6 Promising Wrestling Talents RUINED By Backstage Politics
5. Bam Bam Bigelow
Bam Bam Bigelow had headlined WrestleMania 11. He was one of the most agile big man workers ever, basically the prototype for the modern variant. He was awesome on his best nights.
One uncomfortable truth about Bam Bam is that he was never as over as you remember throughout the New Generation Era. This seems absurd, because he was one of the few heels who wasn’t completely useless, but there was a reason why Mabel was King Of The Ring - not because he himself was a decent draw, but because Bigelow wasn’t, and Mabel was a lot bigger. In his ongoing pursuit to push big fellas…legally, Vince replaced the gas with mass during that wretched summer.
“Promising career” is still very much apt, though, because look at what Bigelow achieved after he voluntarily left the WWF in late 1995. His ECW run was outstanding, particularly his series with Taz, which set the template for some of WWE’s favoured stunts. It helped that Bigelow looked even more gigantic in that ECW ring. Bigelow earned another run in the mainstream, but unfortunately for him, he went to WCW the month before they beat Goldberg for the first time. Even with the company on its absolute arse, Bigelow grafted, and was a credit to a promotion that didn’t deserve that level of effort. Bigelow Vs. Hak from Spring Stampede 1999 was one of the best and most fun offerings from dying-days WCW. He’d have made a great opponent for Steve Austin in the Attitude Era, with arena-wide brawls all the rage, but it wasn’t to be.
Bigelow left the WWF on bad terms, citing the Kliq’s outrageous politicking as his primary reason. In a shoot interview conducted by Title Match, Bigelow alleged that the Kliq’s treatment of Chris Candido almost drove him to suicide. More generally, Bigelow said that the Kliq would mess with guys for the hell of it, urging Vince McMahon to fire them so that they could hold onto their spots.
Bigelow also claimed that he was resented by the Kliq for headlining WrestleMania. Bigelow didn’t cite too much in the way of personal mistreatment - would you have messed with him? - but was so appalled by the toxic culture that the group created that he wanted nothing to do with it.