“Apparently, giants can
win the Super Bowl, but not matches at WrestleMania. You’re like ‘The Reverse
Undertaker’. Who are you going to lose
to this year? The boxer or the sumo
wrestler?”
- Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes to Big Show, SmackDown,
Feb. 10, 2012

Throughout his decorated WWE career – which includes reigns
as WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, United States Champion, Hardcore
Champion and many more –  Big Show has
accomplished nearly everything there is to accomplish in the squared circle. Nearly.

With an uninspiring WrestleMania record of 3-8, the giant
is tied for the second most losses at The Show of Shows in WWE history. In a career
full of incredible and triumphant moments, he has depressingly few on The
Grandest Stage of Them All. (PHOTOS)

This fact has been made abundantly clear the past several
weeks by a budding rival, volatile Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. After
vengefully eliminating Big Show from a Battle Royal on Raw SuperShow Monday night, Rhodes appeared
on Tuesday’s SuperSmackDown LIVE with a special presentation to remind the big
man of one of his most embarrassing WrestleMania recollections: a super-sized
sumo showdown with Akebono. (WATCH)

Although Rhodes may have had a point about Big Show’s regrettable
wardrobe in that match and his meager 3-8 record, he overlooked several
important details. The son of the son of a plumber neglected to acknowledge the
tremendous quality of Big Show’s competition at WrestleMania, the magnitude of
those matches and the precious value of experience. A perusal of The World’s
Largest Athlete’s 11 matches at The Granddaddy of Them All reveals a story far more complex
than simple W’s and L’s.

Big Show’s “big show” debut came
at WrestleMania XV, March 28, 1999, at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.
Facing Mankind to decide who would be the special guest referee for the main
event between The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the behemoth dominated his
opponent before his aggressive chair usage cost him the
match via disqualification. Salvaging something from the disappointing night, the giant knocked out Mr. McMahon after the match, demonstrating to the WWE
Universe that, win or lose, he was a Superstar to keep an eye on.

The following year, at WrestleMania 2000 in Anaheim, Calif.’s Arrowhead Pond, The World’s Largest Athlete returned to The Grandest Stage of Them All to face
legendary Superstars Triple H, The Rock and Mick Foley in a WWE Championship Fatal 4-Way Match. In what would become a recurring theme in many of
Show’s WrestleMania matches, his opponents teamed up against him to eliminate their largest competition.

WrestleMania X-Seven and Houston’s Reliant Astrodome were
no more hospitable to Big Show, in which he lost a Triple Threat Hardcore Match to Kane
for Raven’s Hardcore Championship. Two years later, Kane’s fellow Brother of
Destruction also bested Show, this time at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle’s Safeco Field in a Handicap Match.

At this point 0-4, The World’s Largest Athlete entered
Madison Square Garden for the blockbuster WrestleMania XX event and suffered a
stinging defeat, losing his United States Championship to a young upstart named
John Cena. The Sumo Match against Akebono at WrestleMania XXI at
Staples Center in Los Angeles was
an admitted low point for the goliath, one that the derisive Rhodes was all too
happy to commemorate on live television.

Big Show finally picked up his elusive first win on the
biggest stage on April 2, 2006. At WrestleMania XXII, from the Allstate Arena in
Rosemont, Illinois, he and Kane successfully
defended their World Tag Team Titles against Carlito Chris Masters. Seven years after his WrestleMania debut, Show finally had the biggest of wins and an “improved” record
of 1-6.

Stalling that positive momentum, WrestleMania XXIV at the
Citrus Bowl in Orlando was the site of one of Big Show’s most shocking and
scandalous losses when flyweight boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. – with the help of
a pair of brass knuckles – defeated the big man by knockout. Shaking off that
brutal defeat and returning to Reliant Stadium in Houston for WrestleMania XXV
in 2009, Big Show faced John Cena and Edge for the World Heavyweight
Championship. Again, The Giant was bested by the leader of the Cenation.

In the two most recent Show of Shows, The World’s Largest Athlete
was able to pick up long overdue wins. At WrestleMania XXVI at the University of
Phoenix Stadium, ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) successfully defended the Unified
Tag Team Titles against John Morrison and R-Truth. And then last year, at
WrestleMania XXVII at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, a team of Show, Kane, Santino
Marella and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre.

Did Cody Rhodes actually have a point when he called Big
Show “The Reverse Undertaker”? Is 3-8 always just 3-8? Not when one looks at
Show’s whole body of work. Not when one iconic WrestleMania match or moment
could totally alter the perception of the WWE Universe.

All it takes is that one immortal moment, a Hulk Hogan
scoop slam on Andre the Giant, an Edge Spear off the ladder, a Shawn Michaels
kick-out. With his extensive WrestleMania experience against iconic Superstars,
WWE’s new blood and athletes from other sports in Singles, Handicap and Tag
Team Matches, Big Show has the necessary physical tools and knowledge
to add his name to that list.

What do this year’s Road to WrestleMania and Showcase
of the Immortals hold for The World’s Largest Athlete? Only WrestleMania XXVIII
at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Florida on April 1 can answer that question.

Article source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/big-show-wrestlemania-woes