A Look At Giants In Pro-Wrestling
Predator
by Marcus Dowling @ 3:40:00 PM on 2/18/2004
FAMOUS LAST WORDS - Some Big Words About Some Big Men: A Discussion of The
Role of "Giants" in Pro Wrestling
I would like to start off this column by making a point that I believe is
fact in the wrestling industry. Small performers outdraw big performers any
day of the week. In reading this point, I am almost positive that many of
you out there will stop me and say, "But look at WWF's years under Hogan. He
was a big guy." However, I will counter you by saying that Vince McMahon
always paired Hogan off against even bigger opponents that dwarfed, in some
sense, Hogan's already massive build. From Andre the Giant, to Bundy, to
Earthquake to Akeem, Kamala, and others, when Hogan drew, it was always with
him being posed as the smaller underdog.
While keeping this theory in mind, let's applaud WWE for putting their big
strap on Eddie Guerrero. If you haven't seen the Brock Lesnar/Eddie Guerrero
match from No Way Out, it was one of those special, once in a lifetime
moments that you cannot script in advance. As much flak as WWE takes for its
inane amount of scripting in finding the moment that will bring the
"Attitude" era fan back to WWE, it was a moment like this that really should
have signaled to Titan the idea that they need to shift their demographic,
yet again, to the fan of pro wrestling who appreciates high drama and solid
storytelling. The key to the future can be described as nothing insane,
nothing completely crazy, just good, solid storytelling that maintains fan
interest. From my own personal view, the four hottest storylines WWE has
right now are Eddie and Kurt, the Jericho/Christian/Trish love triangle,
Rey/Dos Chavos, and Kane and Taker. These stories are so brutally simple
that even the most jaded fan can appreciate their logic and direction. In as
far as the Raw World title three way and Brock and Goldberg, the logic holes
and dragging pace of both these stories leaves me honestly wondering if they
will ever reach a logical, convincing conclusion. A great storyline takes
logical plot twists at a measured pace and reaches a conclusion that the fan
will want to pay their hard earned money to see. WWE's lambasted creative
team is beginning to take heed to this concept.
However, let's get back to the point of this column. When the territory
system was the rule and law of professional wrestling, Vince Sr.'s Northeast
WWWF was the land of the big man. In order to really get over in the
territory, many believed that you needed a superhuman physique and little
else to make an impact. Heck, he even had managers up there as well, as, if
you couldn't talk as a big man, maybe The Grand Wizard or Captain Lou Albano
could do the talking for you. The one thing to point out however was that
in every other major territory in the country, nothing was further from the
truth. In Verne Gagne's AWA, athleticism and pure talent pushed the
envelope, as in Roy Shires' San Francisco it was all about guys with great
looks who could back it up in the ring as well. Plus, down in Florida,
bruising brawlers and hard-edged technicians wearing the "crimson mask" was
the rule of the day.
Throughout the measure of time, it can be reasoned that the great legends of
the sport, its great moneymakers, were, for the most part, the smaller
babyfaces who took a pounding, and kept coming back for more. In all
reality, it was up to them to keep the matches looking legitimate. Workers
like Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat
and numerous others were smaller than the behemoths who came into
territories looking to murder them, and were able to convey the sense of
fear and doom that kept people coming back to the box office.
In all honesty, how many Best of Sid Vicious DVDs are we going to see from
WWE? Best of The Big Show? How about Best of Diesel? Exactly. For every ten
guys who were 6'1" and 260 or fewer pounds who were top draws that I can
name, I can likely name roughly one or two guys at the other end of the
spectrum. Outside of the Brodys, Takers, Stan Hansens and Andres, there are
at least a million pretenders to the throne that we all could likely name.
Again, this proves the fact that it's the little guys who draw. Big
lumbering talentless heels are a dime a dozen in this business. For every
Mark Calloway, there's a Tiny Lister, Jr., a burly actor or otherwise large
individual, thrust into the limelight because of genetics.
Any person with a lick of sense can tell you that if you stand ten seven
foot tall, 300 pound people next to each other, that by guy number ten, you
aren't all that likely to be impressed. Heck. Even get a bunch of 6'4" 350
pound guys standing next to each other, and by the end of the line, you're
likely to think that guys seven through ten are just really fat and in need
of a diet. However, thus was the drive and push of WWE's (nee WWF's)
business throughout the most consistently successful era in the business.
Unfortunately, ten, even now 20 years later, Vince forgets that it was the
little guys that the big boys were squashing, whether it be Hogan, Warrior,
Savage, Michaels or Austin, who really drew the money.
I am rather shocked at the sheer number of people in the industry who are
amazed at the recent pushes of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. It doesn't
take a rocket scientist to look back at Vince's own history to realize that
big vs. little has been his most consistently successful draw. North
American fans are marks for size differences and inspired work more so than
anything else, however, outside of what we will see for the next 60 days,
Vince has done a great disservice to his historically greatest money drawing
angles.
I look out into the vastness of the wrestling world, and I see that Vince
McMahon has literally snatched up every 6'7" plus talent with even the
smallest hint of athleticism on the landscape. However, in order to be a
main event player in 2004, it's not just enough to stand there and look big.
You have to be able to bump and work, and not perform an F grade
impersonation of Frankenstein when the big lights are turned up on you. In
2003, we saw Matt Morgan, John Heidenreich, and Nathan Jones all make WWE
TV. In 2004, Matt Morgan, John Heidenreich and Nathan Jones are basically
non-entities in WWE. Even further, we've seen Mark Henry, the Big Show,
Kurrgan, Giant Silva and a plethora of other big goons come and go as well,
without ever making their huge, intended impact. To make a point, Scott Hall
's rendition of the "Frankenstein Giant" would be an apt description of
these worker's in-ring talents as cash draws. The only asterisk to mention
would be the Big Show's runs in 1998 when he chokeslammed the Undertaker
through the mat, or in 2003 with Paul Heyman, as, Heyman did well as a
manager to put over the fact that he was legitimately the largest man on the
roster, and one imploded ring superplex later, Show was well on his way.
People need to realize that true superstar big men in wrestling don't fall
down from trees; rather, they are crafted and carefully created. Both Glen
Jacobs and Mark Calloway, the last two big men who truly know how to work,
in the tradition of the Monsoons, Andres, Brodys and Hansens before them,
worked for a combined total of nearly fifteen years in the independents
prior to ever making any serious money as a draw in the industry. Big men
need other big men, or patient little men (how much do you think that the
two years that Kane worked as Unibomb in Smoky Mountain Wrestling with Al
Smow made him the worker he is today?) to carefully groom their talents for
the business. Frankly, larger men are often genetically pre-dispositioned to
being awkward with any athletic movement (ever seen Manute Bol, Shawn
Brabley or Gheorge Muresan play basketball), and, throw into the mix 15,000
screaming people, a live TV feed and an opponent into the mix, and bad
things are likely to happen.
In all reality, it is much simpler to create great little men in this
industry. The indies are loaded with great smaller workers, as any weekend
of the year, a worker with the desire to improve can find a place to work a
guy, and pick up a little something in order to become better at their
craft. As well, as stated earlier, there is a history of great little men in
the industry that the smaller workers can learn from.
In final, let's all appreciate what we just saw with Eddie Guerrero and
Brock Lesnar, as it marks a return to a money drawing proposition for WWE.
Eddie's win isn't an aberration, but rather a wrestling promoter coming back
to his senses somewhat, even if by pure accident. However, let's all hope
that Lesnar, who seems to be willing to learn, and carried to amazing
matches, is the norm for Vince's fetish with large athletes. I'm not here to
tear down the Nathan Jones' and John Heidenreichs of the world, but when I
see wrestling advertised from a "billion dollar company," I'm expecting just
a bit more at this point than what those individuals have to offer.
The darkest hour is just before dawn.
Please send all respectful comments and questions to MarcN...@Verizon.net,
or feel free to AIM me at MarcusKDowling. Thanks for reading.