Was Giant Gonzalez Really That Bad?????

[Simmo]

So I was watching the 93 Rumble with my boys last night (showing them the old school way)....

93 was the year that 'the Narcissist" Lex Luger presented himself to the world and the Undertaker got destroyed by Giant Gonzalez, the freak in the Big Foot costume who stood about 7'8"...

After watching the event and laughing my way through some of the characters outfits of the day (and pointing out all the dead guys to my 10 year old), I started thinking whether or not Giant Gonzalez was really that bad after all??

Watch the match and you will see plenty of other no names or has beens who looked far worse and stupider (Koko B Ware and Owen Hart's trunks rock though)..

I have to admit that the worst one of the whole event was surely Max Moon:

Dude comes to the ring looking like the result of a Power Ranger 3 way, (sure he went on to become Konnan and had a reasonable career but why would you agree to wear that??? - probably good candidate for Good Wrestler: Bad Gimmick)

Getting back to topic, I know Giant Gonzalez had a small run in WWE for a while and then disappeared but I can't help think that most of that was due to the ridiculous outfit he had to wear (fluffy briefs FFS????)

I think had they had the insight to put him in something more sesible and still make him a monster he could easily have been around for a lot longer..

That's my view, what's yours?

 

[The Brain]

Giant Gonzalez wasn’t as bad as he’s made out to be. Ok actually he was an awful wrestler. That is true. What I mean is there was nothing wrong with his brief WWF run in 1993. Most people will tell you he had no business in the WWF in the first place and should not have had a match with The Undertaker at WM9. I completely disagree with that.

As we all know wrestling is just as much about hype than it is about action. Maybe more so. Giant Gonzalez towering over Taker at the rumble was a sight to behold. No one had ever physically dominated Taker like Gonzalez did that night. His match at WM9 was very intriguing. I remember wondering how Taker would handle Gonzalez or even if he would be able to. Of course the match itself exposed Gonzalez as a terrible wrestler, but what did you expect? Just looking at Gonzalez should have told you how limited he would be in the ring. Anyone who expected a good wrestler was just kidding himself. He was all about the visual. The way people talk about him you would think he was constantly in a main event spot he didn’t deserve. He worked one program with Undertaker and was gone after eight months. No harm done.

 

[Simmo]

Giant Gonzalez wasn’t as bad as he’s made out to be. Ok actually he was an awful wrestler. That is true. What I mean is there was nothing wrong with his brief WWF run in 1993. Most people will tell you he had no business in the WWF in the first place and should not have had a match with The Undertaker at WM9. I completely disagree with that.

As we all know wrestling is just as much about hype than it is about action. Maybe more so. Giant Gonzalez towering over Taker at the rumble was a sight to behold. No one had ever physically dominated Taker like Gonzalez did that night. His match at WM9 was very intriguing. I remember wondering how Taker would handle Gonzalez or even if he would be able to. Of course the match itself exposed Gonzalez as a terrible wrestler, but what did you expect? Just looking at Gonzalez should have told you how limited he would be in the ring. Anyone who expected a good wrestler was just kidding himself. He was all about the visual. The way people talk about him you would think he was constantly in a main event spot he didn’t deserve. He worked one program with Undertaker and was gone after eight months. No harm done.

Agree with you completely and it shows that back then WWE had no clue what to do with super big guys that couldn't move too well. if he were in it today he would be doing as much as Khali (who is equally as limited in the ring as Gonzalez was)

My sons were freaking out at how big he was compared to Taker, the best part of the Rumble was Bobby Heenan saying 'is that thing even human?" like the costume ws meant ot be real or something.....

 

[klick]

giant gonzalez's wwe gimmick was awful, this is true....but go back just a few years to his days in wcw, when he was billed as el giante, and he was much, much better. he was not the slow moving giant that vince made him. he was a real athelete.

 

[holdingholder]

Obviously a man that big has a very limited time, especially when performing in wrestling, before their body starts to break down and it becomes very hard for them to move fluidly. Within a couple years of that little WWF run the guy had serious health issues and could barely move. I think people are spoiled by the Big Show's ability as a big man.

 

[Simmo]

Pretty sure the Giant Gonzalez was drafted by an NBA team back in the day before he became a wrestler.

Correct you are my friend, the Atlanta Hawks picked him up at No 6 in the 1988 (or 9) draft but he got talked into wrestling by then Hawks owner Ted Turner who owned WCW at the time...

 

[afark02]

compared to the great khali he looks like shawn michaels, but in general the dude was a stiff and according to bret harts book had absolutely no muscle definition of any kind which is the reason they covered up his body with that ridiculous outfit.

 

[knslms]

His wrestling skills were terrible on a good day. He had no personality which is a something every wrestler must have, He hardly knew any actual wrestling moves, and very clumbsy. I have always thought the way the business does guys like him to be a horrible idea in many ways.

First they bring these guys in and put them at the main event level almost right away. Then they put them in a match with the undertaker and dominate the entire match, yet in two months they will be losing to mid carders. The one thing that always gets on my nerves about these big guys is that they never let them talk like that makes them more intimidating.

 

[holdingholder]

Correct you are my friend, the Atlanta Hawks picked him up at No 6 in the 1988 (or 9) draft but he got talked into wrestling by then Hawks owner Ted Turner who owned WCW at the time...
You are by far overestimating his basketball skills, he was picked up in the 3rd round (which they don't even have that many rounds anymore) and he wasn't "talked out of it" by Ted Turner, he just wasn't good enough to cut it and Ted just thought he should find something else for him to do.

 

[The Ace of Knaves]

Oh, yeah. He WAS! Why? Do I need to remind you he gave The Undertaker the worst match of his career despite Undertaker's fame to be able to carry anyone into a good match? This claim is false of course, but still....

I can’t believe they wasted 7 minutes on this horseshit. The only good thing to come out of this was that the fans stayed red hot as they had been all night. I am actually more impressed with the vulture, as I am shocked it didn’t assume Gonzalez was dead and start picking at his useless body.

And maybe the only other cool thing about this debacle is Taker's entrance. He comes in with the full overcoat, hat, ascot, and yes, the vulture on the stand, which was very cool at that time. BUT, once the bell rings, that pretty much is the end of that in terms of anything useful. As a basketball player, I’m sure he was OK. As a wrestler, he is COMPLETELY USELESS and he had that stupid body suit with the fur on it. UGH, what a joke. Taker has to carry this bum for 7 minutes, then is the victim of Chloroform. CHLOROFORM?!?!? Oh man, what a mess, an absolute mess. Fans looked beyond the shitty opponents, and just looked at Taker, who was reaching his stride as a face at this point. What’s also sad is that the crowd LOVED it. They were insane when Taker stumbled back to the ring to pick another fight, and when Gonzales is taken to the back by officials, the crowd’s giving him heel heat. I applaud these fans to put up with this garbage. To make things worse, there's a RE-MATCH at Summerslam. Yes, we have to watch this crap a SECOND TIME.

 

[mayankeagle]

He had no business wrestling Taker at Mania and giving him his worst Mania match. Imagine how great it would've been if Taker had wrestled Macho Man or Warrior (not a great wrestler but better than Gonzales) or someone similar instead.

Taker should've faced guys like Austin, Bret Hart, Mankind, Lesnar, Angle at Mania since he had good feuds/ good matches at other PPV's with them, instead of nobodies like Gonzales, Mark Henry, A-Train, Bundy and Big Bossman.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

I'll say this for him, he was certainly much better than khali is now. He could sell much better than khali and his facial expressions were his selling point. He could actually communicate with the audience quite well when the looked around with his mad "I'm over 7 and a half foot tall" gaze, so his reading of the crowd was definately something he did alright.

But the guy had a movepool so limited that it makes Cena cringe (He is listed as having fives moves during his six year professional wrestling career, three of which were merely strikes!). As well as the limited movement that comes with a man of that size he had very unconvincing strikes and similarly to khali once again, lacked the capacity to e a long term-investment due to his poor wrestling and difficulty at speaking english in interviews and the like.

He played his part in easily his biggest feud, against the Undertaker, as good as he had the capacity to do, but unfortunately it wasn't great because that wasn't within his capacity.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Yeah, from reading Bret Harts book, Gonzalez was simply told "you are now a wrestler" and that was that! Very stange

Seriously, if the WWE had given him a better costumer for his feud with Undertaker, he may have been remembered with more respect, rather than as a complete joke. However, he did absolutely suck in the ring, but what can you expect from a man with little or no wrestling training who was in the position he was simply by being tall. It must have been very difficult for him, especially as his body began to break down.

I remember reading he ended up in a wheelchair something which is common for giants like him, and suffered from kidney failure before passing away in his mid 40s. RIP Giant

 

[TheBWO]

Just proof that Vince, Ted, Bish--all want people who are abnormally large and have the crowd by into it---with their three move set. I mean c'mon....when a heated exchange happens in the ring, or when someone is getting beat down, and then from the back this 9 foot Goliath enters the ring.....all you would have to do is take his knees out.....but ---instead, we're supposed to all be intimidated by his size and not his ability. The Big Show is an exception to the rule....because he at least attempts a drop kick from time to time.

 

[Flint]

He was terrible, but he was meant more as an attraction anyhow. Everyone knew he was never going to have 5 star matches, let alone 1 star matches lol.

But hey, he was a funny product of a funny time.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Giant Gonzalez, the only wrestler in history that was worse than the Great Khali.

Obviously he wasn't meant to have great matches or anything as his job was more of an attraction than anything else, its only a shame he couldn't do anything inside or outside the ring because he could have had a great career.

The thing about El Gigante is that I never saw him do anything good, he couldn't wrestle AT ALL (as in not even competent in the ring), he had zero mic skills, didn't have a great look even though he was 7'6", sure he was tall but had the build of a 14 year old boy, absolutely no muscle mass at all, and most of all, didn't have the IT factor like Andre and Taker had and all attractions (not wrestlers) need to have the IT factor.

Outside of his height there is was nothing good about Gonzalez, he had shitty characters, he played his characters shitty, and had shitty matches with everyone (look it up you will not find 1 good Gonzalez match unless he had another 8 guys around him to pick up his slack), in a nutshell Gonzalez was giant pile of shit in every sense of the word and stunk up the joint anytime he was in the ring (or even on camera).

 

[Chardee Macdennis]

I don't know, I mean I feel a little bad for the guy, but let's be honest here, he was GOD AWFUL. Easily the Undertaker's worst match. As others have said, Taker's been known to be able to carry just about anybody, but this was one of the worst matches I've ever seen. The guy couldn't execute one decent wrestling move. Still though, as a kid, it was pretty cool to see him. It was damn cool to see someone tower over Taker, but actually, that made me hate him even more. I absolutely loved Taker, still do, but when he was in the ring with this guy, I felt as though it diminished his character to a certain extent. I think it was a big mistake to pit the two against each other.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Gonzales was what he was an attraction, not a wrestler... Andre, Big Show, Kane, Giant Haystacks and even Khali can all claim to be wrestlers where as Gonzales was just there to be an obstacle for Taker to face (who at the time was the tallest guy they had). The suit was lame but not a massive problem, it was his total lack of movement that killed him... standing outstreched arms is not threatening... But at least he wasn't the YETTEEEHHH!

As for Max Moon, it wasn't Konnan by that time or in your pic, Konnan only managed one appearance on TV in the suit... it was Paul "Kato" Diamond by that Rumble... his signature cartwheel kick into the buckle is well visible... As I remember Vince spent something like 10 grand on the costume and the only guy who fit it was Kato... so they put it on to him...

 

[Dimice121976]

I think that everyone is missing the point as to what Gonzalez's purpose was at the time. 'Taker had just put Kamala in a casket at the '92 Survivor Series, and Whippleman wanted revenge. GG was just that, Whippleman's revenge. Yes the outfit was horrible even by 93 standards, and yes he makes Khali look like HBK, but the idea of the character and his purpose made perfect sense. 'Taker looking up to him at the RR at the time was unthinkable, and I believe his build up for WM was pretty good as I'm almost sure he went threw the star jobber squad on Raw and Superstars. He also set up 'Taker for his run against Yoko for the title. So while yes in the ring he sucked, he purpose was what it was meant to be at the time, and it worked, which makes me say he was not really as bad as people like to think.

 

[Captain Stabbs]

From what I can recall, Giant Gonzales was one of the nicest guys to step foot in professional wrestling.

Unfortunately he was not a good wrestler, but he deserves some respect.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Giant Gonzales was The Great Khali of his generation. While that does imply that he was awful in the ring, it also implies that he could play an important role if given the opportunity. Khali did serve a purpose when he feuded with John Cena. It was done to get Cena more over and to give him more credibility.

Gonzales, like Khali, was someone who did not need to be a Kurt Angle in the ring to be considered a useful commodity in the world of pro wrestling. Because of his size, anyone who would beat Gonzales would get instantaneous credibility.

So while he was bad in the ring he could have been a useful asset if he was booked correctly.

 

[jdn0529]

Just a random fact, giant gonzales and the big show are the only opponents that taker did not pin at mania. If I remember correctly gonzales was a dumb ending with a smelly towel, and taker pinned albert not show at mania 19. Imagine if gonzales would of gone over at wm 9. No streak and I believe things would of been very different today. Just one of those things that makes ya think what if?

 

[go_patriots11]

Cool Thread! I think it really depends on what kind of fan you were back then. In 93 I was about 7 and WWF was totally legit PG, and seeing a guy like GG make an etrance in any capacity was truly something to behold. The guy was huge, and pretty scary looking (to a kid, anyway) seeing him tower over the Undertaker is still something that takes me back to when the WWF was fun and exciting. Im sure when I went back to school my friends and I talked about that match! someone towering over the UT was unheard of back then. Obviously going back now and watching it Sure, he looks totally goofy and can't wrestle but to a kid that doesen't matter! the fact that he seemed to demolish the undertakes was truly something! Alot of people rip on WM 9. but to actually witness that era as a kid and guys like GG, Kamala, Papa Shango etc..it was something else. I think if WWE really wants to capitalize on this "PG" era they should bring back guys like GG..minus the stupid suit!

So was Giant Gonzales that bad? To me and anyone as a kid back then I'd say no way.

 

[The Brain]

He had no business wrestling Taker at Mania and giving him his worst Mania match. Imagine how great it would've been if Taker had wrestled Macho Man or Warrior (not a great wrestler but better than Gonzales) or someone similar instead.

Taker should've faced guys like Austin, Bret Hart, Mankind, Lesnar, Angle at Mania since he had good feuds/ good matches at other PPV's with them, instead of nobodies like Gonzales, Mark Henry, A-Train, Bundy and Big Bossman.

I see this opinion a lot. You have to keep in mind where Taker was at that point in his career. Now that we see what Taker has become it's easy to look back and wish he wrestled Savage or Hart at mania. That's not where his character was in 1993. A match with Savage wouldn't have made sense. Giant Gonzalez was an appropriate opponent for Undertaker at the time. I don't know why this guy gets such a hard time for an eight month run. The only reason he had the rematch at SummerSlam is because Mr. Hughes left the company so quickly. Gonzalez was supposed to get attention with his size, not his ability. That's exactly what happened. It's not like they put the title on him.

 

[Somewhat Large Gonzalez]

Yeah, I'm siding with those in the "not that bad" camp. I can't believe the lack of respect that I'm seeing from some of you. Obviously, I'm a fan of Jorge Gonzalez. He moved pretty well in WCW as El Gigante. By the time he was brought into the WWF, he was already having health problems. You can't blame him for being a bad wrestler. It's not like he trained in Stu Hart's dungeon. His match at WM9 against The Undertaker was entertaining. That's all it needed to be.

Right before he left the WWF, he was turned face. He was going to feud with Adam Bomb, who was managed by Harvey Wippleman. In my opinion, it would have been another entertaining series of matches. He was over with the fans (type in Gonzales and Adam Bomb at YouTube; listen to the crowd's reaction).

I was deeply saddened when Jorge passed away, and I'm a little disappointed by some of the stuff I'm reading in this thread.