Do wrestling fans want ''Big Guys'' at the top?

[Crush1]

I'm kind of wondering about something, isn't it strange that only large wrestlers get a lot of exposure on television and become champions sooner then smaller wrestlers. Everytime Lillian anounces a wrestler i noticed how she drags on about their weight and height. Maybe their is a reason to all of this, and that reason is us the fans.

If we didn't want big tough guys at the top of the card then in my opinion we would see a lot of lighter wrestler wouldn't we? I mean you cant say that just because Vince likes big wrestlers, he shoves them down our throats all the time. I think it's because the fans want to see relativaly large heroes winning all the gold. Just look at a random superhero show like batman. Doesn't that guy look freaking huge compared to his sidekick? and so does the villain.

Well i may have gone off the topic a little but my point is that most of the time we complain, the press complains, and the outside world complains about the fact that all of these wrestlers are so huge ''that they must have took some steroids'' But it's because of us the fans that we see so much big wrestlers main eventing all the time isn't it?

Well anyways i gave my opinion, now you give yours! feel free to discuss and tell me what you think about this.

 

[Miko]

While I will say that over the years small guys have had more and more success I will say that big guy's have nearly always proved to be the more marketable guys. My take on it is yes, the fans in general want to see big guy's at the top.

Take for example The Rock and Chris Jericho, now Jericho is one of the few guys that touches The Rock as far as charisma is concerned and one of the few that at least matches him in the ring for entertainment. Yet The Rock is one of the greatest champions ever while Jericho is one of the greatest flops ever. The only real difference between them is their size. It has to be a factor doesnt it?

Shawn Michaels is like the lowest drawing champion of all time, he wasnt short on talent or charisma and could certainly wrestle well. He just didnt seem to be as marketable as the larger Bret Hart. Randy Savage was never trusted to Main-Event without Hulk Hogan involved somehow, and Savage wasn't terrificly small.

I could be way off the mark here, it's just that the whole point of wrestling has seemed to be larger than life heroes taking on larger than life villians. Small guy's will always get a look in but big guy's will nearly always be at the top. At least that's how I see it.

 

[Mr. TM]

I really think that the WWE is getting away from Big Guy wrestlers for a lot of it. Wrestlers are becoming leaner in comparison to their ancestors. There is also a lot more wrestlers who are shorter in the WWE.

The occasional big guy gets brought in, and he become a monster, such as Khali a few years ago, Umaga, Matt Morgan, Kozlov, etc. But they will never be the lasting figures that the smaller guys will be.

For big guys who are not monsters, very few are in the company. There are very few wrestlers over 250 pounds now adays. John Cena, and Triple H are the rare few muscled up men.

Just take a look at the new generation of wrestlers, the members of Legacy, The Colons, Kendrick, CM Punk. These are small men for wrestlers. But they have been brought up, and have become world champions. This is smart by the WWE. Wrestlers will no longer have to used steriods to be giant, if the average guy in the company is only 225 pounds.

We can also see better product in my mind, smaller guys can typically put on a better show, so I disagree with the first post here. I think WWE uses a lot more smaller guys, and because of this, the product will be much better in 5 years.

 

[andymcg]

The guy above me i agree with , i think in 5 years time when the likes of Orton , Rhodes , Dibiase , Cm Punk , Jeff N Matt Hardy , perhaps even Kendrick and the Colons have all devolped there charcters more and have a bigger fan base (not that Ortons doesnt have one now) , wwe will be alot more entertaining. Big men have rapidly decreased over the years. Batista , HHH and Cena are the onyl 3 extremly muscle men that stick to my mind.

Off topic slightly but bassicly i think as a fan i would prefer to have smaller men as champs , The Hardys and CM Punk had decent enough title reigns , with Jeff still having his the now , and after theyve all devoped there charcters and fan bases more it could be alot better.

 

[Slyfox696]

I've said this for years. Wrestling fans don't want midgets who look like they could be beaten up by the person at your street corner gym. Wrestling fans want larger than life people, playing larger than life characters, locked in the classic Good vs. Evil struggle. It's always been like that, and likely will remain that way for years.

Professional wrestling THRIVES on superstars. But, people who are ordinary can't be superstars. I remember when Glenn Gilbertti was posting on here and talked about how today's wrestlers are nerds, and everyone bashed him...and yet, in many ways what he was saying was accurate. People aren't going to flock to people who are oridnary and mundane. Fans want someone to loo up to, someone they can aspire towards.

Bryan Danielson and Rey Mysterio are not those guys. John Cena? Yeah, he's that guy. Brock Lesnar? Yeah, he's that guy. Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Rock, Austin...those are the guys people want to be. They don't want to be Shelton Benjamin.

It's all about being larger than life. Wrestling fans have always gravitated towards those who appeared to live a life the ordinary fan never could. So, yes, the larger wrestlers will draw.

 

[Miko]

Yeah but how long before MVP and *shudder* Kennedy rise above The Colons and Punk? The Hardys I'll give you and DiBiase looks to have potential (all of these guys are bigger than HBK and Jericho though).

Think about Orton though, he's about 6ft 4 and 240. How is that in anyway small? Edge may be of skinnier build but he is WAY over 6ft as well. They may not be as big as Cena but they aren't small by any definition of the word. So I cant really see how smaller guy's are overtaking the larger wrestlers, unless you count Punk's flop reign and Mysterio's flop reign.

Basically what I am saying is wrestling is still being dominated by large guys, just look at RAW's champs over the last 3 years. John Cena (over a year), Randy Orton (8 months), HHH (moved to SmackDown), CM Punk (2 months?), Chris Jericho (2 months), Batista (2 weeks), Chris Jericho (3 weeks) to John Cena again (already 2 months isnt it?). The smaller guys on that list collectively dont equal either Cena or Orton's single reigns.

It's a similar story on Smackdown with Undertaker, Edge and Batista and to a later extent HHH. Hardy hasnt actually had a defence yet so it's too soon to judge.

It's like I said, smaller guy's will have a look in but wrestling will probably always be dominated by the Cena sized wrestlers. I cant really see any evidence to say otherwise.

 

[andymcg]

Hmm i suppose u have a fair point , however when someone says muscle to me i see the likes of cena , hhh , batista , lesnar , kane (at his peek in 98/99) , etc.
Small to me i see the likes of punk , rhodes , orton (i see what u mean about his size and weight , but standin beside the "bigger guys" he looks small) , jeff n matt , etc.

Also keep in mind , punk was never ment to be world champ , it was for Jeff. How many people can u say have handeled the pressure of bein told one day "hey your going to be next world champ" and handle it as well as punk did ?

U also have a very good point about all the wwes title reigns over the last 5 years (i think u said ?) its been all "bigger guys" , but personally i enjoy watchin the slightly smaller guys (not mysterio or evan bourne small) wrestling.

Though you could say , anybody at any size can put on a great match and be a great champion , dependin on how he is bookd.

 

[Showtime]

I was a little thrown off at first by your title "Big Guys". When I saw it, I assumed you were referring to the 6'8" or taller and the 280 lb and greater wrestlers. Of course it's no secret that Vince loves to push big muscular wrestlers who could've just as easily had a career in body building, guys like Batista, Cena, HHH, Hogan, Warrior, e.t.c. This is not so much the case now, especially in the last 5 years as we've seen many wrestlers not fit the muscular bodybuilding dream wrestler Vince has always had in his mind since the Hogan era, guys like Punk, Edge, Orton, Mysterio, Booker T, Hardy. I do see why Vince would want his Main event stars to be huge though, I mean what owner of a wrestling company wouldn't want his champions to look dominating, powerful, and larger than life, it's what caught all the fans imaginations back in the 80's and has only now kinda regressed a bit. Do all fans want to see these guys, I'm sure that's a no, but a lot must do as that is what WWE and WCW were pushing out and that is when they were at their peaks.

Now back to what I thought you were referring to, the real larger than life athletes, guys like Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Khali, Henry, Kozlov, Umaga, JBL. With the exception of the Undertaker, none of these guys ever stayed at the top for very long. As much as Vince loves big athletes, he's never really been comfortable with a pushing a wrestler who's really big. It seems at a certain point, once your bigger than a certain size, it begins to instead handicap you in how the company views you. Those big guys Vince must see as more attractions to his three ring circus and just not champion material. I don't know how fans feel about these kinds of wrestlers, I know my friend Scales loves huge wrestlers like these guys and to this day I don't why, but those are his favourites so I guess that means somebody out there likes the real "Big Guys" and wants to see them at the top. Do I want to see those guys at the top, not all of them, maybe some. You need some guys like that, ones that stand way above the rest. Me, I like smaller wrestlers too, guys like Punk, Orton to guys as small as The Brian Kendrick, but I've never had a problem too much with guys like Cena and HHH, they look like champions and that's why they are.

 

[andymcg]

I just think when your so "big" people just assume , sterioded up guy that cant wrestle , which is most casses is true. A mean HHH isnt the best wrestler , Cena is by god so so poor , thats why ive always liked smaller men wrestle.

Though in saying that most of us fans must like the bigger guys on top. Vince has kinda started listenin to what we want latly , seein he cant exactly like Jeff alot for his drugs failure twice , but us fans wanted it so bad he obviously thought well what the hell lets go for it. So seeing he has bigger champs , exception bein Jeff , doesnt that mean most of us must want bigger guys on top.

So lets ask another question, does anybody think you may ever seen a time were theres more smaller guys on top and larger guys in the mid card ?

 

[Captain Bean]

i see a lot of people have classed orton as under the small category or smaller category.......WHAT THE HECK?! 6'4 and 245lbs is huge and he is ripped, clear 6 pack and that.......hes not quite as big as HHH Cena and Batista but hes taller, and should still be classed as big.

big guys do draw more. well big guys who can wrestle draw more than smaller guys who can wrestle, but smaler guys who can wrestle eg. shawn michaels still draw more than big guys who cant e.g. Khali

what El Miko said about the rock and jericho is spot on really. similarly matched but rock was sooo much more successful due to his size.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Professional wrestling THRIVES on superstars. But, people who are ordinary can't be superstars. I remember when Glenn Gilbertti was posting on here and talked about how today's wrestlers are nerds, and everyone bashed him...and yet, in many ways what he was saying was accurate.

Say what you will, Alex Shelley and AJ Styles are cool as fuck. Well, Shelley is. Styles has values and other crazy shit like that. Religious nut.

But seriously, even rock stars don't act like rock stars any more. They're too busy feeding starving children and saving the planet to do drugs.

They don't want to be Shelton Benjamin.

Did you seriously just say that Hulk Hogan doesn't aspire to be Shelton Benjamin? Sometimes you're so full of crap it's unreal, Sly. I mean, seriously... Jesus Christ. I suppose you're one of those people that believe The Rock is something more than just a Dean Malenko rip-off?

It's all about being larger than life. Wrestling fans have always gravitated towards those who appeared to live a life the ordinary fan never could.

I dunno, Austin beat up his boss. If you really wanted to, I think you could do that.

 

[Azrael Cain]

I think that perhaps, at one point in time there was a demand that the "Top Guy" be huge. I think that that particular era has passed in wrestling, and the door has been opened for leaner, "smaller" (if you will), wrestlers to be pushed to the top. I think that as a general rule, for what wrestling "is" -- the embodiment of modern day Gladiators -- it's about two things: the struggle for the underdog to overcome, and the larger than life hero being triumphant. Wrestling fans are regular people, and regular people have those two desires that need satisfying. It's nice when the two come together in an oxymoronic way and we get a larger than life underdog, but then again wrestling is also about suspending the disbelief.

I think that deep down the fans realize that there is a certain amount of reality (or maybe unreality) to wrestling, and the "bigger" guy will more often than not dominate those "smaller," so seeing the top guy be big is almost natural. For the Darwinists in us, it is kind of a survival of the fittest mentality, and little guys, while hella determined and spirited, will get stepped on by big guys.

And in the end, both guys serve a purpose: the big provide the adversaries for the small, as well as challenges to topple from time to time. I think that Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels prove that success (if one can call it that), or maybe a better term is "being the top guy," can come to "smaller" wrestlers. Were they gigantic draws? That all depends on the state of the market, the fans' interest, to some degree the booking and writing staff, etc etc.

I think that years after years of getting big guys, it's refreshing to see smaller guys get pushed. I, for one, don't care for the size of the fellow as long as he is charismatic and talented. If he is a no-talent hack, fuck the size, I won't watch him.

People identify with both types -- be it the Horatio Alger ideal of a scamp rising to the top or the Greek Gods Embodied, battling it out for our fates. I think that as long as the character can be related to, the stories he is involved in are decent, and his in-ring performances are at least *** - **** quality, the fans won't mind the size.

But then again, I might be just pontificating on a soapbox.

 

[Greenlight13]

Someone mentioned that fans don't want to see guys that look as though we could beat them up. I suppose there is a hint of truth to that, but I'd say only when you first see them. Look at Kendrick. For years he was Spanky, he was small so he thought being an over the top comedy guy would help him, if he encouraged people to laugh at him he'd get by. Then he was put in a tiny tag team with London and dominated a non-existant division. Still, whenever he came up against a bigger singles guy he got squashed. Then suddenly he becomes this larger than life guy with title aspirations. Sure he got his reputation by defeating jobbers, but he was technically World Champion for about three minutes. In that match he dominated the bigger guys even if he was ultimately squashed.

My point is that these guys that LOOK like we could beat them up, well clearly we couldn't as they're strong despite how small they may look and they're trained in ways to hurt people. The only problem is getting fans to watch them long enough to be convinced of this. This is why ROH will never break out as a top company, while people who love actual wrestling like myself love it, you are never going to convince a random dude from California that Bryan Danielson is one of the best in the world.

Vince pushes big guys because he is marketing to a tv audience, not a wrestling audience. He is creating a product that he wants everyone to watch, not wrestling fans. He knows the wrestling fans will watch anyway because love or hate what WWE does 99% of wrestling fans still follow it. He wants women to watch, he wants cool hip dudes to watch, he wants rednecks to watch, he wants business people to watch. To do that everything HAS to be a comodity, an attraction. "Hey look what we have." And size is a commodity that can't be taught but is readily available and always will be. Which is more impressive to someone that has never seen wrestling before: A 5'7", skinny, pale wrestler who can chain-wrestle like a demon, or a 6'8", ripped, fake-tanned dude who can hit a powerslam and a big boot?

WWE is a circus, and the men that are bigger than anyone you'll find on the street are an attraction. If size didn't matter, then why would TNA lie about everyone's height? They add 2 inches to everyone. AJ isn't six feet on his tip toes. Abyss isn't an inch over 6'5", but that would make him smaller than every WWE big man so he seems less scary. That's why when they brought Matt Morgan in, it probably wasn't the best idea to have him stand anywhere near Abyss.

Morgan is WWE-big, and he dwarfs Abyss. He's also ripped whereas Abyss covers up his less-than-toned physique. In my opinion Morgan has made Abyss look weak since they began teaming up. He's the brains AND the brawn. Now Abyss doesn't like weapons what does he offer? He could be a skilled big man if he applied himself, but he simply isn't big enough to ever fill that role.

Petey Williams is known for having the finisher that damn near every fan wants to see, so why does he have to have inches tacked on to his real height? He's also more ripped than most of the bigger guys and he can fly. Why can't these things be enough? Why does he need the rub from Steiner (who in my opinion is one of the worst wrestlers to hit the main event scene in decades) to be taken seriously?

I personally hate most big guys because I love actual wrestling. If you're big and you can do some moves that extend beyond body slams and big boots and MORE IMPORTANTLY you can take moves better than simply falling down, then I have no problem with you. Kane, Undertaker, Morgan, Umaga, to an extent Big Show are all fine in my book. But I have no time for the ones that come and go. I would rather watch Jimmy Jacobs wrestle Roderick Strong than see Khali in a match with anyone, but I'm the minority. The everyday people want to see these giants.

 

[Greenlight13]

Say what you will, Alex Shelley and AJ Styles are cool as fuck.

Shelly IS cool as fuck. He is inventive with his look and his moves and he doesn't recycle the same promos. I think the definition of cool is when you look something looks good on someone else but it wouldn't on you. Well look at the way Shelley dresses and the things he does with his hair, any of us did that we'd get beaten up on the street, but to me the dude looks cool.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

i perfer girth over muscle

So you must've been a huge Yokozuna fan.

mostly heavy guys are non existent

Actually, I'd find it pretty hard to not take notice of them. It's actually almost physically impossible to not take notice of them, it's not like they're hard to miss.

except for mark henry

Or Vader, Yokozuna, Mabel, Bam Bam Bigelow, One Man Gang, Earthquake and Tugboat. But you know, none of those guys really did what Mark Henry's done. And besides, Mark's ability to stretch his boobs all the way around his body to his back is really a selling point in this day and age.

what can i say i'm partial to heavy wrestlers

The bigger they are... the more they sell?

Ya know, I'm a fan of the talented Heavyweights. Vader, Yokozuna just to name two specifically. I loved watching them, because for as big as they were.. they could move, and work with anyone.

most heavy wrestlers hasd good charecters

Especially Mabel. So great he had 4 different gimmicks.

promo skills are a plus

Kinda like talent is optional?

 

[kidcupid]

So you must've been a huge Yokozuna fan.



Actually, I'd find it pretty hard to not take notice of them. It's actually almost physically impossible to not take notice of them, it's not like they're hard to miss.
what i'm talking about theres hardly no wwe wrestlers that would fit in the girth catagory




Or Vader, Yokozuna, Mabel, Bam Bam Bigelow, One Man Gang, Earthquake and Tugboat. But you know, none of those guys really did what Mark Henry's done. And besides, Mark's ability to stretch his boobs all the way around his body to his back is really a selling point in this day and age.
i'm talking about active big guys



The bigger they are... the more they sell?

Ya know, I'm a fan of the talented Heavyweights. Vader, Yokozuna just to name two specifically. I loved watching them, because for as big as they were.. they could move, and work with anyone.
just the whole size thing makes em look good like a monster



Especially Mabel. So great he had 4 different gimmicks.
yeah u are correct.



Kinda like talent is optional?

i don't look at wrestling capabilty if the fans relate to them and boo or cheer then then thats good

 

[Jane]

Well, I think it is because it's more realistic. They put big guys on top all the time because if wrestling was real, that's who would be on top. People always moan about big guys being on top, but to me, perhaps we ourselves want to be the big guys? Do people who fantasize about becoming wrestlers picture themselves as Rey Mysterio, or a big, powerful guy like Triple H? So I think that people do like to see the big dominant people on top for a few reasons. It adds to the realism factor that the watchers enjoy, and because, perhaps subconsciously, they want to be the big guy on top.

 

[ExtremeSwagga93]

Agreed with Y 2 Jane. To have big muscular guys like Batista and HHH in the main event is more realistic. For example, my dad cannot stand Rey Mysterio because he feel Mysterio kills the legitimacy of wrestling when he beats big guys like Kane, when I think about it as exciting as high fliers are, they don;t belong in the main event fighting big guys cause it does look fake. Like football, it's the big guys that survive in football, not little guys, if wrestling were shoot fighting, the big guys would be on top. I'm a fan of cruiserweight action, but nothing sells better than the build up of two monster destroying each other in the ring.