411’s Dark Side of The Ring Report: ‘Bam Bam Bigelow: The Beast from the East’

-This is one of the ones I have been looking forward to since they released the lineup for this season. Bam Bam burst on the scene for me during my childhood when he popped up just before WrestleMania IV. Like most kids I thought it was cool that he had flames on his head. I am ready for this one, so let’s get to it.

-As a reminder, Chris Jericho is the narrator for this season.

-The opening has some talking heads you would expect: Taz, DDP, and Shane Douglas. Dave Meltzer notes Bigelow wasn’t just rookie of the year, but was phenomenon of the year.

-We start with his sons and yeah, you can see the resemblance. They show off a calendar he had that had all his bookings and where he would be. We meet his ex-wife, Dana Breckenridge, who notes Bammer was happier to find out he was going to be a father than any WrestleMania Main Event. Good! He had his two boys, but he always wanted a daughter and we meet her next. Ricci Bigelow is the daughter of Bammer and tells us that it was nothing but love when her father was around.

-The first memory of her dad is the last time she saw him. She was only 2-3 years old and they were driving and his head dropped and didn’t come back up. She went into panic mode and told her dad she needed to go to bathroom. That woke Bammer up but it started to happen again. They pulled into a diner and when her car door opened a man picked her up and put her in the back of a gray car. She watched as the police took her father away in cuffs. Her mom was called and picked her up gently and told her she likely wasn’t going to see daddy anymore as he needed help. That was the last time she saw him. We aren’t even waiting to get to the heavy, heart-breaking stuff this week! Dana notes Bammer wanted to be a wrestler, but wanted to be a father more. She isn’t sure if wrestling took everything away or the outside influences.

-Back to his kids looking at a yearbook and we see a photo of Bammer with hair. His son notes that was probably the last time he had hair. Bammer grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey and everything was about Bruce Springsteen. Bammer (Scott Bigelow) was a street kid from Neptune, who hung out in the bars of New Jersey and drove muscle cars. They were all street kids that didn’t have any idea what they wanted to do so none of them went to college.

-DDP says the party spot was The Jersey Shore (fist pump, yes, I know that’s not the Jersey Shore they partied, but I like the show. Sue me!) and he was in charge of a club on The Shore. Near the Club was a bar and he ran into this massive kid doing shots and he was only 17, but nobody cared as he looked like a full grown man. Bammer was known as The Beast of the East even back then. He was a wrestler and a football player. He was 320 lbs at 17 and could bench press 500 lbs. There was no weight limit for heavyweight back then, so Bammer was basically a freak show on the mat.

-Shane Bigelow is Bammer’s son and tells a story of his dad rolling his ankle. The coach told him to just get up on the scale and look mean. He scared the kid and the kid forfeited which gave Bammer’s school the win. Awesome! Bammer and his brother would jump off billboards and land on a pile of mattresses.

-DDP heard a rumor that Bigelow got into a fight and bit someone’s ear off. Whether true or not, it is all part of his legend in Jersey. Taz introduces himself and puts over how tough Bammer was and that he has heard every legend about Bigelow and he believes all of them.

-We meet the other son and his name is Scott Colton Bigelow. Keep that man away from CM Punk! He knows that his father was a bounty hunter for a short time. We got old audio from Bammer talking about his bounty hunting days. He saw an ad for it when he was 19 and ended up going to Mexico to get a little girl that was kidnapped. In all the craziness his partner was shot in the neck and killed and he ended up in a Mexican prison for six months. The judge became friends with Bigelow and offered him a deal to be security to keep him safe from cartels. Apparently their cells couldn’t contain Bigelow either as the walls were so thin he could run through them. The Judge let Bigelow out early for protecting him during court when people tried to attack him.

-Shane Douglas is next and he tells the story of Bigelow running into a house to save a family from a fire. Shane says a lot of the stories sound like TV movies, but he finds all of them plausible. He notes the legend of Bammer was passed down with the boys.

-Back to DDP as he saw Bigelow again in 1981 when he rolled into his club. He told Bammer no trouble tonight and Bammer told him he would never do that. They started talking about wrestling and Page noted he tried it in 1979 and had three matches before hurting his knee. Bammer wanted to get into wrestling and says he had no college education but his gift was being athletically-inclined. He went to Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory.

-That brings us to Dave Meltzer to talk about Larry Sharpe and when Bigelow walked in the door he saw money, like everyone else. Bammer basically lived in The Factory for a year and Taz recalls seeing him working out there and he was impressive. Dana calls wrestling a double edge sword as it gave Bammer his life and took his life.

-Commercials!

-We get some cool footage of Bigelow working in The Monster Factory. They mention they name came from Larry and was based off Bam Bam from The Flintstones. We touch on the iconic head tattoo with the flames and we see video of it being done. Cool! Taz says it just sent a message to fans and other wrestlers, “that’s a bad dude.”

-Dave Meltzer brings up Paul Heyman and how he was doing wrestling magazines. Paul was hyping up Bigelow like crazy in his magazine and this was before Bigelow ever had a match. Paul ran publicity for Studio 54 and had a gig for Bigelow’s first match. Dave saw it and felt Bigelow was going to be the biggest star in the business as he was a monster jumping off the top rope. Dana says she just saw wrestling as work and didn’t realize how big it was until Bigelow made it to the WWF. DDP was floored when he saw Bigelow wrestling on TV and next thing he knew, Bigelow was with Hulk Hogan in the WWF. “Oh my God, he made it.”

-Vince McMahon saw money as well and wanted to make Bigelow the next big thing. They had all the managers fighting over him. He was brought in to be Hogan’s tag team partner and to work with all the top guys. Bigelow says Hogan is the one that taught him the business and told him how serious it was.

-Dana notes they married Nov 15, 1987 and Bigelow went on the road Nov 16, 1987. He proposed while they were watching TV and she said yes. She jokes that the marriage probably lasted so long and she has nothing bad to say because she only saw him ten times a year. Bigelow talks about working 60 days in a row and doing two shows on the weekends. It was life in the fast lane. Dana says it was cool to see him on TV and mentions Bigelow was in the first Nintendo Game. I loved that game as a kid with it’s three side of ring ropes.

-Shane Douglas talks about what it means to be World Champion and how it took him 11 years to get there. Bam Bam was injected at the top of the card with Hogan early and he could see how that could be intimidating. Dave notes that Bigelow didn’t have to crawl his way up and because of that some veterans were jealous.

-Enter Andre The Giant! He and Bigelow had a match at MSG and Andre legit choked him with the top rope and Bammer is worried Andre is going to kill him. He just didn’t want to pass out in MSG.

-Commercials!

-Dave notes it was a bad night at the office for Bigelow. Andre was there to test Bam Bam and let him know he needed to pay his dues. That was it for Bigelow during that run in the WWF. He worked the Independent scene and then got a big money offer to work in Japan. They love their monsters! It was better for the family as he was in Japan for two weeks and then home for two weeks.

-WWE came calling again and Bammer came back to get back in the US full-time and because they offered a lot of money. Bigelow was more mature and was ready to come back. His sons show off his ring gear from when Bigelow returned in 1992.

-We jump to WrestleMania XI when Bigelow is booked to face Lawrence Taylor in the main event. Man, am I dumb as they just spelled out something I missed: Taylor played for The Giants who play their home games in Jersey. Taylor is noted here was a hero of Bigelow and he was blown away that he would be wrestling him. Dave: “This was not a match for wrestling fans. This was a match for the general public.” Oh Dave! The idea was all the exposure would make Bigelow’s name bigger and he could become the big star. Dana notes that Bammer made more for that match than some people do in a year. His son says he has seen people complain it was the worst Mania Main Event of all time. If anyone is saying that they are insane. We have had many worse matches close the show than that. Bigelow carried LT to a fine match and did what a pro needed to do.

-Bigelow mentions that Vince hated if people were hurt, so you tried to work through it. This leads to a rundown of his injuries and surgeries. Dana didn’t worry as it was his job and she didn’t think of the lasting effects it would have. She understood that if Bammer was hurt and couldn’t work, he would be passed up.

-Dave brings up pain pills and DDP says it was part of the scene and wasn’t seen as a big deal at the time. They mention Vince tested for marijuana and PED, but if you had a prescription you were good. Douglas admits he had a problem with OXY and Taz says too many peers left this world way too early. Bigelow was also a diabetic and needed pills to keep him working. Dana says they should have just put heroin in a bottle and called it OXY. She believes Bammer was addicted before he even finished his first bottle.

-Commercials!

-After a three year run the WWE, Bigelow jumps to ECW. Part of the reason he went is because it was smaller and most of the shows were local in Jersey, NY, and PA. We get a brief rundown of ECW and their crazy fans and hardcore style. His son notes ECW was too Hardcore for him and another son tells a story of being trucked and punched by a fan when he was ten. The fan was found and Taz saw what went down when he was brought backstage. He calls it a quasi-conversation. “So you want to hit kids….*punch*.” Taz: “I don’t know how else to put it, but it was very bad.” Taz notes ECW as the land of misfit toys and you had to be tough to work in ECW.

-Taz vs. Bigelow: Asbury Park! Heyman calls Taz and says Bigelow is beating him for the belt and putting him through the ring. Paul asks Taz what he thought and his reaction: “I am going to die.” HA! Taz gives us a rundown of how the ring is put together and ruins the magic of going through the ring. He then admits he feels dirty explaining this on air. I am there with you Taz! Bigelow’s concern was how Taz’s head was going to keep from hitting the frame of the ring. They get the signal the door is open and Taz says if you watch closely Bigelow reaches for the rope and he feels for a small piece of white tape. That tape was the spot to go backwards as it would make it safe for Taz to clear and not crack his head. Just lay it all out there Taz! Credit to Bigelow for thinking that through and thinking of Taz where other shows would just tell them to do it and you’ll be fine. Taz was relieved they pulled it off and Bigelow’s first question was if Taz was okay. They then started laughing as the crowd was popping like crazy. Bigelow gets the win in front of his home crowd and Taz notes he still gets goosebumps talking about it. Bigelow: “I am surprised nobody died in ECW.”

-Dana and the sons go over Bammer’s injuries. He had stenosis of the spine and crushed discs. He had sections of his back fused. Pills allowed him to go out and make money for his family. Taz saw Bammer struggling some, but he hid it well. He didn’t let on about his injuries and was all go when it came time to wrestle.

-Dana says Bigelow was never aggressive or angry, but the pills started doing things to him. They would argue over the prescription pills. He would be prescribed hundreds of pills and Dana says the doctor was a fan and would do anything Scott wanted. Dana called the doctor and told him to stop giving him scripts, but he would go to Bam Bam and rat her out. “Scott sold his sold for OXY and would have stepped over us in the street to get them.”

-Commercials!

-The addiction gets worse as we see parts of a news report about Oxy and how doctors were prescribing them as a side business. Dana gets pregnant with Ricci and Bammer tells her it will be different. He would sleep on his daughter’s floor every night. Every Wednesday he would pick her up and do whatever she wanted. His kids note when he was with them, he was 100% a dad and loved them.

-We see some of the movie roles that Bigelow filmed as a way to make more money. MAJOR PAYNE! He would tell his kids he was the highest paid loser in the world. He didn’t care about losing as long as he was paid well. We see his run back in WCW in the late 90s and early 2000s. DDP says he helped get Bigelow into WCW and they became Tag Team Champions together. He doesn’t think Bigelow was ever under the influence while in the ring. He talks about how guys forgot if they took pills and then 5 don’t help, so you take seven.

-Bammer became a liability, so WCW paid him his contract to stay home as he started missing shows. His son believes his dad was taking 15-20 OXY a day. Wow!

-That takes us back to where we started. Ricci wrote a paper in 8th grade about the incident and read it the night before this interview. She remembers the officers asking her questions and all she cared about is her dad. Going back it hit harder as she knows what her father was doing and the problem he had. Bigelow refused to get help and it lead to a divorce with his wife. He moved to Florida away from his kids as he was more concerned about drugs. Shane tells as story of being on Spring Break and going to Tampa with his friends, but he really went to see his father. Bammer’s girlfriend answers the phone and says he is unavailable. The son flew home and Bammer called to apologize. He told his dad how he felt and then Bammer died three weeks later.

-Dana was teaching and got a call at work from Todd (Bammer’s brother) that “he’s gone.” Shane was in college and got a call from Bammer’s childhood friend that his father had passed away. DDP breaks down and says it rocked him.

-Bammer died of an accidental overdose and Dana notes those words should never go together. “You took one too many? You have been taking one too many for a long time.” She has a point!

-Commercials!

-NEXT WEEK: BASH AT THE BEACH 2000! LET’S GO!

-Bam Bam Bigelow passes away at 45! Dana says she couldn’t be weak as she had kids. The kids know their mother was protecting them from seeing their dad in the condition he was. Douglas thinks that since Bammer didn’t reach out he must have felt he had it under control. Taz says it is sad because his kids lost their father at a young age.

-The producer asks Dana what she would say to Scott if he was here. “You motherfucker! But through years of therapy, I know you had no control. It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you.” She says Scott would expect her to call him a “motherfucker” first. Dana notes she signed all the rights over to the kids so they get all the royalties. This woman is great!

-They talk Bam Bam’s legacy and how he needs to remembered as that 1% and not for the way he died.

-This was great and one of my favorite episodes of the series. Dana was fantastic and she was honest and raw about her opinions of the business, and what her husband did. You can tell the children adored their father and your heart breaks for them as well. Taz was amazing and I need more him on this show. DDP is always great and Douglas added a good bit as well. Dave was there for the history and that’s what he does well. The stories of legend about Bigelow in Jersey were fun and I loved the footage of him training at The Monster Factory. Just a fantastic episode and well worth the watch. I would say it is a cautionary tale, but we all know this thing is going to keep happening in wrestling even as they continue to try to clear up the drug use. Thanks for reading!