September 22, 2004 will go down as a dark day in wrestling as another one of the truly good guys was taken away too early. Despite whatever character he portrayed throughout his 18-year career, no one ever heard a bad thing being said about Ray Traylor. During his final run in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Traylor spent a considerable amount of his free time working with many charities. With another illustrious career ending in tragedy, I would like to take this time to review the history of a wrestler that worked with some of the all-time greats and was a main eventer throughout most of his career.

Ray Traylor started his career as Big Bubba Rogers and the beginning of his career wrestling in Texas and for Jerry "The King" Lawler in Memphis in 1985. At the time, Bill Watts was running the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), which was based in Oklahoma. Watts was also running shows with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which later set up the UWF to be absorbed as one with the NWA. Competing for both companies, Rogers was one of the more dominating wrestlers in the UWF, while in the NWA, he served as the bodyguard of legendary manager, James E. Cornette. On April 19, 1987, Rogers won his first major singles title when he defeated his future tag team partner, The One Man Gang, in Muskogee, OK to win the UWF Heavyweight Title.

The UWF ran some big shows during their era at The Superdome in New Orleans, LA. On June 13, 1987, UWF ran one of their first shows in the 'dome and made a successful title defense against former NWA World champion, Barry Windham. Around this time, the NWA was launching their summer tradition, the Great American Bash tour. They toured throughout most of the country with house shows and would end up having one of the shows air on PPV. Rogers competed on the tour, beginning July 4, 1987. On that night, at The Omni in Atlanta, GA, Rogers teamed with The Angel of Death to lose to the UWF Tag Team champs Tim Horner & Brad Armstrong.

Rogers continued on the tour on July 11, 1987 when he lost the UWF Title to "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in Oklahoma City, OK. Seven nights later, Rogers had the opportunity to win another title when he challenged the UWF Western States Heritage champion Barry Windham. At The Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC, Windham got a revenge win over Rogers.

Rogers then got a huge opportunity to main event one of the shows on the Bash tour. On July 31, 1987, Rogers donned a mask and was dubbed The War Machine. At the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL, The War Machine teamed with "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson, "The Total Package" Lex Luger, and Tully Blanchard, collectively known as The Four Horsemen, to face "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, "Precious" Paul Ellering, and The Road Warriors. The end result saw The War Machine submit in defeat.

On Rogers' final night on the tour, on August 1, at The Superdome, Rogers competed in a Steel Cage, First Blood, Elimination Match. The Fabulous Freebirds teamed to defeat Rogers, Black Bart and The Terminator. Rogers was the last man on his team to be ousted.

Soon after, Rogers began to compete exclusively for the NWA. He was embroiled in a feud with former NWA World champion, Ron Garvin. Competing on the granddaddy of NWA PPVs, Starrcade, Rogers faced and knocked out Garvin in a Louisville Street Fight in Atlanta's Omni Coliseum on November 27, 1986.

Before leaving the NWA behind, Rogers was also picking a fight with Ole Anderson. They had a brawl on April 10, 1987 in Baltimore, MD at The Arena. At the Second Annual Jim Crockett Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Rogers was defeated by Ole in a Cage Match.

Soon after this, Ray Traylor agreed to join WWE. Before breaking into wrestling, Traylor did work at a prison as a guard. Vince McMahon, wanting to capitalize on real life for his characters, dubbed Traylor as The Big Boss Man and wore an officer’s uniform in his matches. He was paired up with Slick, who was way ahead of his time, as a manager. The Boss Man had to work his way up the ladder to main event status, so he toiled in the mid-card level. WWE held WrestleFest on July 31, 1988 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, WI. Some of the results of that show saw Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant in a Cage Match, The Ultimate Warrior over Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in a Weasel Suit Match, Demolition defeat The British Bulldogs, and WWE champion Randy Savage over "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. In the opening match of the show, The Boss Man beat Scott Casey.

Capitalizing on the PPV success of WrestleMania and The Survivor Series, WWE decided to add summertime PPV event called SummerSlam. The first show was held at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 1988. The main event of the show saw The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage) defeat The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant). The Boss Man was on this history-making event, defeating perennial jobber to the stars, Koko B. Ware.

Another hit program in WWE at the time was Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC. The Boss Man competed on his first event during a taping that took place on October 25, 1988 at The Baltimore Arena. The Boss Man kept his big show streak alive when he defeated another perennial WWE jobber, Jim Powers. Other matches on that show saw Demolition upend The Hart Foundation and Hulk Hogan defeat Haku.

WWE taped another addition of Saturday Night's Main Event on November 16, 1988 at The Arco Arena in Sacramento, CA. That night, a feud that would change the career of The Boss Man began. During "The Brother Love Show," The Boss Man's manager, "The Doctor of Style" Slick, confronted Hulk Hogan. This would be the feud that put the Boss Man on the map.

This set up the second annual Survivor Series in Richfield, OH at The Coliseum. In the main event, The Boss Man and his partner, "The African Dream" Akeem, captained a team consisting of Ted DiBiase, Haku and The Red Rooster to go up against a team captained by Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage, which consisted of Koko B. Ware, Hercules and Hillbilly Jim. The Boss Man ended up getting DQed and Hulk Hogan finished the match as the sole survivor.

This did nothing but continue the feud between The Mega Powers and The Twin Towers (Akeem & The Boss Man). Hulk Hogan was set to face Akeem at another Saturday Night's Main Event taped on December 7, 1988 at The UFC Sun Dome in Tampa, FL. Hulk got the victory over Akeem by DQ thanks to outside interference from The Boss Man. While these two teams were embroiled in a feud, another was developing between Hulk and Savage.

The feud to end it took place on February 3, 1989 on a prime time NBC edition of The Main Event. The Twin Towers were finally matched against The Mega Powers. However, during the match, Akeem threw Savage out of the ring and on top of Savage's valet, Miss Elizabeth. Hulk was more concerned about Liz's well being than Savage was, which made Savage jealous. While Hulk helped Liz get medical attention, Savage basically wrestled a handicapped match. Then, Hulk made his way back and Savage smacked him. Hulk finished the match himself and defeated The Twin Towers that night.

The Boss Man made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania V on April 2, 1989 at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, NJ. On the under card of the Hulk/Savage main event, The Twin Towers faced The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty), who were making their WrestleMania debut. Akeem got the pin on Michaels for the win.

The Boss Man got his first WWE Title shot at the April 25, 1989 taping of Saturday Night's Main Event. On that night, he faced the newly crowned WWE champ Hulk Hogan in a Cage Match. During an incredible spot for it's time, the match saw Hulk superplex The Boss Man from the top of the cage, which was unbelievable at the time. Hulk got the win over The Boss Man and moved onto his next feud with Zeus.

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes made his WWE return in the spring of 1989. He was the common man. He took exception to The Boss Man using his nightstick as a weapon on his helpless and handcuffed opponents. Rhodes stole Boss Man's cuffs and nightstick, igniting this feud. However, before their program got really jumpstarted, The Boss Man was booked in a Six Man Tag Match at the second annual SummerSlam on August 28, 1989 at The Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ. Demolition and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan defeated Andre the Giant & The Twin Towers.

The two had their first televised match at Saturday Night's Main Event program, taped on October 31, 1989, in Topeka, KS. Dusty Rhodes got the win over The Boss Man, but the war was yet to be over. Other results of that program saw The Genius beat WWE champ Hulk Hogan by count-out,

This set the stage for the third annual Survivor Series in Chicago, IL at The Rosemont Horizon on November 23, 1989. The Boss Man captained a team consisting of The Honky Tonk Man, "The Model" Rick Martel and Bad News Brown to face a tam captained by Dusty Rhodes, which consisted of Tito Santana, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and The Red Rooster. The Boss Man was the final man eliminated by Rhodes, who survived with Beefcake.

With his feud with Rhodes now over, The Boss Man was thrust into a match against Jim Duggan at the 1990 Royal Rumble on January 21. Duggan won the match by DQ.

Soon after that, with nothing left to do as a heel, The Boss Man turned face. He refused to be bought by Ted DiBiase, which resulted in the face turn. In a match of former partners, Boss Man faced Akeem at WrestleMania VI at Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 1, 1990, on the under card of the Hulk/Ultimate Warrior main event. The Boss Man won the match, but was jumped before the match by Ted DiBiase. Boss Man and Akeem had a rematch on Saturday Night's Main Event, taped on April 23, 1990, which saw The Boss Man become victorious again by DQ.

Bobby Heenan targeted the Boss Man during telecasts as Heenan made jokes about The Boss Man's mom. Boss Man waged war against The Heenan Family. The first target was "Ravishing" Rick Rude. However, Rude's contract came to an end and, in storyline, WWE claimed Rude was suspended from the company. The Boss Man competed against members of Heenan's Family at the 1990 Survivor Series on November 22, 1990 in Hartford, CT. The Boss Man teamed with Hulk Hogan, Tugboat and Jim Duggan to defeat the team of Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku, and The Barbarian. The Boss Man was eliminated by Earthquake. Hulk finished the match as a survivor.

Taking out members of the Heenan Family one by one, The Boss Man targeted The Barbarian. They faced off at the 1991 Royal Rumble on January 19 in Miami, FL. The Boss Man downed The Barbarian. Next on the list was WWE IC champ Mr. Perfect. They met at WrestleMania VII on March 24, 1991 in Los Angelas, CA. The Boss Man got the win by DQ due to outside interference.

Jacques Rougeau was repackaged as a singles wrestler once his brother and tag team partner, Ray, retired. Jacques was now known as The Moutie, the heel Canadian law enforcer. He set his sights on The Boss Man, saying he was the only true law and order in WWE. This set up their Jailhouse Match at SummerSlam on August 26, 1991 at Madison Square Garden. The loser had to spend the night in a New York City cell. The Mountie lost and was hauled off to jail. The Mountie's vignettes in jail were actually quite entertaining. Too bad they never played off of it.

The Boss Man was put on a team captained by Sid Justice at Survivor Series on November 28, 1991 in Detroit, MI at The Joe Louis Arena. Their partners included the WWE Tag champs The Legion of Doom. They were set to face off Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Irwin R. Shyster and The Natural Disasters. Sid suffered an arm injury weeks before the match and Jake was embroiled in a feud with Randy Savage, so both were out of the match and it was a Six Man Elimination Match. The Legion of Doom survived.

The Boss Man was lost in the mid-card shuffle in early 1992. He competed at the 1992 Royal Rumble match, going after the vacant WWE Title in January. He was on the WrestleMania VIII card on April 5, 1992 at The Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, IN, teaming with Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter and Virgil to beat The Mountie, The Repo Man and The Nasty Boys.

Soon after this, vignettes began to air on WWE programs hyping the debut of Nailz, the convict that was apparently assaulted by The Boss Man at a corrections facility years ago. Nailz debut in the summer of 1992, attacking The Boss Man and putting him out of action. The Boss Man sold the beating and was put out of action for the entire summer and early fall. The Boss Man returned, noticeably slimmer, and defeated Nailz in a Nightstick On A Pole Match at the 1992 Survivor Series on November 25.

The Boss Man's contract was expiring in early 1993 and WWE had no plans on renewing it. The Boss Man competed on his final WWE PPV before his contract expired, at the Royal Rumble on January 24, 1993 in Sacramento, CA at The Arco Arena. On that night, he lost to Bam Bam Bigelow.

After leaving WWE, he entered Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling (SMW) for a brief run. There, he battled in a small feud against Kevin Sullivan. The Boss Man had defeated Sullivan in one of their first encounters. This led to a match that took place on August 1993 at K-Town Showdown. The Boss Man beat Sullivan in a Singapore Spike Match.

Traylor left the United States and toured All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under his previous identity, Big Bubba Rogers. From November 13, 1993 to December 2, 1993, AJPW held their annual Real World Tag Team League Tournament. Rogers paired with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. On the first night of the tour, at the Yokosuka City Gymnasium, Williams & Rogers beat The Patriot & The Eagle. The following night, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Williams & Rogers beat former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) Tag Team champs Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat. On November 22, 1993 at Okayama Budokan, Williams & Rogers remained undefeated in the league with a win over Tracey Smothers & Richard Slinger. Their streak ended on November 24, 1993 at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium when Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi beat Williams & Rogers. On November 30, Rogers & Williams beat Dan Spivey & current WWE agent, Johnny Ace at the Nakajima Sports Center. They lost to Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue on December 1 at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. On the final night of the tour, they lost to Giant Baba & Stan Hansen. Williams & Rogers finished fourth in the league, behind Baba & Hansen, Kawada & Taue and the winners of the league, Misawa & Kobashi.

Traylor resurfaced in his old stomping grounds, which was now known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He made an immediate impact, challenging the WCW International champion, "Ravishing" Rick Rude. Because of WCW's uncreative booking staff, Traylor was now christened as The Boss. The Boss showed up in December during a taping of WCW Saturday Night and laid out the challenge to Rude. They met in a rematch on December 27, 1993 at Starrcade in Charlotte, NC. On the under card of the Ric Flair/Vader main event, Rude retained his title against The Boss.

Bringing his brand of law and order to WCW, The Boss had the uneasy task of handling the referee duties for the Flair/Vader rematch that took place at SuperBrawl IV on February 20, 1994 in Albany, GA. On that night, the rematch was held inside a Thundercage. Flair got the win, and Vader placed the loss on the shoulders on The Boss, igniting a feud between the two behemoths.

They had their first PPV meeting on April 17, 1993 at Spring Stampede in Chicago, IL. Vader got a win over The Boss. The big news was the use of the nightstick on Vader, which was a no-no under the regime of commissioner Nick Bockwinkle. Bockwinkle would later strip The Boss of his nightsticks and handcuffs. Vignettes were later shown of The Boss being recruited by The Guardian Angels, who were a group of law enforcers that never used weapons. The Boss was now known as The Guardian Angel and made his debut under that guise at the Clash of the Champions XXVII on June 23, 1994. He got the win over Tex Slazenger, who would later go on to bigger things in WWE as Phinneas Godwinn and later Mideon.

The rematch with Vader took place at Bash At The Beach, which was the event that featured Hulk Hogan's WCW debut against WCW champ Ric Flair. On July 17, 1994 in Orlando, FL, The Angel lost to Vader by DQ when Vader tried to use a billy club on The Angel, and when The Angel grabbed it away from him, the ref thought The Angel used it, thus DQing him.

Sting was thrown into the mix at Fall Brawl on September 18, 1994. The first WCW Triangle Match took place that night in Roanoke, VA as Sting faced The Guardian Angel and Vader for a chance to be the #1 contender to Hulk Hogan's WCW Title. Vader ended up coming out of the match as the winner, but would not get his shot until the next year.

In the blow off to the Vader-Angel feud, they met for a final time at Halloween Havoc on October 23, 1994 in Detroit, MI. Unfortunately for The Angel, he lost yet again to the #1 contender. Once again sputtering around in the mid-card, The Angel turned heel and reprised his old persona, Big Bubba Rogers. Rogers had his sights set on the franchise of WCW, Sting. At Superbrawl V on February 19, 1995 in Baltimore, MD, Rogers teamed with Avalanche to lose to Sting & Randy Savage.

The hatred between Rogers and Sting grew. They met at the first Uncensored on March 19, 1995 in Tupelo, MS. Rogers got one of the biggest wins of his career when he defeated Sting. They had a rematch and a blow off to the feud on May 21, 1995 at Slamboree in St. Petersburg, FL. Sting made Rogers submit to the Scorpion Deathlock.

At the end of 1995, Rogers had a series of matches against Jim Duggan. He beat Duggan in a Taped Fist Match at the first World War 3 on November 26, 1995 in Norfolk, VA. Rogers defeated his former ally and adversary.

During the early summer of 1996, Rogers found himself in a series of matches against John Tenta, formerly known as Avalanche and Earthquake. In one of their first WCW meetings, they wrestled each other on June 16, 1996 at The Great American Bash in Baltimore. Tenta won the match, but it didn't end there. They battled one another again on July 7, 1996 at Bash at the Beach in a Carson City Silver Dollar Match. Tenta won yet again.

The night of their final match at Bash at the Beach, the new World order (nWo) made their return to the company and revealed Hulk Hogan as the third partner of Scott Hall & Kevin Nash. On that night, professional wrestling saw a major change. So did a lot of the wrestlers, especially Rogers. Rogers was lost in the shuffle now more than ever. Before 1996 came to an end, Rogers ended up joining the renegade nWo faction. At the first nWo Souled Out on January 25, 1997 in Cedar Rapids, IA, Rogers defeated Hugh Morrus in a Mexican Death Match.

That was Rogers' first of two PPV appearances that year. He continued to flutter around in the mid-card. WCW decided to turn him face again towards the end of 1997 and left the nWo and now began using his real name, Ray Traylor. On December 28, 1987 at Starrcade in Washington, DC, Traylor teamed with The Steiner Bros. and lost to his former nWo teammates Randy Savage, Scott Norton and Vincent. The Steiners & Traylor sought revenge at Souled Out on January 24, 1998 in Dayton, OH. They defeated the nWo trio of Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton and Konnan.

With a humungous roster in WCW, Traylor's contract expired and took his services back to the company that made him a star: WWE. He returned to the company in September of 1998, which was announced on WWE.com. Soon after his signing, he returned in a bodyguard-type role for Vince McMahon and re-assuming his past alias of The Big Boss Man. He updated his look from dressing as a cop to wearing a SWAT team member's uniform. He immediately targeted "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and was back in WWE with some of their bigger headliners.

He was slated to compete in the 1998 Survivor Series "Deadly Game" tournament to crown a new WWE champion. He was set to face off against Austin in the first round, and ended up being DQed, which was all part of the master plan to make The Rock the new WWE champ.

Throughout his first run in WWE, The Boss Man never won a WWE title. That changed on November 30, 1998 when he beat the first WWE Hardcore champ, Mankind, to win the title thanks to help from The Rock. The Rock, The Boss Man, Ken Shamrock, and Test all combined to form Vince McMahon's Corporation, and The Rock was feuding with Mankind over the WWE Title, which is why he interfered on The Boss Man's behalf. The Boss Man wanted to add more gold so he teamed with Ken Shamrock to challenge the WWE Tag champs The New Age Outlaws at In Your House: Rock Bottom on December 13, 1998. Unfortunately for The Boss Man & Shamrock, The Outlaws left Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with the titles.

A rematch was held the following night on Raw in Tacoma, WA. With the titles on the line, The Boss Man & Shamrock were able to steal the titles from The Outlaws, thanks to help from the commissioner and fellow Corporate member, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. The following night, at the Raw taping, The Boss Man lost the WWE Hardcore Title to The Road Dogg in Spokane, WA, thanks to interference from Mankind.

The Boss Man was booked to face The Road Dogg in a rematch at the 1999 Royal Rumble, but it was a non-title match. In Anaheim, CA at The Pond on January 24, 1999, The Boss Man got a revenge win of The Road Dogg after a Boss Man Slam. The Boss Man returned later in the night to compete in the Royal Rumble match, which was won by Vince McMahon.

The following night, Raw was live from Phoenix, AZ. In a heels vs. heels match, Shamrock & The Boss Man defended the titles against the duo of the late Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett. The Boss Man & Shamrock's reign as champions came to an end when Koko B. Ware, dressed as The Blue Blazer, hit Shamrock with Jarrett's guitar.

Soon after, The Corporation began a rivalry with another heel faction, The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. the Boss Man challenged Mideon to a match at The St. Valentine's Day Massacre in February 1999 in Memphis, TN. The Boss Man got the win, which then set up The Boss Man to face The Undertaker in his biggest WrestleMania challenge ever at WrestleMania XV. Their match wasn't an ordinary match, but a Hell In The Cell. The Undertaker won the match and had The Boss Man hung from the cage, which was hanging from the middle of the arena.

About a month after WrestleMania XV, it was revealed that The Corporation and The Ministry were in cahoots the whole time and they combined to create The Corporate Ministry. The Rock, Test and The Big Show eventually turned face and left the group. On April 27, 1999, a UPN special was taped called Smackdown. This was the pilot episode of the current series. The Boss Man competed on the pilot and lost Mankind. Other results of the show, which was taped in New Haven, CT, included The Rock & Steve Austin battling The Undertaker & Triple H to a no-contest, Ken Shamrock over Bradshaw, the WWE Tag champs X-Pac & Kane over The New Age Outlaws, and D'Lo Brown over Droz by DQ.

May 23, 1999 will go down as one of the darkest days in the history of the business. It was the night that Owen Hart died tragically while trying to be lowered into the ring by a harness. Unfortunately, the release button was pushed and Owen plunged to his death. In WWE's eyes, the show must go on. Later that night, The Boss Man teamed with Viscera and The Acolytes to lose to The Big Show, Ken Shamrock, Test and Mankind in an Elimination Match. It came down to Boss Man and Mankind, and Mankind made The Boss Man submit.

The Boss Man set his sights on regaining the only singles WWE title he has ever won: The Hardcore Title. He challenged Al Snow for the title at Fully Loaded on July 25, 1999 in Buffalo, NY. The Boss Man regained the title, but it would not be the end of this rivalry. They had a rematch at SummerSlam the next month on the 22nd in Minneapolis, MN. Snow regained the title when the "guest" commentator who was following them around, The Road Dogg, attacked The Boss Man. This set up the rubber match at Unforgiven on September 26, 1999 in Charlotte, NC. This time, they met in a Kennel From Hell Match. A double cage was set up. One was a regular one and the second was a Hell In The Cell. Considered by many to be one of the worst matches of all time, Al Snow won the match.

They squared off yet again, this time on the first edition of Smackdown on August 24, 1999. The Boss Man left Kansas City, MO as the champion yet again. Al Snow had been coming to the ring with a dog he found called Pepper. The Boss Man would dognap Pepper, but invite Al Snow up to his hotel room to get him back. Boss Man told Snow to have dinner with him, and after a few fork bites, The Boss Man let Snow know that he was eating "Pepper" steak. On the September 7, 1999 edition of Smackdown, The Boss Man made fun of this and was challenged by another dog. This time, The British Bulldog made his return to WWE to defeat Boss Man in an impromptu match to win the WWE Hardcore Title in Albany, NY. After the match, The Bulldog relinquished the title to Snow.

The Boss Man once again regained the title in a Triple Threat Match on the October 12, 1999 Smackdown in Birmingham, AL, which involved Snow and The Big Show. This would lead to The Boss Man's next feud, against The Big Show. The Boss Man made this one personal as he made fun of The Big Show's recently deceased father. Vignettes were shown of Show attending his father's funeral, only to have The Boss Man attack The Show and tie his father's casket to The Boss Man's car. The Big Show tried to stop it, but ending up surfing on the casket before being thrown off. Another vignette showed The Boss Man forcing The Big Show's mother to admit that The Show was a bastard child. The man that died wasn't Show's father afterall.

The Big Show wanted to get his hands on The Boss Man in the worst way. An Elimination Match was set for Survivor Series. The Big Boss Man teamed with Prince Albert, Mideon and Viscera to face the team of The Big Show, The Blue Meanie and Kai En Tai. The Show was forced to have partners, so he got stuck with them. However, The Show laid out his team and faced The Boss Man's team all by himself. He eliminated everyone in record time and it came down to The Show and The Boss Man. The Boss Man got himself counted out after running away from The Show. Later that night, as a last second replacement, The Big Show left Detroit, MI as the new WWE champion.

In a blow off to the feud, the two met at the first Armageddon on December 12, 1999 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In a champion vs. champion match, the WWE champ The Big Show retained his title against the WWE Hardcore champ The Big Boss Man. If that wasn't enough, The Boss Man began the new millennium on the wrong foot. During the January 17, 2000 edition of Raw, The Boss Man lost the Hardcore Title to Test in Hartford, CT after Albert interfered. Albert was now part of T & A with Test.

Tazz made his WWE debut at the 2000 Royal Rumble with a victory over Kurt Angle. Tazz's first real feud was against The Boss Man, which started just before No Way Out. During Sunday Night Heat, Tazz was jumped by The Boss Man and his new running buddy, Bull Buchanan, as he entered the building. Tazz wanted a match on the PPV and got it. The Boss Man lost by DQ thanks to interference from Buchanan.

The Boss Man & Buchanan were hoping to be together as a team and had their first challenge at WrestleMania 2000 on April 2, 2000 in Anaheim, CA. They squared off against D'Lo Brown & The Godfather, who had rapper and actor Ice T in their corner. The Boss Man & Buchanan opened WrestleMania 2000 as winners. Later that month at Backlash on the 30th in Washington, DC, The Boss Man & Buchanan got another major win as they defeated former WWE Tag champs The APA.

Soon after this, the team was dismantled for whatever reasons. The Boss Man was being used less and less. And once Vince McMahon bought out WCW the following year, there was a lot more guys in the locker room to use. The Boss Man was used as a trainer for the WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), which is run by "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Jim Cornette.

Once the WCW invasion was over, The Boss Man was actually called back up by WWE to be involved as Booker T's sidekick. On the December 18, 2001 Smackdown, The Boss Man returned to TV and helped Booker T beat Steve Austin in a First Blood Match. The following week on Smackdown, Booker & The Boss Man beat Austin in a Handicapped Match.

The Boss Man's last high-profile match took place at the January 7, 2002 Raw at Madison Square Garden, which also saw the return of Triple H from his quadriceps injury. On that night, Steve Austin & The Rock beat The Boss Man and Booker T. The next night at the Smackdown taping, The Boss Man lost to WWE IC champ Edge in what would be The Boss Man's final match at Madison Square Garden. In his final Raw appearance, The Boss Man teamed with Mr. Perfect to lose to The Hardy Boyz.

Since his departure from WWE, Ray Traylor some scattered indy shows. He was even backstage at an NWA:TNA taping on September 24, 2003, but nothing ever came of it. Traylor was expected to compete on USA Pro's show in November in Queens, NY, but unfortunately, tragedy struck.

This spotlight was something I had planned on doing around the time of his USA Pro debut, to coincide with it. I saw how everyone reacted to his death on the message boards, so I thought this would be appropriate. He was a big part of wrestling between 1988 and 2001 and that should not be forgotten. Not many athletes can say they had a run like that against the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, The Undertaker, The Rock, Mankind, and Steve Austin. He is another wrestler taken from us too soon. May he rest in peace and make sure everyone in heaven will be serving a little bit of hard time.

John Gjoni
johnftw7533@aol.com

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