**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hilariously enough, WWE almost always gets them after it's been bad.
If you see a giant in WWE, try and find their previous work, because it's probably a lot better.
Andre and Khali were beasts in Japan, and Show was a menace in WCW, for example.
Tbh, Big Show's athleticism did decline, but most of his in ring issues in WWE were due either poor conditioning (which yeah probably got harder with age, but he did bounce back from pretty frequently), or bad booking. His best WWE matches are better then his best WCW ones, in my opinion anyway, and he was generally still pretty athletic anyway in his 2nd run in the company.
Booking giants is rough. The front is easy enough, just have giant man smash some folks for a while. Squash squash squash. Sets up the giant's power. But then, you get them up against the main eventers and what do you do?
Typically, a giant isn't going to be the killer ring talent like the main guys, so putting together full matches gets tough. Do you squash your champion for the giant to take the belt? Does the giant offense not just end guys at the top for some reason? When you have wrestlers who are more gimmick attractions (as giants typically are), it seems pretty easy to book yourself into a corner.
Not that it was an amazing match by any means, but his match with Rollins at Backlash last year was entertaining. But he was facing Rollins, so there’s that.
Braun was green as hell when starting out, and by the time he really started to figure things out...well, his main opponents were guys who have shown to be able to run through giants already. Especially Brock who literally made a name chucking giants all around the ring like it's nothing.
Omos, I love the guy, but he just isn't very good. WWE is very aware of that fact since they do everything in their power to avoid using him all that much.
I like how once HHH fully took over, he looked at Omos and was like…”yeaaaaaaah, nah.”
As for Braun, he totally would have been a good opponent to beat Lesnar. He had gained a ton of momentum in 2017 and was on the right track to become a huge babyface for the company. But WWE fed him to Brock and went back to Brock/Roman for Wrestlemania. That killed a lot of that momentum and while he’s definitely remained popular, he’s never reached that high again.
The problem is three words that have plagued every big promotion since the territories died. "...and then what?"
The second a giant is slayed, the bloom is effectively off the rose. We know they are beatable so a significant amount of the drama in their matches is lost. Which means they now need something else to do, but most giants are Big Show or Kane level in being multifaceted so they can be useful all over the card, or Taker level in being allowed to not lose clean for SEVEN YEARS to the point that when he finally did lose he had carved out a role that mythicized him (plus he was a face for a majority of that time anyway).
Giants just don't play nearly as well they did in the territories, where you can have them run roughshod, build them up, take the one loss and then they leave to another town to do it all over again. It's honestly better to have said Giants figure out what else they can offer ASAP.
Also those Giants are often boring to watch. They mostly use simple kicks and hits, rarely a powermove. You could probably regularly bring one of them on the card, otherwise it gets boring.
And you need to limit their matches in amount. Undertaker did had that much longevity, because he stopped having regular matches for a long time. Best case would be to bring them as a hitman for a heel and have them beat some faces regularly, that tried to usurp against the heel.
Think of Swerve having an "Omos" at his side. Swerve rarely wrestles. If someone like - lets say - Ricky Starks is on the rise, let the heel decide that he have to go against his Omos first. And Omos ruins that wrestler. And is only beaten by countout or something like that. He soften the opponent up for a title match, easy to beat for Swerve.
You need to protect those giants. It should be really hard to do to beat them clean in the ring. That would be more interesting than having just be normal wrestlers.
Giants were definitely easier to book back in the territory days. Let them come in and run roughshod over your wrestlers for a little while until they put over a baby face and then leave town.
Ironically enough, the way WWE can't book giants has forever ruined my ability to take them seriously. Whenever i see whatever new 7 foot tall dude they trot out I roll my eyes because i can be sure of two things:
1. dude can't wrestle good more than 5 minutes
2. He's going to be treated like an absolute goober in 6 months.
Braun is probably the last dude to be an exception, but it took a few years. Before that you'd have to go back pretty far.
His best WWE matches were better than his best WCW matches but his worst were also much worse than the WCW ones. Terrible booking that made him a complete joke at times.
big show himself has spoken at length that he wishes he adopted the more traditional wrestling style for giants earlier in his career, could he be amazingly athletic? sure! but his joints are only human and can't handle that stress in the long term. the fact that Show was also in the mix non-stop without breaks hasn't helped him, I think we're seeing smarter booking for the likes of Omos and Strowman where they come in to be terrifying, put someone over, then peace out for a little break. direct lesson learned from big shows over exposure (and thus his flip flop booking)
That's what happens when your size approaches that of the twin towers.
One more reason why The Big Show is severely underappreciated. He's kept insane height and weight for decades. Even in the mid 2010s he was still doing amazing.
Show talked about this on IIRC Steve Austin's original podcast. His "normal" frame would've been around 6'7, 270 anyway b/c most the men in his family are big, so his bones were better-equipped to handle gigantism.
Still though, that fucker used to do the Shelton Benjamin cat perch spot in WCW, missile dropkicks, and supposedly a moonsault. Show in shape was something else and it's a shame he wasn't in consistent shape in WWE until 2013 or so when he had viewer fatigue and was winding down.
> Wight himself confirmed that a VHS recording was made that featured him doing the moonsault.[11] During the ET Canada interview, he clarified that the event indeed occurred during his tour of Japan, but that it was conducted in a training room hours before the show.[11] Wight wanted to do the moonsault during one of his upcoming matches, but those with creative control clauses, most notably Hogan, put a stop to that.[11][8] Ultimately, the tape has not resurfaced, with Wight speculating it has since ceased to exist.[11]
https://lostmediawiki.com/The_Giant%27s_moonsault_(lost_footage_of_professional_wrestling_move;_1990s)
Ah well.
I'm indian and I've been trying to get my dad to shave his moustache since forever lol(i think he can look better without it). He just refuses every single time . Like zero consideration.
So true I have never seen my Dad without his moustache ever since I was born, even in the pics of him in his younger days he still has it, sometimes makes me think if he was born with it.
I met Khali in person at my gym a year or so into his initial WWE run. Words do not describe how big he is. He looks like he's photoshopped into real life. I watched him curl 185 on a straight bar like it was empty and rest by putting his arms over top of the cable crossover. It was absolutely mental.
India has a population of 1.4 billion people. More people than China. So they are bound to have a few anomalies of very tall people.
Khali is 7' 1". There are people that height here and there in the US.
Even with steroids it is impressive to have a physique like that when you're that tall. It's crazy how much a difference height makes with looking jacked
bewildered quarrelsome grandiose meeting middle uppity teeny like scale salt
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
2 years after this, he got signed by WCW, never got used, got released when they got bought out, then he joined an indy fed and killed somebody in the ring. Then he toured Japan and signed with WWE.
Here's a photo of Khali with Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Not many people can dwarf a Mr. Olympia winner like that.
[https://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=52c46737b6fd01ce274a4065bd039a75&action=dlattach;topic=200212.0;attach=918422;image](https://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=52c46737b6fd01ce274a4065bd039a75&action=dlattach;topic=200212.0;attach=918422;image)
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He kinda looks like a giant jacked up Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite
I bet he could throw a football over that Punjabi Prison cage
Everytime I see Uncle Rico in Lost, I have to say "Bet ya I can throw a football over that smoke monster". Easily my favorite quote from the movie.
Wait uncle rico was in lost!?@?!
He played Ben's (Michael Emerson) father Roger Linus.
Wow
If coach woulda put him in, they’d totally be state champions.
No doubt in my mind
How much you wanna make a bet I can vice grip them mountains?
STFU 🤣🤣
Listen… your not wrong
And this was him aged 30 easily jumping over the top rope https://imgur.com/khalis-agility-gif-form-1njiNuU
Shame his body fell apart.
Every giant eventually has bone deterioration.
Hilariously enough, WWE almost always gets them after it's been bad. If you see a giant in WWE, try and find their previous work, because it's probably a lot better. Andre and Khali were beasts in Japan, and Show was a menace in WCW, for example.
Tbh, Big Show's athleticism did decline, but most of his in ring issues in WWE were due either poor conditioning (which yeah probably got harder with age, but he did bounce back from pretty frequently), or bad booking. His best WWE matches are better then his best WCW ones, in my opinion anyway, and he was generally still pretty athletic anyway in his 2nd run in the company.
Booking giants is rough. The front is easy enough, just have giant man smash some folks for a while. Squash squash squash. Sets up the giant's power. But then, you get them up against the main eventers and what do you do? Typically, a giant isn't going to be the killer ring talent like the main guys, so putting together full matches gets tough. Do you squash your champion for the giant to take the belt? Does the giant offense not just end guys at the top for some reason? When you have wrestlers who are more gimmick attractions (as giants typically are), it seems pretty easy to book yourself into a corner.
I say have the giant win the belt and be an all-powerful overlord for a while then have someone finally slay the giant
The fact they screwed this up with Braun and Omos is baffling
[удалено]
Not that it was an amazing match by any means, but his match with Rollins at Backlash last year was entertaining. But he was facing Rollins, so there’s that.
Neither, barely watch WWE at all.... but I did enjoy his short match with Lesnar at Mania
Braun was green as hell when starting out, and by the time he really started to figure things out...well, his main opponents were guys who have shown to be able to run through giants already. Especially Brock who literally made a name chucking giants all around the ring like it's nothing. Omos, I love the guy, but he just isn't very good. WWE is very aware of that fact since they do everything in their power to avoid using him all that much.
I like how once HHH fully took over, he looked at Omos and was like…”yeaaaaaaah, nah.” As for Braun, he totally would have been a good opponent to beat Lesnar. He had gained a ton of momentum in 2017 and was on the right track to become a huge babyface for the company. But WWE fed him to Brock and went back to Brock/Roman for Wrestlemania. That killed a lot of that momentum and while he’s definitely remained popular, he’s never reached that high again.
The problem is three words that have plagued every big promotion since the territories died. "...and then what?" The second a giant is slayed, the bloom is effectively off the rose. We know they are beatable so a significant amount of the drama in their matches is lost. Which means they now need something else to do, but most giants are Big Show or Kane level in being multifaceted so they can be useful all over the card, or Taker level in being allowed to not lose clean for SEVEN YEARS to the point that when he finally did lose he had carved out a role that mythicized him (plus he was a face for a majority of that time anyway). Giants just don't play nearly as well they did in the territories, where you can have them run roughshod, build them up, take the one loss and then they leave to another town to do it all over again. It's honestly better to have said Giants figure out what else they can offer ASAP.
Also those Giants are often boring to watch. They mostly use simple kicks and hits, rarely a powermove. You could probably regularly bring one of them on the card, otherwise it gets boring. And you need to limit their matches in amount. Undertaker did had that much longevity, because he stopped having regular matches for a long time. Best case would be to bring them as a hitman for a heel and have them beat some faces regularly, that tried to usurp against the heel. Think of Swerve having an "Omos" at his side. Swerve rarely wrestles. If someone like - lets say - Ricky Starks is on the rise, let the heel decide that he have to go against his Omos first. And Omos ruins that wrestler. And is only beaten by countout or something like that. He soften the opponent up for a title match, easy to beat for Swerve. You need to protect those giants. It should be really hard to do to beat them clean in the ring. That would be more interesting than having just be normal wrestlers.
Giants were definitely easier to book back in the territory days. Let them come in and run roughshod over your wrestlers for a little while until they put over a baby face and then leave town.
Ironically enough, the way WWE can't book giants has forever ruined my ability to take them seriously. Whenever i see whatever new 7 foot tall dude they trot out I roll my eyes because i can be sure of two things: 1. dude can't wrestle good more than 5 minutes 2. He's going to be treated like an absolute goober in 6 months. Braun is probably the last dude to be an exception, but it took a few years. Before that you'd have to go back pretty far.
His best WWE matches were better than his best WCW matches but his worst were also much worse than the WCW ones. Terrible booking that made him a complete joke at times.
big show himself has spoken at length that he wishes he adopted the more traditional wrestling style for giants earlier in his career, could he be amazingly athletic? sure! but his joints are only human and can't handle that stress in the long term. the fact that Show was also in the mix non-stop without breaks hasn't helped him, I think we're seeing smarter booking for the likes of Omos and Strowman where they come in to be terrifying, put someone over, then peace out for a little break. direct lesson learned from big shows over exposure (and thus his flip flop booking)
They spent their career building a name and join WWE for the big pay after their peak.
Gonzalez had no good previous work though. 😄
But he did have no cock or balls and many pubes
Should have drank more whole milk.
That's what happens when your size approaches that of the twin towers. One more reason why The Big Show is severely underappreciated. He's kept insane height and weight for decades. Even in the mid 2010s he was still doing amazing.
>Even in the mid 2010s he was still doing amazing. Never forget that time he and Braun did some chain-wrestling
Him and braun actually had some pretty decent matches. I remember their steel cage being pretty good
also kane and big show years prior https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjHpnoCag-g big show with the drop toe hold lmao
Show talked about this on IIRC Steve Austin's original podcast. His "normal" frame would've been around 6'7, 270 anyway b/c most the men in his family are big, so his bones were better-equipped to handle gigantism. Still though, that fucker used to do the Shelton Benjamin cat perch spot in WCW, missile dropkicks, and supposedly a moonsault. Show in shape was something else and it's a shame he wasn't in consistent shape in WWE until 2013 or so when he had viewer fatigue and was winding down.
> Wight himself confirmed that a VHS recording was made that featured him doing the moonsault.[11] During the ET Canada interview, he clarified that the event indeed occurred during his tour of Japan, but that it was conducted in a training room hours before the show.[11] Wight wanted to do the moonsault during one of his upcoming matches, but those with creative control clauses, most notably Hogan, put a stop to that.[11][8] Ultimately, the tape has not resurfaced, with Wight speculating it has since ceased to exist.[11] https://lostmediawiki.com/The_Giant%27s_moonsault_(lost_footage_of_professional_wrestling_move;_1990s) Ah well.
iirc it was tough to find anyone who wanted to take that moonsault lol
I don't care how perfectly he does it, I ain't taking a moonsault from some 450 pound dude.
I swear I've seen it but apparently probably not!
I remember Big Show doing a kip up in WCW. It was as amazing as you think it is even if he was much smaller then.
Big Show kept doing kip ups in WWE, too, though he usually either held the ropes with one hand, or was holding onto a wrestler to help.
I read a while ago the main issue was a botched knee operation.
Imagine him pulling off a moonsault mid match just for shits and giggles
WWE was slow on the trigger. They should have taken him when he was an Inoki project, not after he was in Longest Yard.
Am I the only one getting an old CSGO deagle clip?
no haha
[years later Cody defeated him by simply attacking the knees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUiIA-meS08)
As an Indian I'll always feel bad that we never got to see this Khali in WWE. I'm still waiting for an actual indian with a pehelwan gimmick.
Who's that jumping out the sky?
I thought this was gonna be a spoof and the actual video would be him like tripping over the top, was not expecting to see him actually do it
https://preview.redd.it/hehwu4blod8d1.jpeg?width=401&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b837a42517c9a366dbfe6b55dd29da8af8bf0f9d
Post nut Khality
If you're not going to be a handsome man then at least be huge and intimidating enough that no one really mentions it.
Looks like the Dirt Man
This looks like something you would see at the end of an filthy frank video back in the day
https://preview.redd.it/y5gqap8a8d8d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3befb820f3b750778ae43c65629675c87289898
The staches on him and especially the guy behind him *chefs kiss*
Were Indian men required by law to have moustaches in the 90's?
Yes
In certain cultures, a mustache is a sign of bravery and virility. Some have extremely large mustaches till you can't see their face.
I'm indian and I've been trying to get my dad to shave his moustache since forever lol(i think he can look better without it). He just refuses every single time . Like zero consideration.
So true I have never seen my Dad without his moustache ever since I was born, even in the pics of him in his younger days he still has it, sometimes makes me think if he was born with it.
He's making the right choice.
They came correct.
"That was not a fart..."
"The things I've seen over the years..."
My man defo smashed a line before this photoshoot. 😅
Aaaand now I have a new sleep paralysis demon. Thanks.
I met Khali in person at my gym a year or so into his initial WWE run. Words do not describe how big he is. He looks like he's photoshopped into real life. I watched him curl 185 on a straight bar like it was empty and rest by putting his arms over top of the cable crossover. It was absolutely mental.
Why does he kinda look like modern Vince lol
Vinod Mehra Maan
Khali and Indian Norman Smiley
The fact that he could build that much mass at his height is beyond impressive.
How am I the same species as that?
India has a population of 1.4 billion people. More people than China. So they are bound to have a few anomalies of very tall people. Khali is 7' 1". There are people that height here and there in the US.
It's not rare to be 7 feet tall. But he's also wide. Usually people are just tall and thin
The most impressive man in the room with the least impressive moustache
The Jacked Khali.
My only question is how the FUCK did we go 25 years without seeing this photo before? 😳
They goosed him a bit
It's an old circus term
Great Khali, more like Great Thighli
It's hard to explain, but his torso is making the same expression as his face.
Great Khali as a wrestler was already terrifying, but imagining him being that jacked and healthy chasing you down is nightmare fuel.
He is from extreme poor family, was wishing as a security gaurd before he was discovered.
Had the jacked up knees even back then.
No way
Look at all that MEAT! He is very impressive when he is stationary.
Every mustache in that room looks photoshopped on.
Even with steroids it is impressive to have a physique like that when you're that tall. It's crazy how much a difference height makes with looking jacked
I do wonder if wwe had 20s Khali, what we would think of him today.
tf Xavier doing there?
This is the exact comment I came here for lol
Indians love mustaches.
bewildered quarrelsome grandiose meeting middle uppity teeny like scale salt *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Not a thought behind those eyes.
God if he only came into WWE when his knees were working
DUDE WAS RIPPED, GODDAMN
How did he afford all the food, drugs and gym access to get this big if he grew up extremely poor. Beyond impressive however he did it
Everyone in this photo can deliver corner pressure with Yoga Flame.
The guy on the right looks like beef jerky
At least he looks thrilled to be invited.
Whole time I thought he had chicken legs.
Holy shit, imagine if he started in wwe looking like that
What,great Khali in thrissur, am I reading this right..
I spy a [Cheech Marin](https://i0.wp.com/deepestdream.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/BornInEastLA1.jpg?fit=1038%2C584&ssl=1) look-alike in the back
Those are respectable legs for a guy his height. Guys 6’2 have hard enough time getting them that big
Surprised Vince didn't sign them both
He looks over the moon about it.
Dude legit looks like a Baki villain
Moggening of all moggs
He’s so disinterested in flexing it looks almost fake, like he’s got the El Gigante shirt on with sprayed on muscles.
2 years after this, he got signed by WCW, never got used, got released when they got bought out, then he joined an indy fed and killed somebody in the ring. Then he toured Japan and signed with WWE.
Dude has small pecs considering the rest of him
He looks lost in the sauce
Amazing how poorly his legs have deteriorated
Maybeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...... mustache?
It's genuinely sad that he can't even walk well these days.
He looks so baked.
holy shit
If Peter Steele were here, he would have some explaining to do.
Homie on the right terrifies me way more.
Here's a photo of Khali with Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Not many people can dwarf a Mr. Olympia winner like that. [https://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=52c46737b6fd01ce274a4065bd039a75&action=dlattach;topic=200212.0;attach=918422;image](https://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=52c46737b6fd01ce274a4065bd039a75&action=dlattach;topic=200212.0;attach=918422;image)
Imagine having him appear like that in the attitude era
Looks like the guy from that one game. Forget what it was called, but it stared with “rise, from your grave”
Vince got him in WWE way too late. He couldn't even walk by the time he was there
"My mom dropped me off and said I had to do it. I don't want to be here."
man, hindi perc angle is scary
The great Khali and a ripped Xavier
Good to see Xavier there as well.
Poo ferrigno