The Context 

Bruce Prichard said that he didn’t know any backstage politics held Bigelow back in 1995 (I.e, The Kiq), but that he’s not sure Bigelow ran with the babyface turn opportunity after losing to Lawrence Taylor. He also said that they turned Shawn Michaels, and he did run with the ball. 

Meltzer reported Lawrence Taylor telling a fan that wrestling was the biggest mistake of his career. Prichard said Taylor had nothing but positive to say while he was there, and doubts LT said that. 

Finally, Meltzer reported that locker room morale was low, and Conrad Thompson asked Bruce whether he agreed. Prichard did and talked about the low payoffs at that time because the business was struggling. 

Analysis 

In 2015, LT did tell Ric Flair that he enjoyed wrestling, and that what really pushed him into accepting was meeting Bam Bam Bigelow. It’s also true that LT lost his studio analyst gig at TNT after Mania and filed a lawsuit, believing he was fired because Turner owned WCW and TNT and Taylor worked for Vince. It is possible he made the statement about wrestling and his career closer to when the match happened. 

One interesting aspect of the morale question was Bruce’s answer about payoffs. Money was getting tighter throughout the card as the Kliq grew more potent. That had to make the heat with other guys even more intense, because they’re perceived as holding the top positions while lower positions were paying less than ever. 

Finally, the summary of Bigelow’s turn – I wholeheartedly disagree with that statement. Shawn got turned the night after Mania, and he was put right in the middle of a program where he was reunited with the WWF champion, Diesel. The Bigelow babyface turn came a few weeks after Shawn’s, so it was already diminished by happening that close to HBK’s. Meanwhile, Shawn won the IC title at the July IYH, beating Jeff Jarrett, and was put into position to steal the show again at Summerslam with a ladder rematch against Razor Ramon. Bigelow did work a tag main event at KOTR with Diessl against Sid and Tatanka, but the program and show were flat. Shawn and Diesel had already been re-established as friends, and Shawn’s heat should have been with Sid after Sid turned on him, so the Bigelow pairing didn’t make a ton of sense. Bam Bam also worked with Tatanka and King Kong Bundy, former stablemates, in singles matches at house shows after Mania. He was down to beating Henry Godwinn at the July PPV and didn’t even have a match at Summerslam that year. The following month, he was putting over the British Bulldog to get Bulldog ready for a title shot. I’m not sure where they really felt like they positioned Bigelow correctly in comparison to Shawn. 

The Clip 

Please watch the clip below.