Bam Bam Bigelow

[goc]

Just watched Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Killer Khan from November 7, 1987 Boston Garden. I got this show based almost solely on this unique matchup. I guess with that kind of expectation it was a pretty disappointing match. Bam Bam Bigelow is not a guy you are interested in watching do long periods of underneath selling as a babyface. And Nick Bockwinkle as a commentator on this match actually exposed a really big flaw in Bam Bam. It's kind of silly that he bases so much of his offense around falling headbutts and headbutts off the top rope when he's such a big dude that should be doing splashes. I love Killer Khan but I've yet to see a match of his I really liked from WWF. That includes the Hogan match with Hogan rubbing the mist in his eyes for the finish.

[Matt D]

Bam Bam vs Tatanka - Royal Rumble 1994

 

Tatanka had a really crummy 1993, so this surprised me with how good it was. Most of the main problems were with his lack of selling. It has a really fun structure though. It starts with Tatanka trying to get Bam Bam off of his feet with Bam Bam giving just the right amount until he gets knocked down. He takes over fairly quickly with the hope spots are based off of Tatanka trying to hit top rope moves and failing. Bammer's offense looks good and is varied. Standout are the corner splash and his jumping clap kick. We get a mid match bear hug which looks okay but Tatanka doesn't sell well, especially after he fights out. Both guys hit body blocks on each other which looks really good. Then we get the war dance but Bam Bam cuts it off with an awesome kick to the back of the head. Great visual and sort of startling cut off. Bam Bam misses the moonsault which I'm not sure I've seen him do in WWF up until this point, and Tatanka hits a top rope flying body press to bring the earlier structural stuff full circle.

 

Not a great match but very good and much better than I was expecting.

[Al]

Didn't Bigelow suffer an injury around the time of Wrestlemania IV? It would make sense that an injury at that point not only would've hurt his momentum, but affected his ability to work as well. Thus explaining why his best matches were as a rookie.

[Matt D]

I honestly think the "best matches as a rookie" argument is kind of goofy in this case. I think if he had been able to work Lawler for 17 minutes in Memphis in 1993 they would have had a better match. It's an opportunity thing.

[Loss]

Lawler and Bigelow had a match on 7/6/94 that made tape in full. It was a good match, but nowhere near the earlier match the two had.

[Guest Andrews]

Spring Stampede 99 vs Sandman was an absolute riot of a match.

[Dylan Waco]

I honestly think the "best matches as a rookie" argument is kind of goofy in this case. I think if he had been able to work Lawler for 17 minutes in Memphis in 1993 they would have had a better match. It's an opportunity thing.

He had opportunities in ECW and spent a lot of his time putting in about a tenth of the effort other guys on the roster were putting in. He did some good stuff there to be sure, but after seeing all of his stuff there his stock will never come back up in my eyes

[Matt D]

I'm just saying that it's tricky to say that he was best as a wrestler when he was a rookie being led around by Jerry Lawler. I'd probably be better if I was led around by 1986 Jerry Lawler in a big program tomorrow with no training than if I had a few years of experience and was wrestling someone else. Yeah, that doesn't impact the 94 match or the level of effort or lack of such later.

 

Now I 100% admit that I use the same argument about Michaels when it comes to Rose/Somers (and later Eadie or Arn/Tully) leading him around relative to Michaels' later career where he had much more control over his matches.

 

I just think that a green guy having the best match of his career vs 1986 Jerry Lawler doesn't mean that he might not have grown into a better wrestler later, even if he doesn't necessarily have a better match than that first one.

[Guest Andrews]

I honestly think the "best matches as a rookie" argument is kind of goofy in this case. I think if he had been able to work Lawler for 17 minutes in Memphis in 1993 they would have had a better match. It's an opportunity thing.

He had opportunities in ECW and spent a lot of his time putting in about a tenth of the effort other guys on the roster were putting in. He did some good stuff there to be sure, but after seeing all of his stuff there his stock will never come back up in my eyes

 

Really? First time I've come across that opinion to be honest. He seemed to care a lot in his ECW stuff.

[rzombie1988]

Bringing this topic back from the dead.

 

Bam Bam has got to be one of the strangest guys ever. Had all of the tools, had decent to good matches but never took it to the next level or put it all together. It's seriously a huge mystery to me how he managed to do it. Seems that him never sticking around probably hurt his cause the most, which was likely caused by backstage issues. He's one of the few guys who probably does his best stuff near the end of his career.

[Superstar Sleeze]

And beginning his best match ever was with Lawler in what had to be his first year in 86. He got better and better at imposing his size later on. Great look. Had a really great match with RVD of all people. Where he finally wrestled as violent as he looked.