The WWE Hall of Fame has fallen on hard times ... in a good way.
The late Big Boss Man has been named the newest inductee to the Hall of Fame, as first reported by CBSsports.com and confirmed by WWE.com.
The Big Boss Man first debuted in the then-WWF during the late 1980s as a corrections officer — in full police uniform — punishing opponents with his 300-pound-plus frame and Boss Man Slam finisher, before often handcuffing them to the ropes and pummeling them some more with his nightstick.
Shortly after declaring himself as a solo force by attacking Hulk Hogan, Boss Man had his manager, Slick, anchor the formation of the Twin Towers by pairing the Cobb County, Ga. native with Akeem for nearly 800 pounds of combined mass. Check out one of their promos from 1989.
Boss Man's career took a turn, though, when he turned down the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase's cash, showing he couldn't be bought, subsequently making the change from heel to face. That paved the way for new feuds, including one against his former tag team partner Akeem and company firsts like the Jailhouse Match he had against the Mountie at SummerSlam in 1991 and the Nightstick Match against Nailz, an ex-convict that Boss Man jailed, at Survivor Series in 1992.
Boss Man continued his solo career with WWE before having a five-year stint with rival company WCW in the mid-1990s. When he returned to WWE in 1998, it was right in the middle of the company's envelope-pushing Attitude Era ... and Boss Man was more than equipped to generate modern-day heat, dressed in full riot gear and taking on the role of Vince McMahon's personal security detail to set off a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, while also battling Mick Foley and the Undertaker.
Boss Man would enjoy stints as one-half of the tag team champions, as well as WWE Hardcore champion, engaged in notorious feuds with Al Snow and the Big Show in the process. The latter feud would even have Boss Man ridiculously interrupting the funeral for the Big Show's dad, even dragging his coffin away from a cemetery with Show on top of it. Totally absurd!
Sadly, Boss Man, real name Raymond Traylor, died of a heart attack in September 2004 at the age of 41.
The Big Boss Man will join the likes of Sting, the Godfather and the Fabulous Freebirds as the superstars thus far to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame's Class of 2016 in a ceremony on April 2, the day before WrestleMania 32.
