WWE TLC 2012: Why Big Show Needs to Beat Sheamus and Retain His Title

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Big Show needs to defeat Sheamus and keep his title or risk being known as one of the sports biggest jokes.

Despite his size and the titles he has won, Show has never fully realized his potential, in part because of a lack of direction. Show has a chance to erase the entire unwarranted stigma that surrounds himself by defeating Sheamus and moving on to a new feud.

It’s easy to forget that Big Show hasn’t always been the dominant wrestler now wearing the belt. At 7'0" and 441 pounds, he’s faced the greatest wrestlers in WWE history, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H and The Undertaker (WWE.com).

Very few competitors can tower over the big man. He’s a natural-born heel.

But the WWE hasn’t known what to do with Big Show.

He signed a 10-year contract when he came to the WWE in 1999 after a short but successful run in WCW. Until recently, he's been treated as a joke in the singles division.

Truthfully, Big Show has had a great run with the tag-team division.

He’s held the world tag-team title five different times, with The Undertaker twice and with Kane, The Miz and Chris Jericho one time each. He’s held the WWE World Tag Team Championship three times, also with Kane, Miz and Jericho one time each.

If you include his three tag-team reigns in WCW, that totals 11 championships.  With 23 titles under his belt, tag-team gold makes up just under half of his winnings.

With no disrespect to the tag-team division, a man the size of Big Show should have not only more singles titles to his name, but more world titles.

But isn’t Show the only wrestler to have held the WWE, WCW and ECW world titles?

Yes, but look closer.

According to WWE.com, his first world title was earned in his debut, when he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Championship. The first reign lasted less than a month. His second reign lasted just under three months. 

His first WWE Championship reign came in 1999 and lasted less than two months. He wouldn’t win the title again until 2002, when he defeated Brock Lesnar. Less than a month later, he dropped the title and hasn’t held it again.

His ECW title reign has been his most successful. Won on July 4, 2006, he held the strap for one day short of five months, dropping it to Bobby Lashley.

And he’s held the world heavyweight title twice. His first time with the belt lasted for 45 seconds after beating Mark Henry. Daniel Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to quickly end that one. The second, his current one, he claimed from Sheamus at Hell in a Cell in October.

That’s seven title reigns among four major singles championships. Seven title reigns for a total of roughly 14 months.

In comparison, John Cena has spent 34 months, or 2.8 years of the past decade, with a major WWE singles title around his waist.

Yes, Cena can be looked at as being the face of the company, but why hasn’t Show been on top as much as Cena? He may not have Cena’s good looks and chiseled body, but he’s just as strong and three times as mean.

The WWE has consistently made Show into a joke instead of a monster heel. The man once known as Big Nasty when he debuted has endured imitating other wrestlers and losing to smaller men like Rey Mysterio (Profightdb.com). He’s even suffered the humiliation of crying in the middle of the ring.

The man screams wrestling champion from the moment he steps through the curtain. He never should have been put through the wringer like he has.

He cleanly defeated Sheamus at Hell in a Cell but only kept his title by disqualification at Survivor Series. He needs a win at TLC to prove he is a champion to be reckoned with and not the go-to guy for laughs.

His current run as a monster heel is dependent on defeating the Celtic Warrior.