Are the Days of the "Big Man" Numbered?

[shafe_41]

So over the years there have been many "big men" of wrestling. Taker, Kane, Andre, King Kong Bundy, Big Show, just to name a few. In a business where you would think that the big man always has the advantage, why are so few successful? Arguably (and there's a thread about it), The Undertaker is the greatest big man to ever step into the ring. Multi-time champion, RR winner, undefeated at Mania, the works... I believe he's the best ever but that's not what this is about.

This focuses more along the lines of all big men and where have they all gone. The sheer size of some of the performers in this business would be enough to scare my boxers into little pink panties with the day of the week on the crotch. But why is the big man not pushed the way he used to be? Are fewer and fewer getting into the business or is the place for them becoming smaller and smaller? Looking at the guys pushed over the years and the guys left out in the cold... the smaller guys are getting the edge. Why is this? Even here in the WWE, the big man is less dominant. Big Show, Kane, Khali, etc... I realize all those guys have limited years left as does Taker, but there's no new big men to replace them. Will the "big man" fall by the wayside as time goes on? Is smaller and more agile and better on the stick the future of a business that should be dominated by size?

A perfect example of this is Matt Morgan. Now I wasn't watching much wrestling when he was in the WWE. But he was the whole package... and he still is so with TNA. He's tall, he's in amazing shape, and he's best of all...young. And again, I don't know what went on with him backstage or even in the ring, but wouldn't this guy be a vision of Vince's perfect superstar? Vince always loved size. The bigger the better. He signed Khali for christ sake (although he could have also done that for the country of India). Matt Morgan is a guy I would picture (and no pun intended) to be pushed to the moon. (The pun coming with his DNA being shot into space.) Even in TNA. Is he getting pushed? Sure. But a young guy like that should just be able to come in and simply dominate. Not quite Lesnar dominate. But dominate nonetheless. I mean Sting went over him at Slammiversary. 50 yr. old Sting. To me, that's embarrassing. But why is this a guy Vince let go?

Is there no way to market a big man anymore? Or has the right guy (if it's not Matt Morgan) just not come along yet? Or are the days of the big man in WWE (or even in wrestling in general) numbered?

 

[klunderbunker]

I don't think they're numbered. Things in wrestling come in trends. Something will be popular, so they'll try to recreate it. Eventually, a big man will be found that will take the company by storm again. Look at Taker. He was next to nothing in WCW and within a year in WWF he's world champion. Show comes in and is thrown into the main event. Kane is thrown with one of the best in the company. All it takes is one truly good big man to show up and the sky's the limit. You never know what you'll find, and often times, they can just pop up from nowhere. It doesn't look good now, but that can change on any given night.

 

[Cracka Jack]

The sheer size of some of the performers in this business would be enough to scare my boxers into little pink panties with the day of the week on the crotch.

Hilarious.

Back to topic: I believe that the "big man" will always be around in some form. When these guys you mentioned leave, Vince will make sure to bring in more. We just don't have any new big men at the moment. Give it a year or two, and there will be a few new guys dominating in the ring.

As far as Matt Morgan goes... I don't know why he isn't dominating in the WWE right now. As you said, he's exactly what Vince loves in a big man, which makes you wonder why he was cut. Maybe he pissed off someone in the back, had a bad attitude about things, or something along those lines. Either way, he's doing well in TNA, so it doesn't matter as much.

 

[Andres_cena]

Well I believe vince has tried to do just that, the hell he did just that a couple years ago. Khali debutted not that long ago (2006-7?), was pushed by dominating undertaker, and eventually got the title reign, but as everything these days, he got stale and "been there, saw that" style so fans got bored of him, he was pushed with this "indian playboy" gimmick and got lost. In my eyes vince tried to push snitsky just as the new great big guy but snitsky didn't got a reaction from the crowd therefor, failure.

So yeah, a new guy will come sooner or later, and its up to the fans if he's successfull or not.

 

[TellMeWhy]

The big man will always live in WWE. They may not find a 7ft tall giant like Matt Morgan but they'll find someone with a physique like a Batista or Bobby Lashley. I think you intended tall guys but whatever. The thing is that most of tthe tall guys that come into WWE are made into jokes. WWE misuses their big tall men with stupid gimmicks. Mike Knox-like wtf is he supposed to be, Snitzky had a foot fetish, Matt Morgan was given a stuttering gimmick, Big Daddy V was supposed to be some monster, they have Ezekiel Jackson whose suppose to be half scholar/half beast-wtf. They just don't have the brains to use a big man anymore. They all eventually become jokes.

Right now, I see TNA gaining more big men and using them correctly. Hernandez, Abyss, Rob Terry, Matt Morgan, etc.

 

[ronthony717]

I feel like its just been done to death in such a short time.. Like after a big man dominates and looses his steam a new one comes into the picture and it gets tiring after awhile... Right now its mainly bout the quick little guys that can impress the crowd and keep the congress away from thinkin bout wwe and steroids at the same time... And also you have to think that for the wwe right now they have kane, undertaker, mark henry, kahli, big show and Knox.. I think that's all... There's really no room for ne more... After 2-3 of them leave then vince will have room for more big guys.. But remember when atrain and nathan jones and matt morgan along with big show and undertaker and kane were all on the same show... It was rediculous because it was all big guys... Everyone stopped caring because big guys are used to look dominant and when there are way to many of them then it kind of dies down and people stop caring... Remember that big guy that came in with elija burk? My point exactly lol....

 

[MrSands]

I think they will always need to at least have some big men around. Why? For beleivability, if there are no big men around and a competing one would have then your wrestlers would seem inferior (compared to another show that have their similar sized wrestlers beat big men). You always need big men around to at least show that your wrestlers can beat big men.

 

[FromTheSouth]

The big men will always be around. I think we are due for an influx of them pretty soon. After HHH, HBK, Taker, and Batista retire in the next few years, what will be left with? Cena and the spotmonkeys?

Jeff Hardy may never wrestle again in the long term. Of all the young guys, only John Morrison, maybe Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger are championship material. Does anyone think Evan Bourne is good enough to be World Champion? He's terrible on the mic and useless in the ring beyond a couple of flips. He can't tell a story.

When Vince realizes that all he has left are a couple of cruiserweights to fight Cena and Swagger, we will find some SHW to feud with them.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Right now, big isn't in. Athleticism is. Look at Jack Swagger. He's 6'4, 275-285 range. Athletic as all hell. He's a freak of nature and is Vince's dream wrestler. The only reason Big men aren't around as often anymore is simply because there hasn't been one out there since the Great Khali. In a 5 year span, Kane, Kevin Nash, AND Big Show/Giant were running rampant in the Monday Night Wars. Right now, there's no big guys to carry that torch, which is why the WWE is more oriented into finding athletic guys who can pull off amazing moves as opposed to finding a monster.

 

[ronbot09]

Big guys aren't getting pushed mainly because (IMO) there aren't that many that can move that well around the ring with the exception of Taker (and Kane on occassion) none of the other big guys can sell their matches that well and their movesets are so limited toss the little guy in the air, pretend his leg kicks actually have the ability to hurt them, push the little guy down, then do a chokeslam like move...wow...lol Big Show is adding moves to his set which is cool I like that he added the spear and camel clutch but other big guys like Kahli are just to stiff in the ring and them dropping the belt to someone like mysterio or someone they tower over isn't that believeable..

 

[mister_b1LL]

I think it depends on what people define as "big men". Obvious choices for big men would be Andre, Khali, Big Show, and Big Daddy V, but we seem to have expanded the big men landscape to include Undertaker, Mike Knox, and even Bobby Lashley.

With the exception of Taker (especially in the 90s), the latter 3 just don't seem to fit the big men category. For example, JBL weighed 295 pounds, which is about 20 pounds heavier than Bobby Lashley and a little more than Mike Knox, but most people don't exactly define JBL as big man.

I think there is definitely a job for big men way down the line, so long as they don't hit the 400+ mark. The current audience wants a faster pace in wrestling matches and unless the big man was as gifted as Taker or even Umaga in skill and ability, you're looking at yet another big man getting "You can't wrestle"d out of the arena.

 

[The Legendary 23]

What I see is that big men are hard to come across. Well, athletically, mentally, and healthily capable big men, to be more specific. You can train any giant goof and put him in a ring, but odds are the match is going to look like complete shit. And if you give that guy the mic, god knows how bad their mic work might be.

I think the WWE is just waiting for another big man to come along. There will always be room for one in the roster, but I imagine a big man that can perform on WWE standards is going to be far and between.

 

[LigerBomb]

I don't think there's any great mystery as to what is transpiring these days, nor do I believe "the big man" will be gone from WWE; if anything as others have said we're just waiting for the right guy with all the necessary skills to come along. Obviously the product is ever changing and the performers are getting more athletic. The problem by and large is that most older big men aren't all that athletic. Sure some will argue that they are athletic enough for their size but that's not a corollary to the athletic trend of the product in general.
Also recall that you can book a big man act like a Vegas Act or territory system. By that I mean either the Act stays put and the audience changes (Vegas) or the act roams around and the audience stays the same (old territory system). In either case the audience is always circulating thereby allowing the Big Man to still be impacting upon debut, and leave before he bores the audience, or stays long enough to really let his obvious weaknesses show. When the act and the audience stays (modern national WWE TV+relatively static WWE Universe) you have the chance of boring the audience and displaying chinks in the Big Guy's armor. The latter of course can work if you book it well but even then it takes a bit of right guy right timing type luck.
Matt Morgan is a great example of a Big Man with a future because he is "big" but well proportioned and athletic enough to not have the puitfalls of the previous Big Man generation. As long as he stays healthy; which btw is another sticking point people of large proportions have to deal with, he could be great in the ring; whether he can sell tickets/PPVs is a matter not entirely connected so I won't touch upon it. As we are all well aware, Pro Wrestling is a hard and physically demeaning activity especially when you are at either end of the spectrum (Too Big Too Small) and the injuries accumulate over time. Older big guys are at the end of those days were you could be big and slow for your whole career. The modern Big Man must be athletic and competent both in and out of the ring and be an overall total package and not just try and coast on physical dimensions. That said genetics won't pop people like that all the time, and worse yet as WWE has an ass backwards developmental farming system it would be easy to have a gentic anomally of such proportions fall through the cracks, but yes it is possible. Once that day comes when the right guy, with the right tools comes along, (who actually wants to be in Pro Wrestling) we'll have another Giant, or Next Big Thing etc etc etc.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The traditional idea of "The Big Man" really was as simple as you had a guy who was physically bigger than your top draw... who would offer the toughest challenge to him yet ultimately fall...either to the champ or to create a new star... When not in a programme, he was the "attraction" of the night, like Andre or Haystacks Calhoun... someone SO big that you had to see them in the flesh...

During the Hogan era, the definition of Big became more muscular, but the model remained the same through the 80's and most of the 90's... Taker, Sid and Yoko were brought in specifically for that big man role, so were Earthquake, Vader et al...

WWE is in a post steroid rebuilding phase, much as it was in the mid 1990s... Big men do need to be more "freakish" in size as opposed to muscular... Khali works as he is legitemately an attraction... horrible to watch work, but amazing to behold in the flesh... Diesel got the push in 1994/95 cos he was near as dammit a legit 7ft worker... on a roster with Yoko, Taker, Glen Jacobs et al, even a Scott Hall seemed smaller in comparison at 6ft 6!...

The top draws are all now much smaller men than the Hogan's/Nash's/Warrors of the world... So those who were once "big men" are immediately giants in a sense... If CM Punk is the champ at 6ft 1..., Taker is a giant compared to him...same for Rey... but then so is someone like Seamus at only 6ft 6...

WWE is lucky to have a lot of big men at its disposal, they are always useful... but the push for them will rely on their abilities in the ring, and their "cleanliness"... Those who look roided or can't work well with the smaller talent will fail... those who look big naturally and can bump convincingly will get pushed.