Very, very sad indeed...I've always been a Bossman mark, and in a bit of odd coincidence, I was in the middle of watching the 2/89 Main Event special when finding out. Probably my favorite Bossman angle in the WWF (that being the Twin Towers/Mega Powers feud)

So sad how wrestlers keep dropping like flys. So many wrestlers are dying at such a young age. I am devistated. Since 1999 guys have been dropping dead because of steroids, cancer, heart attacks and accidents. I do not know what to say. Bossman was a great wrestler, and my prayers go out to his family.

I never realized how young Traylor was. This means that he was 26 when he was headlining against Hogan... and only 24 when Mama Cornette sent him to protect Jimmy. As the Big Bossman, he had one of the more memorable Hogan beatdowns in 1988. He was also a big star in the UWF, circa 1987, and looked to have a bright future in JCP/NWA. He jumped to the WWF in mid 1988 and his career took off.

I'm not attempting a proper eulogy or anything, but....just to touch on his post-WWF days:
In 1994 he jumped to WCW as "The Boss" and later "The Guardian Angel" (based on the anti-gang group of the same name). He later dumped the Angel gimmick when he turned heel on Sting in the spring of 1995, reverting to "evil bodyguard" Big Bubba Rogers. Traylor joined the nWo in 96, and became a trivia question in 1997: he was the first man to seceed from the group. He went out with an injury in mid 97, then came back and cut a semi-shoot interview against Hogan and friends, for forgetting about him. He also dumped his ringname of "Big Bubba" (No Trubba) at this time. Despite challenging Hogan... Traylor was attacked by Scott Hall and was then booked into matches against nWo b-teamers...like Scott Norton, Vincent and Buff Bagwell. He was released in 1998 and resurfaced in the WWF as a ski-masked "mystery opponent" for Steve Austin. In 1999 he was part of the infamous "Kennel From Hell" match against Al Snow. Last time I saw him in WWF was probably in mid-2001, hanging out with Bull Buchanan.

In short, he had a very interesting career, was an entertaining wrestler, and I'm sorry to see him go.

<BONG>

Bossman returned briefly in the winter of 2001-2002 as Booker T's protection in a feud with Steve Austin. That went nowhere, and Bossman did nothing much of note until the spring of 2002 when the last time I saw him was in a losing effort teaming with former enemy, the late Mr. Perfect in a match versus the Hardy Boyz. Bossman even brought his shiny badge out of retirement for the match.

Also he was no longer known as "Big", just "The Bossman", probably because he dropped down to about 285 lbs. in 2002, which I would assume was his lowest weight as a professional.