Best Big Men Of All Time In WWE
video:Big Show versus Braun Strowman is one of the marquee matches heading into the Monday Night [...]
Bam Bam Bigelow
With a career that spanned 21 years, "The Beast From The East" wasn't just a moniker for Bam Bam, it was the straight up truth.
Once called one of the most natural, agile and physically remarkable big men in the business of professional wrestling, Bam Bam Bigelow had performed for all three major promotions at the time: WWE, WCW, and ECW. While not as successful in the former as he was in the latter, capturing the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, he still was part of the main event of WrestleMania XI as he took on the NFL's "Lightning" Lawrence Taylor.
Decked out in his trademark flames that mirrored his tattoo that graced his scalp, Bam Bam could move just as fast as the rest of them. His finishing move was the Bam Bamsault, which was a rolling moonsault which was something nobody his frame was doing.
Nobody.
Sadly, Bigelow died in 2007, but has more than earned his place in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Yokozuna
A two-time WWE Champion, Yokozuna was the biggest heel of the New Generation and was booked properly as a big man should: unstoppable.
Though he was billed as someone of Japanese decent, he was actually Samoan, hailing from the great Anoa'i family and was the first person of Samoan heritage to win the WWE's top prize.
Although his time in the WWE was brief, Yoko left quite a heavy impression with the company as he as the first person to win the Royal Rumble with the stipulation of having a title shot at WrestleMania and beat Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan in back-to-back pay-per-views to win both of his world championships.
Yokozuna died after a few weeks of turning 34 while overseas on an independent wrestling tour. It was caused by fluid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces of the lung.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 by his cousins the Usos and their father, fellow Hall of Famer, Rikishi.
Vader
If you were a jobber in the WWE in the mid 90's, you best believe it was Vader time for you.
He came close to winning the WWE Championship on a few occasions, but the man already had an impressive resume from WCW and New Japan, capturing their world championships three times each. In his prime, there was nobody who could move like Vader. His Vadersault, much like the aforementioned Bam Bamsault, was something you had to see to believe.
Vader's rivalries with the likes of Ric Flair, Sting, and Shawn Michaels helped elevate both competitors and their respective world championships.
There has been recent talks about Vader's health and we hope we haven't seen the last of the Mastodon anytime soon.
Big Show
Welllllllllll.....
During the height of the Monday Night Wars, this was considered quite the coup. Simply known as The Giant in WCW, Big Show (real name Paul Wight) came to the WWE in early 1999 as he literally ripped the ring apart at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view.
Since then, Show has been a part of the WWE as face, heel, comedy figure, tragic champion, bully, mentor, you name it, Show's been part of it all. Probably most famous for his rivalry with Brock Lesnar in the early 2000's as part of SmackDown, the two titans actually brought the house down with Lesnar superplexing Show onto the ring.
Big Show also has the rare distinction of being the only man to have been WCW, WWE, and ECW World Heavyweight Champion and is a Grand Slam Champion within the WWE.
He's come a long way and now at the age of 45 has nothing left to prove and will definitely be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame when the time comes around.
Andre The Giant
This is kind of a no-brainer here, but could you think of wrestling as a whole without mentioning Andre's name? Probably not. There's wrestling before Andre...and after.
Andre was billed as the 8th Wonder of the World, and rightfully so. A legend in his own time, Andre crushed his opponents with a previously unseen strength and was the man who put Hulk Hogan on the map at WrestleMania III. He was the first wrestler whose name wasn't Hogan who transcended the wrestling world and became a straight up pop culture icon.
Andre set the mold and then crushed it with a bear hug. He could move and work with the best of them. He was 46 years old when he passed away, but that year he was the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, and rightfully so. Despite his one WWE World Championship reign being less than 5 minutes, Andre didn't need the title to solidify his legacy.
The big man has been immortalized to this day as part of a new WrestleMania tradition: The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale.
