I'm going to vote for The Giant.
No, I'm not voting for The Big Show.
No, I'm not voting for Andre. I am voting for The Giant. I am voting for a version of The Giant that, in WCW, was pushed as greater than Hulk Hogan.
I think there should be something said for how a wrestler is pushed kayfabe wise in two different promotions. The Giant has been in two of the big promotions, and was pushed different ways in both promotions. For those that argue what Paul Wight's all time high was in terms of kayfabe power, I'm here to explain that the height of his kayfabe power was in WCW during late 1995- Summer 1996.
The Giant was pushed in a similar manner as The Great Khali, as he was pushed immediately to the main event, and went against the biggest face of the show/promotion, Hulk Hogan. For months, The Giant was pushed as greater than Hulk Hogan. In the span of eight months, The Giant defeated the following names, in no particular order. Mind you, these wins, for the most part were clean.
-Hulk Hogan
-"Macho Man" Randy Savage
-Ric Flair
-Sting
-Lex Luger
-Scott Steiner
-Arn Anderson
-Chris Benoit
-Jim Duggan
-Jeff Jarrettt
-John Tenta (Sorry, I had to include this one)
I can't think of many people that have a resume that could span that amount in any eight month period in their entire career. He basically decimated every single face that WCW had to offer to him. I can't think of a wrestler that beat these caliber of wrestlers, especially in the first eight months of their career. Not Sting. Not The Undertaker. Not Ric Flair. Not even Hulk Hogan. And certainly not Andre the Giant.
Literally, he destroyed everybody that was placed in front of him. He beat everyone that WCW had to offer, and then some. He was treated as the equal, if not better than, Hulk Hogan in the kayfabe world.
Now then, when I say that there should be something said for how a wrestler is portrayed kayfabe wise, I forgot there's an exception. That man is Terry Bollea. No matter where this man goes, he is always portrayed, kayfabe wise, as the best in the promotion. The Giant was built as the one man in WCW during that time that was his equal. Hulk Hogan beat every one cleanly. Except for the Giant. The only time he could beat him was with with interference from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
A while back I made a comparison between The Giant and The Great Khali, but there is one noticeable difference between Khali and The Giant. Namely, The Giant could wrestle. He was extremely agile for a man his size. He could perform a drop kick, and could even jump off of the top rope. At point, I distinctly remember watching him perform a moonsault in one of his matches. Would you ever expect that out of a man that was 7'4", and weighed over four hundred pounds.
Who was stronger? Well, there's a reason I put John Tenta's name on the list of people he's defeated. In one of his matches, The Giant distinctly picked this man up over his head, and chokeslammed him. This wasn't a chokeslam in which Tenta got two or three feet into the air; it was a legitimate chokeslam. John Tenta weighed five hundred pounds at the time. When was the last time you've ever heard of someone chokeslamming five hundred pounds? Not the Undertaker. Not Kane. And again, certainly not Andre the Giant.
And fot those of you that will talk about how the opponent jumps for the chokeslam... Well, how's about a deadlift chokeslam? I can recall one particular incident in which Stevie Ray, a man easily weighing three hundred pounds, became scared of The Giant's chokeslam, and decided to sandbag the move. Unfortunately, The Giant would have none of that....
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In short, the man deadlifted three hundred pounds. With one hand, basically. Do we really need to discuss this man's strength any more?
Not to mention this simple fact; at the point of Andre The Giant's kayfabe height, his back was such an issue. Yes, Andre was strong, but he also suffered through crippling injuries at this point in career. Andre may have been able to lift a two hundred and fifty pound man, perhaps even three hundred pounds. But there's simply no way his back would allow him to even attempt to lift four hundred and fifty pounds. A kayfabe strong andre the Giant simply doesn't include a physically strong Andre the Giant. Certainly not stronger than The Giant.
Weapons? Well, this kayfabe strong Giant survived a fall off of Cobo Hall in Detroit. He showed up later that night, prepared to wrestle his match with Hulk Hogan. Do you really think weapons are going to have that big an effect on him?
You want to talk groups? Yes, Andre had Heenan's Family. But The Giant had the dreaded Dungeon of Doom!!!!
Ok, in all seriousness, Heenan's family was, with the exception of Ric Rude, a grop of glorified jobbers. The Dungeon of Doom happened to be a group of glorified jobbers... With terrible gimmicks. But the Dungeon's group of glorified jobbers were more relevant than Heenan's. John Tenta goes over the mighty Hercules one hundred and one out of one hundred times. Even the Meng that was a member of the Dungeon of Doom was better than as Haku, member of the Heenan family.
Look, it's simple folks... The Giant, at kayfabe height, has every single advantage that would normally go to a kayfabe powerful Andre. The Giant, at his kayfabe height in WCW, was one of the most destructive forces in the history of pro wrestling. A kayfabe high version of Andre? A seven footer with a terrible back and no speed to avoid The Giant's hits.
Vote the Giant.... Paul Wight.
