The Giant's moonsault (lost footage of professional wrestling move; 1990s)

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Thegiantsmoonsault1.jpg

The Giant in WCW.

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

The Giant, also known as The Big Show, is a professional wrestler who competed primarily within World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWE). He is famous for his large stature, coined as "The World's Largest Athlete" by the WWE, with him also winning seven world championships during his career. During his early years in professional wrestling, The Giant was able to perform athletic wrestling moves like missile dropkicks from the top rope. Additionally, there are rumours that footage of The Giant performing a moonsault exists.

Background

The Giant's significant size came from him being born with acromegaly, which led to excessive and accelerated growth.[1] He was measured at around 7ft 1in by the time he underwent surgery that halted his growth through fixing a pituitary gland.[1][2] He began training for a professional wrestling career in 1994, eventually being signed by WCW and working at its Power Plant.[3] Some wrestling giants and superheavyweights have garnered a negative reputation for being immobile compared to smaller professional wrestlers.[4] However, The Giant proved an exception to this rule, being deemed one of the most athletic of his era, and thus being able to execute moves generally performed by smaller competitors.[5]

For example, during his WCW years, The Giant was able to perform kip-ups, including during a WCW Nitro match against Curt Hennig.[6] On a few occasions, he also performed missile dropkicks from the top rope.[7] Although visually spectacular, The Giant was discouraged by other wrestlers from frequently using the move, out of concern that it would kill off the impact of smaller wrestlers performing the moves, as well as potentially damaging his "giant" gimmick.[7] On Episode 155 of Talk Is Jericho, Big Show also discussed how he performed a moonsault during a house show tour of Japan. This resulted in him receiving harsh responses from wrestlers including Hulk Hogan, who again strongly discouraged The Giant from using such moves. The Giant would ultimately utilise a moveset more appropriate for his size following feedback from other wrestlers, and the moonsault was never used by him during a televised match.[8]

Status

While none of The Giant/Big Show's televised matches featured him performing a moonsault, there are rumours that footage was captured of him performing the move.[9] One such claim suggests a video was captured of him performing the high-flying move while training at the Power Plant, with a March 2010 article from Bleacher Report's Chris Mueller stating he remembered seeing the clip in question.[10] Others have discussed similar claims, although no conclusion on whether any footage was captured of the move has ever been fully verified.[9] If footage was indeed captured from the Power Plant, it most likely resides within the WWE's vaults, with the company having purchased WCW's assets and tape library in 2001.[11]

Another possibility is that a fan could have captured footage during one of The Giant's house matches, including during the tour of Japan.[12] However, considering the length of time since The Giant has performed a moonsault, the chances of footage resurfacing remains intensely slim.

See Also

References