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Originally a
prison guard in Cobb County, Georgia, Ray Traylor began his
career in professional serving as Big Bubba Rogers, the
bodyguard for the Midnight Express' manager Jim Cornette. Traylor was both the
real-life and storyline bodyguard for Cornette who had been
attacked several times by fans while standing at ringside
for the Midnight Express' matches. Much like the man he was paid to
protect, Bubba was never afraid to interject himself into
the Midnight Express' matches which only meant more trouble
for the Express' opponents.
In addition to
serving as a bodyguard, Rogers also wrestled in Jim Crockett
Promotions (JCP). Fans were eager to see if Rogers could
compete in the ring and they (along with his opponents) found
out that he could. Rogers wrestled in Bill Watts'
Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) where he won the UWF
World Heavyweight Title from his future partner the One Man Gang on April 19,
1987. Rogers held the belt for three months before
losing it to Steve "Dr. Death" Williams.
Traylor's background as
a prison guard was used when he entered the World Wrestling
Federation (WWF) in 1988 as the Big Bossman, a former prison
guard turned wrestler. The Big Bossman came to his
matches with a nightstick and handcuffs. After
dispatching of an opponent, he often cuffed the opponent to
the ringropes and beat his helpless foe with the
nightstick.
The Bossman's brutality
caught the eye of WWF manager Slick who began managing the
former Cobb County correctional officer. The Bossman
began feuding with Hulk Hogan after an incident where Hogan
was brutally beaten by the Bossman on "The Brother Love Show"
after being sprayed with mace and handcuffed to a fence. The
feud culminated in a wild cage match on Saturday Night's Main
Event with Hogan winning the match.
Slick soon
teamed the Bossman up with Akeem the African Dream (aka
the One Man Gang) into a powerful team known as the Twin
Towers. With their size and power, the Twin Towers won
many matches but tag team gold eluded them. The team of the
Twin Towers feuded with the MegaPowers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) for several months,
culminating in the famous match where the MegaPowers
"exploded" and Savage began his feud with Hulk Hogan. During
the match, the MegaPowers manager the lovely Elizabeth was
injured and Hulk Hogan rushed her to the back for medical
attention. Unfortunately this left the "Macho Man" Randy
Savage to fend for himself against the Twin Towers, a position
no one would want to be in and this led to Savage attacking
Hogan, claiming that he lusted after Elizabeth.
The Twin Towers
continued to win matches, including a memorable win against
the Rockers at Wrestlemania V.
During his feud with Jake
Roberts, Ted DiBiase hired the Big Bossman to get
back the Million Dollar Belt which had been stolen from
DiBiase by Roberts. The Bossman attacked Roberts on
"The Brother Love Show" and got the belt back for
DiBiase. However when the Bossman learned that Slick had
cheated him, he gave the belt back to Roberts and turned
babyface! The Big Bossman then began feuding with Akeem,
putting an end to the Twin Towers. The two met at
Wrestlemania VI with the Bossman defeating Akeem.
After ending his
feud with Akeem, the Bossman focused on singles
competition. He challenged Mr. Pefect for the
Intercontinental Title but championship gold eluded the
Bossman. The Bossman fought many members of "The Bobby
Heenan Family" after Bobby "The Brain" Heenan made jokes about
the Bossman's mother. The Bossman feuded with "The
Mountie" and fought the much hated heel in a "Jailhouse" match
at SummerSlam 1991.
In 1992, the Bossman's
past came back to haunt him. During his matches, a
digitized voice came over the loudspeaker and warned the
Bossman that someone from his past was coming to the WWF for
revenge. Eventually, the Bossman was attacked by Nailz,
a wrestler who claimed to be a former inmate who had been
brutalized by the Bossman during his days as a correctional
officer. Nailz destroyed the Bossman in one of the most
brutal beatings ever seen in wrestling. The two then
began a bitter feud with the two wrestling at the 1992 Surivor
Series in a "Nightstick" match.
In late
1993 Traylor returned to WCW where he wrestled as "The
Boss". Unfortunately for WCW, Vince McMahon's legal team
felt that "The Boss" looked and sound an awful lot like "The
Big Bossman" and they threatened WCW with legal action.
After meeting with the real life anti-crime group the Guardian
Angels, Traylor began wrestling as The Guardian
Angel. Fans didn't seem to care much for the character
and Traylor began wrestling as Big Bubba Rogers, eventually
turning heel and joining Kevin Sullivan's heel group the
Dungeon of Doom. In WCW, Traylor seemed to be lost in
the mix, joining the New World Order (NWO) at one point and
then being kicked out of the group.
After his
time in WCW, Traylor returned to the WWF in 1998 as the masked
bodyguard of Vince McMahon. The masked man was soon
unmasked and fans learned that the Bossman was back in the
WWF, this time garbed in a SWAT-like outfit and now a member
of Vince McMahon's Corporation. Championship gold
finally found its way to the Bossman when teamed with Ken
Shamrock to win the WWF Tag Team Titles from the New Age
Outlaws. The Bossman came to McMahon's aid during the
brief feud between the Corporation and the Undertaker's
Ministry of Darkness. The Bossman fought the
Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match at Wrestlemania XV which
ended with the Bossman being hung from the cage. After
his ugly incident, the Bossman joined forces with the
Undertaker when the Corporation was merged with the Ministry
of Darkness.
Championship
success again was his when the Bossman won the WWF
Hardcore Championship from Al Snow at
the 1999 Fully Loaded pay-per-view. The two feuded
over the Hardcore Title and things got worse after the
Bossman dognapped Snow's pet Chihuahua
"Pepper". The situation worsened when the Bossman served
Pepper up to an unwitting Snow and their feud culminated in
the much maligned "Kennel in a Cell" match at the 1999
Unforgiven pay-per-view with Snow defeating the
Bossman.
The Big Bossman next set his
sights on the WWF World Champion the Big Show. The Big
Show soon learned the lengths to which the Bossman would go to
win. The Big Bossman played mindgames with the Big Show
by taunting him about his dying father. After the Big Show's
father passed away, the Bossman showed up at the funeral and
stole the coffin! Despite these tactics, the Bossman was
unable to wrest the WWF belt away from the Big
Show.
After his feud with
the Big Show, the Big Bossman teamed with Bull Buchanan,
scoring impressive wins over the Acolytes as well as the
Godfather and D-Lo Brown. Later on, the Bossman helped
train wrestlers in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). On
September 22, 2004, Ray Traylor passed away at the age
of 42 after suffering a heart attack.
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