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Does the Big Bossman Deserve a Spot in the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame Class?

Posted: Dec 19th 2012 By: mikeiles

Ray Traylor, AKA Big Bossman, is featured in WWE '13 as a playable character, which speaks to how respected he was in the WWE during his career.

With the road to WrestleMania right around the corner, we are bound to hear more talk about who will and won't be included in this year's WWE Hall of Fame class.

Frankly, the same old names always get discussed and it is getting redundant.

Randy Savage will not be inducted without his whole family with him and Sting won't go in until he is no longer under contract to TNA.

We need to accept those facts and move on.

What we need to look at is the plethora of other names that have been left off the ballots over the years and deserve inclusion.

One of those names is The Big Bossman.

Ray Traylor was not the most successful wrestler (in terms of how many titles he held), but his gimmick is remembered fondly by almost anyone who watched wrestling in the '90s.

Big Bossman was a very recognizable face in the crowd, even without his trademark uniform, and that kind of visibility does not come easy.

Traylor worked for years as both a heel and a babyface in the mid-card scene, having some great feuds along the way.

Unfortunately, the wrestling world lost Ray Traylor in 2004, at the age of 41, from a heart attack.

For someone of his 300-plus pound size, Traylor had incredible quickness and athleticism, which allowed him to be one of the more talented big men of his day.

What needs to be looked at is his overall wrestling career; not simply the number of belts he won or how much money he made.

Guys like Traylor are the lifeblood of the wrestling business.

Not everyone can be a Hulk Hogan, and the business needs guys like Traylor to round out the card and add some diversity to the types of wrestlers being featured.

He was so well-liked by WWE that they essentially created the character of The Mountie as a rival to Bossman. Although, Jacques Rougeau might disagree with that as he held the IC title while playing the Mountie and Bossman was unable to win singles gold during his first WWE run.

Despite Vince McMahon favoring guys with chiseled physiques, Traylor was featured heavily throughout his WWE run, especially during his babyface years.

If you were a '90s kid, then there are probably a handful of WWE names that stick out as being the most memorable gimmicks. And chances are good that one of those names is Big Bossman.

Sure, he may be the guy who suffered the fastest loss in WWE history, but Bob Backlund lost to Diesel in eight seconds and nobody will deny his legendary status in the business.

Bob Backlund being deserving of his own wing in the Hall of Fame is an article for a different day.

Not to take anything away from the talent of James Ware, but If Koko B. Ware has a spot in the Hall of Fame then Ray "Big Bossman" Traylor deserves his own spot as well.

What do you think?

Does Big Bossman deserve to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?