"Weeeeeeelll, well it's the Big Slow!"
See also: Pig Show. In fact, just find any disparaging word that rhymes with either 'Big' or 'Show', pair it with the other, and you'll have likely stumbled upon an insult widely leveled at 'The World's Largest Athlete' since his WWE debut under the moniker in 1999. In spite of that, this Sunday he heads into Survivor Series pitted against WWE Champion Randy Orton in the night's main event. So just where, exactly, does Big Show fit into the grand scheme of things in the larger WWE picture?
Originally a talented center in basketball, Paul Wight was discovered by Hulk Hogan during the 90's and quickly thrust atop of wrestling's landscape as a marquee signing for World Championship Wrestling. In his debut, he defeated the Hulkster to be crowned WCW World Champion. And that’s no coincidence, Hogan had previously raised the bar for pro-wrestling as a box office draw while feuding with Andre the Giant. He credits himself with moulding Mark Calloway into the immortal Undertaker and is no slouch himself, walking around at 6'7" and often up to 300lbs. Hogan understands, more than anyone, wrestling's attraction to spectacle above in-ring ability. And it benefitted Big Show from the moment he stepped into a ring.
It wasn't long before Vince McMahon's deep pockets wooed Wight away from WCW and into the promised land of WWE, where he made a similar instant impact, interfering in the long-awaited cage match between McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin, decimating a rather flimsy cage in doing so. Despite the fact that my teenage sister could have probably put someone through that cage, WWE fans still latched onto this anomalous giant and he's been a mainstay with the company ever since.
His size, though, makes him an easy target, both literally and metaphorically.
Big Show has become easy to mock over the years. His appearance opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger as an evil Santa in Christmas classic, 'Jingle All The Way' is a prime example of why fans have struggled to fully buy into Show as a main event monster as they have done with the likes of Andre and Undertaker.
Early into his time in the limelight, it became apparent that behind his ample exterior lay a warm, self-deprecating, likeable personality. That much was obvious on promotional appearances such as Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Saturday Night Live.
This is pro-wrestling, where any slightly interesting personality quirk will be magnified times a thousand and entangled with your public persona. The same industry that heard John Cena freestyling ironically to pass the time on the back of a tour bus and consequently turned him into a gangster rapper challenging Jay-Z to freestyle battles, despite the fact that his backwards cap and ‘dope rhymes’ made him about as much of a rap star as Bart Simpson circa 1990.
And so, Big Show’s natural likeability and the nature of week-to-week broadcasting, which demands constant refreshing of characters, made it inevitable that his monster edge be diluted somewhat in favour of a more cuddly giant guise. It’s quite possible that we’ve never seen a single WWE superstar blubber as much as their biggest one since Andre.
The difference with Andre and Taker, though, is that we never saw them blubber. Their larger-than-life personas stayed true (and, in Taker’s case, continue to do so) for the duration of their careers. Undertaker comes back to wrestle once a year under the exact same pretense: it’s coming towards WrestleMania and I am freaking amazing at WrestleMania, try to beat me. It’s consistent, it’s unflappable, and because it’s never been sacrificed for a quick comic bit, we buy into it every single year.
On the other hand, we asked the people on the WWE Parties Ireland page what their favourite Big Show memories were, and some of the answers we received included him dressed up as Hulk Hogan (‘The Showster’) and Rikishi (‘Showkishi’), being given diarrhea after being fed a dodgy dose of Eddie Guerrero’s burritos and (again) blubbering, this time on top of his father’s casket as it was driven away by the Big Boss Man (see below...it actually happened).
There have been good moments too, of course. Think, for example, of when he had his nose broken in a completely unexpected showdown with Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather at No Way Out 2008 (below), or his epic run as ECW Heavyweight Champion later that year. His short-lived tag-team with The Undertaker in 1999 was also particularly standout, as was his main event run being managed by Shane McMahon in 2000, not to mention his pairing with Paul Heyman at Brock Lesnar’s expense in 2002. When WWE get it right with Big Show, it feels, well, big.
The problem is that - aside from that brief renaissance in 2008 - WWE haven’t been able to click with Big Show for a while now. For too long, he’s either played the generic loveable smiley giant…
...or the evil, scowly giant…
...which generally means you’re not missing much if you decide to fast forward through his segment while watching Raw on a Tuesday morning.
Yet here we are, 14 years into Big Show’s WWE tenure and he finds himself back in the main event of what is still the company’s fourth largest pay-per view on the calendar. And, truth be told, he’s proven pretty popular at live events, piggy-backing on Daniel Bryan’s ‘Yes!’ chants and playing off the always engaging Triple H and Stephanie McMahon to get a genuine bit of momentum for the first time in a while.
Will said momentum last longer than Sunday? More than likely…no. Show’s push at the top appears to be a direct response to Vince souring on Daniel Bryan as a main event player after lackluster ratings and buy rates to shows he helmed. In short, they’re buying time until all of the chess pieces move into place for something better as the road to WrestleMania approaches. Giving Show the belt on Sunday would only appear to muddle proceedings. Fast forward six months and we’ll likely find him approaching WrestleMania with no ready-made opponent, being thrown into a match at the last minute to add variety to the card. He’ll either be scowling or smiling, depending on what exactly is needed at that point in time.
Where does that leave Big Show in the pantheon of big men then, keeping in mind he’s now wrestled for 18 years and has more than enough of a body of work to judge?
Is he the best big man in WWE history? No, not by a long shot with Andre, Undertaker and (to a lesser degree) Kane considered. But will he be remembered 20 years from now? Absolutely. For me, Big Show ranks right alongside the likes of Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow and Yokozuna among the second tier of legendary big men.
Which takes us back to the mid-90’s and what Hulk Hogan saw in the gym. There and then Hogan saw Paul Wight as the Big Show. If we wanted to just watch guys fight, we’d put on UFC instead. Isn’t this kind of spectacle exactly what we watch pro-wrestling for? Sure we can get all hipster about it and act like we just came to see ordinary guys do extraordinary moves and flips, but when it comes down to it and some giant enters the ring across from either another giant or a mere mortal, human instinct kicks in and we’re compelled to think, “Woah.” Even if that giant happens to be crying and/or wearing a nappy.
For better or worse, Big Show was put on this earth - all 7’2” and 500lbs of him - to be remembered.
Rick’s WWE Hell In A Cell Quick Picks
WWE Champion, RANDY ORTON over BIG SHOW
World Champion, JOHN CENA over ALBERTO DEL RIO
CM PUNK & DANIEL BRYAN over THE WYATT FAMILY
5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match: GOLDUST, CODY RHODES, THE USOS & REY MYSTERIO over THE SHIELD & REAL AMERICANS (Cody & Mysterio survive)
7-on-7 Divas Survivor Series Match: TEAM TOTAL DIVAS over TEAM NOT TOTAL DIVAS (Natalya survives)
Intercontinental Champion, BIG E LANGSTON over CURTIS AXEL
Pre-Show: THE MIZ over KOFI KINGSTON
Rick Nash is a former professional wrestler and the founder of WWE Parties Ireland, who present their upcoming SURVIVOR SERIES PARTY in Woolshed Baa & Grill, Dublin THIS SUNDAY (see below for video ad)! He is also a DJ and terrible sports gambler, so feel free to share some tips with him on Twitter.
