WWE star Big Show recently spoke with the UK’s Digital Spy. The full interview is at this link and below are highlights:
Fans on social media:
“The fans are a fickle bunch, they always will be. There’s a few people out there that are very loud. Due to the advent of social media some of these guys have a platform and they’re able to sway a lot of opinions. A lot of people want to show their expertise by knocking something… everybody’s the best booker on the planet at hindsight 20/20. Everybody can give match advice after the match has already happened. I look at the content that’s done when it’s done.
“Regardless of how the finish turns out, regardless of that stuff – what took place in the match? What story is being told? Did the psychology make sense with a beginning, middle and end? Did the heat make sense? Were there just too many high spots? What’s a high-spot fest? Or was there actually some psychology in it? That’s the difference. I think that some people aren’t informed. You look at some of the great wrestlers we’ve had – the one thing they’ve always been able to do is suspend your disbelief a little bit. They’ve always been able to pull you in because they’ve had the right psychology.
“Brock’s believable! There’s no doubt about it. When Brock’s in the ring and he’s beating someone up, there’s a part of your mind that goes, ‘Ooh, I’m glad that’s not me in there.’ You get into the great matches like Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker – you have invested so many years of watching both of them. The timing and the pace and the way they laid everything out and everything they did meant something. That’s the beauty of our business and sometimes I get a little frustrated when I look online. They can bury me all they want to. I don’t lose an ounce of sleep getting buried. I wake up and look for people to block on Twitter. It starts my day off right. You’re an idiot with a bad opinion? BLLLLLOCK! I block all negativity from my life. But it does frustrate me when they start giving guys grief. ‘Roman Reigns shouldn’t get a push and THIS guy should get a push’. Well, the reason that so-and-so’s not getting a push is because he can’t sell tickets. 35,000 smart fans around the world like this guy… that’s fine. But the other millions around the world aren’t into that guy yet. The millions of people around the world are going to look at somebody like Roman Reigns and see him as a talent. They’re going to look at John Cena. They’re going to like Randy Orton. It’s a very weird business now because when I started there were things called dirt sheets. You didn’t read the dirt sheets. The dirt sheets you didn’t listen to. Now because of social media – it’s become a glorified dirt sheet.”
Roman Reigns and John Cena:
“Roman works the best when he’s got somebody bigger to attack him. I thought his stuff he did with Brock was amazing at Mania. I think Roman has a lot of all the right pieces to make everything work. I just think it’s our society nowadays to pick on the guy that’s good-looking, that’s athletic, that’s actually getting a break. But let’s give credit where credit’s due. The kid’s a hard-working kid, he’s a hell of an athlete, he’s got a great look and in the ring his timing’s good. That was one of the things that he worked well with me because matches with me are really simple: If you treat me like a giant and you sell, I make your life easy. I’m good at taking comebacks and I’m good at taking finishers and I’m gonna get you over. If you work with me I’m gonna get you over – or at least the match is gonna be good. Roman gets that.
“Another great one is Cena. Whenever I wrestle Cena, Cena starts off with two or three offensive moves and then I crunch him. But we all know the finish at the end is, you know, Five Knuckle Shuffle and there’s an AA and everybody goes home happy. It’s not a real hard format. If they work with me and allow me to impose my will and be that bully, that resonates with people subconsciously… we have a natural instinct to fight for the underdog. Sometimes when I’m a heel and I get the right opponent I’m very fortunate and able to tell that story, and I think that Roman did great at it. He was awesome to work with.”
His WrestleMania 33 match with Shaq and his WWE future:
“This is going to be a big media spectacle, once we start kicking off the angle, who knows what we’re going to do and who knows how we’re going to tie it together, how we’re going to make it work? I don’t see anything bigger than that happening for me in this stage of my career. I’m happy for the spotlight that I’m going to share with Shaq at WrestleMania and that’s that. If that’s the last opportunity, thank you very much, it’s been a fantastic time. If Vince comes up with something else, I’ll be there with a smile on my face and make that happen too.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
