WWE Rumors: Big Show looking to goad Shaquille O'Neal into WrestleMania 33 match?

Is the cross-sports battle in jeopardy?

What’s the story?

It was reported recently that NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal may well be thinking twice about getting in the ring to take on Big Show at WrestleMania 33, and Show and WWE are subsequently doing all they can to make sure that isn’t the case.

Big Show has been extremely active on social media regarding his progress and this has been ramped up recently. Cagesideseats.com are speculating that this could be an attempt on WWE’s behalf to force Shaq’s hand.

The more vocal Show is on social media, the pressure on Shaq to respond and stand up for himself increases in the process. This is speculation for the time being but it clearly makes sense. WWE and Big Show have invested a lot of time and attention to a potential Big Show/Shaq WrestleMania match and will do what they can to make sure the bout still goes ahead.

In case you didn’t know....

Ever since Shaq participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 the long-rumoured match between the basketball icon and Big Show has seemed more likely than ever. The match was seemingly made official at the ESPY Awards in July 2016 when Shaq said he’s in, and the subsequent months have seen Big Show progressively getting into the best shape of his life.

Shaq has been less intense in his preparation, prompting Big Show to start calling the basketball star out and claim that O’Neal isn’t taking this challenge seriously. 

The heart of the matter

Whilst a Big Show/Shaq match would almost certainly be the worst wrestling match on the WrestleMania 33 card, the amount of mainstream media it would garner for WWE would be unlike anything the company has experienced in years.

It would almost certainly draw many first-time viewers to the show too, and in the modern age, enticing new viewers to the product is one of WWE’s biggest issues.

What’s next?

Will Big Show succeed in getting Shaq to respond and accept a lucrative match at the Show of Shows? Big Show has gone on record stating that this may well be his last WrestleMania and he’ll be looking to go out in the biggest way possible.

Sportskeeda’s take

We aren’t entirely sure what to make of all this. On one hand, we can understand the reasoning behind getting Shaq in the ring, but the fact that it is another case of someone other than a full-time wrestler getting a major spot can’t be ignored. If all that comes from this is Big Show getting into incredible shape, the best outcome will have been achieved.