YouTubular: “Scrap Iron” Bill Ford

From another recent suggestion, we have a late eighties-early nineties WCW jobber. I couldn’t find out much more about him, but his nickname is cool enough to warrant a column. He kind of looks like a cross between Dutch Mantell and Fidel Castro.

“Scrap Iron” Bill Ford vs. Junkyard Dog
Video Length: 4:24
Link

A natural match-up, too bad there’s not a wrestler named “Discarded Fridge” or “Car Compactor.” This is from “NWA Pro Wrestling” with Spanish commentary. Ford apparently doesn’t watch much wrestling, because he immediately goes after JYD’s head and hurts his hand. Dog blocks a punch and knocks Ford to the floor. JYD slingshots Ford in from the apron and goes for the crawling headbutts, but Ford bails. Ford comes back in and Dog controls with a clothesline and an arm wringer. Ford makes the ropes to break. Ford hits JYD a few times, but he’s selling as well as Betamax. Dog gets an atomic drop and Ford begs off. Dog yanks Ford out of the corner and hits the Thump. JYD throws Ford to the floor and hits a tope…nah, I’m kidding. Back in, Ford futilely slugs away until JYD gets bored and hits a series of headbutts for the finish. DUD. JYD was really on the downside of his career here as he was unmotivated and just going through the motions.

“Scrap Iron” Bill Ford vs. the Juicer
Video Length: 4:20
Link

This is from “WCW Saturday Night” in Sept. 1990. The Juicer is Art Barr doing a Beetlejuice gimmick. A bunch of little kids in makeup come to the ring with him. One of the kids gets in the ring and Juicer takes his shirt off. The kid flexes and Ford sells it. Commentators are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle. JR says it’s the Juicer’s debut.

Ford works an arm wringer to start while Juicer gets his baby powder over the ring. Juicer reveres and Ford slings him down. Juicer kips up and Ford throws him back down. Juicer springboards off the ropes into an arm drag. He hits a few more and then slides to the floor to steal a Coke from a fan and thumb his nose at Ford. At least, Barr was having fun in the gimmick. Ford hits the floor and Juicer throws the Coke in his face. Better than a cup of coffee. Juicer then goes back into the ring to hit a tope…not kidding this time. Ford takes back over inside the ring and hangs Juicer out to dry on the top rope. Juicer gets serious and takes off his jacket. Ford telegraphs a backdrop and eats a face jam. Juicer hits a superkick and a flying forearm off the ropes. Juicer wins with a top rope Thesz Press. It was a really disjointed match with Juicer hitting random spots, but not really putting a match together.

“Scrap Iron” Bill Ford vs. Ranger Ross
Video Length: 7:16
Link

The clip starts with Sting, Lex Luger and Terry Funk talking about cuming. To be honest, it’s coming, as in Halloween Havoc is coming, but I couldn’t resist. The pun is hard to work in writing. Also coming out on VHS is Great American Bash ’89. 1989 WCW is my favorite year of wrestling for any company. We then cut to Jim Ross and Jim Cornette. Cornette says one day Bill Ford will be the World Heavyweight Champion…not kidding. However, he also contributed $5,000 to the free Leona Helmsley fund and thought the Taggert boys would get off, so don’t believe him. The Taggarts were part of the PTL scandal with Jim Bakker. If you want to know more, e-mail Ask 411 History.

They fight on the ropes to start. Ford knocks Ross down with a couple shoulder blocks. Ross leapfrogs Ford and scores a monkey flip. He gets an arm drag into an arm bar. Ford works up and Ross gets a fireman’s carry takedown while keeping hold of the arm. Ford backs Ross into the ropes and whips him. Ross leapfrogs over a backdrop try and Ford tries a monkey flip, but Ross kicks him in the groin. Nice continuity from earlier. Ross goes back to the arm. Ford hits a backdrop suplex to break. A scoop slam gets two. Ford misses an elbow drop and Ross comes back with pseudo-judo. Ross hits a backdrop and works Ford over in the corners. Ford reverses and whips Ross to the far corner. Ford charges and Ross goes over him with a mule kick. Ford walks into the Combat Kick for the loss. The arm work was filler, but it was a solid back and forth match other than that. ¾*

”Scrap Iron” Bill Ford vs. “Heavy Metal” Van Hammer
Video Length: 5:32
Link

This is from “WCW World Championship Wrestling,” which is a redundant title, from Oct. 1991. Jim Ross goes over the show and mentions this is Hammer’s debut. Heavy metal and scrap iron, two great tastes that taste great together. Hammer’s intro is longer than the match. Ford has his hair cut really short from the above matches.

Ford attacks at the bell, but has a whip reversed and is backdropped as he bounces out of the corner. Hammer follows with a dropkick and a flying shoulder block. Hammer gets a ‘we will rock you’ stomp and clap going. He finishes with a slingshot suplex. DUD. Hammer could move for his size though.

“Scrap Iron” Bill Ford vs. El Gigante
Video Length: 7:12
Link

This is from “WCW WCW” from Nov. 1991. JR is on commentary. Ford has no clue what to do against a guy that big. Gigante whips Ford into the corner and hip tosses him on the bounce out. Gigante works a trapezes hold. Ford runs into a big boot. Gigante follows with a body slam. Gigante forces Ford to the mat with a face claw and pins him. DUD. Gigante was awesome to look at, but limited, so you got him in and out of there quit.

WCW Top Ten for the first week of November 1991
10) Bill Kazmaier
9) Abdullah the Butcher
8) Cactus Jack
7) Z-Man
6) Rick Steiner
5) Dustin Rhodes
4) Barry Windham
3) Ron Simmons
2) Steve Austin
1) Sting
World Champion: Lex Luger

Bonus Match: Z-Man vs. Tony Mella

It was also part of the video clip, what am I to do. The crowd is way behind Zenk. Mella backs Zenk into the corner and breaks clean, so Z-Man shoves him because he’s a dick. Zenk hits some arm drags. He works the arm and rolls over the back into an arm drag. Zenk gets a snap mare into a chin lock. A shoulder block off the ropes gets two. Z-Man follows with a headlock takedown and Mella pulls the hair to get a head scissors. Zenk goes back to the headlock on the mat. Mella works up and into the corner. Z-Man reverses and scores some chops. He whips Mella to the far corner and backdrops Mella on the bounce out. A superkick wins it. ¼* It was there and fairly inoffensive…that’s what she said.

The 411: Ford was a game competitor who unfortunately had to work off of a bunch of slugs. When he got an alright worker in Ranger Ross it was actually a pretty decent match all things considered. Like most YouTubular jobbers, Ford could sell well and work with a variety of grapplers. A solid utility man of which WCW was filled with during the period.
Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]