WWF March to WrestleMania, Fayetteville, NC
A request! It’s the MARCH TO WRESTLEMANIA! At WrestleMania IX, Undertaker will face Giant Gonzalez, and Bam Bam Bigelow will be doing absolutely nothing. (He was meant to wrestle Kamala, but it got scrapped for time.)
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
Bam Bam Bigelow always kinda had that, like, Movie Actor Attempting to Act Like a Wrestler sort of thing going on. He was like a big guy playing a wrestler in a movie with the way he talked. I’m not saying he wasn’t a good or legit wrestler, he was, I’m entirely talking about the way he spoke. It’s not even a bad thing, because it made him different than most of the top names of his time. Maybe the better way to put it is that you might suspect actors trying to “act like wrestlers” all studied Bigelow for a while. After all, what a character! With his tattoo head and all.
Bam Bam starts fast, but Taker hits a counter DDT to stop the momentum in its tracks, then we get THE GOOZLE. Undertaker’s style is evolving a little bit, not entirely, but a bit, as Heenan points out. It would take him until Mick Foley arrived to really change with consistency, but he was making strides over the years between ’93 and ’95.
This has some clash of the titans vibe, which makes it feel a little bit actually special. Bigelow has the size and credibility to at least be a minor threat, especially to kids and shit. Actually, instead of wasting time on El Gigante or a cooked Kamala, you really could have just had these two work WrestleMania against one another, but while it’s cool, it’s not quite the spectacle of an “eight-foot” guy with a ridiculous get-up.
Undertaker takes a great run into the steps, hitting with the knees like his old WCW pal Cactus Jack. But of course as Bigelow dominates and pummels away, Undertaker will not stay down. Heenan suggests Bigelow go get a chair, or a row of them. Maybe hit him with a Winnebago.
Bigelow sticking with the same basic brawling offense that is working. But he’s also not trying to pin ever, so that Undertaker can eventually sit up. Taker laid out and Bigelow soars, but the headbutt meets only canvas. Jumping clothesline and a chokeslam, and Bigelow rolls out of the ring to hit the road.
And the road is hit. It’s a countout.
Cool match. This was a TV special they put real effort into trying to sell WrestleMania IX, which was largely promoted on the RETURN OF HULK HOGAN in a tag team match with a wrecked Beefer and the dull Money Inc. And Taker and Bigelow both brought a little heat, I mean it’s not designed to be Great Match but it is better than the average Coliseum-level.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 