History Main / TheGiant

Such men are almost universally introduced and pushed the same way as [[WrestlingMonster "monster" heels]], sometimes mixed with a ForeignWrestlingHeel vibe. Because of their billing, they will usually be pushed [straight to the top to face off with the top {{Face}}, whom they'll generally [[SquashMatch squash]] in [[FinalBossPreview their first meeting]], [[TheWorfEffect to give you an idea of how Herculean an effort will be required to defeat them]].

* [[Creator/RobertSwenson Jeep Swenson]], better known for playing Bane in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' than for wrestling, was 6 ft 4 but weighed 405 lbs. And it was all muscle.

* The most famous, of course, is Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, billed by Wrestling/{{WWE}} as the Eighth Wonder of the World(a title that initially belonged to Wrestling/PamperoFirpo). His most famous match was against Wrestling/HulkHogan at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} 3''. Although Andre wasn't an example of this trope due to lack of talent, rather it was because he was talented. As he got older, his disease left him in too much pain to do most of his moves, so he had to develop a different kind of psychology to keep his matches interesting.

* Rycklon Stephens is this among [[Wrestling/NelsonErazo Homicide]]'s students, in a similar manner to Curtis Hughes mostly for his musculature, being a former body builder who is only about six foot two but weight about three hundred pounds. Unlike Hughes and similar to Sapp, Stephens is fairly quick but his arsenal is very repetitive and more simplistic than Hughes (but more complex than Sapp).

* The most famous, of course, is Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, billed by Wrestling/{{WWE}} as the Eighth Wonder of the World. His most famous match was against Wrestling/HulkHogan at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} 3''. Although Andre wasn't an example of this trope due to lack of talent, rather it was because he was talented. As he got older, his disease left him in too much pain to do most of his moves, so he had to develop a different kind of psychology to keep his matches interesting.

* [[DoNotCallMePaul Paul Wight]], billed as The Giant in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/BigShow in WWE. Injuries and weight troubles kept him from reaching his fullest potential, and many fans began calling him "[[XPacHeat The Big Slow]]" (a moniker either given to him or made canon by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]). However, his most recent return to WWE sees him a good fifty pounds lighter than when he left, and he's moving a little better; on top of that, at least in comparison with The Great Khali (see below), the fans love him. He also epitomizes the giant being pushed to the top, as ''his first ever match'' was in the main event of a Wrestling/{{WCW}} pay-per-view for the world championship. However, he has put his generally basic repertoire to good use; a ''chest slap'' has become one of his signature moves--he shushes the audience, and then smacks the guy, allowing the crack of a hand the size of a frying pan to echo throughout the arena. He had a wide variety of moves in WCW, including kip-ups and athletic slams. He was so unique, he is the only wrestler that won PWI's Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year in his debut. He even claims he did a ''moonsault'' once or twice at house shows during his WCW tenure.

* Linda Miles, also known as Shaniqua. Tall and muscular but was clearly not ready when she was put on television (just like everyone else from Tough Enough 2).

Such men are almost universally introduced and pushed the same way as [[WrestlingMonster "monster" heels]], sometimes mixed with a ForeignWrestlingHeel vibe. Because of their billing, they will usually be pushed straight to the top to face off with the top {{Face}}, whom they'll generally [[SquashMatch squash]] in their first meeting, [[TheWorfEffect to give you an idea of how Herculean an effort will be required to defeat them]].

* Gregor "the Mountain that Rides" Clegane from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', who is a giant in the literal (he's around eight feet tall) and medical sense (he has gigantism, which translates to horrible splitting headaches that the local equivalent of opium does very little to soothe. This in addition to a bad case of ParentalFavoritism doing nothing to curb his tendencies (his torturing and scarring his little brother was covered up, and it's likely he murdered his father for his inheritance) make him a perfect example of a PsychoForHire. And after his duel with Prince Martell, he's a TechnicallyLivingZombie who might not even have a ''head'', but is just as strong.

* The unstoppable, 275-pound [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Awesome Kong]] in Wrestling/{{TNA}} and Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} now Kharma (WWE), who is talented, but not above playing a standard giant.

* Wrestling/BobSapp was tall and heavy enough to fit the trope, even more in Japan. Ironically he was even more this trope in kick boxing and mixed martial arts than traditional pro wrestling. As a pro wrestler Sapp had a lot of moves, even if almost all of them involved picking up and dropping the other guy or running into them. His matches occasionally saw something resembling a long term game plan on his part. Sapp's professional fights could almost always be described as him charging forward flailing his arms, however.

* Maxxx Testosterone is basically a giant for higher in Canada, especially in Quebecois enterprises like Federation Canadienne de Lutte . Thanks to the size escalation wrestlers have underwent over the decades he's not ''that'' massive overall, being around an imperial 6'2 345 lbs, which makes him only about 20-30 heavier than long running star of the nation's circuit Dru Onyx, but Maxxx gets booked in the kind of one on two {{squash match}}es and such expected of giants almost immediately after debuting.

* Zigzagged with Zangief, who has some elements of this (MightyGlacier and specially in the earlier games, HuskyRusskie, really freaking big, several grapple and piledriving-based moves) but often ends up subverting the trope (much friendlier and boisterous than the average giant personality-wise, and wasn't that much of an asshole beforehand)

* Parodied by Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} wrestler Hydra, who does the whole Giant schtick despite being 5' 6" and 140 pounds. CHIKARA's had a few real giants on their roster since - Tursas (billed at 6'8" 376 lbs), Max Smashmaster (originally billed at 6'4" and 400+ lbs, he's slimmed down to around 350), Nokken (a little taller but a good deal slimmer than Tursas), and Wrestling/{{Deucalion}} (billed as "Bigger than Tursas", although he was wearing bulky gear and wasn't quite a giant underneath it all).

* Parodied by Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} wrestler Hydra, who does the whole Giant schtick despite being 5' 6" and 140 pounds. CHIKARA's had a few real giants on their roster since - Tursas (billed at 6'8" 376 lbs), Max Smashmaster (originally billed at 6'4" and 400+ lbs, he's slimmed down to around 350), Nokken (a little taller but a good deal slimmer than Tursas), and Deucalion (billed as "Bigger than Tursas", although he was wearing bulky gear and wasn't quite a giant underneath it all).

->''"That right there is one of the most basic moves in the history of wrestling but when it's applied by Wrestling/TheBigShow it could be a finishing move."''

* [[DoNotCallMePaul Paul Wight]], billed as The Giant in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/TheBigShow in WWE. Injuries and weight troubles kept him from reaching his fullest potential, and many fans began calling him "[[XPacHeat The Big Slow]]" (a moniker either given to him or made canon by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]). However, his most recent return to WWE sees him a good fifty pounds lighter than when he left, and he's moving a little better; on top of that, at least in comparison with The Great Khali (see below), the fans love him. He also epitomizes the giant being pushed to the top, as ''his first ever match'' was in the main event of a Wrestling/{{WCW}} pay-per-view for the world championship. However, he has put his generally basic repertoire to good use; a ''chest slap'' has become one of his signature moves--he shushes the audience, and then smacks the guy, allowing the crack of a hand the size of a frying pan to echo throughout the arena. He had a wide variety of moves in WCW, including kip-ups and athletic slams. He was so unique, he is the only wrestler that won PWI's Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year in his debut. He even claims he did a ''moonsault'' once or twice at house shows during his WCW tenure.

* Starting in All Pro Wrestling, moving to Wrestling/{{CMLL}}, Wrestling/{{New Japan| Pro Wrestling}} and finally winding up as the biggest man in WWE, The Great Khali, who at 7'1" is (slightly) taller than the Undertaker, Kane, and the Big Show. He's also one of the least mobile examples in wrestling history, due to the strain his gigantism puts on his body. He's still a huge attraction though, managing to draw a crowd of sixty thousand in his native Punjab to see CWE students, well after his WWE run was over.

An important distinction between The Giant and just being large is that The Giant will have [[UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject sheer immovability]] and too often a noticeable lack in the talent department, having a very small repertoire of basic strikes and throws or not possessing WrestlingPsychology. While some with the Giant gimmick will disprove some of the stereotypes by showing a more diverse range of moves along with decent fitness and mobility, their in ring style and psychology are still built almost entirely around being large and hard to budge, as it is the easiest/most credible way to build matches with guys like them. And they will rarely be in a hurry either which, when worked well, can go a long towards making them seem that much larger. Wrestling/JimRoss used to refer to these types of wrestlers as Hosses, after Hoss Cartwright from ''Series/{{Bonanza}}''.

An important distinction between The Giant and just being large is that The Giant will have [[ImmovableObject sheer immovability]] and too often a noticeable lack in the talent department, having a very small repertoire of basic strikes and throws or not possessing WrestlingPsychology. While some with the Giant gimmick will disprove some of the stereotypes by showing a more diverse range of moves along with decent fitness and mobility, their in ring style and psychology are still built almost entirely around being large and hard to budge, as it is the easiest/most credible way to build matches with guys like them. And they will rarely be in a hurry either which, when worked well, can go a long towards making them seem that much larger. Wrestling/JimRoss used to refer to these types of wrestlers as Hosses, after Hoss Cartwright from ''Series/{{Bonanza}}''.

* Jorge Gonzales, billed as El Gigante in WCW and Wrestling/TheGiantGonzalez in WWE. May be more well-known for the "naked" bodysuit he was required to wear as the latter. He feuded with Wrestling/TheUndertaker while "The Deadman" was in his prime (who he can be seen towering over in the top left of the page image; 'Taker is 6'10" himself). His profile at the wwe.com Alumni Gallery lists his height as ''8 feet'', but it was actually more like 7'6". Incidentally, in spite of his lack of finesse in the ring, he was good enough at basketball to be almost become a member of the Argentine national team; he would have competed in the 1988 Olympics, but he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks two months before the games.

* Akebono was a legendary sumo who turned to professional wrestling after he retired. He's very fat, but also quite tall at 6'8". He was built up as being so heavy not even Brock Lesnar could lift him. (He was only 16 pounds heavier than the Big Show, whom Brock could lift, so he ''should'' have been able to do it).

* Jorge Gonzales, billed as El Gigante in WCW and Giant Gonzalez in WWE. May be more well-known for the "naked" bodysuit he was required to wear as the latter. He feuded with Wrestling/TheUndertaker while "The Deadman" was in his prime (who he can be seen towering over in the top left of the page image; 'Taker is 6'10" himself). His profile at the wwe.com Alumni Gallery lists his height as ''8 feet'', but it was actually more like 7'6". Incidentally, in spite of his lack of finesse in the ring, he was good enough at basketball to be almost become a member of the Argentine national team; he would have competed in the 1988 Olympics, but he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks two months before the games.

* Craig Marduk from The Tekken series is a good example of this trope

* Marduk from The Tekken series is a good example of this trope

* Linda Miles, also known as Shaniqua. Tall and muscular but was clearly not ready when she was put on television(just like everyone else from Tough Enough 2).

* Happy Humphrey, who weighed a whopping 800 pounds! He was somewhat immobile, especially compared to his quicker moving contemporary rival Wrestling/HaystacksCalhoun, who was still something of an example simply for weighing 600 pounds, which still too much for most wrestlers to slam.

* [[SnakePeople Vibora]] on Wrestling/LuchaUnderground is the resident giant. His performer, Austin Matelson, is actually only 6'5" tall (although commentary put him at 7'), not ''particularly'' gigantic by the standards of this trope, but since Lucha Underground is on average a much shorter promotion than WWE, he ''towers'' over most of the roster in a most intimidating manner.
* Wrestling/NiaJax is a pretty good example. At six foot and billed as weighing 275 pounds, which is bigger than many of the ''men'' WWE employs and she was fast tracked out of their developmental program to their main television show to win the women's title belt, despite having less {{wrestling psychology}} than many losers of the diva searches.(WWE for their part did slow down her push when novelty wore off and fans started getting bored)

* [[DoNotCallMePaul Paul Wight]], billed as The Giant in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/TheBigShow in WWE. Injuries and weight troubles kept him from reaching his fullest potential, and many fans began calling him "[[XPacHeat The Big Slow]]" (a moniker either given to him or made canon by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]). However, his most recent return to WWE sees him a good fifty pounds lighter than when he left, and he's moving a little better; on top of that, at least in comparison with The Great Khali (see below), the fans love him. He also epitomizes the giant being pushed to the top, as ''his first ever match'' was in the main event of a Wrestling/{{WCW}} pay-per-view for the world championship. However, he has put his generally basic repertoire to good use; a ''chest slap'' has become one of his signature moves--he shushes the audience, and then smacks the guy, allowing the crack of a hand the size of a frying pan to echo throughout the arena. He had a wide variety of moves in the WCW, including the kip-up and athletic slams. He was so unique, he is the only wrestler that won PWI's Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year in his debut. He even claims he did a ''moonsault'' once or twice at house shows during his WCW tenure.

** While he was in college in the early 1990s, Wight had surgery on his pituitary gland to halt his gigantism. While he was of course already huge, this means Big Show's disease is no longer progressing the way Andre's did and thus he's in much better health than a "true" giant would normally be at his age.
* Jorge Gonzales, billed as El Gigante in WCW and Giant Gonzalez in WWE. May be more well-known for the "naked" bodysuit he was required to wear as the latter. He feuded with Wrestling/TheUndertaker while "The Deadman" was in his prime (who he can be seen towering over in the top left of the page image; 'Taker is 6'10" himself). His profile at the wwe.com Alumni Gallery lists his height as ''8 feet'', but it was actually more like 7'6". Incidentally, in spite of his lack of finesse in the ring he was good enough at basketball to be almost become a member of the Argentine national team; he would have competed in the 1988 Olympics, but he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks two months before the games.

Such men are almost universally introduced and pushed the same way as [[WrestlingMonster "monster" heels]], sometimes mixed with an ForeignWrestlingHeel vibe. Because of their billing, they will usually be pushed straight to the top to face off with the top {{Face}}, whom they'll generally [[SquashMatch squash]] in their first meeting, [[TheWorfEffect to give you an idea of how Herculean an effort will be required to defeat them]].