The Underrated: Big Boss Man

By Speed on the Beat (@SpeedontheBeat)

Once upon a time, there was a prison guard who became more known for beating the snot out of opponents than actually enforcing any laws. Over time, said former prison guard made a name in WWF, AJPW, WCW, and other promotions. But, even though many may remember Big Boss Man, his in-ring accomplishments pale in comparison, having held the WWF Tag Team Titles once with Ken Shamrock, the Hardcore Championship four times, and a title with UWF. But, let us look at some of Big Boss Man's work.

First, any man who can do an Enziguri at 6'6" automatically gets props.

The Big Boss man was quite agile in an era where big guys were supposed to be more like Earthquake and less like Randy Savage. Now, Boss Man wasn't a technical genius. But, he could hold his own with just about anyone. His promo skills were pretty legitimate, probably because he'd actually seen some hard times (RIP Dusty). Speaking of hard times, some of BBM's early moments featured him squaring off against Dusty in JCP, just off of the strength that Dusty saw something special in the young man from Cobb County.

After a reign in UWF, Big Boss Man made his way to WWF. His work with Akeem helped set up the groundwork, storyline-wise for THE MEGA POWERS EXPLODING! Had the feud between The Twin Towers and the Mega Powers not been booked the way it was, Hogan versus Savage may not have become as etched into our memories. However, this main event rub was cut short, since The Twin Towers feuded with Demolition and BBM ended up getting suplexed off the top of a steel cage by Hogan. But, at least we still got to see him beat the crap out of jobbers and low-card wrestlers when he won a match. Let me tell you something (brother): seeing a cop figure do that, in "real life," as a kid, a few years out from Rodney King? It made me hate BBM, therefore making him an incredibly effective heel in my eyes.

As time went on, BBM started to get less and less of a push, culminating in his Nightstick on a Pole match against (mortal enemy) Nailz. By 1993, Boss Man was in WCW after a short stint in AJPW. I'll be honest. Even though Big Boss Man is an underrated talent and could go with just about anyone, his work with WCW was mostly trash. It probably didn't help that he, like most WCW talents, switched from heel to face more than Big Show circa 2010. He could still go and was still agile, but there was a big of a lost glimmer on his work for me in WCW.

Upon his return to WWF, and after his "lynching" by Undertaker (ugh), we got the infamous Kennel From Hell angle. See, the angle itself was gross. But, the action in it (aside from the Kennel from Hell match itself) was solid. Two underrated talents beating the crap out of each other and forcing people to care about the dog in the middle of the feud? That takes talent. Screw the main match between them, because, bah gawd, it was horrible. But overall, the feud's matches are something to take a look at.

After this, we got Show vs. BBM. I'm not touching it, since I already spoke on it. It's good to know that even your favorites can get involved in wonky matches and gimmicks. But, it still sucks. Upon his release from the newly renamed WWE, Boss Man worked with a smaller Japanese promotion before his death in 2004 at 41.

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Eyes on the Ring 9:06 AM  5 comments

The Underrated: J and J Security

By Speed On The Beat (@speedonthebeat)

Wow. So, in a bit of role reversal, True asked me to write an Underrated post. I had several options. I almost even picked JTG, but decided not to be a dick and troll people. Even though, the way he sold The Cobra on Superstars that one time was LEGEND-FUCKING-DARY. However, after a long internal debate (read: ten minutes), I chose two individuals who have been almost more vital to Seth Rollins' title reign than even Triple H himself. I'm, of course, referring to the team of Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury, also known as J and J Security. Perhaps it's because they were/are seen as JUST comedy characters, but I've always felt that these two never got the recognition they deserved. Let us begin with Jamie Noble.

Jamie Noble

My first experience with Noble was, as mentioned, late era WCW when he was the white guy in the Asian stable. Jamie-San of the Jung Dragons was, admittedly a confusing gimmick. Here's a guy who, in some ways, is playing yellowface. However, he took a shit gimmick and turned it into gold. It's probably the fact that he, just like his Jung counterparts, was agile as hell. When Jamie-San first spoke, with his incredibly thick country accent, it was endearing and reminded me of older wrestling, since I was brought up mostly on older southern wrestling.

When Noble finally got into the WWE, he somehow took the weirdest gimmicks (the jealous boyfriend of Michelle McCool, for instance) and embraced them. So, yes, Noble was a comedy character. But, unlike a Koko B Ware (sorry Koko fans), Jamie could actually go in the ring. His matches were never five-stars, but he had matches that made me pay attention, especially when he went up against bigger talents.

And when I heard that J and J Security was becoming a thing, I was elated, mainly because this guy who I secretly rooted for for years was getting, in some way, a main-event rub. And they haven't disappointed. Perhaps (after their work on RAW), we may even see J and J Security take on the role of a legitimate tag team, something that Noble and his partner are well-versed in.

Joey Mercury

Now, I believe Mercury is underrated because while he's seen the world and has kicked much ass, mainly as a part of MNM, he (in the eyes of some) never reached his full potential. But, let's look at it like this: Mercury is a man who's seen a LOT of shit over his life. He's been addicted to drugs and alcohol, but has been able to clean himself up and get back to WWE. Not many people can say that. That alone makes him underrated to me.

But, when you look at his in-ring work? Wow. Sure, he'll probably never contend for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. But, I believe he doesn't need to. Why? He's crisp in-ring. He sells and bumps like a boss. Plus, how many people can say they've taken a ladder to the face? On top of that, his work on the indie circuit has been pretty solid as well, just like Noble. He's even had matches against Seth Rollins during his Tyler Black days and held his own.

Additionally, the fact that he was cool with allowing his personal demons to be aired out in an angle (CM Punk's SES angle) takes some testicular fortitude. Not too many talents, GOAT or otherwise, would be willing to have that go down the way it did. However, Mercury embraced it, like Noble with the jealous angle et al, and made it something you could relate to, even if you'd never taken a drink or did a drug in your life. It is because of these reasons that I feel that J and J Security should be on more radars for more than just a few laughs...even though they're pretty great as "stooges" as well.

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Eyes on the Ring 9:57 PM  37 comments

The Underrated: Dean Malenko

By True (@TrueGodImmortal)

When speaking of technical wrestlers, there is always talk of your Chris Benoits, Bret Hart, Kurt Angles, and various others, but one name that tends to get overlooked is the Ice Man Dean Malenko. The man of 1,000 holds. When Dean began wrestling throughout the Florida scene, he seemed to capture the fans attention and be on the path for something great. When he arrived to ECW in 1994, he was very different from the usual ECW stuff: not much of a gimmick, not really into the hardcore stuff that ECW was building upon, but rather just an amazing wrestler with great skill. This helped Dean to stick out and get over with the fans of ECW, leading him to an ECW TV Title run, as well as an ECW Tag Title run with Benoit. Malenko was involved in the trio Triple Threat with Benoit and Shane Douglas, and it was this stretch of work, along with some great matches with Eddie Guerrero that led WCW to sign him eventually.

When Dean arrived in WCW around late 1995, he seemed a bit out of place for a main event scene that was all Sting, Hogan, Flair, Savage, and Vader, but he did find his footing on the roster. In May of 96, he won the Cruiserweight Title and went on to have a very entertaining feud with Rey Mysterio. He feuded with Rey before losing to Syxx, then rekindling his ECW feud with Eddie for the US Title and winning his first US Title before dropping it to Jeff Jarrett. Dean was a member of the Four Horsemen, and eventually moved to WWE with the Radicals where his career closed out. However, he did win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship and engaged in a feud with Essa Rios, which eventually led to the Matt Hardy/Lita storyline.

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Eyes on the Ring 12:42 PM  No comment