he was a very average looking guy. Although he had height on his side (he was a legit 6'4, billed as 6'6), there was nothing remarkable about the chubby guy with the $5 haircut. Thus, Traylor began his career as an enchancement talent, otherwise known in the industry as a 'jobber'. And like the majority of wrestling jobbers, he probably would've remained there throughout his entire wrestling career had one man not taken an interest and saw potential in him. Dusty Rhodes, the head booker for the NWA at the time, identified something special in Traylor and rebranded him with the Big Bubba Rogers gimmick. Rhodes even feuded with Bubba himself at one point, changing Traylor's position on the card from jobber to main eventer almost overnight. As he continued his training, it became evident that Traylor was surprisingly agile for such a man of his size, and Rhodes soon made him a key part of NWA storylines before Traylor moved on to bigger opportunities in the UWF and the WWF. Going from being a nobody to a somebody is the essence of the American Dream, and it's poetic that Traylor's dream came true thanks to the late great Dusty Rhodes.
It ain't easy! Former Manager of Ultimate Warrior's "WarriorWeb", Former Senior Editor of Vince Russo's "Pyro and Ballyhoo", and wrestling fan for over twenty five years. Daniel's favourite wrestling memory is being in Wembley Stadium with his Grandad for SummerSlam '92.