Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Big Show’s Father Dies
You know, you’ve got to feel sorry for Paul Wight. He’s playing basketball, is spotted by Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart, and immediately recruited into wrestling. After seven months in training, he makes his way to the main WCW roster, is oh-so-tastefully billed as the late Andre the Giant’s son, and wins the WCW world title from Hogan in his first match.
It was all downhill from there.
From there, he joined and was kicked out of the NWO on what seemed to be a weekly schedule. He was dropped on his head by Kevin Nash during a botched powerbomb. He headed to the WWF (because they knew how to use big guys) and was being beaten cleanly by Steve Austin in under a month. He joined Vince McMahon’s Corporation. He was fired from Vince McMahon’s Corporation. He joined the Union. The Union disbanded. He was sent to OVW to lose weight. He was sprayed with sewage by Eddie Guerrero.
But today, let’s talk about something more tasteless than any of those things.
Today, let’s talk about Big Show’s father.
History
It was October 11, 1999. A concerned D’Lo Brown saw Big Show backstage and asked what was wrong. Big Show replied that he’d just found out his father had terminal cancer. D’Lo assured Show that he was there for him in whatever happened.
Later, Big Show took on the Big Bossman in a match and wound up winning after the Bossman was disqualified for using his nightstick.
On Smackdown, Jim Ross was doing a sit-down interview with the Show. He again talked about his father having cancer and not having time left. He also talked about how he wanted, more than anything, to really accomplish something that would make his father proud of him.
From there he took on Al Snow and the Bossman in a triple threat match for the Hardcore championship. Bossman busted the Show open with his nightstick and pinned him to win the Hardcore title.
The following Raw saw the Bossman coming out and offering his condolences to Show’s father – because of having the Big Show as a son. Bossman then challenged him to a Hardcore title match.
Bossman wound up winning the match by forfeit when the Show didn’t show up. We then cut to a shot earlier in the evening where a police office notified the Show that his father had died.
GTV blew the lid off the whole deal, however – it turns out the Bossman had paid the officer to tell Show that his father had died. It was just another mind game.
Bossman came out to brag on Smackdown, which brought out the Big Show. The fake cop got three chokeslams, and the Bossman simply got out of there.
Raw saw Prince Albert taking on the Show. Albert decided to take some precautions beforehand, however, by reassuring the Show that he was NOT the Bossman.
It didn’t really matter. While the match was going on the Bossman appeared at the top of the ramp with a pocket watch in his hand. After talking about pulling the watch from Show’s father’s hand (and also a tasteful comment about “pulling the plug”, Albert attacked Show from behind. Albert got a chokeslam, and Bossman smashed the watch with a hammer and anvil he just happened to have handy (after smacking Show in the head with the hammer).
On Smackdown, Al Snow lost a Hardcore title match to the Bossman (with help from Albert, who distracted the referee long enough for Bossman to blast Snow with the belt).
After the match, Snow challenged both Bossman and Albert to a hardcore title match out in the parking lot.
Bossman and Albert arrived in the lot, and then climbed into a car to wait. Suddenly the Big Show appeared. He was driving a forklift, which he used to push the car against a retaining wall. With Albert and Bossman trapped, Show climbed up onto the wall and pushed a dumpster on top of the car.
On Raw, Big Show was interviewed by Michael Cole. Show was in the trainer’s room getting his ankle taped up. Outside, Bossman and Albert tossed a tear gas grenade into the room. Cole and the trainer cleared out, then Bossman and Albert put on gas masks and beat the Show down. Afterward, Show left the arena in an ambulance.
Big Show finally had a match against the Bossman on Smackdown. He pounded on the Bossman outside the ring and both men were counted out. Albert came out to help and got a chokeslam for his trouble. Then Dave Hebner tried and got the same result. Repeat with Sgt. Slaughter. Repeat with Tony Garea. The referees tried, but they smartened up and got out of the Show’s way.
The next Raw saw Lillian Garcia announcing that Big Show’s father had died. They started a solemn ten bell salute, and then the Bossman showed up. He was hurt that he’d been excluded, and proceeded to read a special greeting card he’d picked up for just this occasion:
“With the deepest regrets, and tears that are soaked
I’m sorry to hear that your dad finally croaked
He lived a full life on his own terms
Soon he’ll be buried and eaten by worms
But if I could have a son as stupid as you
I’d have wished for cancer so I would die too
So be brave, and be strong, get your life on track
‘Cause the old bastard’s DEAD and he ain’t ever comin’ back!’
(Rumors that Vince McMahon has more of these cards ready to mail out to Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner’s children in case of their deaths are totally unfounded.)
Smackdown showed us footage from Show’s father’s funeral. Everything was going well until an old police car with a huge loudspeaker on the roof showed up. After the Bossman insulted Show and his father (and asked his mother out on a date), the Show jumped onto the car. Bossman rolled him off. As the family checked on the Show, the Bossman hooked one end of a chain to his rear bumper and the other end to the casket, then took off. Show jumped onto the casket and that was our last view of them – Bossman driving down the street dragging a casket with the Big Show on top of it.
That brought us to Survivor Series. It was Big Show vs. Albert, Bossman, Viscera, and Mideon. Well, it was supposed to be 4 vs. 4 elimination rules, but Show took out his partners on Heat. Chokeslams for Albert, Viscera, and Mideon, and Bossman cleared out without looking back.
The Show’s night wasn’t over, however. He came back out in the main event to face the Rock and HHH in a three-way for the WWF title. After a match that saw DX, Vince, and Shane McMahon interfering, the Big Show defeated the Rock and won the WWF title, which he dedicated to his late father.
Analysis
Where to begin? Let’s take a look at what they were trying to accomplish – the WWF was getting ready to put the world title on Big Show, and wanted to make him someone that fans could feel sympathetic for. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just the way that they went about it.
First off, let me put some concerns to rest – the Big Show’s father didn’t see any of this. He had actually passed away several years earlier. That’s one of the few positives.
One problem was that they wanted to have the Bossman push the envelope, and he pushed it right into the goofy zone. The pocket watch was tasteless, but believable. Then we have Bossman coming up with tear gas grenades and gassing the Show, and the police car was something straight out of the Blues Brothers.
At least the Show got a title reign out of the angle. That’s more than the viewers got.
Where Are They Now?
The Big Show remains with the WWE. He is currently on the Raw side of the roster split, and is also currently holds the WWE World Tag Team titles with Kane.
From the Mailbag
I got a very good email about last week’s column, where the writer discussed how tasteless the whole Jarrett vs. women thing was. It also got me to thinking, and I’ve decided to unleash those thoughts…
Next Week
Quite probably the most tasteless angle ever and an analysis as to why Vince McMahon keeps trying to pull these things off.
