WrestleMania 28: Is Big Show the Best Big Man Ever?

This Sunday at WrestleMania, Big Show will attempt to improve on his very stellar championship list when he takes on Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship.

Rhodes has used Big Show's regrettable history to mock Big Show, but it has only made him more angry. If ever there was a defining moment for Big Show in the end of his long career, this match does it.

To explain, let's look at Big Show's history.

As The Giant, he had a fantastic run in World Championship Wrestling. The Giant was a two-time WCW Champion, as well as a tag-team champion with three different partners—Lex Luger, Scott Hall and Sting. In 1996, he won King of Cable, WCW's answer to the King of the Ring, as well as World War 3, a version of the Royal Rumble with a lot more entrants.

In February of 1999, a 27-year-old Paul Wight watched his WCW contract expire and signed a 10-year contract with WWE the following day. Five days after signing that contract, Wight appeared at St. Valentine's Day Massacre in his WWE debut. He would later adopt the ring name of The Big Show.

As far as championships in WWE, Big Show has won just about any championship he could have won. He never managed to win the defunct European Championship, but I think we can forgive him for that.

Instead, Big Show has been a two-time WWE Champion, a former World Heavyweight Champion, a former ECW Champion and a former United States Champion.

He is also an eight-time tag-team champion, even if some of those reigns are counted twice due to the titles being unified at the time. It still works out to two reigns each with four different superstars—Chris Jericho, The Miz, Kane and The Undertaker.

You can even throw in Big Show's three reigns as Hardcore Champion, and you have a complete superstar who has won every belt attainable for him.

It's shocking that Big Show couldn't be a Light Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Women's or Divas Champion, but he has won everything else he could have won in today's WWE—except for one championship.

Big Show has never been the Intercontinental Champion, a title held by Cody Rhodes currently.

Rhodes has held it for most of the past year. In fact, his long reign is among the longest in the last two decades. Rhodes literally faces his biggest test at WrestleMania, when Big Show will try to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his storied career.

That storied career has been one-of-a-kind for the seven-foot giant, who won the World Heavyweight Championship briefly in December. That short reign actually gave Big Show a feat likely never obtained by another man: winning the WCW, WWE, ECW and World Heavyweight Championships all in one career.

Winning that title may not seem like a big deal, but it does help with his legacy. Big Show would become just the 12th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. The Grand Slam accolade only goes to those who have won one of WWE's world champions, tag-team championships, Intercontinental Championship and either the Hardcore or European Championship.

Had the United States Championship been included, it would already be an honor bestowed upon Big Show. It would also complete his Triple Crown Championship honor, which has only been won by 23 men in history.

Standing outside of the Triple Crown club is something that Big Show is not doing alone. Among current superstars not in that club are The Undertaker, John Cena and The Miz, who are all an Intercontinental Championship reign away, just like Big Show. Among the legendary superstars without the honor are The Ultimate Warrior and the immortal Hulk Hogan. 

Without the accolade, Big Show's legacy will stay intact. His WrestleMania record is suspect at best. He has a record of just 3-8 all-time at the event. Sable has just as many victories in just three matches.

Among those with at least nine WrestleMania matches overall, Big Show is tied with JBL with the fewest amount of victories.

However, it is that unselfishness that has made Big Show so great over the years. He has lost to a professional boxer and a sumo wrestler at WrestleMania. There is only one other man in WrestleMania history to lose to more than one celebrity at the event. His name is Roddy Piper.

Big Show has also done enough to get his share of wins. After all, he isn't in the boat of a guy like Goldust or Jeff Hardy, who were held winless at WrestleMania over the years.

Big Show knew what the crowd usually wanted to see. It often mirrored what happened to Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III. It was an iconic moment and a turning sport for the business itself. Big Show is a company guy and will put himself in positions like that one if it means higher ratings and more business for the company.

Big Show also knows how to reinvent himself over the years without changing who he was. His arsenal of moves is about as wide as it gets for a seven-foot man. Big Show has performed dropkicks before, but he is also willing to be picked up and manhandled to get another man over.

Just imagine John Cena's career without lifting up Big Show at WrestleMania XX. A bitter veteran could have said no to being pinned by Daniel Bryan less than a minute after a title victory. Big Show is not that guy.

The career of Big Show's has shown that he features an amazing array of moves, the willingness to be a company guy and enough skill to stay relevant all these years later. If an Intercontinental Championship is what cements his legacy, then let it be.

With of without it, it is hard to argue that Big Show is not the greatest big man of all-time.

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