10 Times WCW Went Too Far
6. Tank Abbott Threatens To Murder Big Al
Towards the end, WCW had a thing for pole matches. All sorts of things found themselves placed atop a pole waiting to be claimed by duelling stars, everything from a piñata to viagra to Judy Bagwell. Saying that, piñata to viagra to Judy Bagwell sounds like the plot of a Todd Phillips movie.
The 'Something On A Pole' matches were more dumb than offensive, but there was one that got a little bit hairy after the bell. Tank Abbott (you may remember him) and Big Al (you won't remember him) fought in a Leather Jacket On A Pole match, a total waste of time that featured a couple of lumps of lard throwing potatoes at each other for four minutes (quite the visual) before Tank got the jacket, picking up the big win in the process.
Let's do this in as matter of fact way as possible. After the match, Tank got hold of a switchblade and held it to Al's throat, before telling his stricken foe that he could, to quote, 'f*cking kill' him. Tony Schiavone tried to explain that Tank had scissors and was going to cut Al's beard, but Tank didn't have scissors and Al didn't have a beard.
Nobody really knew what was going on, although there was an uncomfortable feeling that an actual murder threat had just happened.