The WWE Hall of Fame has decided to open its doors to a corrections officer from Cobb County, Georgia. It was announced on Monday that the Big Boss Man will join the 2016 class going in at Wrestlemania 32. Born Ray Traylor, the Boss Man was a legit prison guard in Cobb County before breaking into the wrestling business in 1985.
Traylor started off working in Jim Crockett Promotions as a jobber until he got a big break when Dusty Rhodes saw potential in him to be more. He became Big Bubba Rogers and was the bodyguard for Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express. Rogers would go on to have a big run as monster heel and feud with Dusty himself. In 1987 Ray went to work in the UWF for Bill Watts and became the world champ there beating future ally the One Man Gang.
In 1988 Ray hit the big time coming to the WWF as the Big Boss Man. The Boss Man was created out of his real life former profession as a prison guard. Managed by the Dr of Style Slick he would come the ring with his trusty nightstick and handcuffs. Jobbers would subject to a post-match beating a lot of times and Slick also found big man and his nightstick handy when other clients needed to cheat.
The Big Boss Man moved up the ladder into main event story lines with Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. He even challenged Savage for the World Title. Traylor from a tag team with Akeem (One Man Gang) that would take on Hogan and Savage who became known as the Mega Powers.
Traylor remained in the WWE until 1993 working as a heel and even making a transition to a babyface in 1990 and even ended up feuding with his former partner Akeem. He even made peace Hulk Hogan and was a part of his Survivor Series team that year. His most notable skirmish came in 1992 against Nailz. A former convict who was abused by Traylor when he was a prison guard and wanted revenge.
In 1993 Ray went to work in Japan using the name Big Bubba and then later that same year he transitioned himself to a 5 year run in WCW. In WCW he worked under the name The Boss which eventually had to change to the Guardian Angel due to copyright issues with the WWF. In 1998 he returned to the WWF as the Boss Man. Ditching the original blue shirt for a more swat team look the Boss Man began working for Vince McMahon and the corporation.
During what was known as the Attitude Era might have been the most successful run of his career. During that time, he won multiple Hardcore titles and was even a Tag Team Champion alongside Ken Shamrock. He had a notable run against the Big Show for the WWE Title. Traylor left the company in 2003 and had brief run in Japan before retiring. Unfortunately, Ray lost his life in September of 2004 due to a heart attack. The wrestling world will now get to immortalize the Big Boss Man.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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