Big John Studd

During an era in the WWF you had to be a big man to garner any attention. Big John Studd was definitely a big man. Studd was one of the few men who could stand toe-to-toe with Andre The Giant, and not get himself killed. Although his only WWWF title reign took place while he was under a mask, he will always be remembered as Big John Studd.

Big John Studd made his World Wide Wrestling Federation debut under the name of Chuck O'Connor. O'Connor was as much of a rookie as a rookie can get. He did not have much success in the singles ranks, but often teamed with a young Billy Graham. Studd soon left the WWWF to better his wrestling ability.

He returned to the WWWF in the mid 70's, under a mask, as one half of the tag team the Executioners. He teamed with his mentor Killer Kowalski, and they were able to defeat Tony Parisi & Louis Cerdan for the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. After holding the titles for over five months, the Executioners were stripped of the titles for using an illegal third member, Nikolai Volkoff, in a title defense against Chief Jay Strongbow & Billy White Wolf. Shortly after their title reign ended, the Executioners and Bruiser Brody faced Strongbow, White Wolf and Andre The Giant in some memorable six man tag team matches.

In the late 70's Studd returned to the WWF, again under the name of Chuck O'Connor. Soon he changed his name to Big John Studd. At that time his size alone made him a big draw. He was matched up against some of the biggest fan favorites. In 1983 Big John Studd got his first real shot at the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Bob Backlund. Studd was unable to wrest away the title, but his fame grew. Soon he proclaimed himself the real giant of professional wrestling. His comments threw himself into matches with other big men such as Blackjack Mulligan, Andre The Giant, and in 1984 he even faced Bobo Brazil.

It was around the time of early 1984 when Big John Studd's WWF career took a serious turn for the better. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan entered the WWF, and took on Studd has his first man. Studd was immediately driven into number one contender status for Hulk Hogan's WWF World Heavyweight Championship. In September 1984 Studd defeated Hulk Hogan by countout and ran off with the belt. He was, of course, forced to give the belt back to Hogan, but he came closer to winning the title from Hogan than most did in the mid 80's.

Soon his giant boasting got him into a feud with Andre The Giant. It was Big John Studd and Ken Patera who cut the famous locks of Andre's hair. At the time no man had been able to slam John Studd. At WrestleMania Andre The Giant became the first to the impossible. Soon Bobby Heenan's newest acquisition joined Studd in his feud with Andre. Bundy and Studd formed a fearsome twosome, taking on Andre The Giant, and many of his friends under masks, as the Machines. In 1987 Studd left the WWF for Hollywood to become an actor.

In 1989 Big John Studd returned, winning the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble included some of the biggest men in the WWF, Akeem, Big Boss Man, Barbarion, Warlord, Hulk Hogan and the hated Andre The Giant. Big John Studd became a major fan favorite for the first time in his career. He embarked on a feud with Andre The Giant. The feud was short of exciting, both Andre and Studd had health problems. Andre soon took on a tag team partner to stay in wrestling, Studd left the WWF all together. He died in March 1995.