Bam Bam Bigelow: The Beast From The East

I got an email from Brent and somehow the topic came up about writing a biography of a wrestler that has yet to be tainted by the WWF spin machine. There are in fact a few wrestling books that are on the shelves that are pretty well written and yet not affected by the bubble that the WWF books exist in:

Terry Funk: More Than Hardcore
Dusty Rhodes: The American Dream
King Of The Ring: The Harley Race Story
Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW
... etc.

So, Brent, in one of those fits of unrealized dreams and ambitions that I'm sure I've suffered from more than once, mentions that we (he or I or us, bluh bluh bluh) should pick a wrestler to write a biography about. His target of this discussion was Bobby Eaton.

Me, I sat on this issue for a while, wondering quietly to myself during rambling therapy sessions who's out there that's a wrestler or has been a wrestler who would make a compelling read. Most everyone that's got their share of interesting life stories & road tales is already tied up in contracts of some sort with WWF. And I don't think that anyone's clamoring for the real story of Lash Leroux anytime soon. Most of the TNA or ROH guys are too young to have been around enough to accumulate a backlog of entertaining stories ... well, at least that they're willing to share in more than just the ROH "Straight Shooting" DVD series.

Then it hit me ... who would I be interested in reading about?

Bam Bam Bigelow.

The guy's been everywhere since he began his career in Memphis, 1985. From the WWF to Japan to WCW to ECW, in the latter two of which he wore world championship gold; he's been in the ring with the all-time greats: Hogan, Andre, Hart, Rude, Benoit, Gordy, Windham; he's tried his hand at mixed martial arts; he co-headlined Wrestlemania 11 w/ Lawrence Taylor; he's starred in a number of movies (including "Major Payne"); and he saved children from a burning building.

The guy's probably got more insights into the business than anyone around, and he's one of the best old school tough guys in the sport's history. This would be the book to write; this would be the book to read.

Wishful thinking, yes it is. I leave this open for a discussion about who'd be worth a biography, but I stand by Bigelow as my choice. And if I ever have that one moment of motivation & clarity, that would be the biography I'd write.