It seems not a mailbag goes by where someone doesn’t ask me about a gimmick that started as WrestleCrap that could have turned the corner if given time. Without question, my mind always spins to Dan Spivey’s final run in the WWF when he ditched the Golden Boy/US Express/Skyscrapers act, dyed his hair jet black, and became THIS MAN…
…WAYLON MERCY! Based in no small part on the movie Cape Fear (the latest version of which hit screens in 1991 with Robert DeNiro as the villain), Waylon was a kindly gent who would shake everyone’s hand and appear to be a good guy. All this, I note, while it was apparent that he was just moments away from rip his foe’s head right off its shoulders. You might dub him a con man, which is exactly what commentator Vince McMahon did. All whilst telling us that he knows a lot of con men. Yes, VINCE MCMAHON OF ALL PEOPLE TOLD US THIS.
Mercy’s opponent victim today would be Gary Scott. You all make fun of how WWE forces even the most savvy veterans to go to NXT first, but the image above shows you exactly why they do this. Learn to work the hard cam, kid!
Finally we get to the match and like the good southern gentleman he is, Waylon extends his hand in friendship. However Scott immediately badmouthed Mercy’s mother with a string of profanity. Somehow the cameras didn’t catch this, but Waylon himself told me it happened so it must be so.
Waylon then displays his technical wrestling acumen with a good ol’ fashioned Greco-Roman strangulation of Scott. He then stops at the four count because, well, he’s a good guy and all!
Scott trips and fumbles outside the ring, but Waylon holds up the ropes for him. Unfortunately some of Scott’s sweat flew on those ropes which made Waylon lose his grip and mistakenly snap on Gary’s back on his way back in.
Waylon goes out side and gives Scott a giant body slam, but it’s on those soft blue mats so it probably hurts less than if he was inside the ring. Some hooligan in the front row pokes at Waylon, but he just gives him a stare to back him off. I may, he could have smacked that kid upside the head but he didn’t!
Back in the ring, Mercy locks on a sleeper hold and gets the win. And look how happy he is doing so! It’s a crime Spivey’s body gave out on him and his career was cut short. We definitely needed more Waylon Mercy in our lives…know what I mean?