Big Show Still Walking Tall in WWE

With the summer comes the WWE annual tradition – "SummerSlam". The company has had the show every year dating back to 1988. One guy that has been in more than half of them is The Big Show.

He's billed as the "World Largest Athlete" at seven feet tall and nearly 500 pounds - just a giant of a man. He's done about everything in the wrestling during his 15 years from being a dominant, nasty force to a lovable, funny guy. Yes, The Big Show is more that just a big dude and has a wide range which has allowed him to even start a career in acting.

He's become a staple of the WWE and now, he's got a new Mattel FlexForce action figure which just hit the market. This Sunday at "SummerSlam", The Big Show will be facing three opponents at once when he squares off against the Straight Edge Society made up of CM Punk, Luke Gallows and Joey Mercury.

Recently, FanHouse spoke with The Big Show about his longevity in the business, literally being a giant, young talent in the WWE and more.

Brian Fritz: I just have to ask you this. How were you able to survive the fall off the top of Cobo Hall years ago? (Back in 1995 at the WCW Halloween Havoc pay-per-view, an infamous angle was done where he fell of the top of Cobo Hall in Detroit, MI which he survived without a scratch and then faced Hulk Hogan later in the show.)
The Big Show: (laughs) Seriously, I fell off of Cobo Hall onto some kind of crazy, airbag suspension thing. If you want to know the truth. The fictitious answer would be I fell into the river there and crawled out. So there you go.

I was always curious about that because I thought it was one of the amazing feats that has gone unnoticed over the years. (laughs)
Yeah, what you didn't notice is that I flipped (Hulk) Hogan the bird on the way down on the fall too.

So, you've been in wrestling now for about 15 years.
Yeah.

What would you credit to your longevity?
(laughs) My longevity? Probably my durability. I'm like a really good, heavy hammer. You can just beat the crap out of me and I'm still useful. I think being unique and being athletic and having a desire and love for this business. It takes a lot of things to be a superstar. You have to have verbal skills, athletic skills, a lot of insight. I think I've got just enough of all the traits that I'm good enough to keep around. I think that's the secret to my longevity. I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none. That's the way I look at it. I'll never been a great talker like Stone Cold or The Rock. I'll never be a phenomenal athlete like The Undertaker and walk the top rope but I'm good enough to keep around. Is that a humble enough answer?

Sure. But I've seen you go off the top rope. I saw you do a moonsault once.
That's a long, long time ago. I don't think it would be much of a moonsault anymore. It would be more like a moon flop. No, I keep myself on the ground. I don't even like stepping up on a chair to change a light bulb. I'm good with my feet on the ground. (laughs)

A few years ago, you took some time off from the WWE. How important was that to get away and get refreshed?
That was good because I went 12, maybe 13 years straight ahead and at 290, 300 days a year. I probably took three vacations in 13 years that weren't injury related. I needed to take the time off and really do something different, get healthy and get a new perspective. It was the best thing I could have ever done because it really let me recharge my batteries, begin to really appreciate the guys in the locker room, the people I work for, the people I work with and the WWE Universe. I missed it. It took me about six months from being away from it and I started missing everything about it. And it was great to come back healthier, happier and you're batteries recharged and push forward. It gave a resurgence so to speak in my career. I think I'm doing better work now since I cam back than I ever have and I'm real happy and real positive about that.

Now, I've heard that you have a tour bus that you use to get around.
Yeah man!

How much does that help because obviously being your size it had to be just incredibly difficult to get around before?
Well, that the thing. Most people think we just wrestle one night a week on TV. We actually are performing four to five nights a week all over the country. What we do is normally we fly into a central town and we drive to the next town which might be 250, 300 miles apart. Then we keep moving forward for four or five nights so either like 1200 or 1500 miles away from where we started. Now, those miles in a rent-a-car add up after a while. Let's face it, I'm a big dude but I'm even too big for some SUV's that are available. It's very hard for me to get a car that's comfortable. For me, leasing a tour bus makes sense financially for tax purposes and also makes sense physically because right after a show, I can get a hot meal and I'm showered and I'm flat in the bed 40 minutes after a show. So I have a chance to let my body heal. I'm not as young and bulletproof as I once was when I was younger. I could go chase girls all night, wrestle all day and not have a problem. Now, it's like I get my rest, I'm on my bus, I'm mellow, I'm not stressed out, I've got my ice, I've got my stem machines to help with the soreness and it's keeping myself going. I'm like the baseball player that's got Vaseline in one pocket and sandpaper in the other pocket. (laughs) I'm just doing what I can to keep going and keep playing well.

How do you like your acting career so far? You first got a taste of it a while back on Saturday Night Live and you've done some more projects since then. You recently did Royal Pains on USA Network. You did the WWE Film Knucklehead. How do you like it so far?
So far, I think it's coming along nicely. The thing about acting is like doing anything that's a chosen profession – you have to work at it and develop a skill set. So far, with some of the projects I've done, it's been a nice little journey. Discovering a lot of thing about myself, a lot of things about that craft and art and hopefully I can keep learning the skill set and moving forward and finding another way to entertain the WWE Universe and my fans. Once you're an entertainer and have that in your blood you got to find another outlet to keep entertaining and luckily this acting thing is working out because otherwise I'd have to pick up a guitar and start to sing for you and I really think you guys don't want me to do that.

A lot of young talent right now getting an opportunity with the WWE. Where do you fit in with all of this in your mind?
Good question. I honestly feel like I'm a pillar. I'm a stable entity for the other superstars, some of the younger guys. I'm a stable entity for the company. You can pretty much put me anywhere and I'm going to deliver a solid performance and a solid showing. No pun intended for the Big Show. But I think it's an example for some younger superstars to understand that it takes a commitment, it takes a work ethic to be successful in this business and at the same time, I get to do what I love to do. I'd probably do this for free – just don't tell anyone. I'm able to compete and do something I absolutely love and experience this great ride. Until those younger guys get smart enough to push me out, then law of the beast. As long as I can stay healthy and perform well, I'm going to hang around.

Which guys have impressed you?
Without a doubt, Miz. I've seen Miz grow over the years. I'm really impressed with Miz. Sheamus is another one I'm really impressed with – very physical, very intense. I like Sheamus a lot for our future. Drew McIntyre – I like watching Drew. I like Drew's interviews. He's very good on the microphone. He's a real good in-ring performer. Of course, Randy Orton is probably one of the smoothest guys I've ever seen in the ring. He's velvety smooth to watch in the ring. Randy is so good. He's leaps and bounds better than people... Randy is going to be one of the best superstars of all-time if his career continues to evolve the way it's evolving. Randy Orton has the potential to be that good. Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, Dolph (Ziggler) ... a lot of guys there that are up and coming and really have a bright future. Some of the NXT guys could do good things one day. We'll see. When they decide to get smart and break out on their own and try to create their own achievements. The future does look very, very bright for the WWE. As far as new, dominant, big guy giants walking in, I think my job is pretty safe right now. I don't think I've got any competition to worry about right now. So we'll see.

If you weren't in wrestling right now, what do you think you would have done over these years? People are immediately going to say big, athletic guy so maybe basketball. I know during your break there was some talk about you trying your hand at boxing.
(Laughs)

What do you think you would be doing?
I don't know. That's such a great question. I probably would have tried to continue to play basketball. I did play overseas in Europe. I don't know. Things just have a way of working out the way they're supposed to. I really can't imagine what I'd be doing if it wasn't for this. I would say I'd probably would have joined the Marine Corp or something but I don't know if they would take me. I'd probably been too big.

It would have been interesting seeing you down on all fours going under the wire in the mud.
Yeah! I think I'd be in a little better shape if I was in the Marine Corp than I am now. (laughs) I don't think I'd have such a large a** to squeeze under the barbed wire. That's for sure!