This induction into the annals of WrestleCrap is a special one indeed. With the inclusion of Trucker Norm, Mike Shaw has obtained the somewhat dubious honor of being the first ever four time WrestleCrapper. Say what you will about Shaw, but any guy who would be portray an escaped mental patient, a dancing monk, and a nose picking fartmeister just to put food on the table can’t be too bad.
After looking at the characters he was forced to portray in his career, when the booking committee gave Shaw this gimmick, he must have been relieved. After all, this time he just had to pretend he was a trucker.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that it didn’t suck, because it did.
Norman had previously been a lunatic, and in a very un-WCW like move, the announcers were given a reason for the change. According to the storyline, Norman’s father had passed away. I guess he was a trucker, because suddenly Norman had decided to drive the big rig as well. Here’s Jimmy Garvin and Lance Russell to tell you more.
How did WCW go about getting over that Norman was now a trucker? Well, they had him take off his shirt so his bulbous body spilled out all over the place, covered only by a pair of bib overalls. Oh yeah, and they had him carry a bicycle horn with him to the ring.
Because nothing says “Trucker” like flabby arms and a bicycle horn.
What else is there to add? Not much. Other than pairing him up with other misfits like the Juicer, WCW really didn’t seem to know what to do with Shaw. He remained a bit player for the rest of his WCW tenure, before heading off to Titan to become the world’s first wrestling monk.
See, being a trucker wasn’t bad at all!
Jimmy Garvin (attempting – in vain – to sound sincere): “Trucker Norm has been devastated by the death of his father and has totally turned his life around, and has dedicated it to wrestling and driving a truck. I gotta hand it to the boy.”
Lance Russell (sounding like a major dork): “He’s blowin’ the whistle, the trucker’s whistle!”