The Time When Curtis Sliwa Made The Boss a Guardian Angel

As a guy who lives in the Metropolitan area, it’s pretty impossible to avoid the impending New York City Mayoral Race.

I aim and try to be as apolitical as possible, as, in the words of “Stuttering” John Melendez, “It’s not in my nature.” But whenever I see Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, I smile. His thick New York accent and “working man” demeanor is gregarious, and the life he has led is one for the ages. Seeing him run for Mayor of New York, despite a lack of momentum, is admirable.

So I bet you, the reader, are wondering: why the Heck is Curtis Sliwa being discussed on a WCW tribute website?

Simple: he was on WCW television in 1994 helping provide Ray Traylor with a new character in a post-Boss world.

Time to deep dive.

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Ray Traylor in 1993 entered World Championship Wrestling following a lengthy run in the World Wrestling Federation as the Big Boss Man. After handling several matches as Special Guest Referee in both the WWF and in Smoky Mountain Wrestling for the infamous “Rage in the Cage”, Traylor, now known affectionately as “The Boss” surprised everyone on WCW Saturday Night in December, pinning WCW International World Champion “Ravishing” Rick Rude in a non-title match.

A few weeks later at Starrcade 1993, Rude got his revenge on the Boss, but Traylor had other plans. At SuperBrawl IV, the Boss found himself as the special guest referee for Ric Flair and Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship inside of THUNDERCAGE. After taking out Vader’s mentor Harley Race and then walloping the big man with a nightstick to the knees, “the Nature Boy” locked on a Figure-Four, and without even a hesitation, the Boss signaled for the bell! Flair retained the title under suspicious circumstances.

On April 17, 1994 at Spring Stampede, Vader and Boss beat the Hell out of each other in an absolute barnburner. However, thanks to interference from Mr. Race again, Vader pinned Boss. The Boss had enough following the match, leveling a bloody Vader with the nightstick. This time, WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel made his way out to the ring and practically demanded the Boss backstage.

In one of wrestling’s most unique situations, Commissioner Bockwinkel actually stripped the Boss of his nightstick, handcuffs, and HIS NAME!

In truth, the World Wrestling Federation was threatening legal action due to the similarities between the Big Boss Man and the Boss. WCW, in no position to face any legal action in the Spring of 1994, decided to go a different route.

So Ray Traylor, still a man of law and order, sought out and searched for someone that could help mentor him towards a new stage in his wrestling career. Who exactly would that be?

CURTIS SLIWA. More importantly, what organization?

THE GUARDIAN ANGELS.

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The Guardian Angels were formed on February 14, 1979 by Mr. Sliwa. According to their website http://guardianangels.org:

Our mission is to provide positive role models for today’s youth and work toward promoting community safety and betterment for the good of society overall. 

The Guardian Angels are dedicated to fostering safer, stronger, and more compassionate communities through volunteer-driven initiatives. We serve those in need by organizing homeless feedings, mentoring youth through positive leadership programs, offering self-defense courses, and conducting unarmed community patrols to ensure the safety of seniors and vulnerable individuals.

We accomplish our mission through training volunteers, who are multi racial, to be effective as visual deterrents patrolling the streets in communities around the world. Our emphasis is on coordinating a variety of community-based services, programs and activities to speak and fight against violence, crime and drugs.

​Our philosophy is to empower individuals through service to others.  An empowered society is built through empowering individuals one at a time.  We train people to take constructive and cooperative action to solve individual and social problems.  We provide people with the tools, support, and opportunities to face their unique challenges and fulfill their unique interests and goals.  We are unlike any other organization in the breadth and depth of empowering skills we develop.  

 Our focus is on building relationships whether interpersonal or organizational.  We are one of the few organizations in the world to open our doors to people regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, disability, religion, political view, and sexual orientation.  We are a “street-roots” organization that provides hope, security, and opportunity to those who are otherwise forgotten, oppressed, harassed, discriminated against, disenfranchised, set back, or impoverished.

Leading by example to help protect NYC, Curtis was no joke. Although a very controversial and outspoken man, the Guardian Angels did their best to protect the streets of New York City in the late 1970s and 1980s when its crime rate was at its highest.

Sliwa was also double tough, He survived multiple attacks from John Gotti, including an assassination attempt in 1992. He’s also survived prostate cancer, and won the 1994 Carnegie Deli Sour Pickle Eating Contest.

So when WCW struck a deal with Sliwa and his non-profit organization, they had a plan: to rejuvenate Ray Traylor’s career.

To Mr. Traylor’s absolute credit, he truly embodied what it took to be a Guardian Angel. In fact, to get into the role, he legitimately did months of training with the group to learn how to be an Angel and ultimately became one in May 1994.

For those that talk about WCW, I thought this was a unique character switch to make Traylor more of a badass and a man of the people. It embodied spirit and positivity, while maintaining on still being the “law-and-order” of professional wrestling.

There was only one problem: he never got over the hump on Vader.

After returning at the Clash of the Champions on June 23, 1994 and defeating Tex Slazenger in record time, he lost, via disqualification, to Vader at the July 17 Bash At The Beach. Then, after a couple months of victories over enhancement talent, in another big match situation, he lost again in a triangle match against Vader at Fall Brawl 1994 with the right to become the #1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship.

Finally, after losing definitively again to Vader at Halloween Havoc, the Guardian Angel never really went further. Which is sad, because during the research for this interview, I came across a rare interview on the Guardian Angel and how he came to be. He really tried hard.