WWE: Big Show and the full circle

They say things eventually come full circle. You return where you initially started, and that is the way life works. Whether you find closure by righting the wrongs, or finding your way back to what once was, you always have the clichéd “all things happen for a reason” scenario. In professional wrestling however, that seldom happens. Not only do storylines change with time, but there is no scope of regurgitating the same old angles. But just as in life, sometimes the fictional world has its own way of revisiting the past, whether it takes a year or in Big Show’s case, a decade and a half.

Big Show made his debut in the then WWF at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, a PPV that took place in February of ’99. Things at that point were pretty much similar to the current scenario in the WWE, which makes this “blast from the past” all the more ironical. Back in ’99, the WWF was witnessing the rise of a new phenomenon, something that was taking the industry by storm. It was the birth of the anti – establishment, a superstar who was going against the authority, and was doing it while flipping people off and chugging down alcohol in the middle of the ring. Big Show, coming to the aid of Vince McMahon in ’99, made his debut by pulverizing “The Rattlesnake”, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and by doing so, joined the Corporation.

A decade and a half later, this summer saw something very similar. One superstar was creating shockwaves in the industry, and was on his way to becoming the single hottest commodity in professional wrestling today. While he was on the verge of breaking the proverbial glass ceiling, he faced the all too familiar foes, the new “authority” in the WWE. Much like Vince McMahon and his henchmen back in ’99 went against Steve Austin, the new sheriff in town, Triple H along with his henchmen have done everything within their power to subdue the rise of Daniel Bryan. Much like Steve Austin, Daniel Bryan fought the powers that be commendably, while kicking some heads in and “Yes” – ing his way to the championship. This was when the “art imitating life imitating art” came to the fore, and Big Show found himself inserted into the program.

While there is no doubt that a giant lends much needed credibility to a feud, I did not understand what Big Show was doing in the storyline. After all, the “mismanagement of finances” storyline has been played before in the WWE (That too with Shawn Michaels. Really?), and I for one couldn’t see past the smokes and mirrors that we’re presented with every week on WWE TV. That was until I remembered how The Big Show made his debut in the company in the first place. It was then, that all the pieces of the puzzle came together. Like the grand unraveling of a long, drawn out play, Big Show’s presence in the feud makes all the more sense when you consider the past.

Big Show, unlike the way he began in the company, is now against the new Corporation. Last week, Show was “fired” from the WWE by Stephanie McMahon, but later returned to knock out the current COO and the authority figure, Triple H. In hindsight, no one could’ve imagined to have written a better script. Although WWE won’t take the fans through this history lesson (While it would explain a whole lot about why Show got involved in the feud in the first place), this can arguably lead to a more tangible storyline going forward.

 

The Big Show has accomplished a lot in his career; from his tenure in WCW to his incredible accomplishments in the WWE, Big Show has achieved everything that others can only dream of. With his recent involvement in the main storyline against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, one feels it’s only a matter of time before Big Show finds himself back in the main event scene. Show has been around for nearly two decades, and hence, time might not be on his side. Considering that, the fans would like to see the giant hold the WWE title for one last time before he calls it a day, whenever he decides to do so. There are very few occasions when a superstar gets to go out in a blaze of glory, and The Big Show has the opportunity to do just that.