Original subtitles

[Announcer] From the Department of Correction...

the Big Boss Man!

[Narrator] In wrestling's 1980s golden age,

the Big Boss Man built his name

as a defining villain of the era.

[Boss Man] You see a man who likes to make people suffer!

He was an evil prison guard that

took advantage of the poor inmates.

[Announcer] You know, this is totally uncalled for.

And beat 'em down with a nightstick.

[Announcer] The Big Boss Man wants to do

some torturing here.

And forced 'em to serve hard time.

Big Boss Man was an exceptional heel

because he was believable.

Some would say he's a cult classic.

[Boss Man] Feel the pain, the whole pain,

and nothing but the pain!

[Narrator] After reaching massive heights in the 80s,

the Boss Man's character took a controversial turn

during the fabled Attitude Era.

The Big Boss Man was a great performer in the ring,

but it pisses me off to this day that people

remember him for feeding guys dogs and

desecrating corpses at funerals.

Who in the fuck came up with this idea?

[Announcer] And McMahon is happy!

I got to go to school the next day and

explain this to my friends and peers.

[Announcer] The Boss Man hanging from the cell!

[Narrator] But Ray Traylor's hardest battles were with

addiction in an industry fueled by pain killers.

[Announcer] Look at the pain on the kisser of

the Big Boss Man!

I think that all men,

they want to hide that they hurt.

It gets tiring to physically be in pain every day.

It gets hard.

I do wonder if those doctors really knew

the can of worms they were opening up.

I've always said that the wrestling business

will find your weakness, it will prey upon it,

and it will kill you.

[indistinct shouting]

You think your parents are supposed to be perfect.

When it comes to addiction, it was a problem for him.

He said, "Look, I'm sorry.

I'm just hurting."

?

[Boss Man] Ever since I was a little, bitty boy,

my mama, my daddy taught me one thing,

and that's to respect law, order, and justice.

I'm the Big Boss Man.

I am the law and order in the World Wrestling Federation.

It's unbelievable that you kept all of this stuff.

It makes me smile because I haven't looked at it

in a long time.

[Announcer] Oh, no. Oh, no!

I hope he did his ab work. Ha!

This is Dad and Arsenio Hall.

[Arsenio] Let me speak to the Big Boss Man for a minute.

[Boss Man] Say what you gotta say.

[Arsenio] You already got attitude. Wait,

but it's cool, it's cool. - Attitude ain't the word.

This is the long arm of the law.

That is very handy. It's the real deal.

It's the real deal.

[Announcer] Oh... Oh!

This should be an automatic disqualification right here.

I don't even think I understood his place

in wrestling history and just how popular he was.

[Announcer] What an ovation here for the Big Boss Man!

[Lacy] My name's Lacy Traylor.

Daughter of Ray Traylor, the Big Boss Man.

[Announce] Oh, look at tha!

Nice move by Boss Man!

[indistinct commentary]

[Lacy] Big Boss Man, the character,

he had so many great feuds and matches.

But the real guy, he was a big sweetheart.

He was a great dad.

[Ray] Lacy, this is for you for when you get older.

I want you to see how little and how scrawny you was.

[Lacy] Ray Traylor was a girl dad.

My mom used to joke, I'm the Boss Man's boss.

I was born bossy, I'll die bossy.

[Ray] Wee!

[Lacy] I ran a tight ship with my old man.

I can't tell you how many times we had him posted up

putting makeup on him. I always felt loved,

and we spent a lot of time laughing.

[Ray] I'm Clifford the dog. What's your name?

[Laughing]

You know, because I loved him so much,

that was it. I just loved that man.

And I was always so proud of him,

so I just wanted to keep everything, you know.

[Angela] I'm Angela Traylor, and I was married to

Ray Traylor, the Big Boss Man.

We went to high school together.

He was a foot taller than everybody in school.

You could see Ray from the other end of the hall,

over everybody.

I had this little crush on him, so I had

cut out his picture and I had it on my little board.

He was the sweetest thing ever.

He never drank, never partied.

He took me to my junior prom.

We were together ever since.

?

[Angela] He loved me with everything he had.

But he said he would never marry me

until he could take care of me.

?

[Angela] He got hired as a correctional officer

for Cobb County.

[Angela] He really was, he really was.

He was such a big guy,

the prisoners called him "Boss."

His heart wasn't into it.

Honestly, I think he was just showing up for work

'cause he knew he was getting paid.

But it wasn't a lot of money.

[Narrator] Encouraged by friends and looking to

generate extra income, Ray uses his size and

strength to enter the wrestling business.

In 1986, Ray joins Jim Crockett Promotions,

a rapidly expanding competitor to the WWF.

[Announcer] Tully Blanchard, Ray Traylor.

[Angela] We paid the money for him to go to

training and everything, but you know,

he only had time to do like two trainings

and, the rest of the training he got

while he was on the road.

[Announcer] Ray Traylor really has a weight advantage.

[Angela] I mean, he never wrestled

a day in his life and he's, you know,

within two weeks, he was on the road with,

you know, wrestling Dusty all over the place.

[Jim] Dusty Rhodes was a top babyface star

and was also the booker.

He knew talent when he saw it.

I'm Jim Cornette, and at one time,

Ray Traylor was my bodyguard.

I've got the indestructible Bubba Rogers,

my personal bodyguard.

I was a wimpy mama's boy

from a rich family in Louisville, Kentucky,

and the fans were beating the shit out of me.

Get away from me! Get him!

Dennis, help me! Back away from me!

The idea of having a bodyguard

appealed to me legitimately.

And anybody else that wants to lay a finger on me

or do me any kind of harm, you're gonna have to

go through Bubba Rogers!

Ray said, "I worked as a guard at Cobb County.

They taught us to be able to contain people." I said,

"Well, contain these son 'a bitches all you want."

[Announcer] Oh, he pushed, he pushed Cornette down.

Bubba's in a rage!

[Angela] Here comes this guy, he comes down

and he's in the crowd, right.

He was trying to hit Cornette.

Well, Ray just took his fist and slammed the guy,

knocked his teeth out of his head.

[Announcer] Watch out, here's Bubba!

[Jim] I didn't have anybody coming over the rail anymore

'cause they were scared of Bubba.

This was a god damn badass.

[Announcer] The baddest man in the world,

Big Bubba Rogers!

[Jim] Dusty understood that Bubba had to have an aura,

so when Bubba does something it's like a movie monster.

[Crowd] [screaming]

[Jim] Leading up to the big confrontation between

Dusty Rhodes and Big Bubba Rogers,

Dusty comes in with a chair...

and Dusty had told Klondike Bill, the ring guy,

"Gimmick the chair so when I hit him, it breaks."

Dusty Paul Bunions this chair right over his head-

"Psh!"

[Crowd] [screaming]

[Jim] The seat blows out.

It doesn't even knock his hat off.

It's one of the most memorable pieces of video

that we ever shot.

We go back in the back...

"Bill! Great job on the chair!"

He's like, "I forgot!"

"Dusty just hit him as hard as he could

over the head with it, it broke it."

All of a sudden, Big Bubba Rogers is

one of the most fearsome guys on the card.

[Announcer] Woo! Oh, my goodness!

[Jim] And nobody can stop him.

Anybody got a stretcher?

We got a Big Bubba Rogers carry out!

[Angela] He tried to work both jobs for a while,

but a lot of the prisoners started

recognizing him from TV.

They would be rowdy when he'd come into work.

And then he was asking for days off 'cause

he was trying to keep up on the road.

The warden called him in his office, and he said,

"Ray, you gotta make a decision.

Are you going to be a correctional officer?

Or are you going to be a wrestler?"

He said, "I guess I'm a wrestler."

Never looked back.

?

[Narrator] Booked in a dangerous, high profile match,

Ray's career hits a crossroads.

[Jim] By the end of 1986, Bubba was in our corner

when the Midnight Express faced the Road Warriors

in a scaffold match.

...to win the match. Oh, my.

...you must throw both of your opponents

off of the scaffold.

[Jim] But then Dusty wanted the Road Warriors to

chase me up to the top of the scaffold and drop...

into Big Bubba's clutches.

[Announcer] Look at Cornette!

[screaming]

[Jim] I'm glad he didn't play center field

because he fumbled that catch.

When I landed, it blew the ACL in my right knee.

And then, came Starrcade '87.

But this time, they wanted Bubba to go up.

[Announcer] Here he goes!

The big man, 350 pounds.

[Jim] The people thinking, "Oh,

he's gonna throw him off!"

But as he's closing in on him, Ricky Morton

had punched him in the balls and ran away.

[Announcer] Oh!

[screaming]

[Jim] After the match was over,

we all got $10,000 apiece.

Bubba got five.

He felt disrespected.

[Angela] Ray, he realized he wasn't making

the same as these other guys, but he was working

just as hard and taking just as much abuse.

And at this point, we were living poor and we were

talking about moving back to my parents' house.

He said, "I'm quitting."

[Jim] At the same time, word had been getting out

about Ray, who is that size and that agile,

and he's already proven to be a draw.

Vince heard about that.

[Vince] Hello, everybody! I'm Vince McMahon...

[Narrator] Accepting the invitation,

Ray flies to New York to meet with WWF promoter,

Vince McMahon.

[Hulk] You know, something Vicious Vince?

I didn't even sleep last night!

[Jim] For anybody unfamiliar with Vince McMahon and

his outlook on wrestling, bigger is better.

He liked Hulk Hogan,

who looked like a superhero.

[Announcer] Look at the size of those arms.

[Jim] And he wanted super villains to fight him.

[Announcer] Look at this! He slammed him!

[Gerry] When talent comes in, their first stop is

at the office of Vince McMahon.

Gerry Brisco here.

I'm here to talk to you about a very good friend of mine,

the Big Boss Man.

I had the pleasure of sitting there and listening to these

interviews when new characters come in,

and Vince, you know, "What have you done?

What's your background?"

You can see those wheels in

Vince McMahon's head just starting to turn.

[Jim] When Vince heard that Bubba had been

a prison guard, that was the icing on the cake.

Not only is he got a guy that's big enough to fight

Hulk Hogan toe to toe, now there's the gimmick.

Prison guard...

Makes you serve hard time.

It was tailor made.

[Angela] Vince asked him what the prisoners called him.

And he said, "Boss."

And so Vince said,

"Okay, you're the Big Boss Man."

[Boss Man] Inside these walls, I'm the only judge.

I'm the only jury.

And if need be, I'm the executioner.

[Announcer] Wow, look at this guy.

Yeah, he is a monster.

...The Big Boss Man!

Uh-oh, look at that!

Oh, my! That could do it!

[Angela] I remember our first paycheck,

me and Ray both were in shock.

It was life changing.

[Announcer] What is going on here?

[Narrator] After a successful debut,

McMahon immediately thrusts Boss Man into the spotlight.

[Jim] Bubba got in the spot

that most people only dream of.

[Hulk] And you'll be singing the Hulkamania

Prison Blues, brother.

[Jim] When he attacked Hogan on the Brother Love Show...

[Announcer] Whoa! Look out!

[Jim] There was no stopping him.

[Boss Man] You got to serve some hard time, Hogan!

With a hard man! The Big Boss Man!

[Narrator] The Boss Man's feud with Hulk Hogan

builds to an epic steel cage match,

the biggest moment of Ray Traylor's career.

[Announcer] It's a cage match,

the most difficult match in all of wrestling.

Hogan's in for some punishment.

[cheering]

[Gerry] I was so impressed with that cage match.

[Announcer] ...and crushing blow by the Boss Man!

[Gerry] They brought out the best in each other.

[Announcer] And I believe he's pulling

the Boss Man back up!

[Gerry] Hogan climbed to the top of the rope,

and Ray was sitting on top.

[Announcer] He's choking him!

[Gerry] Here's two 300-pound guys,

and you didn't see this a whole lot back in those days.

[Announcer] Hogan trying to set up the Boss Man!

[Gerry] Hulk suplexes Big Boss Man

off the top of that cage.

You realize that's 20 feet before you hit the ground?

[Announcer] A suplex! No!

Yes, I can't believe it!

[Nare

Big Boss Man elevates their match to legendary status.

[Announcer] I can't believe it!

I've never seen a suplex off the top of the cage before.

[Jim] Everybody remembers when Hulk Hogan

gave the Big Boss Man a superplex

off the top of the steel cage...

?

And the people, "Ah!" 'cause they didn't see it coming.

[Announcer] McMahon, I think they're both knocked out!

[Jim] That was unheard of for Hogan to do something

that daring, but also, for a guy that size of Boss Man

to take that bump was unheard of.

[Gerry] When I saw that, holy cow, this guy,

he's not only a good performer and a good man,

he's not afraid to sacrifice his body for

the good of a match.

[Announcer] One of the most grueling matches

in World Wrestling Federation history!

[Narrator] The Boss Man's feud with Hogan cements

Ray Traylor as a main event attraction.

[cheering]

[Announcer] Whoa! They go right at it, don't they?

[Jim] The Big Boss Man, from the time of his arrival

in the WWF, was figured in among the top stars.

[Announcer] With such force!

[Boss Man] How do you feel, boys?

[Jim] He called me one week, he said, "Jimmy,

guess how much money I made last week!"

I'm like, "How much?" He said, "$12,000!"

[Announcer] I'm sure the Boss Man will be happy

to just keep knocking 'em down.

[Angela] He made the same amount in one paycheck

as he did for a whole entire year

as a correction officer.

Money does change your life, and it does make

things easier, or it can make things harder.

But, it did not change Ray one bit.

We lived in a nice neighborhood,

it was a nice home, but we had

nothing in common with anybody in there.

[Laughing]

[Jim] The one thing that Vince did that no other

promoters were able to do is go out and

make his guys mainstream names.

Big Boss Man showed up on Arsenio Hall.

[Arsenio] How did you feel when Hulk Hogan

was whipping his ass?

[Laughing]

[Jim] That's where Big Boss Man started

crossing over into being a celebrity.

[Narrator] Though originally cast as a villain,

the Big Boss Man becomes a new fan favorite.

[Jim] Vince waited 'til the time was right.

And then slowly he started making

Boss Man a babyface.

[Hulk] And he stands for truth, justice,

and the Hulk Hogan way.

And that's none other than the

Big Boss Man, brother!

- What? - He'll be in my corner!

[Jim] When the thing is flipped,

Big Boss Man is gonna lock the bad guys up

for their transgressions.

[Boss Man] With me in your corner,

I guarantee that Earthquake and Dino Bravo

are gonna serve hard time!

[Jim] It was a natural transition.

[Announcer] [indistinct commentary]

[Lacy] That's what everybody wants to see, right?

An incorruptible man of the law.

[Announcer] Kick out, kick out!

He covers him! That wasn't fair.

[Jim] And then, the merchandise.

[Announcer] There's the Big Boss Man night stick,

and there's the real one right there.

[Jim] And the action figures.

[Announcer] Boss Man!

[Jim] They even had like Big Boss Man pillow buddies,

where the kids could sleep curled up

with the Big Boss Man.

[Announcer] Aw, little kiss for the Boss Man.

[Laughing]

[Lacy] The song...

[singing] If you ever take a trip

down to Cobb County, Georgia

[Laughing]

? He carries a big stick. ?

? A ball and chain too. ?

[Lacy] It made him sound so amazing.

? ...coming after you. ?

? Do some hard time! ?

[Jacques] He's a main eventer.

He's got all the merchandise.

He must be the happiest man on Earth.

But who's the real law enforcement officer?

My authority is international.

You're just a Georgia cop.

You're not in my league, brother.

That's bottom line.

My name is Jacques Rougeau.

But, you may remember me as The Mountie,

because I always get my man.

Vince called me up. He said, "Jacques,"

he says, "I have a character I want you to play.

We have this American cop, and we're gonna have

this Canadian cop, The Mountie."

[Jacques] No, but I was a real jerk.

[Laughing]

[indistinct shouting]

...nothing that you can do about it!

I think the big blowoff was the jailhouse match.

[Announcer] Oh!

[Jacques] It was decisive.

[Announcer] He knocked the wind right out of him!

[Jacques] Was only law enforcement officer

and it was the Big Boss Man.

[Laughing]

In those days, we were on the road

25 days a month, bumping, hurting themselves.

Giving their time to traveling. Canceled flights.

Your kids are waiting for you at home.

You miss them so much.

The state of mind of the person that's giving its body

and toll for 25 days a month, he's suffering.

[Angela] People don't see what goes on

for real sometimes.

How hard it is to, you know, be a family

when you're away 300 days a year.

[Lacy] Dad, he was on the road so much

in my very early childhood.

- Come here. - No, no.

No! No.

[Ray] You want to stay in there? [Angela] Don't be mean.

[Lacy] I remember thinking, who is this man?

Like, why is he stealing my attention from my mom?

But, he explained early on that this lifestyle

and his career that, you know,

some things there's gonna be a trade-off.

I can't tell you how many times me spending time

with Dad was going to visit sick kids at the hospital.

To be in the position that he was,

if his presence can

light somebody's face up

and make them happy, it was a duty to him.

[Narrator] Ray receives an offer from rival,

World Championship Wrestling,

which is luring away WWF talent

with big money and a lighter schedule.

[Announcer] As the Boss...

[Angela] With WCW, all of his buddies only worked

150 days a year for the same amount of money.

[Lacy] I'm very thankful that he ended up

going to WCW.

[Ray] Lacy, pose for me.

[Lacy] We were able to spend a lot more time with him

and do a lot more stuff together as a family.

He loved taking us on trips.

Deep sea fishing was always a fun one,

and we had a beautiful home with a lake

that he was really proud of.

So, we spent a lot of time there, also,

just fishing and doing redneck stuff.

[Announcer] Steiner is as tough as the great athletes.

Oh!

Like a Big Bubba, like a Rick Steiner-

[Lacy] We had such a great, little community

with the Steiners and their kids.

[crying]

[indistinct commentary]

[Jim] Bubba enjoyed the WCW run because

he got to spend more time with his family.

But his professional profile was harmed.

Ray couldn't be Big Boss Man in WCW

because Vince owned the character.

So, it ended up a revolving door of stupid names

and ridiculous gimmicks.

[Announcer] [indistinct shouting]

Big Bubba!

[Jim] And because it was in the news,

and it was a branch of law enforcement- loosely-

one of them was the Guardian Angel!

Like to welcome you into the worldwide group

known as the Guardian Angels.

[Jim] That idiot, Curtis Sliwa,

and his ridiculous group of unarmed citizens that

wanted to make the world a better place.

I'm surprised they didn't make him a meter maid.

[Announcer] The Guardian Angel!

[Jim] But it wasn't really as rotten as it would be

when he went back to the WWF.

Despite the fact that Ray Traylor

was one of the most talented guys

of the past ten years in the business,

he is now remembered for taking part in some of the

worst wrestling television that has ever been

perpetrated on the air.

[Narrator] In 1998, the Big Boss Man

returns to a reshaped WWF. ...

[Announcer] And welcome to WWF Raw!

[Narrator] ...with new talent and edgier story lines.

[Announcer] [indistinct commentary]

Oh! [shattering]

[cheering]

?

[Jim] The feud between Vince McMahon and

Stone Cold Steve Austin was the single hottest

money-drawing rivalry in professional wrestling.

[Announcer] Oh, no! It's Austin!

[Russo] When you have very strong characters...

[Vince] No, no!

[Russo] ...and put them together...

the shit writes itself.

[Vince] Ugh!

Obviously, The Big Boss Man

was well-defined as a character

for years and years and years.

My name is Vince Russo, and I was the head writer

of the WWF during the Attitude Era.

When we brought Ray in,

Ray was not calling us.

We were calling him

because we needed him on the show.

[Announcer] Wait a minute!

Here comes a security guy.

[indistinct commentary] What the hell?

McMahon's security guy!

Oh! It's the Big Boss Man!

[Jim] He became the bodyguard for Vince McMahon.

Instead of the blue shirt and the old cop stereotype

from Cobb County, Georgia,

now he's in the tactical gear and

the all black, heavy vest.

It looked like a SWAT team member.

And now he's serving THE man.

[Boss Man] I'm enforcing McMahon's law!

You're gonna abide by it!

[Jim] It's not law, order, and justice.

It's whatever Vince wants.

[Vince] Boss Man, if you will.

?

[Jim] That was a great spot.

[Vince] Get him! Teach him a lesson!

[Lacy] It was always cool to get to watch him on TV.

I remember Mom having people over and

ordering a pay-per-view,

and I'm going to go to school the next day,

and a bunch of kids are going to be like,

"I watched your dad on TV last night!"

Man, what a cool life I've gotten to live.

[Lacy] I love The Rock.

[The Rock] You smell what The Rock is cooking.

[Lacy] Rocky's birthday is on Dad's birthday.

And so, every year, we made him cards.

[Announcer] Wait a minute...

Yes, yes! [match bell ringing]

[Lacy] He was the best.

[Announcer] I didn't even have a chance to smell

what he was cooking! Here comes Austin!

[Lacy] And I was a huge Stone Cold fan.

He's big and scary, like, when you're a little kid.

But yeah, I loved it.

That would have been amazing to see a Steve Austin

and Big Boss Man feud.

[Vince] Come on, Boss Man!

Get him and get him gone!

[Jim] You would think there would be the Big Boss Man

and Steve Austin...

We didn't get that.

?

[Gerry] I'm gonna paint the picture for you.

We're gonna do this spot- Vince, myself-

and we're gonna interfere in the match.

[Announcer] It's a bad man to be hurt-

[Gerry] The Boss Man's supposed to hit Stone Cold

with a chair and knock him out.

I see Boss Man backstage.

Ray had been going over his match

with Undertaker for the last hour.

And I tell Ray, "You better be there."

Here comes the spot. We start walking out.

And Vince elbowed me, "Where's Boss Man?"

I look and I- Oh, shit.

[crowd chatter]

[Russo] I'm watching on the monitor.

I know this is Boss Man's spot.

He's standing right next to me in the back.

And I said, "Bro!

You're supposed to be out there!"

The 'holy shit' look on his face.

?

[Gerry] Stone Cold's down.

There's a chair introduced in the ring.

?

There's no Boss Man!

And I look at Vince, Vince said, "Do it."

Mind you, Stone Cold had just come off his injury

from having a broken neck.

So I'm thinking, Brisco, if you hurt this guy,

you're gonna get fired.

[cheering]

[Announcer] Brisco with the chair shot!

?

[Gerry] Oh, shit! That was awful!

When Stone Cold came to the back, man,

he chewed Boss Man out.

[Lacy] I remember Dad being really upset with himself

about that one.

'Cause he really dropped the ball there.

[Gerry] After that spot, his push kind of started just

slowly, slowly dying out, to where he was

just another guy after that.

[Narrator] After a mistake costs Ray

a high profile feud with Steve Austin,

the Boss Man's next storyline shocks audiences...

and his family.

[Announcer] ...is the Hell In A Cell match!

[Jim] At WrestleMania '99, Boss Man got the opportunity

to face the Undertaker in a cage match.

And that would've been great on its own...

[Announcer] [indistinct commentary]

[Jim] But, then, unfortunately

other forces took over.

[Announcer] Tombstone!

[Russo] As a writer, I've got to think of

something that you've never seen before.

And I don't mind when you say, "Holy shit,

I can't believe they're doing that."

[Angela] He called me, he's like, "Hey,

you have to come to WrestleMania." I said, "Why?"

He said, "Because they're gonna do something crazy

and they just want to make sure you're there."

He said, "They're probably gonna hang me."

?

he Undertaker d?

What's he doing?

[Narrator] As the shocking scene unfolds,

Boss Man's family watches from ringside.

[Announcer] He's choking him with that noose!

Referee, do something!

?

[Announcer] We need help!

The Boss Man's being hung from the cell!

[Jim] It was controversial.

You're not supposed to hang people on television

by the neck.

They basically had a public lynching.

[Announcer] Oh, my God!

Let him down!

[Russo] Oh, my God!

Now, that, that I did not know.

That's horrific.

?

[Lacy] I'll never forget

watching my dad hanging there.

And I thought, honestly, was this necessary?

?

[Gerry] Once again, WWE pushing the envelope

until it's just teetering on the edge there.

[Angela] He wasn't happy about the storyline,

but what was he going to do? He has to do it anyway.

[Jim] Of course there was a harness and etc.,

but how do you come back from a hanging?

[Announcer] The Ministry of Darkness is out of control!

[Narrator] After the controversial storyline...

Ray realizes he needs to be honest with his children

about the business.

[Lacy] There did come a point in time where Dad had

to sit me down and explain the industry,

because the storylines that he was wrapped up in

is a nightmare for, for a school-aged child.

[Al] That's the beauty of professional wrestling.

You can get away with anything.

[Announcer] Oh, my!

He just ripped the nose ring out of Droz.

[Al] But what you could get away with then some

would consider, I'm sure bad taste nowadays.

My name is Al Snow. Former WWE superstar.

And I used to wrestle the Big Boss Man.

As Al Snow, my whole character or persona

was that I suffered from schizophrenia,

so I was free to do absolutely anything

to be entertaining.

[Announcer] [indistinct commentary]

[Al] Boss Man and I are feuding.

At one point, Boss Man kidnaps my dog, Pepper.

Not only is it my dog, this is my friend.

[Al] I think the right thing would be

give me back my friend!

[Boss Man] Oh, I am, Al.

[Al] Boss Man says he'll give me the dog back,

but we have to sit down and eat first.

[Boss Man] Will you do me a favor?

Try not get one of them paws stuck in your teeth.

[Al] And then that's when I find out...

[Boss Man] That's right, Al. 100%...

grade A Pepper!

[Al] Oh, no, no, no!

[Al] He chopped it up, cooked it,

and then fed it to me.

[Jim] What the fuck?

[Lacy] How do you explain...

to your friends that your dad didn't chop

some guy's dog up and feed it to him?

[Al] [vomiting]

[Boss Man] Yeah, tastes like chicken.

[Jim] When fans today talk about

the worst moments of wrestling...

[Boss Man] But if I could have a son as stupid as you,

I'd have wished for cancer so I would die too.

[Jim] Fans talk about Big Show's father's funeral.

[screeching tires]

[Gerry] All of a sudden, Big Boss Man's

taking a rope and chain.

[Boss Man] Daddy always wanted to be drag queen,

Big Show.

I'm gonna make him a drag queen right here.

[Gerry] And starts dragging the casket.

[Announcer] He's violent, he's sadistic.

[Gerry] It was sick, but it was great.

[Announcer] Boss Man is sick.

[Lacy] I remember getting mean mugged as a child,

by teenagers, just because of who he was.

They know what to do with that night stick.

[Lacy] It was embarrassing for me.

?

But, at the end of the day, he was trying to get

that check to feed his family.

[Announcer] Oh, look out!

[Lacy] I remember being horrified,

seeing him have a glass busted over his head.

[Announcer] Oh!

[Lacy] And the glass doesn't shatter how it's supposed to.

He can't play with us

'cause he's so beat up from the road that,

that we're bringing in ice packs for him around

the clock and he's just in immense amount of pain.

[Angela] He started self-medicating,

and then he figured out, "Well,

I can work as long as I have medicine."

?

[Nick] The big thing was these things called Somas.

They don't make you quit hurting,

they just make you not care.

[Angela] Somas is a muscle relaxer, and they,

they were mixing them with the pain pills.

And if you didn't eat,

you would fall over in your plate.

To someone who doesn't know what's going on,

you would think they're dying.

?

[Angela] It was really heart breaking because

I never seen Ray like this.

Not having control.

Excuse me.

[Sighing]

[Jim] All the guys are taking something at some point.

But with Bubba, he wasn't a party guy.

I wouldn't have ever dreamed

he had any life threatening problem.

[Lacy] I remember just being so mad at him

when it got like that.

And I remember him talking to me about it

and apologizing.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm in pain."

ite his i,

Ray continues to work a full-time schedule,

increasing his dependency on prescription pain killers.

[Angela] Ray probably couldn't walk

without pain meds at this point.

His back was out, his knees hurt him.

I mean, he was just in such bad shape.

Whenever he goes back on the road,

he starts hitting the medicine really heavy.

[Narrator] Ray's addiction is fueled by prescriptions

from doctors across the country.

[Nick] Back before there was a database,

we had doctors everywhere. So, one guy,

"Hey, I got a guy in Atlanta," bah-bah- boom.

[Angela] I knew Dr. Astin when I was in my early 20s.

He was a, a diet pill doctor.

?

[Angela] And I guess Ray must have asked him

to write pain pills.

Well, I think he was kind of a wrestling fan,

because he would write whatever they told him.

[Lacy] A pill pusher, a drug dealer.

[Angela] You're giving this man 150 Somas,

150 pain pills, testosterone too, you know,

I mean, whatever you want.

[Lacy] It's like, you have the money...

people let you do what you want,

and I think that's disgusting.

[Nick] You can talk to all the Atlanta guys

from WCW or WWE,

there's a ton of 'em that came through there.

So many of 'em are in the graveyard right now.

?

[Angela] And I knew Chris was going there.

[Angela] Benoit.

[News] New charges for the Georgia doctor who treated

a pro wrestler who killed himself and his family.

Dr. Phil Astin was charged Thursday in a new 175-count

federal indictment with conspiracy and

improperly dispensing drugs.

[Lacy] If I could say something to Dr. Astin,

I think I would ask him if he knew.

Did you know that this medication

was as addictive as it is?

Did they ever tell them,

"Hey, you're gonna get physiologically dependent

upon this chemical and it's gonna be hell on you

to come off of"?

"Did you know that...

people were gonna get hurt?"

[Narrator] In 2003, Ray's contract expires,

leaving him searching for a new line of work.

[Angela] A lot of people don't know this, but

he ran for commissioner for Paulding County.

The night of the election,

Ray was messed up on pills.

He couldn't even hardly walk,

but everybody protected him.

And that was just a breaking point for me.

We separated.

[Narrator] As Ray continues battling addiction,

a long-time friend succumbs to theirs.

[Announcer] Mr. Perfect!

[Nick] Your heart can only take so much of

certain things, you know.

And, you know, we lost Curt.

?

[Angela] When Curt died, that really bothered him a lot.

There was definitely Somas involved in it.

[Nick] When somebody like Curt Hennig passes away...

you would think that that would be a wakeup call.

But...

look at how many passed away since then.

That's how strong that stuff is

[Announcer] Terri did her damage,

distracting Mark Mero. And right here, boom!

Oh, man!

[Terri] Unless you were in our world back in the day,

in the late 80s, the 90s,

Attitude Era, you just have no clue.

Hi, everyone. I am Terri Runnels,

and Big Boss Man, Ray Traylor,

is one of my dearest friends.

The reason we have so many deaths in our industry,

I believe, is because we don't have an off-season.

If you are injured,

then you lose your spot.

And then somebody else comes in and takes your spot,

and takes your money, basically.

[indistinct commentary]

[Lacy] With these guys in that era and

the amount of pain that they were in,

it was just a by-product of the industry.

And sacrificing your body to the sport like that.

[Nick] You have to make that decision.

Am I gonna live or am I gonna die?

?

[Lacy] After Curt passed away,

he had a change of perspective.

[Angela] He wasn't a lost cause.

He loved his family enough that

he was willing to do what he had to.

He said, "Can I come back home?"

He wanted us to renew our vows and start all over.

And that was just perfect.

And then, I never saw him get messed up again.

[Narrator] Returning to his family,

Ray maintains his sobriety,

despite struggling with chronic pain.

[Angela] He was sitting on- in front of the TV-

his knees was hurting.

He could not stop his knees from hurting.

He told the girls, you know, "Daddy's hurting,

and I'll be up there in about 30 minutes to tuck y'all."

So, I went on up there and I read to the girls.

One of them wanted something to drink.

?

[Angela] So when I go down the stairs,

he was just laying back like this in the seat.

You know, I didn't think anything about it

except for the color.

His color just didn't look right.

?

[Lacy] I'll never forget it, when we heard Mom scream.

?

[Angela] Got the phone, I'm calling 911.

She's telling me I gotta get him out of the chair

and put him flat on the ground.

I'm like, "You don't know what you're asking."

She said, "I don't care what you gotta do,

you gotta get him flat on the ground."

?

[Lacy] I had just learned CPR

in health class that week,

and so, I started chest compressions.

?

[Lacy] I just remember hoping that

I'm compressing hard enough.

And just...

you know, saying to God in your head...

"Please let him live."

?

[Lacy] Like, it's like I could...

like, taste his last breath on my, my mouth.

?

[Lacy] And I knew in that moment...

that- [Sighing]-

that my life changed forever.

On September 22nd 2004,

at 41 years of age,

Ray Traylor dies of a heart attack.

[Angela] Of course, his whole family have

all died of heart issues really young.

?

[Lacy] You have survivor's guilt, right?

Is it my fault? Did I do it right?

People would say to me, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Or, "I know how you feel." No, you don't.

You, you don't.

[Jim] Bubba Rogers!

Bubba's an old friend of the Cornette family from

Louisville, Kentucky, and he's been a friend

for a long time!

Me and The Midnight Express were like

a week away from our first reunion.

?

And he died like the week before the first one we did.

?

Gimme a second.

?

The baddest man in the world,

Big Bubba Rogers!

?

1986 was my favorite year in wrestling because...

I was with my friends, The Midnight Express,

and Bubba became the fourth member.

[Announcer] Watch out, Bubba!

[Jim] We were both early 20s,

making a fucking fortune.

[Announcer] He's gonna win that cage match, baby.

[Jim] Living our dream.

And, I think that was just my favorite time

'cause I don't know that it was that fun anymore

after that.

I liked that fucking guy.

?

[Lacy] I was so traumatized by his death.

It took me over a decade to...

to even be able to, like,

think about his wrestling career.

I felt robbed a little bit

'cause I was so young when he passed away.

For a long time, I felt angry.

I really, really got

cynical there for a little bit.

I'm amazed that I've made it, like,

to the age I am now.

I've struggled, I've overcome stuff,

I've messed up...

and had to fix it.

I'm grateful that in spite of my trauma,

it doesn't define me.

I work in the behavioural health space.

We like to say addiction

is the opposite of connection.

I used to worry that speaking about

the struggle that he had,

that people would hate me for it.

But now I really realize that

it's important to talk about.

It's a part of his story, and it's a part of my story,

because... it was hard.

[Angela] The teachable story here is that there's always

a comeback if you want it, you know.

And it lets people know they can change.

?

[Lacy] I never thought I would've liked wrestling.

But, really, I would say into my 20s,

it clicked for me.

? If you ever take a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia ?

? You better read the signs... ?

[Lacy] In 2016, for the Hall of Fame,

my coworkers' like, "Big Boss Man's your dad?"

And I was like, "Yeah."

And they were like, "That is so cool!"

And I was like, "Wait, y'all-

you guys think this is cool?"

I want to start off by just saying thank you to

all the fans for keeping

Dad's memory alive all these years.

As you grow older, and you have hindsight,

how blessed am I to have gotten to share him

with so many people?

[cheering]

[Angela] When Ray went into the ring, he had the stick.

But when he came home, he had his heart.

And he loved his family.

And, everyone that knew Ray

knows how he loved his family.

[Ray] Say, Mommy and Daddy love you.

[Angela] The thing I miss most is, with Ray,

is the fact that, he smiles, everyone smiles.

Any time that goes by that you have a Ray

conversation that you don't remember something funny.

[Ray] Now that is a butt.

[Laughing]

[Lacy] Yeah. God, I love his laugh.

[Laughing]

[Ray & Lacy laughing]

[Al] I think Ray's legacy in the wrestling business

is that he'll be one of those all-time villains,

and a wonderful human being.

[Laughing] Even though Ray fed me my dog,

I still think he was a great guy.

[Jim] The Big Boss Man should be remembered by all the fans

and the kids who liked him and looked up to him...

law, order, and justice.

I remember Bubba.

?

[Jim] To me, he was just a great guy.

?

[Angela] Ray Traylor, if I could speak to you today,

I would tell you how much I love you,

and we still love you, and you still

make us laugh and you always will.

[Lacy] I love ya. Um, and thank you.

[Angela] Thank you for being such a wonderful person.

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