Paul Donald White II, better known by his ring name Big Show, is an American actor and professional wrestler currently associated with the RAW World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) brand. A native of South Carolina, he was doing odd jobs when he met Danny Bonaduce, who later introduced him to Hulk Hogan. Big Show got into wrestling thanks to him. White's presence in the ring deeply impressed Hogan, who told several of his colleagues about the aspiring fighter, including World Championship Wrestling Vice President Eric Bischoff. In 1995, he made his professional wrestling debut in WCW under the pseudonym The Giant. During this time, he became part of the New World Order (nWo) team, which virtually controlled the content of WCW in the late 1990s. In February 1999, White left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and took on a new name, Big Show. In the following years, Big Show became one of the most successful and influential professional wrestlers in sports history.entertainment. He was twice WCW World Heavyweight Champion, twice WWF/WWE Champion, twice World Heavyweight Champion.
Childhood and youth
Paul White was born on February 8, 1972 in Aiken, the largest city in Aiken County, South Carolina.
Like his idol André the Giant, White suffered from acromegaly, a disorder in which the pituitary gland produces an excess amount of growth hormone. At the age of 12, he was 6.8 feet (1.88 m) tall and weighed 220 pounds (100 kg). By the time he was 19 and playing for the Wichita State University basketball team, he was already 7'1 (2.16m).
White was a very promising athlete in his youth. In his high school, he was a member of the basketball and American football teams.
However, he decided to stop playing football after an argument with his coach. In his sophomore year, he continued to support his club as a member of the cheerleading team.
After graduating from high school, White briefly attended Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, where he played basketball. He then enrolled at Wichita State University where he played the same sport.
He attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville from 1992 to 1993, where he joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Cougars basketball team and the C-Beta chapter of the Taw Kappa fraternity. epsilon.
Career start
After graduating, White did odd jobs like bounty hunting and answering phones for a karaoke company. During this period, he and Danny Bonaduce met in a live amateur competition on a morning radio show. Through Bonaduce, White met Hulk Hogan.
Hogan, seeing White during a promotional basketball game, quickly realized he had potential and later spoke to Eric Bischoff about him. Big Show originally wanted to join the WWF, but they turned him down due to lack of preparation.
Then he approached Larry Sharp's Monster Factory and paid them $5,000 in tuition. However, Sharp was suffering from gout at the time, and White ended up training under Johnny Polo.
White made his in-ring debut on December 3, 1994 in Clementon, New Jersey against WWA Heavyweight Champion Frank Innegan. The first match in the WWA turned out to be his only fight in the promotion. After that, in 1995, he signed a lucrative contract with WCW.
During the first months he was announced as the son of André the Giant, but this version was quickly abandoned. He fought his first match as a Giant in the 1995 Halloween Havoc against WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hogan. White won the match and, as a result, the championship belt, which he held for the next few days before being stripped of his title.
After weeks of feuding with the new members, he joined the team in 1996 and stayed with the team until December. ATduring this period, he won the Royal Rumble and attempted to challenge Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship. He was denied.
By 1999, White was disillusioned with his WCW career. He realized that he was making significantly less money than the mainstream wrestlers. After his contract expired on February 8, 1999, on his 27th birthday, he became a free agent.
Professional growth
February 9, 1999, White joined the WWF after signing a ten-year contract, and then adopted a new name - Big Show. He started out as a member of Vince McMahon's team, which debuted in 1999.
In the following months, he feuded with The Rock, Kane, The Undertaker, and McMahon himself, and briefly allied with The Undertaker. At the 1999 Survivor Series, Big Show won the WWF Championship for the first time, defeating The Rock and Triple H.
Big Show held the belt until January 3, 2000, when he lost to Triple H. He continued to feud with Triple H and The Rock over the next few months and was one of the headliners at WrestleMania 2000.
He was part of a team called the Conspiracy for a while. Then Big Show boss Shane McMahon, disillusioned with his favorite, sent him to WWF's emerging territory Ohio Valley Wrestling to lose weight and improve his form.
He returned in 2001 at the Royal Rumble and played a significant role in The Invasion storyline. At the 2002 Survivor Series, Big Show defeated Brock Lesnar to become the WWE Champion for the second time. A month later, he lost the belt to Kurt Angle.
In 2003 he wonUS Championship by defeating Eddie Guerrero. Big Show was defeated by Japanese sumo legend Akebono in a match by the rules of the sport at WrestleMania 21.
As part of the new WWE brand, he won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on July 4, 2006. However, his stay here was marred by several serious injuries. He had to take time off to recuperate and during this time his WWE contract expired.
After one match for Memphis Wrestling, he returned to WWE and reunited with Kane in 2011. At TLC 2011, he won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Losing it on the same day to Daniel Bryan will take him to Hell 2012. Since then, he has been part of most major storylines in WWE, including The Authority.
2012 was marked by the conflict between Big Show and Sin. They crossed paths with varying degrees of success on Over the Limit (2012), Pay-Per View No Way Out (2012) and Money in the Bank PPV.
After retiring from professional wrestling in September 2017 with surgery, he returned on April 4, 2018 to induct his longtime friend Mark Henry into the WWE Hall of Fame.
During his prolific career, Big Show has taken part in several memorable matches. His fight against The Undertaker in 2008 is undeniably the greatest match of his career in terms of history. In the end, he won a decisive victory over The Undertaker.
Acting career
Big Show made his film debut in the 1996 sports drama Reggie's Prayer,in which he played a character named Mr. Portola. That same year, he also got the opportunity to work with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad and Phil Hartman in the Christmas family comedy Jingle All the Way.
In 1998, he starred in two films. The first was the action movie McKinsey Island, in which he starred with Hulk Hogan. Then he played a cameo role in the sports comedy "Mama's Son" (The Waterboy - "water carrier"). His next feature was the 2006 family film Little Hercules in 3D.
White played the role of Brick Hughes in the 2010 action movie MacGruber.
In the comedy Knucklehead, White played the main character, W alter Krunk. In recent years, he has starred with Dean Cain in Blood Feud (2015) and Countdown (2016), and has voiced a character in The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!
During his career, White has appeared on several television shows including Shasta McNasty (1999), Star Trek: Enterprise (2004) and Psycho (2013).
Private life
In the early 1990s, Paul White underwent an operation on his pituitary gland, which successfully prevented his further growth.
Big Show has been married twice. Married to his first wife, Melissa Ann Piavis, on Valentine's Day in 1997, they have a daughter named Sierra. They separated in 2000 and the divorce was finalized two years later on February 62002. Five days later he married a second time - to Bess Catramados. They have two children.
