WWE: The Big Show – A Giant’s World DVD Review

Standing SEVEN FEET tall and weighing in excess of 400lbs, from the moment he stepped foot in WCW, the man who would become world-famous as The Big Show was creating an impact. Winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his very first wrestling match, from Hulk Hogan no less, catapulted this gargantuan unknown into wrestling folklore.

Paul Wight, the man behind the character, sits down to tell us about his childhood, his battle with acromegaly (the same condition that affected Andre the Giant), basketball stardom and his career in the wrestling business. Hear from the man himself what it’s like being a giant in the “real” world and listen as his peers give us their thoughts on both Show’s in-ring skills and the man away from the ring.

Marvel at a man of his size leaping from the top rope, be in awe of his natural charisma and comedic timing and simply sit back and watch 22 matches from his days in WCW, WWE and, ahem, ECW.

It’s a giant’s world alright… and it’s time to meet the giant who dominates it.

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 443mins (7hrs 23mins)

Discs: 3

Disc 1 – Chapters

• Small Town Boy
• Big Time Athlete
• Acromegaly
• Sticker Price
• The Giant
• Welcome to the Big Show
• OVW
• Bigger and Badder
• American Soldier
• The Extreme Show
• Training with Dodd
• Biggest versus the Best
• Anything but a Knucklehead

Extras

• Meet the Parents
• “You’re the Big Show”
• The Rock is First Class
• Big Show v The Dumpster – SmackDown (28th October, 1999)
• Dearly Departed – SmackDown (11th November, 1999)
• Big Show the Entertainer – Raw (3rd April, 2000)
• The BigFather
• Big Show v Torrie Wilson’s Car – SmackDown (15th April, 2004)
• Big Show v The Jeep – SmackDown (24th March, 2005)
• Triple H Roasts Big Show
• Kenny in Knucklehead
• Lifestyle Change
• Big Show v Everyone

Disc 2 – Chapters

• Sumo Monster Truck Competition: The Giant v Hulk Hogan – Halloween Havoc (29th October, 1995)
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Giant v Hulk Hogan – Halloween Havoc (29th October, 1995)
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Giant v Ric Flair – Nitro (29th April, 1996)
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Giant v Sting – Slamboree (19th May, 1996)
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Giant v Lex Luger – The Great American Bash (16th June, 1996)
• Big Show v “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – Raw (22nd March, 1999)
• WWE Championship Match: Big Show v Undertaker – Raw (7th June, 1999)
• Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship: Big Show v The Rock v Triple H – Survivor Series (14th November, 1999)
• Big Show v Kurt Angle – Backlash (30th April, 2000)
• WWE Championship Match: Big Show v Brock Lesnar – Survivor Series (17th November, 2002)
• Big Show v Rey Mysterio – Backlash (27th April, 2003)
• United States Championship Match: Big Show v Eddie Guerrero – No Mercy (19th October, 2003)
• Big Show Returns! – SmackDown (9th September, 2004)
• Big Show v Kurt Angle – No Mercy (3rd October, 2004)

Disc 3 – Chapters

• World Tag Team Championship Match: Big Show & Kane v Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch – Taboo Tuesday (1st November, 2005)
• Big Show v Triple H – New Year’s Revolution (8th January, 2006)
• ECW Championship Match: Big Show v Rob Van Dam – ECW (4th July, 2006)
• ECW Championship Match: Big Show v Sabu – SummerSlam (20th August, 2006)
• Official Weigh-In for WrestleMania XXIV – Raw (10th March, 2008)
• The Biggest v The Best: Big Show v Floyd “Money” Mayweather – WrestleMania XXIV (30th March, 2008)
• Big Show v Kofi Kingston – SmackDown (10th April, 2009)
• Big Show v Rey Mysterio – Raw (20th April, 2009)
• Unified Tag Team Championship Match: Big Show & Chris Jericho v Batista & Rey Mysterio – Hell in a Cell (4th October, 2009)
• Triple Threat Elimination Tag Team Match for the Unified Tag Team Championship: Big Show & The Miz v Triple H & Shawn Michaels v CM Punk & Luke Gallows – Raw (8th February, 2010)
• 3-on-1 Handicap Match: Big Show v CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Joseph Mercury – SummerSlam (15th August, 2010)

The first thing that you’ll notice with this set is the nice little homage to Andre the Giant on the title screen as Big Show is pictured carrying The Bella Twins, Eve and Kelly Kelly in his arms much like the famous shot of Andre from early in his career. The second thing you’ll notice is that the documentary portion of the DVD set is only around 50mins long.

Now, for someone who has enjoyed a sixteen-year run in the wrestling business (and been a name wrestler for that entire period), giving less than one hour to cover his childhood, his family life, his basketball talents and his time in WCW and WWE, is nothing short of insulting.

What is here is very well presented, however, with Show being a great interview subject and the talking heads chosen all being relevant for varying reasons. Among those giving their two cents are Arn Anderson, Chris Jericho, Triple H and William Regal, as well as his smoking-hot second wife, Bess.

I enjoyed the documentary, but wish it was at least another hour to cover more aspects of his career. The nWo is barely mentioned, his runs as WCW Champion feature briefly (in fact, his entire WCW run is covered briefly), as is his time with Undertaker, and there is literally zero mention of JeriShow or Show-Miz, even though both teams feature in the matches on disc three… which is even more baffling as his time spent in OVW is mentioned, with footage of him manhandling the pre-Batista Batista too.

It’s disappointing, not because of the content included or the subject matter, but because there’s not enough content to do the guy justice.

Extras

A lot of extras on disc one, with the highlights being the story of Show mimicking The Godfather and why his wife was the main ho, his dad’s funeral from Smackdown because of how genuinely (and unintentionally) hilarious it is and Triple H’s stories from the locker room; they are genuinely laugh-out-loud funny… especially the one about Big Show being covered in nacho cheese.

As for the matches, there’s a great selection covering a variety of opponents, with the highlights being the battles against Stone Cold, Floyd Mayweather and, surprisingly, Sabu, while his matches as part of Show-Miz and Jerishow are also a great reminder of how awesome he was in the tag-team enforcer role.

Other matches worth watching again are his run-ins with Sting, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero, RVD and his great run as the tag-team partner of Kane. The less said about the Sumo-Truck Match, however, the better we’ll all be. Also, as an aside, if you’re going to book someone as this monster who is larger than anything you’ve ever seen, don’t, in the same match, book a run-in from a guy (in this case The Yeti) who is actually – and obviously – larger than the wrestler you’re trying to push.

Dubya-cee-dubya sure messed up there… and in The Giant’s first appearance too.

Oh, and the segment where he returns to Smackdown during a Lumberjack Match between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle is one of those “big man kills everyone” spots that just work so well. Seeing Big Show kill Angle, Eddie, RVD, Booker T, Luther Reigns, Bubba Ray, D-Von, Spike, Charlie Hass, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, The Mexicools, Hardcore Holly, Nunzio, Scotty 2 Hotty and The Bashams is quite the event to witness.

Overview

I recently reviewed the Chris Jericho collection and praised it as one of the most comprehensive profile releases WWE has ever done. A Giant’s World is the exact opposite, with whole swathes of material missing, leaving a sense that this is only part one of a multi-release set, even though I know that isn’t the case.

One of the most interesting part of the main documentary is the chapter that covers Wight’s personal trainer, Dodd Romero. He’s the guy responsible for changing every aspect of Big Show’s training regime, from stretching, cardio workouts and diet to actually getting the guy to ride a bike every day (and Dodd’s bike, where the peddles have been replaced by a cross-trainer, is a work of genius), and it shows how effective he has been.

A very candid interviewee, Big Show could sit and talk for hours and be entertaining, so it’s a shame this is less than one. Not an essential purchase, but if you can get it for between £7-10, then it’s worth getting. The quality and quantity of matches add two points to the total score below.

On a final note, when Show lands the literal one-handed version of his chokeslam, it’s an awesome sight to behold.

Points: 7/10

Buy It:

UK: DVD

USA: DVD

Canada: DVD