WWE: 10 Worst WrestleMania Matches In History

6. Big Show vs. Akebono - WrestleMania 21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cDYJBgtzRQ Before giving Big Show his 'big' WrestleMania moment last year (because apparently everyone needs one), Cody Rhodes reeled off the list of his embarrassing moments on the showcase of the immortals. One of these was a loss against Floyd Mayweather - a professsional boxer who was much shorter and lighter but resorted to using brass knuckles to get the victory. It was a highly enjoyable affair in one of the best examples of a celebrity match working to everyone's benefits. At the other end of the spectrum, however, was a 2005 sumo match against Akebono. I'm generally somebody who is largely against celebrity involvements in wrestling outside of being a valet or in someone's corner. A match featuring one can be written off as a dud before the bell even rings. The aforementioned exception with the Mayweather match drew much interest as one of the most famous and best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet went up against a giant. Akebono, on the other hand, didn't have that same mainstream appeal, seeing as how nearly every American was clueless to who he was. Even in Japan, where I assume the focus for attention here was, he was probably an unknown entity. The biggest problem for this match though, lied in the match type itself. Without meaning to disrespect the sport or Japanese culture, the Western world doesn't really 'get' sumo wrestling. Even as a WWE fan, seeing fat men wearing nothing but a mawashi does nothing to please the eyes. Akebono had already retired from sumo by this point and was actually wrestling in New Japan. So just why wasn't this a wrestling encounter for the fans that paid to see wrestling? The match lasted just over a mere minute. After much pushing and belly slapping, Akebono flung Show out of the dojo. Nothing pleasant, nothing special and the visuals of Big Show's pimply posterior is not a memory you want to cherish. Ever.
Contributor

Film buff and video game enthusiast, with a major love for sports.