Brian Damage
Back in the 80’s and 90’s, it was very common to see some no name wrestler go up against a proven star of a promotion. Whether that be from the WWF, NWA/WCW, AWA or elsewhere, these nomads of professional wrestling were there to make the stars look great. They were known as enhancement talent, preliminary wrestlers or as many fans have come to know them…”jobbers.” While fans were clamoring to see big time match ups, these “squash matches” served a very important purpose. While perhaps not appreciated at the time, they were just as important as the stars themselves.
Glenn Jacobs…the 6 ft 8 in 300 plus pound wrestler looked the part of a star. While getting his feet wet in smaller organizations, Jacobs would get his first big television exposure in pro wrestling’s number two company at the time in World Championship Wrestling. While he looked the part of a wrestler…he still was required to do the honors.
On March 6th 1993, an enhancement talent named ‘Bruiser Mastino’ challenged the ever popular Sting to a one on one match on WCW’s Saturday Night on TBS. This was wrestler Glenn Jacobs before he became such characters as Unabomb, Doomsday, Isaac Yankem DDS, Fake Diesel and of course his most memorable character….the Big Red Machine Kane. In WCW, Bruiser Mastino hailed from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and actually put in a little offense against the Stinger in their match. While not exactly a squash match, Mastino only lasted a little over 5 minutes with the company’s top guy.
Of course, just a few years later after a few unsuccessful gimmicks and bouncing around in a number of places….Glenn Jacobs found his greatest success as the Undertaker’s brother in the WWF/WWE as Kane. Kane became a legitimate superstar with the company winning the WWF world title and numerous others. Hell, Fire and Brimstone indeed.
Ring the Damn Bell 