Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name (The) Big Boss Man, as well as for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the Boss, the Man, the Guardian Angel, and Big Bubba Rogers.

[6] During this time, he faced the likes of Tully Blanchard, The Barbarian, Ivan Koloff, The Midnight Express, The Road Warriors, and Wahoo McDaniel.

As Big Bubba, Traylor was a silent bodyguard for Jim Cornette, who, along with The Midnight Express, was feuding with the James Boys (Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T. A., under masks).

[6] He got a solid push as a seemingly unstoppable heel and feuded with Rhodes (the top face at the time) in a series of Bunkhouse Stampede matches in 1986.

[1][9] Wrestling as a heel and managed by Slick, Boss Man's post-match routine often included handcuffing his defeated opponents to the ring ropes and beating them with a nightstick or ball and chain.

[1] After defeating Koko B. Ware at the inaugural SummerSlam,[10] Boss Man began his first major WWF angle by attacking Hulk Hogan on "The Brother Love Show".

[12] At WrestleMania V, The Twin Towers defeated The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)[11] and then, for most of spring and early summer 1989, feuded with Demolition (Ax and Smash) over the Tag Team Championship.

[1] As a face, Boss Man adopted a new entrance theme called "Hard Times" that was performed by the lead singer of Survivor, Jimi Jamison.

On the May 30 episode of WWF Superstars, Nailz – clad in an orange prison jumpsuit – ran into the ring and attacked Boss Man, handcuffing him to the top rope and repeatedly choking and beating him with the nightstick.

Boss Man took time off TV to sell his (kayfabe) injuries, eventually returning and having a series of matches with Nailz in the latter half of 1992.

On December 4, 1993, he made a one-time return to the WWF as a special guest referee to officiate the main event of a house show in Anaheim, California, between Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett.

[5] On October 12, 1998, he returned to television with a new look, abandoning his blue police shirt for an all-black SWAT-style uniform, including a tactical vest and gloves.

On the November 30, 1998, episode of Raw is War, Big Boss Man defeated Mankind to win the WWF Hardcore Championship.

A few weeks later, Big Boss Man and Shamrock were initially defeated by the WWF Tag Team Champions the New Age Outlaws at the December 1998 pay-per-view Rock Bottom: In Your House; however, on the following day's Raw is War broadcast, Big Boss Man and Shamrock defeated the New Age Outlaws in a rematch to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

At the same Royal Rumble event, Big Boss Man defeated New Age Outlaws member Road Dogg in a non-title match while Big Boss Man's partner Shamrock defeated the other New Age Outlaws member Billy Gunn in a separate singles match.

[27] After the match, The Undertaker hanged him from the roof of the cage (an illusion made possible by a full-body safety harness concealed under Big Boss Man's outfit).

[27] While a video package of the WrestleMania Rage Party was then shown, Big Boss Man had to be safely taken down onto a stretcher so that he could get to a hospital just fine with minor injuries.

[29] Snow's reign was short-lived as Big Boss Man regained the WWF Hardcore Championship on the subsequent episode of SmackDown!.

[30] The object of the match was to escape from the cage and the cell while avoiding "attack dogs" (which turned out to be disappointingly docile) positioned outside the ring.

Big Boss Man held the championship for slightly over three months, although he only defended it sparingly, which included the likes of Al Snow, Faarooq, Kane, and The Godfather.

On the June 5 Raw is War, after losing to The Hardy Boyz and subsequently arguing, Boss Man knocked Buchanan out with his nightstick when his back was turned and the team split up.

In the summer of 2000, Boss Man disappeared from the WWF's primary television shows, wrestling mainly on Jakked and Heat, where he had a minor feud with Crash Holly until suffering a legit injury in April 2001, keeping him out of The Invasion storyline, which featured invading WCW and ECW wrestlers, for much of the year.

On the December 27 episode of SmackDown!, Boss Man and Booker T defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a handicap match.

[5] He wrestled one match for OVW when he teamed with John Cena and Charlie Haas defeating Lance Cade, René Duprée and Sean O'Haire on November 6, 2002.

Traylor's final matches were in the International Wrestling Association of Japan, where he competed in a tournament for the vacant IWA World Heavyweight Championship.

According to The Wrestling Observer, Traylor and his family were visiting with his sister at his home, and while his two daughters went upstairs to play, his wife Angela briefly left the room at about 10:00 p.m., and returned to find him dead on the sofa.