WWE Classic of the Week: Sheamus vs. Big Show from Hell in a Cell 2012

There is a common misconception, which started sometime around the dawn of the Internet and smart mark age, that suggests that two big men cannot have a quality wrestling match.

Fans take one look at a heavyweight or super heavyweight and lose faith that they can deliver between the ropes, greeting them with chants of "you can't wrestle" or downplaying their value to the product.

In October 2012 at Hell in a Cell, world heavyweight champion Sheamus and The Big Show set out to prove detractors wrong.

They would succeed, delivering a dark-horse candidate for Match of the Year as well as establishing the Celtic Warrior as one of the most reliable and consistently great workers of his time and the giant as wrestling's greatest behemoth.

This is their story.

The Background

Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXVIII to win his first World Heavyweight Championship, doing so in just 18 seconds.

His title reign was off to a bumpy start as fans of Bryan held the win against Sheamus, even though it was WWE Creative's decision to go that route—not the Irishman's.

He won over a good portion of the audience weeks later at Extreme Rules as he and Bryan delivered an outstanding 2-out-of-3 Falls match with the title on the line.

From there, he segued into a program with Alberto Del Rio, repeatedly defending his title against the Mexican aristocrat, both on television and pay-per-view.

Built on the deadly Brogue Kick, the feud really helped establish the Celtic Warrior as a fighting champion with a devastating finisher—two elements essential to the development of a main event star.

While Sheamus was growing into the role of top babyface on SmackDown, The Big Show was undergoing a drastic change on Raw.

In May 2012, Show was humbled and humiliated by Raw general manager John Laurinaitis, who watched as the giant dropped to his knees and begged for some mercy and the boss not to fire him. There was no mercy to be had, however, as the former Dynamic Dude terminated Show and left him jobless.

Weeks later at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, Show returned and helped Laurinaitis defeat John Cena, revealing that the boss promised him a guaranteed, ironclad contract. He could not be fired, and if he was, the company would owe him A LOT of money.

After a months-long feud with Cena, Show transitioned to SmackDown and became the top contender to Sheamus' title almost immediately.

Expectations were low given the lackluster performances turned in by the World's Largest Athlete while working with Cena and the other top stars on Raw.

Would the giant be able to reward management and fans for his latest push with a quality performance or would he prove doubters correct?

The Match

The Analysis

The Big Show excels when working with fellow big men. He has the innate ability to mash together high-impact offense, tremendous power maneuvers and breathtaking near-falls to create wildly entertaining matches.

He has done so in the past with Mark Henry and Brock Lesnar, and that was again the case when he squared off with Sheamus in the fall of 2012.

Their Hell in a Cell bout was easily their best. Sheamus portrayed the resilient champion who overcame the punishing offense of his much larger opponent only to fall victim to a single knockout shot that left him unconscious and, ultimately, a former champion.

Fans were slow to get into the match, but as the story unfolded, they became more and more receptive, hanging on every near-fall by the match's excellent conclusion.

At a time when CM Punk, John Cena and the surging Ryback were dominating headlines, it was Sheamus and Big Show who stole Hell in a Cell and would go on to deliver an outstanding program on the B-brand known as SmackDown.

The Fallout

The feud between the heavyweights continued throughout the remainder of the year.

At Survivor Series in November, Big Show appeared to have defeated Sheamus following the knockout punch. The decision was reversed, however, when the referee disqualified the giant for intentionally using him as a shield, leading to the official receiving a Brogue Kick from the Celtic Warrior.

Weeks later, Show again retained his title, defeating Sheamus in a grueling chairs match. The contest proved to be culmination of their rivalry and the validation of Show's reign as champion.

Of course, just as the big man was gaining momentum as the top heel on SmackDown, the title was taken off him and awarded to Alberto Del Rio as WWE built to a WrestleMania match between the Mexican aristocrat and the returning Jack Swagger.

Speaking of the Showcase of the Immortals, Show and Sheamus would share the ring again, this time as tag team partners. They would partner with Randy Orton to meet The Shield in a huge six-man tag team match won by the Hounds of Justice when the dissension among the babyfaces proved too much.