Best Booking Options for Big Show Following WWE Live from MSG vs. Brock Lesnar

When Big Show is done tangling with Brock Lesnar at WWE Live from Madison Square Garden, it can't just be business as usual for the behemoth. There is too much apathy surrounding him to just proceed on the same path; WWE must get creative about what's next for Big Show.

As his career winds down, the angry giant finds himself responding to "Please retire!" chants and entering the arena to minimal response.

Blame overexposure, a crowd grown numb to his presence or his flip-flopping between face and heel roles. The result is a massive man struggling for momentum. 

The initial solution is to take him off TV after the bout with Lesnar. That lets him recharge physically and allows him to feel like a fresher presence upon his return.

Then what?

WWE can't just keep telling the same monster-on-the-warpath story with him. New narratives need to emerge. 

Have him struggle to find his footing. Have him travel to WWE's developmental brand. Have him supply intimidation and punching power for someone else.

These are the ways to best use his size and strength, his star power and his experience. These are the paths to maximize what he has left to offer.

Tumbling Downward

Big Show's stretches of dominance are cyclical. He arrives, tears through the roster, crashes into a rival, goes away for a short while and then starts the process all over again. Fans are seeing that in action now as WWE has put him on a winning streak ahead of his clash with Lesnar.

Rather than follow that same path again, playing up his age (43 years old) while helping to elevate other stars is the smart way to go.

Have Big Show come back from his post-Lesnar absence and find that victory is hard to come by. Tell a story of his struggling through a losing streak.

The slumping star is a narrative WWE doesn't use often enough. Going with it here upends one's expectations. When the Goliath starts being unable to squash the everyman, things begin to get interesting.

First he could fall to a guy like Cesaro. That would seem like a blip until Big Show then loses to Dean Ambrose, Neville and then Jack Swagger. Then Heath Slater scores an upset over him.

Credit: WWE.com

This allows a good number of wrestlers to pick up wins against a made man. Cesaro will take any win he can get. Slater pinning Big Show would be the highlight of his career thus far. 

Meanwhile, announcers can question whether Big Show is done and how much he has left in the proverbial tank. 

This sets up a huge match down the road. Have Big Show need to fight to stay on the roster by winning a pay-per-view bout against a tough opponent. WWE can either bid him farewell via this bout or have Big Show finally regain his confidence by upending his foe.

Either way, his path to that point is far more interesting than anything he has done in recent memory.

A New Kingdom to Conquer

If WWE wants Big Show to churn up nuclear heat, it needs to send him to Full Sail University to join the NXT roster. The developmental brand is the hipper, cooler version of WWE, and fans are protective of that part of the product.

That's led Eva Marie to earn passionate boos. The same response would be waiting for Big Show.

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Putting him in NXT, where he is bound to be a persona non grata, is a good way to help get the emerging babyfaces over. Not only would Big Show be a monster and a villain, but he is the representation of the least-desired part of WWE for some diehard fans. He can be WWE's litmus test.  

If a babyface struggles to get a positive reaction when facing the Big Show in front of an NXT crowd, officials know there isn't much hope for them. That should be shooting fish in a barrel.

Big Show offers prospects a different kind of wrestler to work with, too. If an NXT prospect can look good in the ring against the slower, limited foe that is The World's Largest Athlete, that should give them bonus points.

The move to NXT gives Big Show a fresh environment. A big part of the appeal of that is new rivals to face. 

There's bound to be some increased interest in Big Show if he's facing Apollo Crews for the first time or battling Baron Corbin in a slugfest.

There's also an opportunity to pass the big-man torch here—have Colin Cassady earn his way to WWE by besting the big man, for example.

The World's Largest Enforcer 

Plugging Big Show into a new trio and making him the group's muscle allows the big man to make an impact without being in the ring for an extended amount of time. Rather than have him compete in singles action, he can just be the lurking, hulking presence at ringside for younger acts. 

This way WWE can use his star power to help introduce new talents and keep him around as an attraction without depending on him to be a top-of-the-card star.

A team of a more serious version of Bull Dempsey and Corbin is made more intimidating with Big Show standing behind them with a cocked fist. Should Jason Jordan and Chad Gable come up to the main roster, Big Show acts as quite the effective insurance policy.

Or if WWE ever decides to have Los Matadores become The Colons again, that duo hiring on Big Show gives them added dimension.

At this point in Big Show's career, WWE should be thinking about how he can most benefit guys who will be wrestling after he's done. That can come with Big Show as their comrades, their opponents or their victims. 

And any of these potential avenues allow him the chance to create new interest in himself by doing something fresh. Stagnancy is the one option WWE can't go with.