10 Wrestling Matches Much Better Than Their Reputations
4. Big Show Vs. Floyd Mayweather (WrestleMania XXIV)
Celebrity matches get a bad rep. Some of them have been atrocious, but to assume an untrained famous face competing in the squared circle automatically yields a shambles is inaccurate, as proven by Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, Stephen Amell's various wrestling flirtations, and this, the best celebrity bout in WWE history.
An 'Anything Goes' clash between a 159lb boxer and 'The World's Largest Athlete,' its layout was astonishingly effective. Mayweather, a real-life heel, took to his role well. Constant stooging and surprisingly strong selling hid his deficiencies. It was never going to be a five-star classic, but as Floyd hid behind his posse of human shields, cracked Show with constant chairshots, and peppered his mammoth opponent with body shots, he almost looked like he belonged in this world.
Show was an excellent foil for all this chicanery. Made to fight several men at once, and constantly battling against his crafty opponent's cheating ways, he nonetheless bludgeoning Mayweather with pockets of hard-hitting offence throughout. A surgical knockout blow eventually put the big man to sleep, as it should have, but a well-designed journey meant Show was dealt no lasting damage at its destination.