Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers
23,028
edits
(clean up) |
Derivative (talk | contribs) (→top: Fixing|links to disambiguation pages) |
||
(7 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 6:
Such men are almost universally introduced as [[Heel|"monster" heels]], sometimes mixed with an [[Evil Foreigner]] vibe. Because of their billing, they will usually be pushed straight to the top to face off with the top [[Face]], whom they'll generally [[Squash Match|squash]] in their first meeting, to give you an idea of how Herculean an effort will be required to defeat them.
An important distinction between
If the angle goes on long enough,
Also related to [[Muscles Are Meaningful]]. For mythical giants, see [[Our Giants Are Bigger]]
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
* The most famous, of course, is the late [[Andre the Giant]], billed by [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] as the Eighth Wonder of the World. His most famous match was against [[Hulk Hogan]] at ''[[Wrestlemania]] 3''.
** Subverted by the fact that Andre was actually a moderately skilled Greco-Roman wrestler, and was [[Lightning Bruiser|frighteningly quick in his youth]], but said most famous match was from later in his life when chronic health problems had badly slowed him.
** [[Street Fighter|Hugo]] [[Final Fight|Andore]], being a near-[[Expy]] of Heel-era André, exhibits next to no finesse in his attacks compared to other grapplers. The same thing can be seen on [[Heel|Raiden]] from ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' and ''[[The King of Fighters]]''. Conversely, T. Hawk, who may actually be even larger than Hugo, is a very agile and technical fighter who prefers quick aerial maneuvers to grappling.
* [[Do Not Call Me "Paul"|Paul Wight]], billed as The Giant in [[WCW]] and [[The Big Show]] in WWE. Injuries and weight troubles kept him from reaching his fullest potential, and many fans began calling him "[[X
** One could also argue that Paul Wight is a subversion of this trope, as he had a wide variety of moves in the WCW, including the kip-up and athletic slams. He was so unique, he is the only wrestler that won PWI's Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year in his debut. There was even rumors that, during his days in WCW, he was even training to do a moonsault.
*** [[Crazy Versus Awesome|Those weren't rumours]]. [[Word of God|Paul Wight has confirmed it]], in fact he claims that he actually ''used'' it in several matches, though obviously whenever he did the opponent moved out of the way.
Line 25:
* The obvious example in British wrestling was Giant Haystacks, briefly known as The Loch Ness Monster in the USA.
** There was also Big Daddy, a thirty-stone Yorkshireman christened Shirley Crabtree by a father who had listened to a lot of Johnny Cash and approved of the principles underlying the naming of sons.
* Just try to stop [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] from using these. In addition to Big Show, they've currently got [[Mark Henry]], The Great Khali, Undertaker, and [[
** Of course, [[The Undertaker]] is arguably one of the very best big man wrestlers ever, [[
* This trope isn't restricted to men's wrestling, either. On the women's side of things, we have:
** Victoria, a WWE Diva who had quite a brutal streak for a few years (her "Widow's Peak" finisher looking legitimately dangerous) before turning into a generic heel, and then a generic face; she eventually jumped ship to [[TNA]], where she competes as Tara.
Line 35:
** The unstoppable, 275-pound Awesome Kong in [[TNA]] and [[SHIMMER]] now Kharma (WWE), who is talented, but not above playing a standard giant. Before her, Aja Kong.
** Former WWF women's champion Bertha Faye
** The 6
** From the "Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling," there was [[Evil Foreigner]] Matilda the Hun (aka Queen Kong) billed at 280 pounds and her rival, Mountain Fiji, billed at 350 pounds. The [[Face]], Mountain Fiji, played the monster roll much straighter. All the heels of that season had to work together just to take her off of her feet and even then Mountain Fiji was never knocked to the mat in a match. Matilda was more moveable but still squashed most faces who [[Always Someone Better|weren't Mountain Fiji]].
** Joshi star Hiroyo Matsumoto certainly wrestles like one of these. She's not the tallest girl on the roster, but she's strong beyond reason with muscles to spare and a pair of quads like tree trunks. How strong? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W5N4VViwA0 Have a look,] '''as she lifts up two other wrestlers to make herself 600 pounds and then jumps up and sits on Mayumi Ozaki.''' It's no wonder when she wrestles the crowds chant "''HIROYO MATSUMOTO DESTROY!''"
* Parodied by [[CHIKARA]] wrestler Hydra, who does the whole Giant schtick despite being 5' 6" and 140 pounds.
* Titanic Tim from the ''[[
** Titanic Tim was based on Japanese wrestling legend Giant Baba, who despite being extremely tall did ''not'' have a limited or basic repertoire of moves.
* The Giant, a call name and the heavy template you can choose for your CAW in the WWE Day Of Reckoning games, is essentially this wrestling style. It has the most simplistic moves of the "big man" choices.
* The late John Tenta had a good run at a giant archetype as Earthquake in the WWE, feuding with [[Hulk Hogan]] at the height of his career, eventually alongside the similarly gigantic Fred "Typhoon" Ottman.
* The Oddities, an entire stable of giant men managed by the much smaller Luna Vachon and the [[
* King Mabel, Viscera, Big Daddy V and all his other gimmicks were this. Six Foot nine, five hundred pounds, not a lot of mobility by wrestler standards and the large majority of his matches revolved around how someone could manage to do anything to him.
* Kamala was billed as the Ugandan giant but was shorter and more nimble than most examples. His weight was really what put him in this trope's territory.
Line 53:
* The NBA has also had its share of giants who really had no business on the basketball court, including Gheorge Muresan, Jake Vohskul, and Wang Zhizhi.
** Greg Ostertag was a notable shot blocker, setting a school record at the University of Kansas that stands to this day and leading the NBA in block percentage twice. He was also notable for being bad at virtually every other aspect of the game.
** Manute Bol was literally the tallest man to ever play in the NBA, and while he was a dominant blocker and good three point shooter, he was also dangerously underweight for his
** Yao Ming is a most notable subversion, as he was extremely talented, and when on top of his game, was capable of dominating the lane with an iron fist.
** Shaquille O'Neal is another prominent subversion, at least as far as his lane presence is concerned. His free throw ability, not so much--[[Scary Movie|famously so]].
* Subverted in the NHL by Zdeno Chara, the tallest player ever to play in the league, who is considered one of the top defensemen playing at the moment. Ironically, some thought that his height was the only reason he even had a job during his rookie season, disregarding his actual skill. On the flip side, the second tallest [[NH Ler]] of all time, Steve McKenna, was not very good at all, and found himself a frequent healthy scratch before going to Australia to become the coach of their national team.
Line 63:
[[Category:Professional Wrestling]]
[[Category:The Giant]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giant, The}}
|