Former WWF wrestler Ray Traylor, better known as the Big Bossman died yesterday at his home. He was 42. He had no known health problems, and the cause of death is not known at this time.

This is so sad to see characters I loved as a kid drop like flies. None of these guys make it past their early 40's too. Big Bossman couldn't have possibly used steroids in his career so I'm wondering what caused his death.

What's even sadder is that I'm watching the demise of wrestling as we know. The Big Bossman's "generation" of wrestlers was the last generation of great characters in wrestling and there really isn't a group that can fill their shoes today. There is no Big Bossman, Mr. Perfect, British Bulldog of Macho Man for the future. Even the "new" guys like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle are already in their mid to late 30s and probably won't go the distance because of injuries.

Unfortunately, there is a death watch on Earthquake who has been diagnosed with cancer and has been told he has less than a year to live.

Just out of interest - Why couldn't he have used Steroids? it's a (very physical) show rather than a sport isn't it?

British Bulldog - didn't he piledriver someone into a pavement and break their spine?

Bossman never had the sort of build one associates with Steroids. He was exactly what his first wrestling name in the old NWA was - Big Bubba.

The deaths that bugged me the most was Crash Holly's, he was just a young kid, and Miss Elizabeth's. Back in the 80s everyone had the hots for Miss 'Liz.

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams is also suffering from cancer.

Regarding Bossman- it's not only steriods that attribute
to wrestlers' deaths but addiction to painkillers and mixing
it with drugs or alcohol.

And i agree it's sad watching the demise of wrestling as we know..

-C!

**Edit- Atlanta TV Station WSB-TV reported today that Ray Traylor's cause of death was a "massive heart attack."

In the '80s there were two kinds of wrestlers: the muscular wrestlers and the fat, out of shape wrestlers. Bossman was more on the out of shape side. I haven't heard painkillers about him, but it wouldn't be a shock since he had a very physical, stiff style.

Bulldog's brother-in-law Owen Hart piledrived Steve Austin wrong, injuring his neck, but Austin was able to recover although the injury continued to linger.

Bulldog injured his own spine when he was working for WCW. WCW at the time build their ring with a hard trap door in the middle of it for the Ultimate Warrior to appear and disappear in smoke. Bulldog was dropped on it hard and screwed up his back which caused him to get hooked on painkillers, even though he also had other addiction problems.

That's not what I'm thinking of - when he was "proper" famous, they was lots in the brit press about some guy he had to pay off. Basically The bulldog was being an arsehole, the guy asked him to stop and he proceeded to piledrive them into the pavement.

I wouldn't be surprised, but I don't remember that story about Bulldog.

Big Boss Man had a great line: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you. If you wish to have an attorney present, I'll beat the Hell out of him too!"

Dr. Death is said to be recovering from his cancer. They had to remove his larnyx and he is just a shadow of his former self, but alive is alive.

Wow, I've never heard that story before, its worth looking into.



Bobby Heenan had throat cancer and looks and sounds like a shadow of his former self too.

The Bossman was a solid heel. I'm saddened to hear about this.

More importantly, he used his celebrity to accomplish great things in the real world. He gave a lot to children's charities, and I've read tons of stories over the years about how he loved to make kids laugh. Even though he was one of the "bad guys" on the show, he always made time for kids.

Nice acknowledgement by the WWE on their site.
http://www.wwe.com/news/headlines/1277702

I spent just over 10 years as an absolutely insane wrestling fan. I once travelled 2 1/2 hours to watch a PPV on close circuit. And in all that time, when I absolutely loved wrestling, I was never able to overlook the fact that Pro Wrestling was the second most fatal form of entertainment, next to auto racing, and that it was head shoulders, and chest, above every other sport, entertainment, or profession in terms of quality of life impacting injuries (Multiple Concussions, Neck Injuries, Knee Injuries, Drug addiction) On average, a half-dozen top level stars a year from 1990-2000 either died from injuries, lifestyle breakdowns (drugs and wear, including this one), and suicide; or experienced an injury severe enough to force their immediate retirement with decreased quality of life.

But of course, it's "fake"...

I still feel guilty sometimes.

"More importantly, he used his celebrity to accomplish great things in the real world."

Why is that more important than being a good heel wrestler? Most celebs give to charities. I give to charities. It's a good thing to do, but I wouldn't call it more important than my life's work. I'm not picking on you, Kevin, but it's always bothered me when people want to play up how much money or time a dead person spent on charities. It's worth mentioning, of course. But labeling it as "more important" than a person's profession is taking it too far, I think.

For one, because in interviews of his that I saw or read, he considered it far more important. He loved his job, and he loved entertaining, but he said that he was especially glad that wrestling had opened the door for him to help make real changes in kids' lives. He didn't just give money to charities; he was very "hands-on" with programs in his community.

And on a personal note, I'd say that as great as entertaining people can be, and as good as it can make people feel for a little while, it's not as important as the other things he accomplished. Helping kids develop solid values and giving them support on a day-to-day basis during their formative years is a more laudable achievement.

Well, unless you're a police officer or a doctor or somesuch ... or a scientist? ... (fill in other noble professions here) ... how we treat each other is probably more important in the Grand Scheme than what we accomplish in our professions. (Barry Bonds being my current "favourite" example of this.)

In the case of Bossman, yeah, you're both right. But oft times I get the feeling that some people give so that they can say they gave and feel better about themselves and that people who bring up what said people gave and hold it up as the most important thing said person ever did are doing so so as to look extra-holy themselves. Not accusing Kevin of this, and I don't think this applies to the Bossman's situation, but his comment did get my gears turning on the subject.

Bonds also does the "I'm a good person because I support charities" thing. Yeh, it's very good that he supports charities. But based on innumerable reports in the baseball media, he also treats individuals like garbage. So how "good" a person is he, really? Is he a worthy person because he can hit lots of home runs?

I dunno ... it's nice to hear what kind of man the Big Boss Man really was ... his appeal as a wrestler was unquestionable, he was a pretty big star in his day, but it sounds as if he was a really good human being too. Ultimately, that probably left more of a positive influence on the people he dealt with throughout his life than the wrestling matches.