Big Show made his return to Raw last Monday in a match against Braun Strowman, and the former world champion came back in the best shape of his entire career.
The giant was sporting a six-pack with his slimmed down physique, and he looked lighter on his feet and more energetic than he has since he burst onto the scene in WCW in 1995.
He is getting ready to possibly face Shaquille O'Neal at WrestleMania 33, but once his feud with the NBA legend is over, WWE needs to seriously think about putting him back in the hunt for one of the company's top titles.
If you count all of his reigns with the WCW, ECW and WWE world titles, he is a nine-time champion. His resume has also included runs with the Hardcore, Intercontinental and United States Championships along with 11 reigns as a tag team champion with seven different partners.
He has won both the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and the 1996 World War 3 Battle Royal. When it comes to giants in the wrestling industry, Big Show is one of the most decorated in the history of the business. Even Andre's list of accomplishments falls short.
However, he hasn't been portrayed as a real threat to anyone in years. With the new generation of Superstars taking over, time is running out for Big Show to have another run at the top of the mountain.
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His match against Strowman proves that he still has what it takes to entertain the WWE Universe, and now that he is in better shape, he can have longer bouts against a wider variety of opponents.
Despite his lack of screen time in recent years, he is still a popular performer with every kind of wrestling fan. He has his critics, but many still recognise how much better he is than most wrestlers his size.
He is especially popular with kids and has built a reputation as a gentle giant when meeting fans for the Make-A-Wish Foundation or representing WWE at The Special Olympics.
Big Show seems happy making other people look good because he sees it as giving back to the business which helped make him into the man he is today, but it's time for him to be booked as an unstoppable monster again.
Strowman has Raw covered, so WWE should move Show to SmackDown following WrestleMania so he can pursue the WWE Championship. The blue brand has a healthy mix of people he has faced many times and people he has never been in the ring with before, so there are more than enough storyline possibilities.
All WWE would have to do is put him on a six-month winning streak to build him back up into the dominant force he was when he made the jump from WCW in 1999.
The only reason people don't see him as a real contender anymore is because of how management has booked him. If he was winning every match and putting down opponents with one punch to the face, fans would think of him in a different way.
The reason The World's Largest Athlete is still a draw is because people will always like seeing someone topple a giant. The David vs. Goliath scenario is as old as storytelling itself, and few giants are as imposing as Big Show.
He has transitioned from being a heel to a babyface more times than anyone would care to count because WWE knows he can pull off either role with ease and is willing to do whatever management needs him to do.
His dedication to the sport is unquestionable. He’s had a great career, but he deserves another reign with the WWE title as a reward for his years of hard work putting up with bad storylines and poor booking decisions.
As far as his wrestling ability is concerned, few Superstars have evolved as much as Big Show has, over the course of his career. If you pay close attention to his matches, he is constantly adding new things to his repertoire.
A guy his size shouldn't be doing sunset flips and dropkicks, but Show will pull stuff like that out of his bag of tricks when we least expect it. Seeing a seven-foot monster hit an elbow drop off the top rope is something you won't see anywhere else.
While he deserves another WWE Championship before he retires, an even bigger reason to put the belt on him would be the rub an up and coming Superstar could get for finally defeating him.
If Big Show was being portrayed as the most dangerous man in the company like he used to be, whoever beat him for the title would be known as a giant killer.
All it would take is six months of strong booking to make him into someone that Superstars would fear and fans would respect. He deserves at least that much before he hangs up his boots for good.
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