I’m willing to bet 2 or 3 people reading this right now just said something akin to “Oh my god” after seeing the pic and name. Why? Because Bongo here is one of the lost WCW gimmicks, lost to the sands of time. After spending almost a year discussing with others over the net all of the various bad gimmicks that came forth in WCW and the WWF, I have never once heard Bongo’s name mentioned.
Bongo The Caveman, it seems, lasted only a few weeks in WCW under this gimmick. As best I can put together, jobber Tim Parker was given the role, and was basically a Wildcat Willie style mascot. He wore a loincloth outfit straight out of a Hanna-Barbara cartoon, carried a club, and walked up and down aisles all the time. There were plans for him to eventually take his character into the ring, but alas, it was not to be. Shortly after, the man with the Fred Flintstone fashion sense left Turnerland and took the Caveman gimmick to the independents. It didn’t last long there, as Parker eventually dropped the gimmick for less inane ones like Mr. T-Rific and Powerhouse Parker.
Here he is in a clearer pic with Kevin Sullivan, taken after his WCW stint:
Personally, I think WCW dropped the ball bigtime with Bongo here. Imagine a dream match between him and Ric Flair. Flair’s putting on his usual schtick, and out of nowhere, Bongo “Bongos up” and grabs his trusty club, bashing Flair in the face and going totally apesh*t, running into the stands and beating some old woman (STUNT GRANNY!!!!) to an inch of her life.
Or if he had become the third Road Warrior? I dunno about you, but Road Warrior Bongo has quite a ring to it, to me.
And yet, in all of this, with that massive amount of hair on his head and the genuine authentic imitation sabretooth outfit, he’s still less furry than A-Train.