Big Boss Man vs Nailz - Forgotten Classic?

[IrishCanadian25]

At Survivor Series in 1992, The Big Boss Man entered one of his better feuds from a largely forgettable career - against an ex-convict known simply as Nailz. The Nailz character represented one of the most brutal debuts of all time, and a storyline that was very socially interesting - the concept of the correctability of a convict and the question of the treatment of convicts in a jail. Here's the Nailz debut:

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They started with freaky voiceovers of Nailz telling Bossman he was out of the slammer, and threatening to come after him. Well, lord knows he did just that.

The match, as mentioned, culminated in a "Knightstick on a Pole Match" at Survivor Series 1992. The pay per view, incidentally, was criticized being the first Survivor Series to abandon the 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 tag team elimination matches. But with the lengthy build-up and a match stipulation that told a good story, is the folloing match a forgotten classic?

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[RBH]

wait a minute, The Bossman was once a face? I'm sorry I know this makes me sound ******ed but I only began watching in 98 and you could understand that I have never seen him as a face. From 98 until he died, he has been a heel. I did not know he could be a good face.

But back to the subject, that was a good debut and it showed a very good angle going on. It had a the police guard and then it had the convict. It will a brilliant storyline and brilliant way to debut a superstar witha proper gimmic. These days, you do not usually have a the proper anti-gimmic to someone's gimmic and at that time, it was just perfect. RIP Ray taylor. He was a good wrestler that entartained many even if his career was less than stellar.

Nailz I do not know much about but from what I see, that was a good debut and if he made that debut today, he could be big. The things that could have been. This match does seem like a forgotten classic simply because not too many modern fans or even fans who grew up during the attitude era did not know who Nailz was. It seemed like a good match at the time and maybe can be ranked as a forgotten classic.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

The build-up was good. The match itself was very decent. Not bad for a *insert object here* on a pole match. Usually these types of matches are highly disappointing. But with the good build up of this match and the way these guys pulled of their characters, they made this match entertaining. Once again though I don't feel as though it is good enough to be considered a forgotten classic, as there wasn't anything really classic about it. It was just another match that had a decent story behind it.

 

[Big Fella]

That match to me is classic trash.

If anything, the backstage story is way better.

Nailz was pissed about an $8,000 payoff for the match, and choked Vince McMahon as a result.

Obviously he was fired.

He later served as a witness against McMahon is his steroid trial. He admitted while on the stand that he "hated" McMahon, his testimony is considered more harmful than helpful to the prosecution's case.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Loved this whole angle. I remembere the piece they did on it in WWE Magazine. They showed Boss Man covered in bruises after his beating from Nailz. I never thought that wrestling was legit. But at that young age, and with those images I nearly changed my mind. They looked brutal. Today it wouldn't have the same effect though. Make up is overused these days.

Even the match was good. Boss Man wasn't the best worker, but I was always a fan. Nailz from what I saw in squash matches was pretty poor. But they managed to have a good match at Survivor Series. It's possible the greatest Pole match ever in fact. Not saying much, but it's still pretty good.

I used to think that 1997 was the best year in WWE, I'm now starting to think it could be 1992.

 

[Slim Pickns]

Nailz is one of those guys who gets a ton of shit today because he was bad in the ring (and crazy as hell), but he played his role in this feud well. That is all he really needed to do, he was never going to be anything other than the prisoner who got out and came after Bossman. The rumored Warrior feud wouldn't have worked because Boss Man had already disposed of him. So while, in retrospect Nailz looks like complete shit, he was really only doing what he was told, beat the shit out of Boss Man.

The Big Boss Man may not have been one of the best workers, but his charisma and character kept him over for a lot longer than anyone could have guessed. That had people attentions going into this match. He had been brutally beaten with his own nightstick by the guy who's creepy voice we had been hearing for weeks.

The match was all that it could be. Again, it will get crapped on because its not a technical masterpiece, but this was meant to be a fight, not a wrestling match. The story carried it well and Boss Man's emotion was enough to keep people into it. The only drawback, is none of those aspects carry well over time.

 

[The Dungeon]

Anyone who watched the WWF in 1992, at least in my opinion, remembers that feud!

Nailz...as bad as he was, was a great character! At least I thought so...I don't know why people rag on him outside of his lack of workrate. But as well know...workrate isn't always the most important thing in WWF/E. But yeah...I still enjoyed the feud...I remember, being horrified at the beating he gave Bossman on "Superstars"...and the INSANE promo Bossman cut when he came back!! Really good stuff I thought....

The match was good enough for what it was....meaning that yeah, sure, the guys involved weren't the greatest (when Bossman was on, he could really pull of some good stuff)...but in terms of getting to the final goal of the feud, they did everything right!