"WWE: Big Show - A Giant's World" Review

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

It's pretty well-documented that Big Show is not one of my favorite wrestlers ever. If anything, he'd probably be on my very short list of my least favorite wrestlers of all-time. That isn't to say I don't like Big Show the person (Paul Wight), though. I've seen him outside the ring and even enjoyed him in "The Waterboy" as well as his leading role in "Knucklehead" (which I might write a review for at some point). Big Show seems like one of the nicest, most genuine guys outside of the squared circle, and even his on-air persona has cracked me up at times, so don't think I despise the man. While Big Show may not be on my list of favorite wrestlers, I was still intrigued by him enough to check out his documentary, "Big Show - A Giant's World" on the WWE Network. Please note that since I viewed it on the WWE Network, I did not have any access to any of the matches that may have been included on the DVD.

Being a giant and all, Show has any interesting background that differs from most wrestlers who break into the business. He played basketball and football during high school, but once his giantism began to get worse, he soon stopped. Hearing how the death of his father impacted his life was really touching and especially how he had to work from scratch. He once worked as a car salesman, but since that hardly made him any money, he told a story of how he woke up one morning and had nothing in the cabinets except for bread. So, for food, he put toothpaste (the only other thing he had) and spread it on the bread and ate it. Why he didn't just eat the bread is beyond me, but I guess he was just that hungry, which is logical given that, you know, he's a giant. He referred to the experience as "humbling", a word he used quite a bit throughout the documentary.

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He never initially aspired to be a pro wrestler, but rather he was discovered when he met Hulk Hogan in the '90s and he landed a job in WCW soon after. So, while he didn't work the independent scene before getting into wrestling, don't think for a second that he had anything handed to him on his way to the top. He sacrificed almost everything to get to WCW and went through quite a bit, including being diagnosed with giantism, of course. Some may see being a giant as a cool thing, but seeing through Big Show's eyes really put a perspective on things and why people of normal size shouldn't take regular daily activities for granted.

Big Show talked about how quickly he was pushed to the top in WCW, winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his very first match. Impressive, right? Well, because he ascended to the top of the company so quickly, there was nowhere to go but down. He had a nice run early on, but even Show admitted that Hogan saw dollar signs in him the first time he saw him. Not that Show could draw money on his own, but when someone such as Hogan could eventually beat him like with Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3. Once Hogan beat him for the belt, Show knew his time there was done so he jumped ship to WWF.

Needless to say, Show had one of the most monumental debuts in WWE history at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre event in 1999. I thought he'd talk more about throwing Stone Cold Steve Austin through the steel cage wall and whether that was planned or by accident, but apparently not. Everything else discussed from that point forward was a combination of various things he did while in WWE, which is understandable since Big Show has done a lot over the course of his career. I had no idea that Show went down to OVW in the early 2000s due to a bad attitude. Imagining Show in an OVW ring today would be surreal, so the fact he was sent down to developmental at one point a decade ago was news to me.

Among the other topics discussed during the documentary was Big Show's tenure in ECW in 2006. I, of course, wasn't a fan at the time so I don't know for sure, but was Show being in ECW ever the long term plan? I know the belt was put on him because Rob Van Dam was suspended for violating the Wellness Policy and had to be stripped of it immediately, but regardless, Show took the ball and ran with it for the rest of the year. He was positioned as a monster heel on that brand and put over newcomer Bobby Lashley in a big way when he eventually won it, so I was glad that his time in The Land of Extreme was touched upon in this DVD.

For the longest time, Show has always been known as one of WWE's biggest (no pun intended) utility players. More often than not, he doesn't have a solid storyline for more than a few months and then usually either turns face/heel or moves into something completely new. He has always been useful in that way. This documentary was filmed/released in early 2011, so his two runs with the World Heavyweight Championship in recent years weren't covered, but I don't think that would've changed much if anything at all about this documentary. He's done some notable things in the last three years, but nothing to the point where it needed to be included.

Another two things I was happy to see included was his feud with Floyd Money Maywhether and his filming of "Knucklehead", which was released on DVD only a few months prior to this documentary. His feud with Maywhether was one of the biggest highlights of the road to WrestleMania 24, so it was very cool to see that covered. As previously mentioned, I have seen "Knucklehead" multiple times in the past (I even own it on DVD) and I, for one, thought it was a fun film. The filming of it was included here as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with people he worked with on set. It showed Show in an entirely new light and that he is a genuinely funny person and not just a menacing giant.

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed that Big Show didn't at all discuss his departure from WWE in 2006/7. He at one point talked about getting too tired in a rental car and driving in circles on the road and I thought that would be the lead in to, "I needed time off," but he simply said he transitioned into traveling in a bus instead. Footage of his return at the 2008 No Way Out pay-per-view was shown, but that was about it. I thought he'd talk about his weight loss a bit, but that portion of his life I guess was glossed over.

Aside from that, however, there is a lot of content covered within Big Show's documentary. It's a lot shorter than other documentaries I've seen, clocking in at only an hour, but although Show has accomplished so much over the course of his career, I could see why only the important happenings were featured. His back story was an eye opener, but I didn't learn much more about him that I didn't already know. Thus, it was everything I expected it to be and was good, but definitely not as great as other DVDs released in recent years. You shouldn't go out of your way to watch this DVD, but if you have an hour to kill and you own the WWE Network, then I say go for it.

Should you watch this movie? No.