Lawrence Taylor's pro wrestling experiment wouldn't qualify as such a failure were it not for the fact that it came in a main event. Generally, putting non-wrestlers in a main event is a very, very bad idea, and Taylor's appearance against Bam Bam Bigelow in 1995 was no exception. What made matters worse was that the main event in question was for WrestleMania XI. Ouch. The one thing you should never, ever do - there really should be a rule book somewhere stating this - is have a non-wrestler in the main event of WrestleMania! It's the pinnacle of the industry, not a place for freakshows. However, the WWF at the time was really pushing for the business to go mainstream, and to have it go mainstream, you need some mainstream stars. Taylor fit the bill, since he was a legit NFL legend. He wasn't terrible, but wasn't particularly great either. He was willing to take some bumps, and had this match happened on RAW, or even on the undercard of WrestleMania, it might have been forgivable, but as a main event, it was just awful booking.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
