What’s the story?
WWE have announced that Big Show will be participating in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando. The news comes as a shock to the WWE Universe that was expecting to see a battle of the giants as Big Show was scheduled to take on Shaquille O’Neal.
In case you didn’t know...
Over the past couple of weeks, both Show and Shaquille had dropped hints that the match might not happen at WrestleMania. Shaquille went on record on his podcast to say that the match may be cancelled but not due to any fault of his own.
The heart of the matter
WWE dropped the bomb on the Big Show, and Shaquille O’Neal match on Monday Night RAW. In a backstage segment, the hosts for WrestleMania 33, The New Day called on the Big Show for an interview. The New Day asked Show about his experience featuring in the Jetsons & WWE: Robot WrestleMania.
During the interview, the New Day asked Big Show how he was feeling given that he could become the first ever two-time winner of the prestigious Battle Royal at WrestleMania. WWE quickly confirmed the news on Twitter with a post hyping the Big Show’s appearance at the grand event. He will now compete in the Battle Royal alongside the likes of Mojo Rawley and Apollo Crews.
Both Shaq and Show have revealed that they have been working hard for the match at WrestleMania. O’Neal recently posted a video where he called out the giant and said that he was ready for a match. Taking a shot at Show, Shaquille said, “I got abs too.” Show had earlier gone on record to say that Shaq was not taking the match seriously, but this video set the record straight
What’s next?
There are bound to be further comments from both sides as we head closer to WrestleMania. There has been no official announcement as of this writing, but it is a given that Big Show will now go into the Battle Royal with hopes of making a memorable moment out of what may very well be his last WrestleMania.
Author's take
This tweet is a clear indication that WWE has slashed their plans to have the Big Show go against Shaquille O’Neal. Given the amount of time and effort WWE spent on the match, it comes as a surprise that the plans have fallen through just weeks before WrestleMania. Now with Big Show being announced for the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, Shaq may be scratched out of the WrestleMania extravaganza.
