Odds And Ends

This week’s column is dedicated to the memory of Bam Bam Bigelow and a lot of others that have gone to that big ring in the sky during the past 12 months.

Ricky Romero, El Texano, Emory Hail, Jackie Pallo, Johnny Grunge, Victor Quinones, Kay Noble, Sammy Steamboat, Bull Ramos, Prince Pullins, Earthquake, Crazy Luke Graham, Tiger Khan, Bob Orton (Sr.), Donald Lortie, Karl Von Stroheim, Ricky Gibson, Antonio Pena, Joey Maggs, Ill Kim, Huracan Ramirez, Sputnik Monroe, Tiger Conway, The Spoiler and Cowboy Lang.

Many of these people have touched my life in one way or another. Some by their performance on television or reading about them in books and magazines. Some by knowing them and traveling with them in various territories.

Of course, my biggest loss was Bob Orton Sr. We had been friends since the mid 60's, and he was just like a father to most of the younger athletes in the business. He would offer them advice, show them holds and counter holds in the dressing rooms. He would keep the trips that were sometimes in the 400 to 600-mile range very pleasant for all with his wit and humor.

He enjoyed his family and treasured his daughter, Rhonda, who cared for him on a daily basis while holding down a full time career at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas.

Bob called all his friends on weekends and sometimes talked for an hour at a time reliving the glorious days of wrestling.

I remember Ricky Romero from the old Amarillo days in 1973 when I was there. He was a mainstay and a crowd pleaser in a three-state area for over two decades.

Kay Noble was a special lady to wrestling. She traveled a lot with me in Kansas City, and we became great friends. I saw her just the year before last at the Cauliflower Alley Club gathering in Las Vegas. She was there with her husband and had the biggest smile on her face. It's hard to imagine how she felt inside with all the health problems she was encountering.

Sputnik Monroe was another special friend for over 35 years. He came into wrestling from the old carnival days of sideshows, where they would take on all comers. If you lost, then you just went somewhere else. Sputnik was a brawler, he was a family man, and he loved the U.S.A.

Tiger Conway is a man that I met in Texas while watching him and his son Tiger Jr. compete in the ring. He always had a smile on his face and a great handshake that showed you that he was sincere about your friendship.

Without these super people in my life, there might never have been a Percival A. Friend or a Green Hornet. I miss each and every one of you and will always LOVE what you did to mold my life into a better place to be in.

Remember the legends next time you are at a convention or wrestling match or a wrestling museum like New York, Iowa, or maybe Oklahoma. If you have the chance to greet them, make sure that you let them know how important they are to you.

I am making plans for April 2007 at the Riviera in Las Vegas. I hope to see you there.

By GEOFF FOX The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan. 20, 2007

HUDSON - Scott Bigelow was, among other things, a globetrotter.

Better known as Bam Bam Bigelow, he spent more than two decades crisscrossing the United States, Japan and Europe, rubbing elbows and swapping blows with some of professional wrestling's biggest names.

Bigelow retired a few years ago, but life after wrestling wasn't always sweet. He suffered from chronic injuries sustained in the ring, endured a bitter divorce and was involved in a motorcycle wreck that nearly killed his girlfriend.

For Bigelow, the pain is over.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said he was found dead Friday morning in a house at 12314 Morgan Road, just north of State Road 52.

"We got a call at 10:22 a.m.," said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin. "He was found by his girlfriend."

The cause of death was unknown Friday. There didn't appear to be foul play, but the sheriff's office is awaiting autopsy results, Tobin said.

Bigelow's death shook friends and family, as well as the wrestling community. Survivors include daughter Ricci and sons Shane and Scott, who live with his ex-wife in New Jersey.

"He was a good guy, very good, with a good heart," said wrestler Jerry Sags, one-half of renowned tag team The Nasty Boys and a longtime friend of Bigelow's.

Sags and Bigelow had worked together recently on local and regional American Combat Wrestling promotions for which Bam Bam often gave advice to ACW wrestlers like "Roughhouse" Ralph Mosca, Sideshow and David Mercury.

"In a lot of ways he was just a big teddy bear that had that New Jersey [vibe] about him," Sags said. "My last conversation with Bam Bam, I saw the state he was in and I said, 'Man, we've lost 40 of our friends (in recent years). I'm tired of going to funerals. Don't let it happen to you.'"

Dave Meltzer, founder and owner of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, said there is a recent trend of pro wrestlers dying relatively young.

"The number of wrestlers 45 and younger who have died in the last decade is just ridiculous," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if it's 100. I was tracking it until it got so ridiculous. When 'Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel' did a story on it a few years ago, I had the number at 67.

"Some were car accidents and a few freakish things, but a lot of them were" drug-related.

He Could Do It All

Bigelow was known for the fiery tattoo that covered his skull and uncanny agility for a man of nearly 400 pounds.

Brian Knobbs, the other half of The Nasty Boys, was a friend of Bigelow's, as well as a foe in the ring.

Bigelow "not only had the look, but he was a tremendous athlete. He did tons of crazy stuff off the top rope," Knobbs said. "Me and him had a WCW hardcore championship of the world match in St. Louis. We fought all over the building, even in the concession stand. He wound up beating me.

"Bam Bam could do it all. He could scientifically wrestle and come off the top rope with the flying head butt. Plus, he could barroom fight like the Nasty Boys. He was one of the best hardcore wrestlers around."

Meltzer said he followed Bigelow's career from his early days as a star in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

In the mid-1980s, and at nearly 400 pounds, he performed drop kicks and other aerial maneuvers, and perfected a finishing move he called "Greetings From Asbury Park."

"Now there are some huge football players (with that kind of agility), but back then I'd never seen anything like him. Nobody had," Meltzer said.

Bigelow's exciting style made him a regular in the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling, among other organizations, and he was often seen on national television broadcasts.

But his bone-crunching approach probably shortened his career.

In an interview last year, Bigelow said that he once was 6-foot-3, but was then 6-foot-1. He attributed his diminishing frame to back surgeries.

A Natural In Nature Boy's Class

Scott Charles Bigelow was born and raised in New Jersey, where he was an All-American wrestler in high school. After turning down a college scholarship, he earned money as a bounty hunter.

Eventually, Bigelow enrolled in a New Jersey professional wrestling school run by "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, a wrestling icon.

Bigelow, who could bench-press 600 pounds and run 100 yards in 11 seconds, was a natural. During his career, he shared a ring with the likes of Andre the Giant, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Hulk Hogan and scores of others.

Unfortunately, the hard knocks didn't end with his retirement.

On Oct. 5, Bigelow was driving a 1998 Harley-Davidson motorcycle on State Road 50 in Hernando County when he wrecked on wet pavement. His girlfriend, Janis Remiesiewicz, was critically injured.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the motorcycle was traveling 80 mph to 90 mph when it crashed.

Bigelow was charged with driving under the influence with serious bodily injury, driving under the influence, driving without a motorcycle license and driving with a suspended New Jersey license. The case was not resolved when he died.

On Friday, friends preferred to remember the good times.

Mosca, the ACW wrestler, said he became friends with Bigelow after he started helping with local promotions.

"I did everything in my power to try and get him back involved" in wrestling, he said. "I'd challenge him from the ring when he was in the audience."

Mosca's tactics worked.

He and Bigelow became partners and recently won the ACW tag-team title.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
2004 CAC Hall of Fame Inductee
2006 LWA Hall of Fame Inductee