WWE: Big Show’s polarizing career of hits and misses left opportunity on the table

Nope. That wasn’t a pig whizzing by your head. After a yearlong hiatus, the Big Show returned to WWE this week and wrestled a match alongside Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe against the team of AOP and Seth Rollins on Monday Night Raw.

The live audience roared loudly in approval at the surprise appearance, while others in the WWE Universe rolled their eyes in disbelief. Polarizing? I’d say so.

Then, the flying pig bonked me on the head and it hit me. Polarizing is an immaculate word to describe The Big Show. Not only does it define the general fan reaction to him on Monday night, but it also defines his career in pro wrestling as a whole.

Fan reaction to him has been hot and cold. He’s turned heel and babyface more times than most would like to count. His character has ranged from jolly giant, to nightmare monster, and everything in between. His run has been chalk full of hits amidst a minefield of misses marred in disappointment along the way. Polarizing.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane.

The good in The Big Show’s career is pretty darn good. Big Show was a pioneer in a lot of ways. He was the second coming of Andre the Giant, but with a physical aptitude and prowess that vastly outdid the Eighth Wonder Of The World.

Show crossed lines from WCW to the WWE during the peak period of the Attitude Era and negotiated a unique and lucrative contract that significantly impacted the Monday Night Wars. While not ever the centerpiece act for the WWE, he held their World Championship four times in addition to holding WCW’s for another two.

Show also held the Intercontinental Championship, Hardcore Championship. ECW Heavyweight Championship, the Tag Team Championships multiple times, a handful of other WCW Championships, and was the 12th WWE Grand Slam Champion in company history. Impressive.

With the hardware out of the way, it’s important to look at what the Big Show became for the WWE as a company. Not only was he a loyal solider for Vince McMahon throughout the years, but he was the go to act for major crossover media matches including encounters with Floyd Mayweather, Akebono, Kevin Federline and Shaquille O’Neal.

WWE trusts the Big Show to carry their big moments. Championships, accolades, and other titles aside, that fact is the single most significant influencer in his career.

He’s a company guy and the family atmosphere that Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have cultivated in the company is rooted in how Big Show has blended in throughout the years. He’s prototype A, made truckloads of money, and maintained a run that lasted over 20 years. Again, impressive, but it came at a price.

What could Big Show have become? Company guys have glass ceilings. Throughout Big Show’s run and because he became ingrained and useful to the WWE as a corporate entity, his ability to draw and be effective as a credible wrestler was damaged.

Big Show participated in comedy skits, including a run where he imitated various wrestling legends. He appeared on Saturday Night Live and showed his range as a performer, but in doing so, cut the legs off himself in terms of protecting a wrestling image that could be a mainstay for years and years.

Then, there was the angle with the Authority. The Big Show crying and openly manipulated by hated heels because he didn’t manage his money properly? Talk about not being used to the fullest potential.

How about those heel and babyface turns? As you read this, he’s probably turned again, so read quick! I joke, but the flip-flopping of Show’s heel and face allegiance left fans with too much to ponder for too long. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Nobody had the time to figure that out and it made it difficult for audiences to bond and engage with the Big Show character.

Bottom line? Those misses added up and while Big Show solidified himself as a player within WWE’s corporate structure because of them, he severely limited what he could contribute inside the squared the circle.

Once you see your destructive giant involved in nonsense comedy angles, can you ever not see it? Can you ever go back? Show couldn’t. After those moves, fan perception around him was different and his effectiveness forever altered.

Big Show has lived his career vaulting back and forth to polar opposite ends of every spectrum pro wrestling has to offer. If it’s possible to have a career full of epic impressive feats of accomplishment with epic bouts of disappointment and legacy left on the table, Big Show’s had it. More polarization. Anyone really surprised?