Big Bossman was a wrestler on the TV program WWF. Although he was presented as a hero early in his career, Later he becomes a bully-type personal security officer, or bodyguard-type character, willing to do anything for a price.
He was portrayed by the late Ray Traylor.
History[]
Traylor returned to the WWF on the October 12, 1998 episode of Raw is War, once again under his Big Bossman persona. However, his character was changed from a regular police officer to a bully-type personal security officer, or bodyguard-type character, willing to do anything for a price. The change was further emphasized by his new SWAT-style attire. Traylor was immediately established as a top of the mid-card character, as he was introduced as a member of The Corporation, a group of wrestlers controlled by WWF owner Vince McMahon to combat Stone Cold Steve Austin as well as D-Generation X, as The Corporation's "personal security". During his time as a member of The Corporation, Bossman won the Tag Team Championship with Ken Shamrock and won the Hardcore Championship four times. While still a member of the Corporation, Bossman competed at WrestleMania XV against The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match, which he lost. Undertaker subsequently "hung" Bossman inside the cage, leaving him suspended in the air.
Most of his matches in the hardcore division were part of his feud with Al Snow. At one point, the storyline involved Al's dog Pepper. At SummerSlam, the pair fought in a match that never made it to the ring; it instead spilled into the backstage area, the street, and finally into a nearby bar. Just prior to the match, Snow was seen setting Pepper's dog carrier near the entrance way. Minutes into the match, Boss Man picked up the carrier, taunted the dog, struck Snow with the carrier, and carelessly tossed it behind him. Announcer Jim Ross apologized immediately for the stunt, and confirmed on air that Pepper had been removed from the box before the match.
Two weeks later, Pepper was taken out of the storyline when he was, in storyline killed by the Bossman, who then tricked Snow into eating his pet. The storyline concluded with a Kennel from Hell match at Unforgiven. The cage surrounded the ring, with a second roofed cage surrounding the ringside area. The men would start in the ring, with the first man to escape both cages being declared the winner. Between the two cages were a number of attack dogs.
After this, he feuded with The Big Show over the WWF Championship. The feud included a monologue where Bossman showed up at Big Show's father's storyline funeral (his father had actually died years earlier) and proceeded to steal Show's father's casket by rigging it to the back of his car and driving off. In a desperate attempt to stop the theft, The Big Show jumped onto the coffin as it was being towed away, riding atop the coffin for a few yards until he lost his grip and tumbled off. Bossman became the #1 contender for the WWF Championship on the November 15, 1999 edition of Raw. This feud ended with Boss Man being defeated by Big Show at the Armageddon pay-per-view.
Bossman participated in the 2000 Royal Rumble match, where he eliminated Rikishi (with the help of five other competitors), Chyna, and Faarooq before being eliminated by The Rock. On the March 19 edition of Sunday Night Heat, he introduced Bull Buchanan as his protégé. Together, they would go on to defeat The Godfather and D'Lo Brown at WrestleMania 2000 and the Acolytes Protection Agency the following month at Backlash. However, the team split on the June 5 edition of Raw is War after they lost to the Hardy Boyz and subsequently began arguing before Bossman knocked Buchanan out with his nightstick when his back was turned.
In the summer of 2000, Bossman disappeared from mainstream WWF television and wrestled mainly on Jakked and Heat, primarily feuding with Crash Holly. When Traylor returned from an injury in late 2001, he was given a role as the tag team partner of Booker T, as simply The Boss Man. Boss Man served as an enforcer again, only this time for Booker T under the order of Vince McMahon. The team quietly split in late January 2002, and from there on Boss Man wrestled mostly on Jakked and Heat. In April, he formed a short lived tag team with Mr. Perfect after both were drafted to the Raw brand. In May 2002, he competed in his last WWE match, losing to Tommy Dreamer. Traylor was then assigned to train new wrestlers in Ohio Valley Wrestling before being released from WWE in 2003.
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