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Big Show Interview on Wrestlemania XXI
Date Added: January 04, 2005
Story By: Andy Steven
At 500-pounds and over seven-feet tall, there is no more intimidating man in all of sports than The Big Show. Forget Ray Lewis, he'd bounce off of the wrestler formerly known as The Giant's leg.
Think Shaq could move Show out of the paint?
Think again.
This Sunday at Armageddon, The Big Show is stepping up against one of his biggest tests, taking on three men at once in a handicap match. And it's not just three guys picked off the street, I'm talking Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak, and Kurt Angle.
Taking on Angle alone would be enough for anyone to handle, but not The Big Show.
Not when you're trying to claw your way back up the ladder for a third shot at the belt.
Not when you're fighting to not only win the match, but win the respect of your peers...and Big Show needs to earn their respect back, especially after his recent loss to John Cena and Booker T.
Don't remember that match? That's because it wasn't televised. It happened in the back in a game of Tiger Woods for the PS2.
A loss Show won't soon forget.
IGN Sports: I hear you're a gamer.
Big Show: Oh yeah, I have a PS2, and Xbox, and a GameCube, that way in case anything comes out that looks cool, I have the system to play it on. I got everything, bro, I ain't no rookie.
IGN Sports: Do you ever play online?
Big Show: Hell no, I can't even play Booker T. and John Cena. I called them both out to play Tiger Woods, and they both beat me so bad I have to keep my mouth shut. I'm not allowed to talk golf to either one of them now. I think Booker beat me by seven strokes and John beat me by 11. We play Random 18 from the black tees, but I think it was the controller. The regular controller is too small for my hands. I blame it entirely on controller issues. I'm taking my medicine, though, I got beat by both of them, so I'll be quiet.
IGN Sports: Did you create your own golfer in the game?
Big Show: I made a jacked-up dude with no teeth and dreadlocks. He's like 6-5 and 400-pounds, just crushing the golf ball.
IGN Sports: What did you name him?
Big Show: Queen Bee. [laughs]
IGN Sports: This Sunday you could use someone like that as your tag team partner. You're going up against three guys at Armageddon.
Big Show: The thing about it is, too, is that it's really a difficult match. Luther Reigns is a powerhouse. This guy is going to be a premier slugfest guy in the business. This guy has done a little bit of time, he's been around, and he's really a tough, tough kid. I don't think people understand what a solid guy he is in the ring and how hard he hits out there. Jindrak is a little bit of a pretty boy, but he's an athlete. He's a big boy, he hits hard, and like I said, he's really just a hell of an athlete. And then there's Kurt. Kurt has been a round the block, he's an Olympian, and he's so skilled at what he does in the ring, that if he gets those other two firing right, it's like an engine, if he gets those other two tuned up right, Kurt can pretty much have his way in the WWE. I don't think JBL or anybody is really looking that far down the road to see that Kurt can really do a lot of damage if he gets those two firing right. I'm just trying to take them out now before they get up and running. I might have bitten off more than I can chew, I don't know. I think if I can keep it one-on-one, I can go through just about anybody, but three-on-one, I don't know. It's going to be a rough night, that's for sure.
IGN Sports: In Edge's book, I think he says something along the lines of the moves being choreographed but the pain being real. If the moves weren't choreographed, do you think you could take out these three in a fight?
Big Show: I don't like to think that way. That would be me going into the real-life, dark, angry Big Show, and I don't like to even think about that. That's a place nobody likes to see me go. Luther is one tough son of a gun. Edge is over on Raw and he gets to work with the guys who are all experienced, and while I have two young guys in Jindrak and Luther, they still hit very hard. They're not the honed craftsmen of Edge, and really, I don't know what these two are going to do next. They are not the artists Edge is out there in the ring, these guys are like two kamikaze bulls in a China shop. Hopefully Kurt can keep them calmed down, and that's the truth. I have a fat lip from Smackdown, Jindrak clotheslines me in my frickin' mouth. It was pretty snug. How the hell do you get clotheslined in the mouth when you're seven-feet tall? Jindrak found a way.
IGN Sports: It's funny because when I was a kid, all I used to hear is how everything was fake. The chairs weren't real, you guys are wearing cups…whatever, but none of it was true. I can't believe how you put your bodies on the line every night like you do.
Big Show: I've had Undertaker kick me in the nuts so hard in The Garden, I just about passed out on Triple H. The chairs are metal, and your ears will ring for about two days after a good chair shot. That's the thing that people don't understand. We put our bodies on the line to tell that emotional story. We go all out because we want to pull everybody into it. Some guys have a different work ethic or a different way of going about things to try to get the audience involved. Some of us hit harder, some are better workers, but the main thing is to just try to make our fans happy because without them, we don't have anything. I just hope that one day they have a Mac Truck wheel chair so I'll be able to get around.
IGN Sports: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to being as big as you are?
Big Show: I'm very, very lucky in this business because of my size and because of some of the athletic ability that I have and I've been able to provide a great living for myself and have a job that I absolutely love. That's a bonus. Some of the harder things are just the everyday things like trying to rent cars or staying in the hotel room or trying to shower in some of these arenas and the shower head hits me in my bellybutton. Sometimes we have to take these small commuter planes, and I feel like I'm wearing the plane, not sitting in it. So there are ups and downs, but the best is just the looks on people's faces when they meet me for the first time because I am a real life, walking-talking Giant. It's not everyday you see someone like me walking down the street. Some of these kids, they get this look of wonder in their eyes, and that's a good feeling. Then again, some of these people who see me and yell ogre, well, that's not a good feeling.
IGN Sports: I see athletes all the time and I might think that Byron Leftwich is huge or Shaq is a big guy, but compared to you, they're nothing.
Big Show: That's why they coined the phrase "Largest living professional athlete." I may not be the tallest, and I might not weigh the most, but I'm definitely the biggest when you combine the two.
IGN Sports: Now all they need to do is make those video game controllers bigger and it'll be all good.
Big Show: Exactly. The other thing is, it's hard for me to hit too many buttons at once. My fingers are so big that when I'm trying to power boost on my drive, I hit a slice. I need someone to build me a bigger controller so I can beat Booker T. and John Cena. It's horrible losing to Booker because he talks so much trash. Cena sits there, and he's kind of quiet, then he'll feel sorry for you and blow a hole and act like he didn't do it on purpose. He's trying to keep it close, but you know he's just toying with you, and that's even worse. It's like a big jungle cat toying with a mouse, and that doesn't make me feel too confident. But there have been some major deals, some pretty big bets going down in the back over these video games. Mass amounts of cash, guys have had to wash other guys gear for a month, there's a pretty big gambling industry in our business, that's for sure, and a lot of it revolves around video games.
IGN Sports: The new Smackdown vs. Raw game just came out and it has both you and Andre The Giant. How do you think that match would've went down if it took place in real life?
Big Show: I'm just glad that they paid respect to Andre in the game and made him a force. I hate it when they have someone who shouldn't win a match dominating the game and someone who should be a force as the weakest wrestler. I always just threaten the guys who build our games. I tell them all the time, I'm going to kick your ass if my character is weak. [laughs] So if you're wondering why my character is always strong, it's because the guys making the game are a little scared of me. But in terms of an actual match between us, of my God, Andre is a legend. He's from another time, another era, another way of doing things. I don't know. I would like to be confident and think that I could take it to him and beat him, but I don't know. I would love to do it, I would love to wrestle him every night. Learning from Andre would've been incredible and he would've made me better than I am right now. The only way to get better is to wrestle better people and work with better guys, that's the only way to get better in our business. You have to keep improving, you need to keep working hard. When you start sitting back and think you know it all, that's when you need to give it up. Look how much Taker has changed his character over the years and evolved and adapted his style. He's put in some UFC holds into his character now, and you have to be careful, The Deadman will hook you in an armbar really quick if you're not careful. Even playing around and shaking his hand, he'll put you in something.
IGN Sports: Is Taker one of your favorite guys to work with?
Big Show: Oh yeah, Taker, Kurt, and The Rock. Rock is probably the most fun because the crowd gets so excited when he's in the ring. He just has so much energy. The guy is charismatic to watch on TV and he's just as charismatic to work with in the ring. But in terms of knockdown-drag out slugfests, I've had some good ones with Kurt, and I've had some good big-man battles with Taker. He has that experience that I like to pick from and learn from. Taker is the modern day Andre right now in terms of reputation and respect in the locker room. That's the guy. If you're going to gun for somebody, gun for the guy.
IGN Sports: I heard lots of stories back in the day of you going to the top rope at the Power Plant and pulling off some moves.
Big Show: Oh yeah, back in the day I used to, but that was before I realized that gravity sucks. It's not the going up that's the problem, it's the going down. So don't expect me to take it to the top rope on Sunday, not unless I need to do a cross body where I can pin all three of them at once, but that's doubtful. You never know, desperate times call for desperate measures, but you'll never see me do the Northern Lights, I'll say that, but everything else is fair game.
IGN Sports: Is your title win at Survivor Series the favorite match of your career so far?
Big Show: Yeah, that was my first WWE title win and of course, that was very important, especially since I was in there with a couple of legends. Any time you're in the ring with Mick Foley, it's always a good time. If you're tagging with him, he's a lot of fun, and if he's your opponent, then he's having a lot of fun at your expense. Triple H is a great technician and a great student of the business. And winning the title, it's a monumental deal. It's recognition among your peers, the fans, and your employer that you're the top dog. I've been lucky enough to hold the title twice, and hopefully I'll be lucky enough to win it again sometime soon. I've had a lot of great moments, and someday I'll sit down and write a book about them. I think for the title I'll steal a line from Wilt Chamberlain, Nobody Roots for Goliath.
IGN Sports: What are some of your goals as you move forward with your career?
Big Show: To keep developing and expanding my character. I need to get out of the old Giant way of doing things and evolve my character and my moves into a quicker pace. I need to evolve like Taker has been able to do since his first days of The Deadman. I would just like to become more mobile, more versatile, and more exciting of a performer, and that goes for promos and out of the ring stuff as well. Just continue to evolve because if you don't evolve, it just gets stagnant and your character goes dead. That's the one thing I never want to be, a dead weight on this business. I want to be a positive pull for it and always contribute, and when I feel like I'm no longer contributing, then I'll step aside.
IGN Sports: To wrap things up, I guess I just have one last question: For a while, it seemed like everyone had a mullet, but now, the bald look is in. Why is bald beautiful?
Big Show: [laughs] Bald is beautiful to me because my hair doesn't grow long anymore. I cut it off one day because I was mad it kept blowing in my face during a picnic, so I went with the short hair. Then I tried to grow it back and it just doesn't look the same. I'm too mature for the long hair and I actually prefer the bald look. When I wake up in the morning, my hair is already combed. I don't have to waste money on lugging shampoo or conditioner on the road anymore. It's just a bar of soap and some lotion and I'm all set.
