Why No King Kong Bundy In the WWF, WCW, or ECW During 96-01?

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Bundy left the WWF in 1995 and that was it for a career in the big leagues. However, during the Monday Night Wars virtually everyone with name value that could still wrestle popped up in one of the big three promotions. True Bundy wasn't the biggest name and he seemed kind of like dinosaur during his 1994-1995 stint but it weird he never popped up anywhere during this period. Could've been cool to see him as henchman in The Corporation, Background Member #63 in the NWO, or even fed to Taz in ECW.

I'm guessing he just priced himself out of the market. I've heard that's why he's also yet to do any stuff for WWE Network (unless he's since started doing things for them).

Anyone know for sure why he never showed up again? Bonus question: How would you most liked to have seen him used in this period?

[psychokiller]

I've honestly always wondered about this myself. He was still only in his late 30s by the time he left WWF in 1995. He would have seemed like the perfect fit for the nWo.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I would have thought he would have weirdly fit in in ECW. But I think the nWo, even their less cool guys, almost all still contributed more value than Bundy would have been able to. He might have made it in the B-team. Or maybe even Dungeon of Doom.

[Deleted]

I get him not being in WWF at that time, but it's surprising he wasn't in WCW. They loved them some 80's WWF guys.

[Joe Neglia]

He was asked a couple of times by WCW to come in and he declined (I believe he was one of the guys they originally wanted for the night Jarrett faced three legends). He was also asked to come in to be part of Spike Dudley's giant-killer angle in ECW. Same deal. And yeah, it was all about the money. I have to wonder how much Heroes of Wrestling and ICP threw at him to get him to be part of their shows.

[CMPunkyBrewster]

Sept 11, 2017 2:36:49 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

He was asked a couple of times by WCW to come in and he declined (I believe he was one of the guys they originally wanted for the night Jarrett faced three legends). He was also asked to come in to be part of Spike Dudley's giant-killer angle in ECW. Same deal. And yeah, it was all about the money. I have to wonder how much Heroes of Wrestling and ICP threw at him to get him to be part of their shows.

I could be wrong about this, but didn't he consider himself mostly retired by this time, and was just focusing on running his school? I always thought he had turned down WCW and ECW because they wanted him under contract/semi-regular but he wasn't interested, so he basically asked for more money than he knew they were willing to pay.

[auph10imitated]

KKB is one of those big men wrestlers who appeared to be much older than he was, he was 28-29 at WM 2. I think like Earthquake & Big Boss Man he would have to tweak the gimmick or change it if he was going to survive in either promotion during that period

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Jericho in his second book mentioned that Vince wasn't a fan of Bundy. During a meeting, Vince told Chris that he needed to lighten up and not be stiff. McMahon said that Bundy's stuff looked like shit and also hurt. So that's why he never returned to the wwe.

[auph10imitated]

I wonder why they brought him back in '94 if Vince wasnt keen

[reboundking]

Sept 11, 2017 5:32:02 GMT -5 auph10imitated said:

I wonder why they brought him back in '94 if Vince wasnt keen

Vince McMahon was desperate for big names when the New Generation Era was underway with the departures of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, British Bulldog, Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Sycho Sid Vicious, Road Warrior Hawk, Road Warrior Animal and Mr. Perfect to the point that Bret Hart got his fill by default.

King Kong Bundy wasn't roided up like most of his fellow Golden Era contemporaries so even if he was not quite the performer he used to be like in the mid-1980s WWF, so he just happened to be one of the non-roided former Golden Era performer Vince brought in, probably to add some veteran experience to the locker room that's wrought with infighting between The Kliq and the Hart Family, mainly Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, with The Undertaker and Bone Street Krew in the middle as a non-biased company-first clique.

[Ben Wyatt]

Bundy was ass in the ring during his 1995 run. I'm all set with him showing up after that

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Sept 11, 2017 1:36:12 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

I would have thought he would have weirdly fit in in ECW. But I think the nWo, even their less cool guys, almost all still contributed more value than Bundy would have been able to. He might have made it in the B-team. Or maybe even Dungeon of Doom.

I was thinking like Michael Wallstreet. Pretty much just a warm body to fill up the ring while Hogan ran his mouth. Could've also squashed jobbers on Saturday night too.

[Joe Neglia]

Sept 11, 2017 3:13:57 GMT -5 CMPunkyBrewster said:

I always thought he had turned down WCW and ECW because they wanted him under contract/semi-regular but he wasn't interested, so he basically asked for more money than he knew they were willing to pay.

The WCW deal was for one match only (HTM also turned it down) and the ECW bit would have been 2-3 shows, tops.

[The Gallus Mark]

He was too busy being on an occasional episode of Married with Children...

[OldDirtyBernie]

I think he could have had a good run in ECW, and they would have used him correctly, but I'm somewhat thankful it never happened. I kind of feel like he would've taken Bigelow's spot, or at least had the same type of run, and made Bigelow just a bit less special. I love Bam Bam, he's always been a favorite, and his ECW tenure was one of his best IMO.

[Father Dougal McGuire]

My guess is just his size and body let him down.

[Deleted]

Now I'm imagining what it would've been like if King Kong Bundy ended Goldberg's streak.

[Deleted]

Sept 11, 2017 3:13:57 GMT -5 CMPunkyBrewster said:

Sept 11, 2017 2:36:49 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

He was asked a couple of times by WCW to come in and he declined (I believe he was one of the guys they originally wanted for the night Jarrett faced three legends). He was also asked to come in to be part of Spike Dudley's giant-killer angle in ECW. Same deal. And yeah, it was all about the money. I have to wonder how much Heroes of Wrestling and ICP threw at him to get him to be part of their shows.

I could be wrong about this, but didn't he consider himself mostly retired by this time, and was just focusing on running his school? I always thought he had turned down WCW and ECW because they wanted him under contract/semi-regular but he wasn't interested, so he basically asked for more money than he knew they were willing to pay.

I'd heard something along those lines - that he just wanted to stay local (he was/is a Northeast guy - NJ, maybe?)......which is odd considering ECW would've been pretty local for him to do a few dates, so who knows.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Sept 11, 2017 12:14:01 GMT -5 The Gallus Mark said:

He was too busy being on an occasional episode of Married with Children...

He only did two and only one was during this period.

[Squirrel Master]

Sept 11, 2017 14:03:30 GMT -5 @dax said:

Now I'm imagining what it would've been like if King Kong Bundy ended Goldberg's streak.

Its hard to imagine Bill Goldberg laid out for a five count.