Big Show

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Exposer]

Underrated big man. Probably has been overexposed which is a shame. He's been a high point in modern WWE since his return in 2008. Has some high points before that including Lesnar series in 02-03 and some fun garbage matches in 06 WWECW. It'll be hard for him to make my list, I doubt he will. I won't shut the door on him just yet.

[GOTNW]

The Big Show has shown glimpses of greatness in feuds vs. Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and Del Rio but has been hurt by becoming ordinary and the WWE's inability to consistently present him as a convincing monster. As it stands he's really fun in the right setting but has no chance of making my list.

[El-P]

God awful worker in WWECW. Truly god awful. And although he showed potential as a green guy in WCW, he gained weight and was already pretty bad when he showed up in WWF in 99 (god, those Kane matches…). I always thought the name was lame as hell too. The Big Show ? Really ? Nah. From what I've seen and considering the opportunities he got, the biggest underachievers of superheavies. Sure, the WWE booking never did him any favours, but still. Overrated guys like Bam Bam run circles around the big oaf.

[InYourCase]

Absolutely no chance. Very few matches I've enjoyed and nothing that I thought was "great".

[Parties]

He won't make my list, but he deserves a defense here.

 

Highly underrated, esp. elsewhere online. He’s a victim of booking, but so is everyone in WWE from 2002-present. In particular he suffers from being a perennial mid carder who they sporadically and randomly throw into main event title programs at Vince’s whim. Wight is also a guy who works better on house shows than TV, due to his size and methods. Giants don’t resonate in WWE TV editing the way they do live. He’s also a guy who will look awesome in midcard PPV matches and Smackdown, while being booked particularly badly when the spotlight is on him. In terms of getting bad partners and storylines, he’s right up there with guys who’ve “overcome” WWE and been an asset to them in the process.

Reigns matches have been shockingly good given how bad the feud’s been booked and how little people wanted to see them face off (2015), due to show being saddled with Authority gimmick. Very good against Wyatt at a time when no one wanted to feud with Wyatt (2014). Very good tag team with Mark Henry (2013). Del Rio’s best WWE opponent (2011 and again in 2013). Really good matches with Sheamus (2012). Worked like a viable threat to Punk’s title during the epic reign (2012). Worked well with Bryan during a horribly booked feud (2012). Worked well against Henry in a badly booked feud to appease Vince’s size queen impulses (2011). Worked well with Barrett at a time when they were being booked in idiotic matches that would go 2 or 3 minutes (2011). One of Swagger’s best opponents, esp. during Swagger’s failed title run (2010). Made the Miz look decent in their tag team (2010). Made Jericho look decent in their tag team (2009). Made 2009 HHH and HBK look competent. There’s a reason why he’s so consistently HHH’s hand-picked opponent. Ditto Taker. Several good TV and PPV matches with Cena over the last 10 years, though it’s fair to say that they’re never as good as they should be. Has made the best of being constantly paired up with/against Kane. (Seriously, go back and look at how much of his career has been time stuck with Kane in meaningless matches. It’s amazing.)

The Mayweather feud was tremendous. The Mania match is a great spectacle that totally outclassed everything on the show, including Flair’s retirement. It was one of the five best matches of 2008 for sure. The ECW matches with Sabu, Sandman, and Flair are good. Good opponent for JBL during his title reign.

He’s also as savvy a babyface as he is as a heel. One of the most likable guys they’ve got, such that he’ll steal the show on Saturday Night Live when the Rock is hosting.

Again, he’s one of the most thoughtlessly worn-out workhorses in the stable. He's a guy who has a better portfolio than you'd think, because almost nothing he's in is ever booked to be memorable or meaningful. They’ve used him in a million different ways, almost always badly. Had to do a rehash of the infamously bad 2009 "HBK is broke" angle with the Authority in 2013, who mocked Show for buying strip malls and being an impoverished member of their roster so that they could show him repeatedly crying on TV. He’s essentially the WWE gatekeeper who tests out highly suspect new guys (Snitsky, Tomko, ’06 Masters, Jindrak) or gets title challengers ready to face the champ (Edge, Brock, ’04-05 Cena). The sheer amount of time he’s been stuck working HHH is crazy. The joke about him having turned face and heel dozens of times is exaggerated, but still speaks to how careless they are with him. He’s overcome all of it and produced lots of good to great matches. I won’t be voting for him, but he’s been one of the most consistent and under-appreciated guys of the last twenty years.

[JRGoldman]

If Big Show had the resume he does but as a non super heavyweight, I think he would be looked at a lot more favorably. I think the sheer volume of feuds and TV matches he has goes against what many people want out of a monster Andre-esque special attraction, and we can't help take off points. I think Parties did a good job summing up the sheer volume of what Big Show has done. I think Show probably has the best celebrity match ever, which is noteworthy when thinking about his candidacy. I don't think too many other big guys could have pulled off that match. I'm not going to deny that there are long periods in which I didn't find him interesting or particularly motivated, but from 2008 t the present, the only people with more good TV and PPV matches from WWE will probably all make the list. I was surprised to read this thread and see that most aren't considering him.

[Jingus]

Big Show is insanely consistent. He's so good that familiarity bred contempt. (What other giants are better? Okay, he ain't Andre and he ain't Baba, but that's like blaming Kurt Russell for not being John Wayne.) After he got over his early greenness in WCW, he rarely had a match that wasn't at least watchable. He was killed by under-protection, the exact opposite of how the Undertaker was gilded by over-protection. We got too used to seeing Paul Wight doing impossibly good big-man shit on a regular basis, and now everyone just goes LOL BIG SLOW at a guy who consistently succeeded whenever they gave him a fair chance (and no, his TERRIBLY-booked first title run in WWF does not count as a "fair chance").

 

Go back and watch those ECW matches. Holy fucking shit, Big Show took years off the epilogue of his career with how much he beat himself up in there. Tables, blood, thumbtacks, chairshots directly to the skull; it's what was necessary in the current circumstances, so he did it. Hell, Heyman even managed to smuggle a great storyline under the incredibly shallow plot of 2006-era ECW, that Big Show was afraid of Sabu; and Show sold it just enough to let the hardcore fans pick up on those subtleties, while simultaneously pleasing the office and the casual fans who just wanted to see the giant squash the little guy.

[W2BTD]

Maybe the most misused piece of talent of all time. I realize we're in the era of most guys working two TV matches per week, so maybe i'm being far too romantic of a long gone era, but we should still be able to count all of his singles losses on two hands tops. He's a 7ft 500 pound "just a guy".

[Matt D]

The Mayweather match could well be the best Wrestlemania match of all time and he does every little thing absolutely perfect in that match. He's someone who could be my 100.

[Loss]

It took Big Show too long to get it, and from about 1998 to about 2005 or so, he struck me as a major underachiever who couldn't work up to his potential because of a lack of motivation. He's also never really been able to stay over in a meaningful way in WWE for any length of time, even compared to other guys like Mark Henry and Kane who have been around forever. He also has my least favorite wrestling name.

[Parties]

The Mayweather match could well be the best Wrestlemania match of all time and he does every little thing absolutely perfect in that match. He's someone who could be my 100.

 

I'm still not voting for him and I'd argue that it's more like the third or fourth best Mania match, but it is nearly perfect and Big Show deserves the credit for it.

[Jimmy Redman]

I'm voting for Big Show on the strength of the good times. He's capable of so much when he's allowed to show it, so I choose to focus on what he can do rather than on the times when he couldn't due to forces largely outside his control.

 

It may not be overly apparent but he's been doing work for quite a while now. He was very good in 2006 as the monster ace of ECW. He was very good in 2008, from the Mayweather feud and match, to the Undertaker feud and matches. He was very good in 2009 teaming with Jericho. He was very good in 2011, especially the Mark Henry feud. He was very good in 2012, with stuff with Bryan, Cody, Cena, Punk, and especially the Sheamus series. In 2013 he had the Alberto matches, and good stuff with the Shield. I can't speak to recently as I don't keep up with the TV, but certainly for the last decade, at least, he's usually been a very good performer, only really held back by booking and the positions he's been put in.

 

vs Sheamus at HIAC 2012 is one of the best heavyweight title matches in recent history. vs Mark Henry at Vengeance 2011 is one of the best superheavyweight matches ever. vs Cena on Smackdown Feb 2009 is one of my favourite TV matches. vs Mayweather has to be the best match with a non-worker in it of all time. There's some high end stuff there.

 

I kind of want to have a look at his 2003-05 period, because I remember some good stuff on SD with the likes of Eddie and Cena, but I just can't remember it any more clearly.

[InYourCase]

Shocked to see Big Show get as much support as he's getting in this thread and in the thread about active WWE roster members. I think he's actively bad most of the time and I don't get people thinking he's a great worker.

[Matt D]

"It's a Ring. They're contained. I don't have to be fast. I catch them. I squash them."

[Grimmas]

Shocked to see Big Show get as much support as he's getting in this thread and in the thread about active WWE roster members. I think he's actively bad most of the time and I don't get people thinking he's a great worker.

Actively bad? What performance of his was bad?

 

I think he is really solid and can be great from time to time. I don't see voting for him, but I can see him sneaking onto some lists.

[JerryvonKramer]

His greatest crime remains, essentially, "not being Andre".

 

I thought that match with Sheamus is a good little taster of the "Big Show that could have been". Sadly, as it has turned out, it was the Big Show that never was.

[WingedEagle]

Post-WCW he'd be a lock for my worst 100. So slow. Has to pull everything so much that it all looks ridiculously fake. I suppose part of a few big moments and decent matches, but who with that push through the years hasn't? Pretty clear I'm in the minority but just so awkward and immobile, without any kind of stellar selling, bleeding or other hitch to make the performances special.

[InYourCase]

 

Shocked to see Big Show get as much support as he's getting in this thread and in the thread about active WWE roster members. I think he's actively bad most of the time and I don't get people thinking he's a great worker.

Actively bad? What performance of his was bad?

 

I think he is really solid and can be great from time to time. I don't see voting for him, but I can see him sneaking onto some lists.

 

WingedEagle took the words out of my mouth. Everything he does is so slow. Part of it is the WWE style, but I don't think he's really that great of a big man. Against Rey and Bryan, sure, but those are two of the best wrestlers ever. Other than that, he's a stumbling giant who never looks comfortable or convincing with what he's doing.

[joeg]

I really, really, really like Big Show as a worker. I don't put him in the top 100 however. I don't even know if he's in the top 10 Super Heavyweights. I only have 4 Super Heavyweights in my top 100 right now (Andre, Baba, Vader, and Undertaker).

[Jimmy Redman]

His greatest crime remains, essentially, "not being Andre".

 

I thought that match with Sheamus is a good little taster of the "Big Show that could have been". Sadly, as it has turned out, it was the Big Show that never was.

 

The thing about modern WWE and it's million hours of TV is that it goes both ways. In the first place, it means that they've put Show in a lot of compromising and overlooked positions, where he's not booked "as he should be". But the flipside to that is that you also have those moments, every couple of years they remember that they have the fucking Big Show working for them and they do book him "as he should be", and the sheer volume of TV means that they add up to a handy resume, even though the ratio of that vs the other stuff is a lot smaller than it should be.

 

He has good monster runs in 2012, 2008, 2006, 2003, etc... and also enough matches during those times - as well as isolated matches where he's treated like the giant he is by his opponent - to really show what he's capable of.

[JerryvonKramer]

I think the problem is that when you've seen him dress up like Hulk Hogan, goof around, do moonsaults and job in 10 minute tv matches, it's hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

 

What Vince probably should have done is made a deal years ago with New Japan and maybe even one of the Mexican promotions, and had him shipped out twice a year for three to four months. Kept him special and strong. And made it seem like a big deal when he'd come back.

 

It's kind of weird how little he learned from his father when you think about it.

[Mr. Lacelle]

Vince's dad ran a rasslin company, Jr. makes movies.

[Grimmas]

I think the problem is that when you've seen him dress up like Hulk Hogan, goof around, do moonsaults and job in 10 minute tv matches, it's hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

 

What Vince probably should have done is made a deal years ago with New Japan and maybe even one of the Mexican promotions, and had him shipped out twice a year for three to four months. Kept him special and strong. And made it seem like a big deal when he'd come back.

 

It's kind of weird how little he learned from his father when you think about it.

I always loved when Meltzer talked about how Vince would complain so much about how WCW used The Giant and how they were wasting money and how much better Vince could use him.

[Johnny Sorrow]

No one has ever seen him do a moonsault.