10 WWE Matches That Changed Your Mind About Wrestlers You Hated
7. THE BIG SHOW Vs. Sheamus - Hell In A Cell 2012
The Big Show repelled a large portion of the fanbase because, not only was he the manifestation of a Vince McMahon platonic ideal, he knew that all too well; in dire physical shape and condition for so much of his early WWE career, his push was as disproportionate as his body fat content. He was a giant. A wheezing, uncoordinated, unmotivated, dull giant - but a giant, at least.
To his credit, Show stemmed the tide of hatred and apathy more than once in his career - but his 2012 revival was the most impressive of the lot, in how he transcended his status as a fickle plot device so brilliantly. Contested mere months after his umpteenth career heel turn at Over The Limit, rendered unintentionally comical as a result of his ballooning banana-yellow shirt, Show entered a near-career best performance at Hell In A Cell.
In a 20-minute match requiring considerable stamina and an even higher threshold for pain, Show absorbed the stiffest strikes Sheamus had to offer. Show didn't expand his arsenal over an unfamiliar, lengthy duration; he simply presented himself as a beast, and performed to his best. He even strangled Sheamus, with the spittle flying out his mouth symbolising his expertly-worked rage. He brutalised the Irishman and cut off his fiery comebacks with the timing of a man who clearly knew what he was doing and when best to do it, in order to maximise what rose to a molten crowd reaction.
Show ventured into comedy as often as he did because he was never the giant WWE always wanted him to be. This night was a brutal, dramatic and glorious exception.