BIg Show spoke with the Sporting News recently and the conversation turned to Show's recent incredible hoss battle against Braun Strowman.
And real (big) recognized real (big.)
Show talked about how Braun is crazy athletic for a man his size, but he also made sure to mention that we'd be surprised how agile some of the big men really are. It just that, somewhere along the way, we got conditioned to think of big men as being lumbering dumb behemoths, and until recently, the super-heavyweights weren't even allowed to show off their more Cruiserweight abilities.
"The thing is that a lot of us big guys can wrestle like the small guys but it doesn't make sense if we're wrestling a guy half our size. It doesn't fit our gimmick," Show said. "When I first started, I used to get yelled at for doing dropkicks off the top rope, for sunset flips, for all the stuff I could do because I was trying so hard to show my athleticism but the business did not want me to show my athleticism because it just wasn't done."
Show then reminisced about a past match working with one of the greatest hosses ever: The Big Red Machine.
"Years ago, I actually did some chain wrestling with Kane in one of our matches. Kane is one of the best big men of all-time. We're all trained the same way. We all take hip tosses and backdrops and armdrags, we know top wristlocks, hammerlocks, headlocks, reversals, counters. We know all that stuff but we never get to use it. It's like you spend so much time training to learn all this information. Then all of a sudden you realize that you're not allowed to do any of that. It's frustrating as a big guy."
It must be very aggravating to not be allowed to show the full extent of your abilities because "that's not how we do things." Lucky for the new generation of big guys, Show says the times, they are a-changin'.
"I think the opportunity I had with Braun (came about), because our business is evolving, Vince (McMahon) has a different attitude with us big guys. He doesn't want his big guys lumbering. He wants explosive, he wants intimidating and athletic. The old days of the old Andre (The Giant) stuff, Vince absolutely hates. You have to adapt and the fact that I was able to help Braun showcase what an amazing athlete he is and I can still stay the wily old veteran, I think it was a good combination for both of us. And it was nice to have somebody to work with. I hope I get to work with him again before I'm done and we get to expand on that a little bit."
It might be surprising for some to hear that Vince has changed his tune on big men, but Braun Strowman, the way he's been booked and the things he's allowed to do in the ring, are living proof of that.
You can read the entire interview with Big Show, at this link.
