Matt O’Brien writes and maintains the Wrestleview.com poll every two weeks.
Big men have long ruled the land of wrestling. Over the years they have changed and evolved, but their impact has always been significant. Size is something that is easy to throw around. What really separated big men from each other is what they do with that size. Just because a wrestler is big means they have to be dominant or slow or powerful. They each find their own way, just like any other wrestler. The size makes them all the more fascinating. WWE has featured many a big man throughout the years. In the most recent Wrestleview poll, we put the question to the readers. With nearly six thousand votes cast, the results are as follows:
Who has been WWE’s best big man over the past decade?
Batista 17.81% (1,058 votes)
Big Show 10.35% (615 votes)
The Dudley’s 3.45% (205 votes)
JBL 2.98% (177 votes)
Kane 10.16% (604 votes)
Mark Henry 2.27% (135 votes)
Umaga 2.95% (175 votes)
The Undertaker 47.39% (2,816 votes)
Other 2.64% (157 votes)
Total votes cast: 5,942
Coming in at the head of the pack with over 2,800 votes was The Undertaker. Why not? He will go down as one of the most significant characters in WWE history. He has been with the company for over twenty years and still has gas in the tank. His character has always changed and evolved, yet managed to always captivate the audience. On top of all of that, he is a pretty good wrestler. Some of the greatest rivalries in the last twenty years have involved the Dead Man. Then of course there is the incredible WrestleMania streak. He is a legend who will be remembered long after he retires.
Coming in at a distant second place was Batista. The Animal debuted in 2002 after spending some time in Ohio Valley. When he first started many saw him as just another big man. His stock increased when he joined Evolution along with Triple H, Randy Orton and Ric Flair. The group seemed destined for a Randy Orton-Triple H feud to be its undoing. Instead the group remained intact when they split from Orton happened. A slow build began for Batista to face Triple H at WrestleMania in 2005. During this time Batista improved his in-ring skills and began to separate himself from the pack. Along with John Cena, Batista emerged as one of the new faces of a company breaking away from the limbo they had been in since the end of the Attitude Era. He remained an integral part of the show until his retirement in 2010.
Third and fourth place came down to just eleven votes. The Big Show barely edged out Kane when the poll closed. Both Show and Kane tend to fade in and out of the background. They are two hands that WWE can use for nearly any spot. They might be in the opening match, they might headline a pay per view. Every few years they hop back into the main event scene to freshen things up. Show was a world champion before he ever joined WWE, but he has improved drastically since then and was chosen to headline WrestleMania XXIV with Floyd Mayweather. Kane has always been a good hand and one of the most underestimated when it comes to in-ring ability.
The remainder of the choices split to less than one hundred votes between the Other category and the rest of the ballot. The Dudley Boyz, while no longer with the WWE, were certainly vital during the first half of the decade. They were part of the revival of the tag team division which included teams such as Edge and Christian, Jeff and Matt Hardy, Too Cool and APA. WWE tried to split them up for a brief time but it didn’t work. They worked better together and benefited the company more as a unit.
JBL was always a solid talent before he took off in 2004 and became WWE Champion. Umaga emerged as an incredible talent before his unfortunate death a few years ago. Lastly, Mark Henry has made incredible strides in the last decade. When he first debuted in 1996 he was not very good. There was defiantly a lot to be desired. Henry has worked very hard to improve in every way imaginable and he finally found broke in the main event scene this year. He is the premier big man in the industry today and may just be getting started.
Thank you to all those who voted as the turnout was spectacular. Only a few days are left in the latest Wrestleview poll so be sure to cast your vote for your favorite current tag team!
Matt O’Brien
Columnist, Wrestleview.com
mattman5436@yahoo.com