Big men are far from being obscure in the world of wrestling. After all to be a large competitor all one needs to do is be born with an above average height or a strong appetite. However actual giants in the wrestling industry are much scarcer. To be a true monster, one must not only have an aura that creates amazement, but also one that inspires fear.
Gorilla Monsoon, a long time commentator for the then WWF was fond of using the phrase, “the irresistible force versus the immovable object” when describing the feud between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. Hogan with his smaller frame and intestinal fortitude undoubtedly worked as the irresistible force while Andre stood as the epitome of the immovable object.
The payoff to this feud was not one that happened overnight. Though Hulkamania was unquestionably running throughout the wrestling world leading up to their encounter at Wrestlemania III, it was Andre who made this event a spectacle. Making his WWF debut in 1973, for over fourteen years Andre remained dominant in the company, mostly as a face. When he suddenly turned heel and attacked Hogan, he therefore had all the credibility in the world to be the next WWF Champion.
In all likeliness there never will be a feud between a champion and monster like the one leading up to Wrestlemania III in terms of how much buildup there was. The wrestling industry as well as the world in general moves much faster than it did in the 1970’s and 1980’s. A wrestler being able to stay in the same company for fourteen years is difficult enough without having to put them over as an unrelenting beast.
While the timeframe used in Hogan and Andre’s feud may be impossible to mirror, having buildup that can create a similar great impact is not. However a successful feud of this manner cannot be accomplished in a company that has no true monsters whether it is concerning the WWE or TNA.
Arguments can be made for both companies supporting the case that they do have their share of formidable ogres. To some extent this is true, but a closer look at the rosters of the WWE and TNA will show that various circumstances surround each individual and must be analyzed. Through this method exactly who measures up as a monster can be shown. Three of the most dominate representatives from each of the WWE brands and TNA will be analyzed, respectively in order to weed out the true behemoths from the false giants.
Before the selected individuals are addressed, the point must be made that appearing to be a monster, does not necessarily mean that a wrestler has to be a heel. Instead they may be a face, but can only succeed in being a beast if they create fear and look dangerous. These wrestlers must give fans the impression that they would not want to run into them in a dark alley. Case in point, Vader for many years switched back and forth between being a face and being a heel. However more often than not he did not appear to be a particularly friendly person and certainly not one that you would take home to mother.
The Big Show, who has most been compared to giants of the past, most notably Andre is the logical competitor to start with. Originally Show was booked accordingly with the traditional strategy needed to create the sense of a threatening behemoth. This was done surprisingly enough in WCW where he was first known as the Giant. Despite lacking a name with originality and often being booked in horrendous skits and matches with Hulk Hogan, the Giant laid waste to the WCW roster and quickly found himself with the promotion’s top title.
Comparatively, Show in ECW is nothing like the role that he had played in WCW. Though thoroughly dominating in many matches during his ECW title reign, prior to losing the championship at the 2006 December to Dismember pay-per-view, the enormous athlete was also placed in several less than fearsome scenarios. Not only was Show defeated by Degeneration-X at the 2006 Unforgiven event along with Vince and Shane McMahon, but he also had his rear-end exposed in a display that can only be described as humiliating. Show also was plagued by an unexpected problem. He was too likeable. While joking about the movie, “The Waterboy” and hitting on backstage interviewer Rebecca may be expected of a main event face such as Batista, it hardly fits into the character of a monstrous giant.
The Great Khali may be a giant closer to the definition of a monster traditionally held in the wrestling industry when compared to Show’s recent antics. However Khali is also a worker with not nearly as much skill as Show in terms of both promo work and in-ring ability. Promo work has never been a necessity for a monster to have in the wrestling business. Even Andre the Giant had Bobby Heenan helping him out in much of his later career. WWE similarly is making the right decision in pairing Khali up with Shawn “Khosrow” Daivari.
The problem with Khali is not in the promo department, but instead in his ring work or lack thereof. While Khali has dominated such wrestlers as the Undertaker, he did so in matches that would make Giant Gonzales blush. Advanced in-ring work for monstrous wrestlers is not pivotal, but basic ring work is. Until Khali can master the basics and maybe even add a few moves to his repertoire, which looks very unlikely at this point, his capability of being a threatening force is greatly diminished.
Sylvester Terkay, like Khali plays the role of a silent killer, letting Elijah Burke speak for him rather than speaking for himself. During these promos Terkay comes off as a force to fear, looking proud of both his and his partner’s abilities. While on the Smackdown! brand in ring competition Terkay likewise showed his dominance, beating opponents left and right.
Out of all the current wrestlers being pushed as monsters mentioned thus far, Terkay may have the brightest future if it were not for a few problems. Terkay has been repeatedly ignored to the point where his promos now seem like little more than reintroductions to the duo of Terkay and Burke. Additionally since moving to ECW, Terkay and Burke have suffered a loss to the Hardy Boyz during an episode where it seemed the WWE booking committee forgot that they were pushing Terkay. If such lapses in judgment are stopped and Terkay is given more television time and opponents to manhandle, there is no telling what Terkay is capable of.
Umaga is the most successful monster in wrestling today if one were judging wrestling giants from the perspective of a 1980’s fan. Along with his manager Armando Alejandro Estrada, Umaga has defeated many a jobber thoroughly and frightfully.
The dilemma that arises here is that Umaga is not wrestling during the dawn of sports entertainment. Accordingly his gimmick of a crazed savage is not believable even to some WWE audiences, who are little more than trained seals. Nevertheless with a simplistic yet apparently lethal move set and a cocky manager, Umaga makes an effective adversary for any main event face on the roster.
Moving on from one effective case to one ineffective case, Viscera, with a few bright spots here and there has been a joke since the late 1990’s. However the WWE only has so much television time allotted to it each week. Add to this the fact that many individuals on the roster are considerably more talented than Viscera in the ring and on the mic and it is easy to see why he is not pushed.
Though ineffective as a monster, a level of credibility is given to midcard wrestlers who are able to defeat Viscera, simply due to his massive size. As a result of this there is no credibility given to main event players when they go one-on-one with Viscera, unless his weight is thrown into the equation in a creative way. Such was the case this year when Cena squared off against him and was able to hit the F-U on Viscera.
Monsters are not confined to genders and such is the case in the next athlete to be studied, Victoria. Since she began competing in the WWE in 2002, Victoria has stood as an excellent adversary from opponents ranging from Trish Stratus to Molly Holly to most recently Mickie James.
The biggest obstacle that stands in the way of Victoria becoming a legitimate threat to be feared by competitors and fans alike is that the WWE women’s roster is paper thin. While Victoria may be able to annihilate WWE divas such as Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson and Maria, these women have little if any integrity as in-ring competitors. Victoria may be able to put on technically sound matches with James, but with no other legitimate opponents to pummel, her role as a wrestling beast is severely limited.
Wrestlers, who are forces worth fearing, can often be faces, such as in the case of the Undertaker. When he debuted at the WWF Survivor Series in 1990, he was a heel that spoke very little and only lost on seldom occasions. The argument can therefore be made that the Undertaker has been a monster in wrestling throughout the various stages where what is a wrestling monster has evolved. Likewise as such it was necessary for the Undertaker’s character to evolve.
As Homer Simpson has shown television audiences the world over, any character developed over a significant timeframe is likely to go through enough phases that their final appearance resembles almost nothing of their initial form. Therefore it is surprising that with all the adventures and misadventures that the Undertaker has gone through how much of the darkness he first came into wrestling with still remains. That is not to say that the Undertaker is an unstoppable force. Though still capable of greatness as was evident in his program with Kurt Angle, the Undertaker has often appeared sluggish in other matches. This has subsequently contributed to his feud with Mr. Kennedy being hit and miss in terms of match quality. Still, despite some recent failures as far as being a dominating force, the Undertaker holds his own when compared to his contemporaries.
The kayfabe brother of the Undertaker, Kane shares many of the traits that help make the Undertaker stand as a credible giant in the world of wrestling. Originally debuting as a person from the Undertaker’s past it is amazing to see how well Kane has since been able to stand on his own. That is not to say that Kane has been a thoroughly dominating competitor.
Since January, Kane has been booked all over the place. The Big Show began the year strong with Kane as they held the World Tag Team titles together. However since that time Kane has been on the losing end of feuds first with Umaga and now with Montel Vontavious Porter. Until Kane starts winning on a regular basis, he will never give the appearance of as dominating a force as he is capable of being.
The Boogeyman is a unique monster in wrestling as he is both a great deal shorter and a great deal lighter than just about every other behemoth in the wrestling industry. However the way in which he is placed in squash matches that make his opponents appear to be little more than jobbers mirrors the formula traditionally used for wrestling giants.
The gimmick of the Boogeyman has often been compared to the gimmick of Papa Shango. Papa Shango never headlined Wrestlemania and appeared rarely on pay-per-views, but Shango also never defeated main event talent. While the gimmicks of the Boogeyman and Papa Shango may be similar, the individuals who played these two characters are not. Charles Wright came to the WWF in his early thirties and had many more gimmicks to look forward to after Papa Shango. Marty Wright (okay, maybe their names are similar) came to the WWE in his forties and as a result of his advanced age is severely limited in what he has to look forward to. Perhaps because of this Marty has put his all into making his gimmick work. Still because of his age exactly how far the Boogeyman can be pushed remains questionable.
The current NWA World Champion, Abyss has been called a monster countless times by TNA commentators, wrestlers and fans. How surprising it is then that while Abyss does conform to some principles of being a true wrestling monster that in many other ways he is far from this status.
Abyss has endured incredible levels of pain in matches against the likes of Sabu, Rhino and Sting, which gives him the appearance of an immovable object, standing in the way of TNA’s faces. Likewise being aided by the sinister James Mitchell adds another dimension to his character. The problem is that for as much pain as Abyss can take, it does not seem he can dole out nearly as much. As a result Abyss in kayfabe has gotten his ass handed to him over and over again by competitors, who include Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles and Sting. Even in winning his first world championship, Abyss appeared weak by being driven from the TNA entrance stage by Sting. Furthermore trying to humanize Abyss is not helping make him look any tougher and could very well backfire on TNA.
Tyson Tomko only recently joined TNA and as of yet has yet to wrestle a televised match. Taking the position of Christian’s enforcer, a role he had previously played in the WWE, Tomko does not look to have missed a beat since he was last seen on mainstream American television.
Monster feuds have long been used in wrestling promotions to make the leap from two wrestling giants being at the edge of reaching new ground to one wrestler increasing in worth and the other decreasing. This happened in the late 1990’s during the feud between Kane and Vader and again with Kane in the reverse role recently when squaring off with Umaga. Tomko, who has recently been put in a program with Abyss, could land in a similar role. Whether or not he is placed on the winning end of the feud however remains to be seen.
For over a year Samoa Joe remained undefeated in TNA shattering any doubt of whether or not he could be considered a monster. Though his undefeated streak recently came to an end at the hands of Kurt Angle, Joe is and has been the epitome of everything that a wrestling monster should be in today’s wrestling scene.
The only flaw there has been in the way that Joe has been handled is how his undefeated streak ended. Angle, a more than credible challenger was not so much the issue as was the fact that there was no gold behind it. TNA fans have long craved a Joe title shot and it would therefore only seem logical that Joe’s streak would garner a greater buyrate or rating if it ended with gold on the line.
With the advents of mass media and the Internet, few wrestling fans today believe that any of what they are watching take place in the ring each week is real. Regardless instead of the role of wrestling monster being eliminated from wrestling all together, those playing these roles must strive harder to maintain this age old position. If a wrestler can make viewers believe, even for a second that he or she really is that evil, that dominating or that aggressive then that wrestler has accomplished their task.
Spanning from the roots of wrestling to today, bodybuilders and models have long been brought into various promotions as competitors. Predictably, with a few rare exceptions these individuals have soundly failed in becoming wrestlers and fewer still wrestling monsters. When one asks why wrestling needs monsters one must look at the alternative. The Rock may have been great, but this formula can only be copied so many times. Silent killers, hulking masses, immovable objects, these are the individuals that keep the faces inspired and the fans on the edge of their seats.
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