Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow ( September 1 , 1961 – January 19 , 2007 ) was an American professional wrestler , best known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow . His professional wrestling career spanned twenty - one years . Bigelow had a distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most of his bald head and was known for being agile despite his size of nearly 400 pounds ( 180 kg ) . Bigelow worked in major wrestling promotions , including the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) , the original Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) promotion , and World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) . He held multiple championships in both ECW and WCW , and thirteen throughout his career . Among other accolades , he was a former world champion , having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once , and a two - time WCW World Tag Team Champion . Although he never held any titles in the WWF , he main - evented multiple pay - per - views for the promotion , including WrestleMania XI . Career . Continental Wrestling Association ( 1987 ) . In early 1987 , Bigelow wrestled in the Continental Wrestling Association , teaming with Jerry Lawler to feud with Austin Idol and Tommy Rich . World Wrestling Federation ( 1987 – 1988 ) . In May 1987 , he signed with the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . The storyline upon his debut was that the various heel managers were all vying for Bigelow ' s services . The angle was thus called " The Battle for Bam Bam . " Bigelow in the end wound up a babyface when he denounced all the heel managers and announced that his manager was going to be Oliver Humperdink . Fans were entertained by Bigelow ' s unique style and his remarkable agility for a man his size . His first WWF encounters were with Nikolai Volkoff and his jilted manager Slick . Bigelow wrestled as a part of Hulk Hogan ' s team at the first Survivor Series , in which he survived longer than even Hogan ( the biggest draw in the industry ' s history at the time ) . He eliminated both King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang , but eventually lost to sole survivor André the Giant . He wrestled in the WWF for one year before leaving to have surgery on a badly injured knee . Despite this injury , he performed anyway to elevate the status of his co - performers . Bigelow lost by count - out to One Man Gang in the first round of WrestleMania IV ' s WWF World Heavyweight Championship tournament . NWA and Japan ( 1988 – 1992 ) . Bigelow briefly re - emerged with the NWA - branded Jim Crockett Promotions in late 1988 , and was immediately set up to challenge Barry Windham for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship . While NWA wanted control of Bigelow , his loyalty was with New Japan , to whom he was committed . After this brief stay , he went to Japan to work for the legendary Antonio Inoki ' s New Japan Pro Wrestling . Here , he formed a tag team with Big Van Vader , winning the IWGP Tag Team Championship . In 1992 he left New Japan , performing for several other Japanese professional wrestling promotion s . Return to the WWF ( 1992 – 1995 ) . In late 1992 , Bigelow returned to the WWF as a heel . In his pay - per - view return , he defeated The Big Boss Man at the 1993 Royal Rumble . That June , Bigelow made it to the finals of the 1993 King of the Ring tournament , losing in a match to Bret Hart . Soon after , Luna Vachon became Bam Bam ' s love interest and manager . Bigelow went on to feud with Tatanka and Doink the Clown ; he lost to Tatanka at the 1994 Royal Rumble and teamed with Luna to defeat Doink and Dink at WrestleMania X . In mid - 1994 , he was made part of Ted DiBiase ' s Million Dollar Corporation faction , often teamed - up with fellow Corporation members Irwin R . Schyster and ( a now heel ) Tatanka . Bigelow also survived a high profile Survivor Series - style match , with Corporation member King Kong Bundy , at the 1994 Survivor Series ; they faced Lex Luger ' s " Guts and Glory " team . After Bigelow and Tatanka lost in the finals of a WWF World Tag Team Championship tournament to Bob Holly and the 1 - 2 - 3 Kid at the 1995 Royal Rumble , Bigelow was mocked at ringside by former New York Giants All - Pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor . Bam Bam fought back , shoving " L . T . " at ringside , and was soon engaged in a highly publicized feud with the famous ex - football player . Bigelow was defeated by Taylor in the co - main event at WrestleMania XI . Shortly thereafter , Bigelow was turned babyface , publicly quitting the Million Dollar Corporation . He was teamed with then WWF World Champion Diesel at the 1995 King of the Ring ; they defeated Corporation members Tatanka and Sycho Sid . Bigelow ' s last WWF match was a loss to Goldust at Survivor Series 1995 . Extreme Championship Wrestling ( 1996 – 1998 ) . After rumored problems backstage with The Kliq , Bigelow left the WWF in late 1995 and made a few appearances in the original Extreme Championship Wrestling in early 1996 , feuding with Taz . Later in the year , Bigelow would face " Bam Bam " Terry Gordy . He won with the assistance of The Eliminators . On November 17 , 1996 , Bigelow competed in a " U - Japan " mixed martial arts event against Kimo Leopoldo . Bigelow was dominated throughout the match , being mounted within the first 10 seconds . He lost to a rear naked choke in the first round . Despite not being a trained mixed martial artist , Bigelow was able to command a substantial purse for the fight ( Bigelow claimed in his 1998 RF Video shoot interview that he received $ 100 , 000 ; though it has been suggested by others that he actually received $ 75 , 000 ) . Bigelow later commented that despite the crushing defeat , he would gladly sign up for other MMA fights providing the financial rewards were as appealing ; however , he never fought after that . He returned to Paul Heyman ' s ECW in 1997 , eventually joining with the re - formed Triple Threat faction , with Chris Candido and lead member Shane Douglas . He was a dominant force in ECW , carrying out feats of strength such as hurling Spike Dudley out of the ring and into the audience and slamming Taz through the ring itself . He held the ECW World Television Championship and the ECW Championship during his run . Bigelow turned on fellow Triple Threat member , Shane Douglas , under the guidance of Rick Rude and won the ECW World Heavyweight Title in October 1997 . He would go on to lose the belt back to Douglas at the November to Remember pay - per - view in a classic match . Both men were so badly injured as a result of the match that they didn ' t appear on television for over a month . They continued to feud , with Bam Bam looking to Taz to join him in his campaign against the Triple Threat . Eventually , he turned on Taz and rejoined the group as Triple Threat prospect Lance Storm was tossed aside . His reign as World TV Champion began with a victory over Taz at the Living Dangerously pay - per - view in March 1998 . After defending the title in a few vicious brawls with The Sandman , Bigelow was defeated by Rob Van Dam . RVD was assisted by Sabu , who had originally been scheduled to receive a shot at Bigelow ' s title ; Van Dam was only supposed to " soften up " the Beast from the East . Bigelow remained in the Triple Threat and continued to feud with Taz for most of 1998 . By the end of the year , he left the company for WCW . World Championship Wrestling ( 1998 – 2001 ) . On November 16 , 1998 Bigelow debuted in World Championship Wrestling . He initially was portrayed as an unwelcome guest from outside the company and feuded with then - WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg before being shifted to the WCW Hardcore division , along with fellow ECW alumni Raven and Hardcore Hak . He was put in a stable with Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon , known as the Jersey Triad , in May 1999 . After the Triad disbanded , Bigelow began feuding with ECW alumnus Mike Awesome , who defeated him in an ambulance match at Starrcade 2000 . His final feud in WCW was with Shawn Stasiak , culminating on the final episode of " WCW Nitro " in March 2001 . The stipulation of the match was that , if Bigelow won , he would tattoo " that sweet thing " in the ring ( Stasiak accepted the stipulation , assuming he meant his valet Stacy Keibler when he was , in fact , referring to Stasiak himself ) . However , Stasiak won the match . Independent circuit ( 2002 – 2006 ) . Bigelow remained with WCW until the company was purchased by the WWF in March 2001 . Then , he waited until his Time Warner ( the major corporation that had bought the promotion from Jim Crockett in 1989 ) contract expired in June 2002 . He returned to the ring , making several appearances for USA Pro Wrestling . He performed his final wrestling match on October 25 , 2006 for the American Combat Wrestling promotion , teaming with Ralph Mosca as " The Syndicate " in a tag team match against Overkill ( Legion Cage and Marcus Hall ) . In his most profitable years , he earned between $ 750 , 000 and $ 1 . 2 million USD . Later life and death . Bigelow appeared in the 1995 comedy " Major Payne " . In 2000 , Bigelow and his wife , Dana Fisher , with whom he had three children , divorced . In 2005 , Fisher sued Bigelow for non - payment of child support . In July 2000 , Bigelow received second degree burns on 40 % of his body , while rescuing three children from a burning house near his home . Following the incident , Bigelow spent two months recovering in a hospital . Upon his retirement , Bigelow moved to a private recreational community called " The Hideout " , in Lake Ariel , Pennsylvania . He also opened the eponymous Bam Bam Bigelow restaurant , located nearby in the town of Hamlin in Salem Township , along State Route 590 , but it later closed . He then relocated to Florida , with even his close friend Shane Douglas clueless as to his whereabouts . In May 2004 , Bigelow was charged with endangering the welfare of a child through reckless driving . He attributed the incident to a seizure he had suffered , and the charges were dropped two months later . In August 2004 , he was convicted of possession of cannabis . On October 2 , 2005 , Bigelow was hospitalized with a broken nose and several lacerations after crashing his Harley - Davidson motorcycle in Spring Hill , Florida . His passenger ( and girlfriend ) at the time , Janis Remiesiewicz , suffered much more severe injuries and was declared to be in " critical condition " . Larry Coggins , a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol , stated that Bigelow would be the focus of a homicide investigation should Remiesiewicz die , intimating that Bigelow would likely face charges based on " the factors . . . that led to this crash " . Remiesiewicz eventually made a complete recovery , and remained with Bigelow up until his death . On the morning of January 19 , 2007 , Bigelow was found dead in his home by Remiesiewicz at approximately 10 : 00 a . m . EST in Hudson , Florida . He was 45 years old . The autopsy results showed that Bigelow ' s death was due to multiple drugs found in his system including toxic levels of cocaine and an anti - anxiety drug . Bigelow was also suffering from a heart problem , specifically arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease .