Following on from a spectacular celebrity match featuring a cocky boxer this past weekend, our match of the week takes us back to 2008. At the time, this was widely considered one of the best matches featuring a non-wrestler in WWE history. The match came about following Big Show's return at No Way Out 2008, where he came back 100lbs lighter and in the best shape of his life. However, in typical Big Show fashion, he turned heel about 5 minutes into his return as Rey Mysterio had the sheer audacity to be injured, stealing Show's spotlight. In one of the best segments of the year, Floyd Mayweather came in to stop Big Show. Big Show even knelt down to allow Mayweather to strike him. Brave man. Needless to say, Mayweather wasn't used to pulling his punches, so he ended up breaking Big Show's nose. The weeks leading up to this match originally had Mayweather as the babyface, until everyone remembered he's a cocky piece of shit, and it was leaked that he was receiving $20 million for the match. WWE saw the writing on the wall, so he was quickly retconned as the heel of the match.
That wasn't the only tumultuous part of this build up. According to an interview by Big Show, the original plan going into 2008 was to have a tag match between Big Show and Mayweather against Rey Mysterio and Batista. Prior to No Way Out, Mysterio had torn his bicep right off the bone, leaving Big Show to wrestle Mayweather, while Batista was left shoehorned in a filler match with Umaga.
One thing that this match does have is it feels fitting for the spectacle of Wrestlemania. WWE steered a little bit away from the celebrity side of things for a while in the 2000s. Wrestlemania 24 followed the success of Wrestlemania 23 with Donald Trump as its headline act - at the time the highest grossing Wrestlemania of all time. WWE went to the well once again, making an outside celebrity the big draw of Wrestlemania. This benefited from the fact that Mayweather was a legitimate world renowned athlete at just about the peak of his prowess - this wasn't some Butterbean situation.
Not only that, the obvious size contrast makes it a fascinating spectacle. Put Mayweather up against a wrestler his own size and everyone would rightfully assume Mayweather would obliterate him. But put him up against the largest athlete in the world makes it far more interesting. I remember a forum I was on at the time having a big discussion about who would win a shoot fight, and is a question that still pops up on r/whowouldwin from time to time.
Early going starts as you would expect with Mayweather using his quickness to avoid Big Show and get in some body shots. They don't seem to have much affect, but that changes when Mayweather actually manages to get Big Show's chin, which gets an audible gasp from the crowd. I loved the strategy of Big Show going for the hand - it shows that Big Show respects the danger that Mayweather presents, while also being a total dickhead thing to do in his own right.
Given Mayweather's commitment to his own sport, there was a lot of question about how much he'd bump and be willing to take. How can they make a match between babyface Big Show and heel Floyd Mayweather work? And truthfully there's nothing too dangerous - everything looks and feels safe, which is a negative to the match. It's understandable, but I think that more modern celebrity matches have spoiled us in our expectations (think Bad Bunny and Logan Paul in recent times). What Mayweather does have is character and personality. He's such a little shit, but he's also willing to give a lot to Big Show. Show dominated most of this match and Mayweather sold like a madman for him. Mayweather's entourage takes a lot of the big bumps in this match and I loved how they used his henchmen to tease the spots down the line - in particular the big chop.
The finish was simple, but incredibly smart. It worked into Mayweather being a complete prick, and managed to make the Big Show look dominant even in defeat.
Overall I think this match has aged a bit since it happened. People like Bad Bunny and Pat McAfee have pushed the bar for celebrity matches high since then. You still get your duds even today, and it's easy to see the celebs that are willing to give their all and those who are there for an easy payday and publicity. On the other hand, some things are timeless in wrestling and character work, selling, and spectacle are three of those things. This match certainly feels special and way overdelivered. It can't have been an easy match to plan out given how different they are, and their respective alignments - so it's a testament to everyone involved that this match is the success it is.
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