Big Show IS Ready to Headline

[Guest FeArHaVoC]

Big Show: 'I'm ready'

by Phil Speer

 

On the Oct. 22 SmackDown! taping in Memphis, Tenn., the Big Show appeared, making him the first Superstar to be traded since the RAW and SmackDown! rosters were frozen. Immediately after the taping, he caught a flight to Los Angeles to guest star on the UPN sitcom "One on One," which airs Monday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, just before RAW. It was a sign that WWE officials consider Big Show to be an upper-echelon Superstar, and they're looking for him to step up more than ever. On Sunday, Nov. 17 at Survivor Series, Show will step in the ring for his first one-on-one WWE Championship Match on pay-per-view. Recently, WWE.com caught up with the self-described "big, nasty, bastard" to discuss "One on One," and the challenges of being a main-event Superstar.

 

WWE.com: How was L.A.? How was "One on One"?

 

Show: Great. They were so nice to me over there. The director, Ken Whittingham, was especially helpful with me and my lines -- in getting my lines out, and delivering them in a way to get that extra laugh. Live comedy is so much about timing. I had a good time on "Saturday Night Live," but even watching "Saturday Night Live" back, after spending time on "One on One," I could see where I could have made my jokes a little bit funnier, with a little bit better timing. So I really think that the "One on One" show is going to be funny. The cast and the crew just went out of their way to be helpful. The wardrobe people were great. It was a really, really wonderful experience. It was a lot of hard work. The hours were long. There were a lot of very talented actors. What a great time. I'm not just saying that to kiss ass, either. I really had a good time.

 

WWE.com: Can you tell us about the part you played?

 

Show: The main character, Flex, has a stalker. Michael Irvin plays a football player for the local Baltimore team. Flex throws a pass to Michael Irvin, and Michael Irvin breaks his arm. It causes a lot of controversy in the town. So Flex gets really paranoid, and he hires a bodyguard. That's where I come into play, as a "Life Preservation Specialist." I think my character is a little over the top. I'm almost like a Tackleberry from "Police Academy" type character. I'm very serious, but funny. I look great in my suit too. My wife would be proud. I wore my suit well.

 

WWE.com: Do you know when it's going to air?

 

Show: From what I gather, probably two or three weeks. I'm sure by the time that the airdate comes, we'll have a tape for Confidential.

 

WWE.com: What was your schedule like that week? I know you caught a charter right after SmackDown!

 

Show: Yeah, I flew out on a charter, courtesy of Vince McMahon, which was a very, very nice thing to do. Rather than making me catch an early flight and show up on the set with no sleep, I got a couple of hours in on the plane and was ready to rock 'n' roll, and did a really good job representing the company and myself.

 

WWE.com: You were there Wednesday ...

 

Show: I was there Wednesday and Thursday. I got done shooting Thursday night at about 11, and caught a redeye back to Tampa.

 

WWE.com: Will we be seeing you do more acting in the future?

 

Show: I hope so. I talked to Joel Simon (President of WWE Films) out in California, and he's got a couple of other projects he was talking to me about. He wanted to know how I felt about doing them. My attitude is, the more I can do, the better. I think anytime we can cross over and do other things to represent the company well, it's good for everybody. Universal Studios has The Rock. Maybe Paramount will have the Big Show.

 

WWE.com: Are you still making royalties off "The Waterboy"?

 

Show: Yeah, I do. I get a check from them about once every three months.

 

WWE.com: It seems like you've really stepped up your game over the last few weeks in WWE. What's happening?

 

Show: Well, the thing is I've been through a lot of ups and down -- I've been through Louisville, I came back here. I've worked back into the program. I had a lot of proving to do. I think when I first started my career, I had a lot of things handed to me that, considering the time I'd been in the business, I did OK with. But once I got here to WWE, it's so much more of a very competitive workrate. It's not just going out there and having a good match. It's going out there and having a f***ing great match. That's the way all the top guys here do it. Triple H has a great match every night ( ) Edge, (Chris) Jericho, Kane, Undertaker. When have you ever seen Undertaker have a bad match? You haven't, because of the level of intensity and the level of competitiveness that he brings to the ring. ( ) For myself, it was just trying to find my character and finding a way to raise my intensity, and still be in a work-safe environment with the other guys -- just bring my product up to level. It took me a while -- about a year and a half -- to adjust, and basically get my s*** together.But I've had great help from Vince, from Paul (Heyman), from Johnny Ace, Fit Finlay, Arn Anderson, Jerry Brisco. Those guys have been instrumental in helping me. I really think that's been a big key. We examine every little thing. When I was doing work on the house shows, Jack Lanza was right there to examine every little thing. And honesty was the key. If I had a stinker match, I found out why it was a stinker, I made corrections and I tried not to make the same mistake twice. So we managed to eliminate a lot of bad things. The main theme of the Big Show character is intensity. The more intense I am, the more the fans like it, and the more the office likes it.

 

WWE.com: Your character has gone in several different directions since you've been here, and they've seemed to fizzle. What happened in those instances?

 

Show: I think it's a hit-and-miss program. Yeah, I'm a giant. But at the same time, I'm a different athlete than anybody's ever had in this business. I am an athlete. I can talk. I can be funny. I can be entertaining. It's just, which route is the best for my career to go? And which route is best for the company? Trying to find that route has been hard -- hard for me as a person, and hard for the office as talent coordinators. But I think we've narrowed it down now, and we all agree that "big, intense Big Show" is the way to go. "Funny Big Show" we can do on TV series. Where the money counts is in the ring, being intense.

 

WWE.com: How does it feel to be the first Superstar traded to SmackDown!? How does it feel to be here?

 

Show: It feels great. I was one of the first ones to leave WCW and make the jump over here to WWE. And what's funny is, I made my (first) appearance in WWE at St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Memphis. And I made my appearance on SmackDown! in Memphis. There's a little bit of history repeating itself, so I thought it was good timing. And I'm ready. I don't have any doubts or worries whatsoever that I can do nothing but deliver.

 

WWE.com: Have the other Superstars from SmackDown! accepted you?

 

Show: We've got a great locker room, a great bunch of guys. We're all very competitive. The main theme of the locker room is, you give 100 percent, and nobody can fault you for it. It's just when guys come in and don't pull their end that they get heat. I don't think I came in here not trying to pull my end, I just think I didn't know how. Now I know how, and I think I've earned the respect of my peers.

 

WWE.com: You came into SmackDown! and are working the main events from Day 1. There isn't any jealousy in the locker room?

 

Show: I don't think there's jealousy in the locker room because I think everybody knows that this business is about ups and downs. The key to staying on top is to work as many main events as you can, and then being able to drop down on the card and work well there too with all guys. I think we all understand that nothing's forever. There's not going to be 10-year runs like the Hogan run and stuff like that. Nowadays, the upper echelon's got to totally revolve. There's going to be your main characters, and there's going to be people working in and out of the top spot. Whatever role I can fill for the company and for myself, I'm here to do.

 

WWE.com: Are you going to miss RAW?

 

Show: Yeah, I'm going to miss RAW. I'm going to miss riding with Eddie Fatu (Jamal) and Dave Batista. We got pretty close towards the end there, riding together. Eddie is a great personality and a real funny guy. The only problem is, with him and me, there's no sense of the word diet. So it's probably a good thing splitting us up.

 

WWE.com: Who are you looking forward to getting in the ring with on SmackDown!?

 

Show: All the guys. There's so much great talent over here. There's (Chris) Benoit, the Guerreros, Edge, (Kurt) Angle and, of course, Brock Lesnar. There are so many guys for me to get in the ring with that I'm really excited about being over here.

 

WWE.com: Tell us a little bit about your new look.

 

Show: The new look is by Fit Finlay. He wanted me to have more of a serious look. I think we're going to have some outfit changes in the future too -- something that helps exemplify the Big Show "big, mean, nasty bastard" persona. That's what I'm going to be. I'm going to be a big, mean, nasty bastard. I can be a great guy out of the ring, but in the ring I'm going to be a son of a bitch.

 

WWE.com: Anything you want to add?

 

Show: Just that it's good to be rockin' and rollin' again. Look out. The Big Show's back.

 

Credit: WWE.com

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

I'm going to miss riding with Eddie Fatu (Jamal) and Dave Batista. We got pretty close towards the end there, riding together

Holy crap! They got those 3 guys in 1 car?

 

Wow.

[Guest snowfan]

I'm going to miss riding with Eddie Fatu (Jamal) and Dave Batista. We got pretty close towards the end there, riding together

Holy crap! They got those 3 guys in 1 car?

 

Wow.

I think they had a bus to themselves or something....

 

go to the big guys vince...

 

that'll make us all come back

 

[Guest subliminal_animal]

I'm going to miss riding with Eddie Fatu (Jamal) and Dave Batista. We got pretty close towards the end there, riding together

Holy crap! They got those 3 guys in 1 car?

 

Wow.

Isn't Jamal the asshole? And I'm surprised he doesn't ride with his brother.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Well at least he's not being an ass about it. As opposed to most people who get a push and jump on there:

"This has been a long time coming! There's a bunch of fat sexless naysayers out there that can kiss my ass! Fuck you all! I'm a big star losers!"

*2 weeks later push bombs and is never spoken of again*

[Guest subliminal_animal]

With each passing day, I get more and more worried that this isn't a placeholder push just to give Brock someone to feud with for a month.

 

And no, I don't really care to just edit my post I made about ten minutes ago.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

Oh, so that's Show's problem, he thinks are Kane and Undertaker are models for success.

 

No way could those 3 guys fit in a car. And I admit that I laughed when Show said it was best to leave Raw, because when Jamall and Show hang out, the word diet has no meaning. Too bad he doesn't know what "You're a fat, worthless slob" means either.

[Guest candie45]

At the house show BS and Jamal left in a SUV thing... so, uh yeah. Surprisingly, the car did not fall apart.

[Guest The Tino Standard]

The reason everybody on Smackdown didn't get jealous when they saw Big Slow get traded over and become the instant No. 1 contender is because they know he's a lamb being led to slaughter and they don't want to be sacrificed like he's about to be.

[Guest RedJed]

I hate to predict the worst, but I'm starting to think theres a chance that they might give Show the belt at the ppv to try to build him up as a MEer again. I hope thats not the case but it seems possible.

[Guest FeArHaVoC]

I have that feeling also. Survivor Series "Screw job" with Heyman costing Brock the Title and going with Big Show.

[Guest RedJed]

It might not be a bad idea on one sense because it will break any predictability factor. I think 95 percent of even the casual fans are expecting Brock to win just because Show hasn't done a damn thing for over a few years. So this might actually be smart booking in one sense. Trying their hardest to build up Show as a monster heel isn't a bad thing if done right. We'll see if he's "ready" or not, that is more than anything, the determining factor.

 

Of course Brock wins in a rematch though.

[Guest The Tino Standard]

Considering how much they are banking on Brock Lesnar as the future of the company (as company executives have gone on record as saying in the NY Times), I seriously doubt they'd sacrifice his continual push at the hands of the Big Show.

 

I don't think even they are THAT stupid. Triple H might be the biggest politician right now, but Brock Lesnar is the most protected guy on the roster.

[Guest Anglesault]

Considering how much they are banking on Brock Lesnar as the future of the company (as company executives have gone on record as saying in the NY Times),

Well, then, it's a fututre that doesn't include me as a viewer..

[Guest RedJed]

Well he doesn't need to be protected as much if they are going to turn him full babyface here. If Heyman turned on him at the ppv and Show got the belt, it would just build symphathy for a babyface Lesnar to win it back in a rematch blowoff.

 

As a heel though, I can understand the logic in protecting their "investment" so to speak.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Don't worry Big Show! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

I feel *extremely* confident in predicting a 0% chance of Big Show beating Brock at the PPV

[Guest Trivia247]

you know if Big Show was any like Andre said, he would stop talking trying to predict how big he was. He just have some humility and let things happen, and he could have the career Andre had. but nooo he has to whine, and brag and run at the mouth, and the "Giant" advantage falls out the window if no one respects him.

[Guest Human Fly]

Too bad after this month, or the next month if they stretch his fued to Armageddon, that he'll mess up the workrate on SD.

 

I would be shocked, and I mean shocked, if Big Show wins at Survivor Series. That could possibly be the worst thing for them to do. I can just imagine the crap filling the ring if Big Show wins the title after a 15 minute match with 12 minutes of bear hugs. It wouldn't be heel heat crap either.

[Guest ZGangsta]

On a completely different topic, look at this jem I dug up off wwe.com from a recent Randy Orton interview (talking about his injured shoulder and the sling he wears).

 

He’s not wearing one day because he wanted to shake hands with his peers backstage (greeting everyone backstage is customary WWE etiquette).

 

That is pure genius.

Poor, poor Sean O'Haire. Still being burried today.