Wrestling MarketWatch: The Big Men!

You may not realize it today, but years ago wrestling was a big man’s business. Some promoters lived by the mantra that in order to get a push you had to be noticeable walking through an airport. A head-turner, if you will. There is some truth to that. I think too many of today’s stars look like your average joe walking down the street. But seeing as that the visual of a “big man” wrestler is a major part of the attraction, that obviously translates well into merchandising. In the latest edition of Wrestling MarketWatch we’re going to revisit some of the classic big men of wrestling and maybe even a modern one. As always, recently sold prices quoted are for unsigned examples unless otherwise noted.

*Big men weren’t always lumbering giants. Many had the athleticism of wrestlers a third of their size. Many arguments have been made that the most athletic wrestling big man of all-time was Big Van Vader. Not really hitting his stride in wrestling until a stint in Japan, it’s easy to see why the hard-fighting mastadon did so well over there. “Strong style” isn’t just a catchphrase. Vader, without a doubt, had his most successful years in the business as part of World Championship Wrestling. He honestly may have seen more merchandise there than his less-than-successful WWF run just a few years later. During his tenure at WCW the company had a comic book published by Marvel. Vader made the cover of Issue 12 which recently sold for $20.

*Another mid-‘90s bohemoth was the man known as Mabel. Originally part of the tag team “Men On A Mission,” Mabel would get to the top of the card as “King Mabel” and eventually adopt other monikers such as Viscera and Big Daddy V. He was just as frightening as Vader albeit in a different way. His consistent mass caused audiences to wow whenever the man known as Mabel took to the ring. Before sadly passing away in 2014, Nelson Frazier had quite a career that rarely saw him fully out of the spotlight. He eventually saw action figures under every gimmick name that he had, but the Jakks WWE Classic Superstars figure of King Mabel has been selling at an average of $55.

*One big man who may have been one of the WIDEST wrestlers to ever grace the ring was the late, great King Kong Bundy. The villain of WrestleMania 2, Bundy gained attention wherever he want. Looking like a classic movie brute, or even monster, Bundy eventually left the wrestling business for a small career in Hollywood. In real life, Bundy was a genuinely nice guy who seemed to enjoy his times at the many conventions that he attended over the years. He, along with Junkyard Dog, were the first two wrestling names that I ever remember knowing. At the height of “Bundymania,” King Kong Bundy appeared on the cover of WWF Magazine in September 1986. The issue recently sold for $30 which is up from $17 when the issue was last featured in MarketWatch five years ago.

*How about a little giant? Nothing about Andre the Giant was little, but some of his merchandise could fit that bill. One of the smallest versions of Andre is the Wrestling Superstars Clip-On from HB Toys. The design greatly resembles that of the first LJN Wrestling Superstars Andre figure. The original packaging for these clip-ons even has the LJN Wrestling Superstars logo and color scheme. Hulk Hogan was also done in this form. While no other characters were produced, HB Toys couldn’t go wrong with those two names. Andre himself recently sold for $17 out of the package.

*One man who has carried the tradition of wrestling big men into the modern era is Braun Strowman. A true giant in every sense of the word, Strowman is not just a “big man” but a “monster among men.” WWE surprisingly let him go during one of their talent purges of the past few years, but the immense superstar recently made it back into the company. Strowman also found his way into one of the earlier Mattel WWE Retro figure waves when the company was still including modern talent. The figure, autographed, recently sold for $100. Monster, indeed!

Quite the variety of gargantuan grapplers. I did originally intend to include three little items featuring The Twin Towers – Akeem and the Big Boss Man, however none have seemingly been sold lately! The items are three cards from the 1989 WWF Classic series. Most collectors are familiar with the 1990 release where the only cards of Akeem and the Boss Man are their single cards. The earlier 1989 set featured those as well as three cards of the twosome as The Twin Towers tag team. When the more widely available set showed up on shelves in 1990 the team had already broken up and the cards were replaced. I wouldn’t necessarily call them rare but I’m always intrigued at their going price since many fans aren’t even aware that they exist. Towers or not, this was a MarketWatch of epic proportions!