The Show must go on

[LuckIsForLosers]

(Excuse the cliched title)

I was reading a preview of Elimination Chamber prior to watching it and several comments were pre-empting "a typical snoozefest", from "that no talent" freakshow who "only has a career because he's taller than most wrestlers". I of course notice "Big Show hate" on forums, comments, dirthseets etc.


So I ask why - I really don't understand it. Yes, he isn't Kurt Angle in the ring. But does everybody need to be a man of 1000 holds, or an indie spotmonkey or a 60 minute match performer from ROH? I realise that this may sound somewhat ignorant (I'm a fan of indie wrestling, a fan of CM Punk and Austin Aries, Kevin Steen etc) but this IS, pardon the cliche, ENTERTAINMENT. It always has been. From Stampede Wrestling's "The Lochness Monster" aka Giant Haystacks to Andre the Giant, to even smaller men than them, the business is about storytelling and someone like Show fulfils that.


At times he's also agile in the ring and is great for a brawl type match; his ring psychology is good too, he can tell a story in the ring and work the crowd. On top of that his mic skills are phenomenal I'd say. So why the hate?

and if you disagree surely this accent should warm you to the big man

http://www.wwe.com/videos/the-americ...n-apr-26014247

[TempestH]

The only thing I hate about Big Show is that every time he loses or gets embarrassed in some way, he goes on a rampage squashing half the midcard and making them look like worthless chumps. They just have him effortlessly knock out 2-6 low card guys in one segment to hammer home the fact that he's an "angry giant". The talent pretty much gets thrown under the bus to put Show over.

Mark Henry goes on rampages too, but in Henry's case, it's pretty much his whole gimmick and he mostly beats up on uppercarders, who can generally redeem themselves on the next show. People like Alex Riley, Yoshi Tatsu, the Usos, or anyone else who is a victim of Big Show's wrath is not afforded the luxury of being able to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans the following week. When Henry crushes people, it's to show us that he's a threat. When Big Show does it, it's to REMIND us that he's a threat, and it hurts what little credibility the wrestlers may have.

[The Phantom Menace]

The only thing I hate about Big Show is that every time he loses or gets embarrassed in some way, he goes on a rampage squashing half the midcard and making them look like worthless chumps. They just have him effortlessly knock out 2-6 low card guys in one segment to hammer home the fact that he's an "angry giant". The talent pretty much gets thrown under the bus to put Show over.

Mark Henry goes on rampages too, but in Henry's case, it's pretty much his whole gimmick and he mostly beats up on uppercarders, who can generally redeem themselves on the next show. People like Alex Riley, Yoshi Tatsu, the Usos, or anyone else who is a victim of Big Show's wrath is not afforded the luxury of being able to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans the following week. When Henry crushes people, it's to show us that he's a threat. When Big Show does it, it's to REMIND us that he's a threat, and it hurts what little credibility the wrestlers may have.

Exactly!!! Great point! The Big Show has indeed put on some five star matches in his career and he'll destroy any midcarder after a big loss but he looks weak, sloppy and un focussed when facing most main eventers=ADR & Cena.

[bcfccalum]

Exactly!!! Great point! The Big Show has indeed put on some five star matches in his career and he'll destroy any midcarder after a big loss but he looks weak, sloppy and un focussed when facing most main eventers=ADR & Cena.

An exception is sheamus i think his matches with him were very good. Their match at survivor series or night of champions (not sure which) when big show won the title was easily the best of the night

[LuckIsForLosers]

An exception is sheamus i think his matches with him were very good. Their match at survivor series or night of champions (not sure which) when big show won the title was easily the best of the night

Yes these matches were great, and I enjoyed the last man standing vs ADR. With Show you're not king to get a Ziggles performance. The value comes in the entertainment. It is classic booking - make a monster heel (slaying Midcard etc) so he can be toppled by a big face like ADR and give him the rub. This is a necessity and with his sense for psychology, entertainment value and mic skills he's damn good at it.

[zrdt12]

Yes these matches were great, and I enjoyed the last man standing vs ADR. With Show you're not king to get a Ziggles performance. The value comes in the entertainment. It is classic booking - make a monster heel (slaying Midcard etc) so he can be toppled by a big face like ADR and give him the rub. This is a necessity and with his sense for psychology, entertainment value and mic skills he's damn good at it.

Agree mostly with this. Show kept winning against Sheamus, who didn't need to be over, but made Show look even more dangerous and fearsome. Now you pass that baton off to Del Rio, who the 'E decided they needed to be their top Mexican star, he can beat Show and look like such a hero in the process.

Also, Big Show has been around longer than nearly everyone wrestling in the 'E right now. In his prime, he was very athletic and incredible for his size. Hate to give in to sympathy, but what else can Big Show really do with his life? Not including the recent returns of several temporary stars, the 'E lacks depth in veteran wrestlers right now, Big Show has earned his spot.

I don't see how weak wrestlers that are getting no push what-so-ever get hurt by Big Show crushing them. Can't it be looked at as, hey, at least they're getting some TV time and recognition. This would be much more damaging if he was squashing current up-and-comer mid-carders.

[Stihltygre]

reminder about how this industry works, Heel, mid card is there to make a main event face look like and underdog then lose, face midcard is there to make main event heels look dominating, i had a sparring partner who was over 7ft and he had to work incredibly hard not to hurt me during sparring ( i'm 5'10" and at the time was about 175, he was 7'4" and over 300) the back and forth nature of main event matches have to be tough for him to work safely and with the increased size there is a greater risk of injury yet we RARELY hear of him hurting someone i think his demeanor in a lot of those Main event matches is just an increased focus on taking the bump and not hurting himself or the other guy, or for that matter the ref. in a squash match it's much shorter and he doesn't have to swing his thought process he can concentrate on the move and the other wrestlers safety, less worry about who's where.

long matches are also a lot harder on a big guy than on a smaller wrestler ( one of the few tools i had to beat my old sparring partner was to gas him out) so he's going to do what he can to save energy and keep from losing focus. not saying this is how it is for sure but this is what makes sense to me.

As a wrestling performer, i love Show he's great on the mic (one of the best WWE has) and not bad in the ring storytelling wise. As for agility for his size he's very agile, he has a move set that is completely believable for him.

[ewantu2]

I hate the Big Show but not Mark Henry. It's just something about him that i hate.

[TempestH]

I don't see how weak wrestlers that are getting no push what-so-ever get hurt by Big Show crushing them. Can't it be looked at as, hey, at least they're getting some TV time and recognition. This would be much more damaging if he was squashing current up-and-comer mid-carders.

Like I said, Mark Henry crushes the established guys who are on TV every week and it doesn't hurt them at all. Because we see them on TV the next week and they're booked strongly and they get to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans. The low carders that Big Show crushes don't get that, so the fans only see them as being useless weaklings, and that really isn't fair to them.

[LuckIsForLosers]

Like I said, Mark Henry crushes the established guys who are on TV every week and it doesn't hurt them at all. Because we see them on TV the next week and they're booked strongly and they get to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans. The low carders that Big Show crushes don't get that, so the fans only see them as being useless weaklings, and that really isn't fair to them.

Though it must be said that often these low carders like Tatsu are at a point where they will never be pushed. Their careers are there TO fill such spots as a Show rampage. When it happens to be primo and epico who are a cut above the Tatsus you got to remember - having Big Show destroy Stan Stansky would be meaningless - the purpose of the rampages is to make him look credible and thus he must destroy half credible people for this to manifest itself. At the same time, ADR as a heel did this all the time (arm bar squash) - it is the way the business works. The solid upper Midcard eg Kofi, Cesaro, Barrett don't get squashed as THEY are the ones who the brass can't afford to damage. Their priority is to make these monster heels so that their top priority , the mega faces, can get the rub.

The people at the bottom, whether talented or not, from a booking point of view, have and always have had the spot filler role and even if they're sadly wasted, can be easily replaced in that spot.