The Big Show is a legend in WWE, and has towered over the competition ever since his debut.
Standing at 7 foot tall, his is one of the tallest wrestlers ever, and successor to the legendary Andre the Giant.
He earned a reputation as one of the greatest giants in wrestling history, with arguably a greater career than Andre himself.
In Big Show’s WWE debut, he emerged from the ring to attack Steve Austin in his match against Vince McMahon at St Valentines Day Massacre in 1999.
The giant Big Show climbed from underneath the ring, attacking Stone Cold. However, his efforts were in vein, when his attempts to throw the Texas Rattlesnake eventually gave Austin the win and doomed McMahon to defeat.
Whilst that debut for the Big Show did not go as planned, his first match in his career went a lot, lot better.
Big Show’s debut match in WCW was against one of the biggest stars in wrestling history, and despite his inexperience saw the Giant become a world champion in his first match in WCW.
Big Show Debut
In Big Show’s debut match, he wrestled Hulk Hogan at WCW Halloween Havoc 1995.
Hulk Hogan was the WCW Champion at the time, whilst Big Show (then known as The Giant) was representing Hogan’s rivals, The Dungeon of Doom.
The match had the stipulation that if Hulk Hogan lost the match by disqualification, he would lose the Championship at Big Show would win the WCW Championship in his debut match.
In a poor match that lasted 13 minutes, Big Show defeated Hulk Hogan by disqualification to win the WCW Championship in his first ever wrestling match in WCW, and his televised wrestling debut too.
The match was a bizarre one, featuring a host of interfereances and Vince Russo-style booking, including Lex Luger turning heel mid match and Hogan being hugged to death by “The Yeti” (A man in a mummy costume).
Hogan’s long time manager Jimmy Hart also turned on his long-time friend, in another needless twist and turn designed to hide Big Show’s inexperience in the match.
Whilst Big Show’s debut made him a WCW Champion, it did nothing to make him look even half competent in the ring.
It would take years before he was considered a good wrestler, but when he was known as one of the greatest Giants in wrestling history.
He wrestled for a variety of companies since then, including WCW, WWE and AEW.
He even wrestle Hulk Hogan in 2007, following his well-publicised release from the WWE.
He placed Jerry Lawler in a match against Hogan in Memphis wrestling – his debut in the territory.
Big Show wrestled under the name Paul “The Great” White, infamously citing The Big Show as his “slave name”.
He returned to WWE the following year, making his second WWE debut against Floyd Mayweather at WrestleMania 24.
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Hamish is a writer and podcaster and wrestling fan who is a key part of the Atletifo team.
After playing countless hours of WrestleMania X8 on the Gamecube, he discovered Rey Mysterio getting his head crushed by The Great Khali, and thus a love for professional wrestling was born.
He is also a Media Graduate, as well as writing for multiple sites about Premier League football and the culture of Wales – his home country.
