The Giant's moonsault (lost footage of professional wrestling move; 1990s): Difference between revisions
(With confirmation from the Big Show himself... A VHS recording of him performing the moonsault did indeed exist!) |
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Latest revision as of 13:15, 22 February 2024
Paul Wight, also known as "The Giant" or "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, 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 by 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, rumours persisted for years 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 detailed similar claims, although nobody was able to fully verify such claims at the time.[9]
That was until 21st May 2022, when Wight himself confirmed that a VHS recording was made that featured him doing the moonsault.[11] During the ET Canada interview, he clarified that the event indeed occurred during his tour of Japan, but that it was conducted in a training room hours before the show.[11] Wight wanted to do the moonsault during one of his upcoming matches, but those with creative control clauses, most notably Hogan, put a stop to that.[11][8] Ultimately, the tape has not resurfaced, with Wight speculating it has since ceased to exist.[11]
See Also
- AJ Styles vs Kenny Omega (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2006)
- Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs John Cena (partially found master tape footage of untelevised Hell in a Cell match; 2011)
- Awesome Kong vs Melissa Anderson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2009)
- Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
- Blood Circus (partially found Santo Gold film; 1985)
- Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)
- Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)
- Bret Hart-Hulk Hogan photoshoot (lost professional wrestling promotional photos; 1993)
- Bret Hart vs Tom Magee (found untelevised professional wrestling match; 1986)
- Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
- Celebrity Wrestling (partially found ITV professional wrestling reality show; 2005)
- Chowdaheads (partially found unaired professional wrestling cartoon show; 1999)
- Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995)
- Collision in Korea wrestler sketches (lost North Korean pencil sketch portraits of professional wrestlers; 1995)
- Cultaholic (found debut video of professional wrestling YouTube channel; 2017)
- ECW Anarchy Rulz (lost build of cancelled Nintendo 64 port of professional wrestling game; existence unconfirmed; 2000)
- ECW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- ECW Hardcore TV final episodes (lost episodes of Professional Wrestling Show; 2001)
- FMW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)
- GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)
- Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)
- GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)
- Goldberg's pre-television debut matches (lost footage of professional wrestling dark matches; 1997)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)
- Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)
- Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream (lost footage of alternate finish to professional wrestling match; 2019)
- Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1999)
- The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)
- Lita's training matches (partially found training videos of professional wrestler; late 1990s-2000)
- Low Ki & Mercury vs Ric Blade & TCK (partially lost footage of hardcore wrestling tag team match; 2000)
- Mark Jindrak in Evolution (partially found unaired vignettes of professional wrestling stable; 2003)
- Pat Tanaka vs Rocco Rock (lost footage of "Body Count" professional wrestling match; 1993)
- "Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)
- Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)
- Screwed: The Bret Hart Story (lost unfinished wrestling documentary film; 2005)
- Sex University (lost WWE webshow; 2006)
- Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of unreleased Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
- Strange Kentucky People (lost recording of Chris Jericho "tribute"; 1994)
- TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)
- TNA International and TNA Wrestling Collection (completely lost pro-wrestling TV shows; 2006)
- TNA Xplosion (partially found TV series; 2002-2016)
- WCW 2000 (lost work on unfinished PlayStation 2 game; 2000)
- WCW All Nighter (partially lost professional wrestling compilation show; 1994-1995)
- WCW Classics (partially found professional wrestling compilation show; 2000-2001)
- WCW Internet-only Special Events and PPVs (lost audio streams; 1997-1998)
- WCW/nWo Live (lost build of cancelled PlayStation professional wrestling game; 1998)
- WWE 24x7 (lost professional wrestling compilation show; 2007)
- WWE Brawl (lost build of cancelled fighting game based on professional wrestling; 2012)
- WWE Crush Hour (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of vehicular combat game; 2002)
- WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)
- WWE Wrestlemania 36 (lost footage of alternate finishes to professional wrestling matches; 2020)
- WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)
- WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)
- WWF Excess (partially found professional wrestling talk show; 2001-2002)
- WWF In Your House 8: Beware Of Dog (partially found untelevised professional wrestling matches; 1996)
- WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)
- WWF No Mercy (lost Game Boy Color games based on Nintendo 64 wrestling game; 2000)
- WWF Shotgun (partially found July to December season of syndicated wrestling show; 1997)
- WWF Xperience (found pay-per-view event footage; 1996)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Comicbook detailing The Giant's acromegaly and surgery needed to stop it. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ GiveMeSport noting The Giant's height by the time he was 18. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ The Steve Austin Show where Big Show discussed his early career and signing for WCW. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ WhatCulture noting how some wrestling "big men" are deemed immobile. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ WhatCulture detailing The Giant's athleticism during his early years in wrestling. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ Video of The Giant performing a kip-up. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Inside The Ropes detailing The Giant performing missile dropkicks and the negative reaction he got from other wrestlers. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Episode 155 of Talk Is Jericho where Big Show discussed performing the moonsault during a tour of Japan, and being forced to never use it again. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Freakin' Awesome Network discussing rumours of The Giant performing moonsaults and footage being captured of it. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ Bleacher Report where Chris Mueller discussed his claim that he saw footage of the moonsault being performed. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Fightful reporting on Wight's comments surrounding the moonsault being recorded in a training room during a tour of Japan. Retrieved 5 Nov '23