It is wise and right to fear Big Show as the World Heavyweight Champion. At 7 feet tall, 441 pounds and packing the power of a semi-truck behind his wrecking ball of a fist, Show stands as one of the most formidable and furious World Champions in recent memory, a colossus with few peers in the world of WWE after dethroning no less a champion than Sheamus at Hell in a Cell. The giant slugged The Celtic Warrior into unconsciousness not once, but twice, to claim the championship, shrugging the monkey of his 45-second title reign in 2011 off his back in the process.
Speculation is running rampant that the refocused Sheamus will be a lot harder to handle when the two bruisers butt heads for Round Two at Survivor Series. To anyone who believes The Celtic Warrior is a lock to win the rematch, however, we give a hearty “Not so fast, WWE Universe.”
Yes, Sheamus will take the giant to hell and back in pursuit of the “Big Gold Championship,” though the mighty Irishman would be wise not to underestimate Show a second time. From his very first days in WCW, The World’s Largest Athlete has stood among sports-entertainment’s most dominant forces. And for any fans (or Superstars) who may have forgotten that, WWE.com presents seven reminders of why Big Show is the champion … and may well remain so after he faces Sheamus Sunday.
Big Show (then known as The Giant) loses a “Sumo Monster Truck Match” to Hulk Hogan at WCW Halloween Havoc, but later challenges Hogan to an impromptu match for The Hulkster’s WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan loses by disqualification, but thanks to a special clause in the match, the title changes hands and The Giant becomes the youngest WCW Champion in history at 23 years old.
The Giant makes his WWE debut at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, emerging from beneath the ring during a Steel Cage Match between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon. His motives initially unclear, Show reveals his loyalty to McMahon when he tosses The Rattlesnake through the cage wall, although Austin goes on to ironically win the match as a result of the attack when his feet hit the ground outside of the ring. Some weeks after his debut, The Giant becomes Big Show.
Despite having competed in a 4-on-1 Handicap Survivor Series Elimination Match, Big Show is announced as the last-minute replacement for an injured “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in a Triple Threat Match against The Rock and Triple H for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 1999. It proves to be the defining bit of good luck in Show’s career, as with some help from Mr. McMahon, he is able to overcome the odds to claim the supreme prize for himself.
Big Show’s draft to the ECW brand, and his subsequent defeat of Rob Van Dam for the ECW Championship, proves to be historic for several reasons. For one, Show is able to claim the honor of winning the ECW Championship in its birthplace of Philadelphia. He is also the first non-ECW Original to hoist the championship, and the first man to hold the WWE, WCW and ECW Championships. That’s big right there.
Big Show emerges as WWE’s most coveted tag-team asset with a pair of wildly successful runs alongside Chris Jericho (“Jeri-Show”) and The Miz (“ShowMiz”) that both include Unified Tag Team Championship reigns and, in the case of ShowMiz, a successful title defense against R-Truth & John Morrison at WrestleMania XXVI. ShowMiz’s dissolution is an acrimonious one, though. Following a title loss to The Hart Dynasty, Big Show KOs The Awesome One on the spot.
Leading into his match against Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania XXVIII, Show was constantly reminded by Rhodes of his lackluster record on The Biggest Stage of Them All. Finally, before more than 80,000 passionate members of the WWE Universe at Miami's Sun Life Stadium, The World’s Largest Athlete quieted Rhodes to win not only his first Intercontinental Title, but also to finally achieve an accolade that has long eluded him: a true “WrestleMania moment.” With this championship victory, Show also becomes the only active WWE Superstar to have won every title for which he is eligible.
In a showdown at WWE Hell in a Cell between two of WWE’s most feared strikers, Big Show’s KO Punch proved too much for the keeper of the Brogue Kick, Sheamus. In a grueling, high-impact battle, The World’s Largest Athlete endured The Celtic Warrior’s White Noise and Brogue Kick en route to winning the World Heavyweight Title and ending Sheamus’ six-month reign of dominance. Though it took two KO Punches to get the job done, Big Show came away victorious — almost 17 years to the day he won his first title, the WCW World Championship, in 1995.