Armed with Hulk Hogan's endorsement, some lit fire attire and a tattooed head, Bam Bam Bigelow looked set to dominate WWE following his 1987 debut. Less than a year in and he was already damaged goods.
It took four more years before Vince McMahon bothered with a polished heel version of the babyface he'd taken on too soon, but this first round loss to One Man Gang was a rather damning appraisal of his skills at this point.
Gang was destined to do better than expected in the event, not least down to this cheap victory over a fellow giant in a match that grossly underperformed on expectations. Not for the first or last time, McMahon was picking the wrong big guy on the wrong night - Bigelow had more heat on his gear than Gang managed to gobble up all evening.
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
