Source: Asbury Park Press
NEPTUNE — Even in death, Scott Bigelow was larger than life.
Hundreds of family, friends and fans of the massive wrestler known the world over as “Bam Bam” paid their final respects to Bigelow on Friday, a week after the 45-year-old was found dead in a home in Hudson, Fla.
“He was a gentle giant,” said Anthony Mistretta of Belmar, Bigelow’s cousin. “There was a compassionate side to him that people who were close to him got to see.”
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has ruled out foul play, although no cause of death has been determined. According to family members, Bigelow was a diabetic and had been battling a staph infection that had moved from his legs to an arm.
A Neptune native, Bigelow quickly developed a reputation in the ring for agility and speed that belied his 400-pound frame during a golden era for professional wrestling, beginning in the mid-1980s. He was easily identified everywhere he went by the flames tattooed on his shaved head.
“I was a huge fan of his right from the start of his career,” said Robert Dennis of Asbury Park. “I loved his moves, and I loved his tattoos, especially the one on the head. He made it fun to watch.”
While life had become more difficult for Bigelow over the past few years since the end of his wrestling career and a divorce, combined with legal and health problems stemming from a 2005 motorcycle accident in Florida, it was his time in the ring and the friendships he made along the way that were celebrated on this day. He reached the height of his fame in 1995, when his rivalry with former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor ended with their meeting in the main event at WrestleMania XI.
“We’d be walking through an airport, and maybe because of the travel schedule he might not have slept for 28 hours,” recalled Ray Liccachelli of Rockaway, N.Y., who was Bigelow’s main adversary for several years in his role as Doink the Clown. “I was always very fortunate because people didn’t recognize me. I was always under a costume. But poor Scott. It was like the circus was in town. And he always tried to be as gracious as he could. “Could I have an autograph? Sign my shirt? Sign my back, sign my leg?’ He was always nice to them.
“One year I wrestled 297 days, and I know Scott did at least that or more, with 13 overseas trips thrown in there. At one point I wrestled Scott every day for seven months, in what seemed like every town across America, and the world.”
A standout wrestler at Neptune High School, where he also played football, Bigelow finished among the top eight wrestlers in the state for two straight years during the late 1970s. He began training for a career in professional wrestling in the early 1980s at the Monster Factory in Bellmawr, and went on to achieve success with several different organizations.
Todd Bigelow, 46, of Springhill, Fla., would often spend time with his younger brother when he was on the road performing.
“We weren’t like brothers, we were like bookends,” he said. “You know how they say you can only count your friends on one hand? He had hundreds of good friends, and everybody has their own little story about how he did something for them.”
“He was one of those people who would do anything for you if he was your friend,” added Joseph Teresi Jr., a former Ocean Township resident who lived near Bigelow in Hudson, Fla.
In addition to his wrestling career, Bigelow appeared in three movies, including the 1995 release “Major Payne,” along with guest appearances on several television shows.
“Over the last few years he wanted everyone to know he was Scott, not just Bam Bam,” said his mother, Diana Bigelow of Manchester. “He wanted people to know who he really was, not just as the wrestler.”
