The Nasty Boys
An article by Mike Mooneyham
Published Jan. 19, 1997
Boys will be boys. Nasty ones, that is.
Jerry Sags (Jerry Saganowich) and Brian Nobbs (Brian Yandrisovitz), better known in wrestling circles as The Nasty Boys, are in hot water again at WCW. Sags and Nobbs’ reputations outside the ring precede them. The Nasty Boys have, on occasion, lived up to their moniker and been involved in several publicized altercations in clubs, motels and various other establishments with co-workers the likes of Ric Flair and Ken Shamrock.
The latest incident occurred inside the squared circle during a recent triangle match in Shreveport, La., involving two other teams – The Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian) and The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall). Sags, who had suffered a concussion from some stiff chair shots by Hall during a previous encounter, had expressly asked that Hall not use the ringside furniture on the back of his head again. During the Shreveport match, however, Sags threw a chair into the ring, Hall caught it and quickly returned it – on the back of Sags’ head.
[ad#MikeMooneyham-336×280]At that point an irate Sags reportedly took the match to a new level and wreaked havoc on Hall, knocking out teeth and badly bruising the former Razor Ramon, who missed the following night’s Nitro in Monroe, La., due to his condition. WCW announcers explained his absence by saying that he was “on the Barbary Coast” negotiating with Diamond Dallas Page, when in reality he had to return home for oral surgery. Hall did appear on the following week’s Nitro (no close-ups were shown) in New Orleans despite being warned against flying due to a punctured eardrum.
Both parties reportedly were reprimanded, but no disciplinary action was taken. Sags and Nobbs are personal friends of Hulk Hogan, which naturally carries a lot of clout inside the company, while Hall and Nash are two of the biggest stars in the business and a major reason for the success of the NWO angle. Both, however, have had problems with Hogan, which makes the balance of power in WCW a very delicate matter.
Sags and Nobbs also got heat with the WCW front office several months ago as a result of a Monday Nitro skit in a Cleveland hotel room where Sags bent over and spread his cheeks, saying he was doing an impersonation of WCW executive vice president Eric Bischoff. Bischoff, who was part of the announcing team, angrily walked off the set and went to the scene to express his displeasure. The Nastys subsequently were buried in a Nitro angle in which Hogan and his cohorts bounced Sags and Nobbs from The NWO. Nobbs reportedly was highly upset over how he and his partner Sags were made to look in the angle.
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Both Sags and Nobbs turned pro in the late ’80s after coming out of Verne Gagne’s wrestling school in Minnesota, where they were trained by Brad Rheingans, a member of the 1976 and 1980 Olympic teams, an assistant coach in 1984 and a seven-time national Greco-Roman champion.
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