The Big Boss Man's last pay-per-view match of this run came at the 1993 Royal Rumble, where he suffered his first clean loss on a WWF Pay-per-view to Bam Bam Bigelow. He left the WWF shortly after a house show in Gatineau, Quebec defeating Doink the Clown on March 14. During the next few months he made appearances in the USWA and SMW. On December 4 he made a one-time return to the WWF as a special guest referee to officiate the main event of a house show in Anaheim, California between Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett. Boss Man was expected to rejoin the WWF but elected to sign with WCW instead. According to former manager Jim Cornette, Traylor left the WWF because he was concerned about the potential impact of Vince McMahon's steroid trial on perceptions of his character as a law enforcement officer.