Talk is Jericho with Chris Jericho
Guest: Big Show
Release Date: June 14, 2017
Recap by: Armando G. Ureña, PWPpodcast.com Reporter
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Top Newsworthy Items
-Big Show does not like working TV, prefers Live Events, calls TV days “time wasting bulls**t days”
-Big Show sees potential in Jinder Mahal
-Big Shows weight loss was motivated by a trash-talking session with John Cena
Timestamps
00:00: Sponsor Ads
00:39: Podcast Introduction & Sponsor Ads
13:40: Big Show Interview Part 1
38:14: Sponsor Ads
40:22: Big Show Interview Part 2
1:00:10: Sponsor Ads
1:02:24: Big Show Interview Part 3
1:24:55: Podcast Conclusion & Sponsor Ads
Show Highlights/Rundown
Podcast Introduction
Jericho breaks down the upcoming podcast with Big Show. This episode they talk about Big Show’s weight loss, why the WrestleMania match with Shaq fell apart, the WrestleMania match with Floyd Mayweather, Show’s short-lived boxing career, getting body slammed by Jinder Mahal, the Undertaker, the Cruiserweights, and Braun Strowman.
Big Show Interview Part 1
Big Show and Jericho admit that they are each other’s favorite tag partners of all time. The first topic of conversation is Big Show’s weight loss which is 90+ pounds. Big Show did his weight loss on diet, not cardio. He did it to see if he could do it. It came about from a trash talking session with John Cena. Essentially, Big Show came out of the conversation thinking Cena had no faith in Show getting abs. Big Show took it as a challenge. He says he started slow, wanting to make a lifestyle change rather than a diet change, cutting out soda, and then coffee, and so on and so forth. It was months before he entered a meal plan and started working out. He has moved on from weight and is starting to focus more on body fat percentage.
Jericho asks if the Shaq match was a motivation for losing weight. It started with an angle at the red carpet over a year ago. Big Show says that Shaq is a busy man, and that whatever negotiations that happened between his people and the WWE fell through, and that it was above his paygrade.
That prompted Big Show to talk about the celebrity matches at WrestleMania. Mainly his work with Floyd Mayweather. He says Mayweather understands and has taken the Pro Wrestling dynamics of heels and faces and used them for his boxing career. He acts like a heel for the purposes of making money. It’s a story Big Show told before, but he talks about Mayweather being very cooperative with Big Show and WWE during the booking of the match. Also, how Mayweather’s talents as a boxer being evident with how easily, yet cleanly he could make Big Show’s nose bleed on TV. Big Show was satisfied with the match.
Big Show Interview Part 2
Jericho asks about Big Show’s boxing career, which Show calls nonexistent. He started training at the age of 35, not giving him the experience necessary to be a successful boxer. Although he credits his brief time boxing for showing him how much he loves professional wrestling.
Big Show is thankful for someone like Brock Lesnar, a real-life MMA fighter, being in the WWE. He says Brock does not have a big ego and has always been about business. They joke about Brock intimidating the boys in the locker room.
Big Show talks about his relationship with Undertaker. Taker would pull him aside to give criticisms from cardio to ring psychology. Big Show talks about having to earn the respect of the WWF locker room coming from WCW without any real knowledge of being a professional wrestler.
Jericho and Big Show talk about the past environment of the locker room. Big Show recalls the times he was chewed out by Vince for whatever mistake he might have made that night. Often McMahon would never give the answer to him straight. It was up to the Big Show to figure out what it was McMahon wanted from him. Also, the guys in the locker room all “hated each other” likely due to the competitive nature created by the Attitude Era and the attempt to get more over. That is far from today, where the locker room gets along much better, and people are not always screaming at each other. Big Show talks about the European Tour when he worked with Stone Cold Steve Austin. He was supposed to go over at one point, but Austin managed to change that. The match after that happened Show had pulled down Austin’s trunks, which he didn’t like, and Austin punched Show in the chin. Show forcibly put Austin in the corner and chopped him hard. Austin encouraged that, and that’s when Show realized how he could work as a giant. He became better at understanding the psychology of working as a giant, and that’s when he became a better worker and earned the respect of guys like Undertaker.
Big Show Interview Part 3
Jericho asks about Big Show’s house show match with Jinder Mahal in Champagne, Illinois. It was a fifteen-minute match that was longer than a lot of Big Show’s house show matches. Show credits Mahal for working hard and having a good attitude. Big Show wanted to show some of the boys in the back that you can make a story heavy match that was not built off spots. Big Show had Mahal wear him down, working to a body slam for a false finish (Here it becomes evident that this was recorded before the shakeup). Big Show says he sees potential in Jinder Mahal.
Jericho asks about Big Show working with Strowman. Show says Strowman’s powerlifting background gives him explosive energy that makes for a good athlete. At this point, they just need to teach him psychology. Big Show praises the Cruiserweights, mainly Neville for his heel work.
Big Show talks about his preference for Live Events over TV. There is less impute and stress backstage allowing for the wrestlers to have more freedom. Big Show enjoys having matches where he can actually tell a story, he is not very happy with going on TV to only knock somebody out. Jericho brings up the “please retire” chants, which Big Show says is more of a protest of the writing rather than the performer.
Big Show talks about being very grateful for his career, the good and bad experiences, and all the people he’s worked with. He hopes by the end of the year, he and Vince will be able to work something out for the end of Big Show’s contract that both would be happy with.
Jericho asks about Big Show’s experiences with ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage. He talks about how intense Randy Savage was. You could not talk to Savage if he had a match unless you were his opponent. Big Show would ignore Randy during TV unless he was working with him. He talks about working with Hulk Hogan. The actual match preparation for Big Show’s debut was virtually nonexistent (They mostly worked out, and tanned on the beach). Big Show does praise Hogan for his improvisation during the match when Big Show was starting to get lost. He also comments on how calm Hogan remained during it. In comparison to Randy Savage, who gave Big Show a legal pad, and they wrote out their match to blueprint their match.
Jericho asks what the worst angle Big Show did was. Big Show says it was being baby new year. He says it was uncomfortable, feeling like he sold his soul. All the TV crew felt uncomfortable too. He says Vince forced him to do it. The podcast concludes with an angle Show did with Lita, where he was making out with her backstage. For a closing line, Vince had come up with “pimps up, hoes down” which Big Show and Chris Jericho joked about as the interview closed out.
Memorable Quotes:
“I’m not really the Big Show anymore, I’m the Big Slim.” – Big Show on his weight loss.
“I see something in him too”- Big Show on Jinder Mahal.
“Cause they’re just long, useless, time wasting bulls**t days where you’re just sitting around for an idea that absolutely sucks.”- Big Show on working TV.
Score and Review (7.5/10)
A good podcast interview from a WWE veteran. It serves as part update on Big Show’s recent events, and part select story time from Big Show’s career. A lot of familiar information if you’ve listened to any of Big Show’s other interviews or have watched his WWE documentary. Still a good listen for WWE fans though. His insight on Jinder Mahal might make people a bit more hopeful for Mahal’s ongoing WWE championship run, and the information he shared on some of his in-ring psychology is fascinating for the more detail-focused wrestling fans.
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