TSM Profile: Bam Bam Bigelow

[King Kamala 0]

Well, it's forty five minutes but I'm going to start this one anyways since The Demolition thread died down. I figure this as good of a candidate as anyone given the discussion about him in the Fall From WrestleMania grace thread.

 

Name: Bam Bam Bigelow

Also known as: Crusher Yurkof

Height: 6'3''

Weight: 370 pounds

Debut: 1985

Retired: 2006

Accomplishments: ECW World Heavyweight Champion, ECW World Television Champion, Two Time WCW World Tag Team Champion (With Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page), WCW Hardcore Champion, AWA Southern Heavyweight Chamion, IWGP Tag Team Champion (With Vader), Wrestling Observer Rookie of The Year (1986), WCCW Television Champion

 

Career Summary: Bigelow was trained at the legendary Monster Factory in New Jersey, becoming the celebrated wrestling school's first star pupil. He made his debut in the Memphis territory where he quickly became a huge success winning the promotion's top title in July of '86. From there, he moved onto World Class Championship Wrestling where he was Russian heel, Crusher Yurkof. Like many territorial stars of the mid '80s, he would soon be snapped up by The WWF.

 

Bigelow would debut in a major angle where the heel managers of the WWF tried to court him (as they had two years earlier with "Macho Man" Randy Savage). Like Savage, Bigelow would spurn all of his suitors offers and announced that his manager would be Oliver Humperdink, a kindly old Leprechaun like babyface. Bigelow's remarkable agility (especially for a man of his size) wowed WWF fans and soon he would be pushed as a running buddy of top dog, Hulk Hogan. Bigelow would be a part of Hogan's team at the first Survivor Series and would even outlast his Hogan in the match and pin superheavyweight, superheels King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang before finally falling to Andre The Giant.

 

Unfortunately, his success would be short-lived as a blown knee derailed his first WWF stint. He would re-emerge in the rival Jim Crockett Promotions in late '88 but again after initial success, his career was once again set back by injuries. He would reemerge in Japan where he would become a superstar, forming a successful tag team with a fellow agile big man, Vader. He would get another shot at the big time in the States, when he signed back with the WWF in October '92. He was no longer a fun loving, cart wheeling babyface but a snarling heel. After some initial success, feuding with Bret "The Hitman" Hart (who he was defeated by in the finals of the first PPV King of The Ring), he was stuck mostly in comedy feuds with the likes of Doink The Clown and Bastion Booger.

 

In early '95, Bigelow would embark in the most high-profile feud of his career with NFL Hall of Famer, Lawrence Taylor. The two would square off in the main event at WrestleMania XI with Bigelow being dispatched by the great linebacker in what is considered by many to be the Flair-Steamboat of celebrity matches. Despite carrying Taylor to a shockingly watchable match, it would be the beginning of the end of Bigelow's career. Shortly after, he turned babyface once again and problems with The Clique would lead to his departure in late '95.

 

However, once again Bigelow made a comeback...this time in the controversial Extreme Championship Wrestling. There he would gain perhaps the most success of his career, defeating Shane Douglas to win the promotion's world title in October '97 and defeating Taz to win the perhaps more vaunted (got to love ECW logic) World Television title against Taz in March '98. By the end of that year, Bigelow would get another shot at the big time with WCW. Once again, he made a big inital splash, feuding with World Champion, Goldberg before being shifted to the company's new hardcore division (IE the mid-card). There he would join forces with fellow Jerseyites Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon to form the aptly titled Jersey Triad, which would go on to great success in the WCW Tag Team Division.

 

Bigelow stuck with WCW until its sad demise in March '01. After his Time Warner contract expired in June '02, he returned to wrestling via the independent scene. Bigelow would have a tumultous and short life after wrestling. He had a deblitating addiction to drugs and alcohol and nearly died in a motorcycle accident in October '05. On the morning of January 19th, 2007, he was found dead at the age of 45 in his home outside of Tampa. Autopsy results later found toxic levels of cocaine and benzos in his system.

 

Some points of discussion

1. Do you think success came too soon in Bigelow's career? Or was he not pushed enough?

2. In the long run, do you think his feud with Lawrence Taylor helped or hindered (or did nothing at all to) his career?

3. Was Bigelow underutilized in his runs in WWF and WCW? Which of his stints was your favorite?

4. Where does he rank amongst the great superheavyweights of all time?

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc.

[bob_barron 0]

I always loved his WWF theme and how he would yell: BAM BAM BAM BAM

 

He had one of the most unique looks in wrestling and was insanely agile for a big man.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

[Diamonddust 0]

1. Do you think success came too soon in Bigelow's career? Or was he not pushed enough?

-I think his success came at the wrong time, especially during his first WWE stretch. He was crazy over, but outside the possibility of being a heel, he wasn't going to break through due to Hogan still being on top. Now... a heel Bigelow vs. Hogan feud would have been money at the time.

 

2. In the long run, do you think his feud with Lawrence Taylor helped or hindered (or did nothing at all to) his career?

-I think it hurt in the short term, but for most fans, it didn't do serious damage. He was able to recover a lot of credibility during his ECW tenure.

 

3. Was Bigelow underutilized in his runs in WWF and WCW? Which of his stints was your favorite?

-Absolutely. Bigelow had a ton of ability to be a top level guy.

 

4. Where does he rank amongst the great superheavyweights of all time?

-Right up there in my opinion. Unlike a lot of superheavyweights, Bigelow, as it's been said, was crazy agile and could move with the best of them. He's right up there with Vader in my book.

 

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc.

-Echoing another sentiment... Bigelow's look was beyond awesome and unique. The head tattoos will be a lasting image in terms of Bam Bam Bigelow. Hell, even his name had a good ring to it. I mean in today's world of wrestling... we wouldn't have someone that looks like Bam Bam Bigelow (As Bobby Heenan joked in a shoot interview with Jim Cornette about the subject... they'd be executed at birth). But seriously... Bigelow stands out as someone with a far different look that got over. You don't get that today as everyone, especially in the WWE, is extremely cookie-cutter in look and body make-up.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Bam Bam Bigelow's first WWF run was so screwed up. It was obvious that they wanted to push him big time, but they really misfired with the delivery. The formula at the time would have suggested that they put him in feud with Hogan, but I guess the thinking was that they didn't want him to be the flavor of the month fat fuck challenger.

 

Putting him with Oliver Humperdink was a bad move. Even as a five year old mark I didn't get why this badass dude with flame tattoos on his goddamn head was monkeying around with a fat, gay leprechaun. The free agent angle was great in the sense that it made him seem special, but he should have spurned all offers and remained a lone wolf. He could have spent the next year running through the talents represented by the other heel managers.

 

One of the old internet rumors that existed back in the RSPW days was that in the original plans for WMIV he was going to go the finals and lose to Dibiase. That one's been debunked over the years, but he was pushed hard enough that I could actually buy it. That's how much he meant in 1988 and he never regained it after his early career injuries.

 

The second WWF run was a joke and the less said the better. He was a mid-card heel programmed in go-nowhere feuds. He probably could have meant something had he been programmed right away in a top slot. There's no reason to think that he couldn't have been the WWF's version of Vader in 1993. He had the look and ringwork necessary to be a main event heel.

 

WCW screwed up his return by not capitalizing on the Goldberg feud, but what else is new? He never meant much again, but I had a soft spot for the Jersey Triad. I don't know what he's up to now, but it's odd he never got another chance post-WCW.

 

Overall, it's too bad that he never got a role commensurate with his talent. A decent career overall, but a lot of missed opportunities.

[King Kamala 0]

I don't know what he's up to now, but it's odd he never got another chance post-WCW.

 

Not doing much of anything, he died two years ago. He was a shell of his former self by the end of WCW but I'm still kind of surprised that TNA or WWE didn't give him another run.

 

I'll answer the questions a bit later. But not having seen a lot of his ECW work, I'd say one of the peaks of his career outside of his initial WWF debut (which was a great angle but as Cheech said had a rather disappointing climax), was the first few months of his second WWF run. It looked like they were building him up to be a big monster heel and he even main evented on the house show circuit with Bret Hart while he was The World Champion IIRC but he kind of got lost in the shadows of Yokozuna. I wonder how different things would have been if it was Bam Bam Bigelow receiving the monster heel push in '93 instead of Yokozuna.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Oh my, I totally forgot that he was dead. There was a two or three year stretch where there were so many 80s stars that died that I totally lost track of them.

[Didak29 0]

My favourite Bam Bam moment was the Rumble 94 vs Tatanka, Tatanka doing his shitty dance and Bigelow just dropkicking him in the back of the head.

 

Was brilliant.

 

Also the Wolfpac reformation really killed him in WCW. I thought he was doing well as a threat to Goldberg, then Starrcade 98 happened and he got lost in the shuffle.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

My favorite Bam Bam moment is when he got his ass kicked in Major Payne. He got KTFO.

[Burning Pirate Ship Sex 0]

My favorite Bam Bam moment is when he got his ass kicked in Major Payne. He got KTFO.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Oh my, I totally forgot that he was dead. There was a two or three year stretch where there were so many 80s stars that died that I totally lost track of them.

 

He was the first casualty in that shitty year of 2007. I remember hearing the news at a close friend's birthday party at our usual watering hole. Some bummer shit.

 

I will also get to the questions later, but I did want to comment on how much I loved the Douglas/Candido/Bigelow incarnation of the Triple Threat. While the original one was really good, I totally dug the eclectic grouping of "The Franchise," "No Gimmicks Needed" and "The Beast From the East."

 

The New Jersey Triad was also the shit. One of the few bright spots of WCW during their nosedive period.

[cabbageboy 0]

1. Do you think success came too soon in Bigelow's career? Or was he not pushed enough?

 

I'm hazy on this now even though I was watching. He was getting a decent push in the WWF, but then he seemed to just vanish. I would assume he was hurt? It's more of an unfinished run rather than being misused or not pushed enough.

 

2. In the long run, do you think his feud with Lawrence Taylor helped or hindered (or did nothing at all to) his career?

 

It basically wrecked his mainstream career for years. He almost had to go to ECW and rebuild his hardcore cred with fans, but his Triple Threat run and also stuff like putting over RVD in some great matches won him some new fans.

 

3. Was Bigelow underutilized in his runs in WWF and WCW? Which of his stints was your favorite?

 

Ugh. It's really a tough question since his later WCW run was mostly dreck, but he was older then and the company was already tanking. His 2nd WWF run involved jobbing to a football player and being buried, so that's out. I guess his first WWF run was decent but too brief. At least he made the last 2 men of the first Survivor Series before Andre put him down.

 

4. Where does he rank amongst the great superheavyweights of all time?

 

It's hard to really say. He has to be behind guys like Vader who had a bigger push for a sustained period. Maybe if a major promotion had gotten behind Bigelow he would be higher. I think his reliance on high flying moves for a big man might have made him stand out, but also made him harder to push has a vicious badass.

 

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc.

 

As noted, the first Survivor Series where he got to the finals but lost to Andre. Also in ECW tossing Spike in the crowd and of course the awesome TV title change with RVD that really made RVD a star.

 

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Both of Bigelow's runs in WWF were supposedly sabotaged...first by Hogan, then by the Nash and Michaels, apparently.

[cd213 0]

I met him shortly before he died at an indy event. He had lost a ton of weight and look pretty good in the ring. Before the show, I ran into him in the hallway. The indy shows I went to brought in a lot of former ECW wrestlers, and every time I met one, I was able to get them to autograph my ECW Tag Title replica. Whn I ran into Bam Bam, I asked him to sign it. At first he said after the show, which I was fine with. He walked away, but came right back over and said, "fuck it, give me a pen" and signed it right there. I would have no problem having waited, but he was nice enough to come right back and do it then. He was a very nice guy when I met him.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Is Bam Bam the guy that went through the entrance ramp with Taz(z) on his back trying to choke him out?

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Is Bam Bam the guy that went through the entrance ramp with Taz(z) on his back trying to choke him out?

They did that spot twice.

 

First time was when Taz was TV Champ. It happened in the ring, and the event was in Asbury Park. They had Bam Bam climb out, drag Taz out, and pin Taz...something very rare back in those days in ECW.

 

Fast Forward...I want to say a year or so but I may be wrong on that...later. To build Taz up to face Shane Douglas for the World Title, he faced Bam Bam again. This time they went through the ramp. This time though, Taz survived and locked Bam Bam back into the Tazmission after getting out of the hole.

[Mos_Def 0]

Both of Bigelow's runs in WWF were supposedly sabotaged...first by Hogan, then by the Nash and Michaels, apparently.

 

Well, if Hogan was trying to sabotage him, he did a really poor job. bam bam was crazy over. His knees sabotaged his run in the WWF. He needed double knee surgery and it stopped all his momentum. Why do Hogan, Nash, and HBK have to be the reason for EVERYONE's career malfunction? It's a cliche at this point.

 

He seemed to be his own worst enemy at time for one reason or another.

[Jingus 0]

Bam Bam seems to have been a complicated dude. On the one hand, I had Matt Bourne once tell me a story about how Bigelow supposedly snitched on him for smoking the reefer and getting him fired because BBB wasn't happy about jobbing to Doink on all the house shows. On the other, there's the documented story about him running into a burning house a few years ago to save some children, getting badly burned himself in the process.

 

As for matches, I always thought his November 2 Remember match against Shane Douglas was underrated. It was a hell of a David vs Goliath type affair, especially memorable for getting the Franchise, in storyline the biggest piece of shit in the business, to turn into a cheered babyface for one night. Yeah it was his hometown and everything, but still, getting ECW fans to cheer for the guy who yanked Pitbull #1 around by his skull-halo just a year beforehand is still a pretty big deal.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

On the other, there's the documented story about him running into a burning house a few years ago to save some children, getting badly burned himself in the process.

Wasn't that story bullshit?

[strummer 0]

Bam Bam seems to have been a complicated dude. On the one hand, I had Matt Bourne once tell me a story about how Bigelow supposedly snitched on him for smoking the reefer and getting him fired because BBB wasn't happy about jobbing to Doink on all the house shows. On the other, there's the documented story about him running into a burning house a few years ago to save some children, getting badly burned himself in the process.

 

As for matches, I always thought his November 2 Remember match against Shane Douglas was underrated. It was a hell of a David vs Goliath type affair, especially memorable for getting the Franchise, in storyline the biggest piece of shit in the business, to turn into a cheered babyface for one night. Yeah it was his hometown and everything, but still, getting ECW fans to cheer for the guy who yanked Pitbull #1 around by his skull-halo just a year beforehand is still a pretty big deal.

 

wasn't Bourne already gone from the company when the Bigelow program started?

 

I think it was Ray Licachelli playing the character when the two feuded

[King Kamala 0]

Both of Bigelow's runs in WWF were supposedly sabotaged...first by Hogan, then by the Nash and Michaels, apparently.

 

Well, if Hogan was trying to sabotage him, he did a really poor job. bam bam was crazy over. His knees sabotaged his run in the WWF. He needed double knee surgery and it stopped all his momentum. Why do Hogan, Nash, and HBK have to be the reason for EVERYONE's career malfunction? It's a cliche at this point.

 

I'll agree with you there, Mos_Def. Bam Bam was arguably the #3 babyface behind Hogan and Savage in late '87/early '88 and on his way up when he blew out his knees. While it's easy to blame the Clique on the derailment of his second WWF run, I'd blame it just as much on piss poor booking post WrestleMania XI. It was a terrible terrible move to turn him face. I know many of you will probably disagree with me but they had a tremendous opportunity to turn him into a monster heel to contend for the World title. The loss to LT could have upset him so much that it unleashed a relentless, vicious mean streak in him. Dude's just a natural heel and he didn't have the mobility he had in '88 to wow the fans. Just a boneheaded move on Vince's part.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

The Bam Bam story that springs to mind for me is his refusal to lose to Taiyo Kea on some charity wrestling show held, I think, at the ECW Arena. Vampiro talked about it in his shoot, and was understandably critical of Bigelow for it. Bigelow talked about it in his shoot too, and even said that from that point on, his stance on jobs was that he wasn't doing any more of them for anyone.

[The Truthiness 0]

Leaping Lanny Poffo said he was the only guy he didn't like and he never understood what Vince seen in him.

[Hasbeen2 0]

I wonder if the WWF thought he would get too many cheers as a heel against Hogan. If they were including Humperdink they should have kept HD as a heel manager with a stable, with Bigelow as the main heel.

 

I still can't believe World Class had Bigelow and Hellwig and did nothing with them. Crusher Yurkov? What the hell...

 

Just a couple of weeks ago I watched some of his very early stuff, teaming with Lawler against Idol and Rich. Good stuff.