Real Name: Paul Wight Nickname: The Big Show Birthdate: 2/8/72 Height: 7' 1" Weight: 420 lbs Signature Moves: The Showstopper
Biography:
After playing basketball for Wichita State, Paul decided that he wanted to seek his fortune in the wrestling profession, so in 1995 he joined WCW's Powerplant wrestling school, where he quickly earned a reputation of being very agile for a man of his size.
In 1995 at Bash at the Beach - Paul Wight made his presence known under the guise of the Giant he interrupted an interview with Hulk Hogan, the Giant then claimed that he was Andre the Giant's son and that Hogan was the one responsible for Andre's misery and death. This catapulted the rookie right into main event status and to help him lead the way he joined the Dungeon of Doom, which was lead by Kevin Sullivan.
The Giant continued to stalk Hogan and at Fall Brawl, where Hogan got Sullivan in a cage, the Giant broke into the cage and injured Hogan's neck. But that wasn't enough eventually the Giant crushed one of Hogan's Harley Davidsons with a Monster Truck - this incident got Hogan to challenge the Giant to a Monster Truck match and a regular match at Halloween Havoc, October 29. The Monster Truck event, which was held at the top of the Joe Louis Arena, I don't think WCW had clue what to do, so eventually both men got out of their trucks and started brawling, which ended rather suddenly when the Giant feel off the roof and into the water.
Hogan was totally destroyed by believing that he had killed the Giant, but the Giant came strolling down to the ring and took on Hogan. The two delivered a good match, but it ended by disqualification when Hogan's manager Jimmy Hart turned on Hogan, Randy Savage tried to help him out, but Lex Luger stopped him and the Yeti attacked Hogan, which caused the DQ. But due to the contract which Hogan's former and the Giant's current manager Jimmy Hart had signed, the title was able to change hands due to disqualification, and so the Giant won the WCW World Title.
Some weeks before the World War 3 pay-per-view the Giant shaved off the beard off Hogan, after Sullivan disguised as a woman threw powder in his eyes.
The WCW office didn't like the idea about titles changing hands by disqualification, so they stripped the Giant of the title one week later. The title was held up for grabs in the first World War 3 battle royal, the Giant was screamed out like one of the biggest favourites and he fared well for himself, but eventually Hogan eliminated him, but the Giant got his revenge, when he heaved Hulk out of the ring, which cost Hogan the chance to regain the title.
Shortly after the Giant left the Dungeon of Doom since he felt that the group couldn't give him more, so he started to team up with the dirtiest player in the game - Ric Flair to take on Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. The Giant came close to winning the World Title from Randy Savage on an episode of Nitro, but Hogan interfered and nailed the Giant with some lame chair shots. The cunning of Flair and the strength of the Giant was enough to defeat Hogan and Savage at Clash of the Champions XXXII, January 23, 1996.
The feud with Hogan though was far from over they constantly interfered in each other matches and this got WCW to sign a steel cage match between the two to solve the matter at SuperBrawl. The match was hard and ruthless, but ended with Hogan winning. Shortly after this the Giant started a feud with Loch Ness (better known as Giant Haystacks) about who was the best big man in the sport. Unfortunately the feud didn't last long due to the health problems of Loch Ness, but the Giant had better and bigger things ahead of him.
But the friendship with Flair didn't continue at Nitro, April 22, the Giant alongside Ric Flair took on Sting and Lex Luger, during the match Flair threw coffee at Luger and Sting, but ended up nailing the Giant, who immediately challenged him to a match, which Flair reluctantly accepted. The match took place later that night. During the match Flair caught the Giant in the figure four leglock, but the Giant simply sat up and took a firm on Flair's throat and delivered a thunderous chokeslam to win the match and the WCW World Title.
The Giant wanted to take on Lex Luger, but Luger wasn't much for it, but during a Nitro broadcast the Giant got the better of Luger, when he chokeslammed him through a table. This incident got Luger's friend and tag team partner Sting to challenge the Giant to a match, the Giant won the match at Slamboree and retained the title. Finally the Giant clashed with Lex Luger at the Great American Bash and the Giant retained the title with the chokeslam.
The next challenge for the Giant would come in the shape of old nemesis Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster had aligned himself with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash and together they were known as the New World Order (nWo) and they had attacked the Giant on more than one occasion. The interference from Hall and Nash proved to be the downfall for the Giant, while he was busy choking them out, Hogan nailed him with a loaded boot and wins the WCW World Title at Hogg Wild, August 10, 1996.
Chris Benoit tried his luck against the Giant at Clash of the Champions XXXIII, but failed miserably when the Giant finished him off in 23 seconds. The Giant then started a feud with Randy Savage during a match between the two, Savage nailed the Giant with several chair shots, but the Giant didn't sell them and chased the Macho Man back to the locker rooms. Shortly after on an episode of Nitro the nWo attacked members of the Horsemen and the Dungeon of Doom, the Giant then came to the ring, which looked like a save, but instead he sided with the nWo as he started chokeslamming the Horsemen and the DoD, Randy Savage tried to help, but ended up with the short stick. On September 15 at Fall Brawl the Giant continued his dominance as he defeated Randy Savage with a little help from his fellow nWoites.
A feud with Jeff Jarrett then followed but this was because Ric Flair got injured. The Giant was scheduled to take on Flair, but his injury prevented it so instead the Giant stole the US Title from Flair. During a Nitro broadcast where the Giant went up against Jeff Jarrett, Ric Flair made his way to ringside and delivered a low blow to the Giant, Flair then offered Jarrett a spot with the Horsemen. In their next meeting at Halloween Havoc the match ended with a disqualification win for the Giant when Flair interfered.
The Giant took on Jarrett again at World War 3, where Sting had enough time to destroy Jarrett to let the Giant get the win. The Giant also participated in the three ring battle royal to determine the number one contender for the WCW World Title. The nWo worked well together and soon they were left with Lex Luger, who almost cleaned house, but the Giant caught him and won the battle royal to earn a shot at Hogan's World Title.
Lex Luger then started bragging about how well he fared for himself against the nWo, so it was only natural for the Giant to start a feud with Lex. The Giant tried to take Lex Luger out of commission before Starrcade, but ended up in Luger's torture rack. At Starrcade Luger defeated the Giant, but Sting played a big part in the defeat.
The Giant wasn't satisfied that he hadn't received his title shot, so he asked Hogan about it, when the nWo had crushed Roddy Piper, Hogan just wanted the Giant to chokeslam Piper, but the Giant refused until he got an answer - but he didn't get an answer so he took a hold on Hogan by the throat - the nWo then attacked the Giant and took him out.
The following weeks the Giant went after Hogan, but each time the rest of the nWo saved Hogan from a real good beating. The two clashed at Souled Out, but with the nWo on the outside to help him the match was declared a no contest. At Nitro the Giant challenged Hogan to a rematch, which Hogan accepted, the nWo again attacked the Giant, but his old enemy Lex Luger came to his aid and a new tag team was born.
This new tag team quickly got themselves in the drivers seat - after beating one team after another the team was granted a shot at the WCW Tag Team Champions Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. At SuperBrawl the two teams clashed in a great match, where the psychological part played it's fair share, the Giant fought most of the match single-handedly because Luger wasn't allowed to wrestle due to injury, but eventually he sprinted down the aisle and was tagged in and won the match and the WCW Tag Team Title.
The next day at Nitro before the champions could defend their titles against Harlem Heat, Eric Bischoff stripped them off the title, because Luger wasn't allowed to wrestle, but Luger got him to promise that the WCW could gain a shot at any given title held by the nWo. This stipulation however was lost when the team off Luger, the Giant and the Steiner Brothers lost to the team nWo at Uncensored.
Both Lex and the Giant wanted a shot at Hogan's World Title, but so did Booker T and Stevie Ray from Harlem Heat, so a four corners match up was set-up for Spring Stampede. Here the Giant used his size to his advantage and could have won the match, if he hadn't given it Luger.
At Uncensored and at a couple of other dates, the infamous basketball player Dennis Rodman had helped Hogan, this got the Giant and Lex Luger to challenge Hogan and Rodman to a match at Bash at the Beach. During the match the Giant was setting up Rodman for a chokeslam, but was then nailed with a baseball bat by Kevin Nash, who was dressed up as Sting. Lex Luger gained the victory for his team, when Hogan submitted in the torture rack.
Naturally the Giant wanted revenge for Kevin Nash's attack, but due to injury the feud dragged out. So the Giant had to settle with Randy Savage, whom he defeated at Road Wild, and Scott Norton, who tasted the Chokeslam at Fall Brawl. The Giant kept making references to Nash, by saying that Nash feared him, but still the big man from the nWo was out with injury.
But Kevin Nash had something in store for the Giant, at the World War 3 pay-per-view. During the battle royal, which the Giant was dominating, Hollywood Hogan made his way in and started throwing punches, but then Hogan's nemesis Sting descended from the ceiling and Hogan took off. It wasn't the real Sting though, but again Kevin Nash in disguise, and again he used a baseball bat to take the Giant out. Later on an episode of Nitro, Nash again disguised as Sting used a baseball bat to break the Giant's hand.
This incident set-up a match at Starrcade, but Nash, who still hadn't recovered from his injury no showed. So Scott Hall was sent out to tell the Giant the bad news, so to thank Hall the Giant sent him packing with a wicked Jackknife Powerbomb, thereby sending a message to Nash.
It became 1998, and this year proved to be the worst year for Giant so far, first of all he gained a lot of weight in the first couple of months, which caused him to loose his quickness and agility. The Giant also wasn't too hesitant to sign an extension so this got the WCW bookers to more or less forget about him.
The hype for the Giant's encounter with Kevin Nash continued. The Giant got WCW to make Kevin Nash a million-dollar bond up to guarantee that he'd show at Souled Out in January. In return, the Giant also put up a bond that he wouldn't touch Kevin Nash. Kevin then tried on numerous occasions to get the Giant to attack, but even though he threw coffee in his face - the Giant kept his calm. The best part of this feud was on the January 15 episode of Thunder, here Nash once again teased the Giant, who answered back by destroying the ring, while Scott Hall was tumbling around inside.
The two big men finally squared off at Souled Out in what turned out to be a good match, with a horrible ending. The Giant was about to finish off Nash with the Chokeslam, but Eric Bischoff interfered, but paid the price with a Chokeslam. Nash then threw a jug of coffee into the face of the Giant, Nash then set him up for the Jackknife Powerbomb, but the Giant proved to be to heavy and he landed with the back of his head on the canvas. This knocked the Giant out, so Nash pinned him, luckily for the Giant he wasn't severely injured and only suffered a mild concussion.
At Nitro, February 23, the Giant returned and stated that he still wanted Kevin Nash in the ring. Nash wasn't too pleased with the idea, so the only way to get him in the ring, was by handicap matches. And although the Giant was able to get the better of Nash, when he was in the ring, the nWo constantly attacked him. Finally the Giant had only one choice challenge Nash to a match where the dreaded Jackknife Powerbomb was legal, this got Nash to sign the match.
The match took place at Uncensored, March 15, the Giant dominated for most part of the match and was about to finish the nWo big gun with the powerbomb when the nWo ran in and nailed him with baseball bats. Together with Roddy Piper, the Giant then challenged Hogan and Nash to a baseball bat match at Spring Stampede '98, but unfortunately they lost it.
But the Giant was far from over with Nash. The Giant and Sting teamed up to take on the Outsiders (Hall and Nash) at Slamboree, May 17, but at the Nitro before the pay-per-view the Giant with no explanation what so ever joined Hogan in the nWo once again. The match proved to be a excellent, and the end came when Scott Hall turned on Nash and the Giant pinned him, so that the Giant and Sting became WCW Tag Team Champions.
Unfortunately Sting didn't wanted to join the Giant in the nWo, so he spat the Giant in the face the next day at Nitro. At Nitro, June 2nd, Sting delivered his final answer. After a match pitting Nash/Luger and Giant/Hogan, Sting came down from the rafters, first he revealed a black and white nWo shirt, when Hogan and the Giant were happy Sting attacked knocking Hogan down and slamming the Giant. Sting then went on to tear the nWo shirt up and reveal a black and red Wolf Pack shirt.
The Giant wasn't too pleased with Sting's decision, so at Thunder, he declared Brian Adams as his new tag team partner and champion. Later that night the Giant and Adams lost a match to Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page, when Sting showed up with red face paint and distracted the Giant. JJ Dillon ordered a match at the Great American Bash between Sting and the Giant, where the winner would be declared to be the legitimate Tag Champ and will have the right to name his partner as the other half of the Championship team.
To get over as a heel the Giant started coming to the ring smoking on a cigarette. At the Great American Bash the Giant did the job to Sting in less than seven minutes proving that he didn't have much to do in WCW, other than putting the other guys over. The Giant was then programmed with football player Kevin Greene, who cut a long boring interview on Nitro, June 22, which the Giant thankfully stopped. Greene then challenged the Giant to a match, which Greene won by disqualification when the nWo ran in.
Thankfully the Giant didn't have to job to Greene, who got pulverised by the Giant at Bash at the Beach '98. Soon after at Nitro, July 20, the Giant got revenge on both Kevin Nash and Sting. The Giant teamed up with Scott Hall and in a thrilling and heated contest, the Giant and Hall won the match and the WCW Tag Team Title, with a little help from Bret Hart.
The Giant and Hall didn't defend the title much due to Scott Hall was out with personal problems, so the Giant was programmed with the new World Champion - Goldberg, whom the Giant put over on more than one occasion on Nitro, pay-per-views and house shows.
At Halloween Havoc, the Giant teamed up with Scott Steiner to take on Rick Steiner, who defeated the two big men and won the WCW Tag Team Title. The Giant was then programmed with Diamond Dallas Page, the feud started on Nitro, November 30, here DDP took on Bret Hart in a no DQ match - the Giant then strolled down to the ring and delivered a huge Chokeslam to DDP to let the Hitman win the WCW US Title. The next week on Nitro, the Giant once again chokeslammed DDP, but this time it was through a wooden platform.
Diamond Dallas Page got his revenge on the Giant though, at Starrcade, December 27, the Giant totally manhandled Page during most of the match. During the match, Bret Hart accidentally nailed the Giant with a chair, but Page didn't get the pin. The Giant tried to chokeslam Page, but he shifted the balance and delivered the Diamond Cutter for the win.
The Giant's time in WCW was running short and on Thunder, January 7, the Giant was accused by Hogan of dropping the ball in a match, where Ric Flair won the right to run the company in 90 days by beating Eric Bischoff, during the match the Giant wanted to interfere but got a low blow from Randy Savage. Hogan then stated that the nWo only needed one big man, and if the Giant could defeat Kevin Nash at Nitro, it was his.
The Giant agreed to the match, but ended with the short stick of the match, when Nash nailed him with a wrench. To send the Giant off to the WWF the nWo then spray painted him and used a stunner.
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