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She has robes and she has monkeys, lazy diamond studded flunkies.... 
Plenty of buzz stemming from the 7-1, 350-pound Shaquille O’Neal referencing a matchup against the 7-0, 450-pound WWE superstar Big Show at WrestleMania 28 Miami.
Will it happen?
On its website, WWE claimed Shaq would not be wrestling at WrestleMania 28.
Big Show is 40. Shaq is 39.
Whether this battle of the big men ever occurs, there is some history between two of the largest athletes in the world.
On the July 27, 2009 episode of WWE Raw (9 p.m. Mondays USA Network), O’Neal was the special guest host and made himself the ringside enforcer in a match involving Cryme Tyme and the Unified WWE tag team champs Chris Jericho and Big Show.
At the end of the match, O’Neal and Big Show were face-to-face, and a physical altercation ensued. O’Neal shoulder blocked Big Show, sending the stunned grappler to the mat and outside the ring.
http://www.youtube.com/wa...VTjVzAPNnE
“That was a lot of fun,” said Big Show.
“I know there are a lot of rumors this year that I might get a chance to compete against Shaq at WrestleMania [28 Miami]. I didn’t hear anything about it on my end.
“I don’t know if Shaq was getting froggy, stirring up some stuff, but if he ever wants to take his Nike butt away from the announcers’ desk and try to step in the ring, he’s more than welcome to try.
“I teach as well as I compete. So he can come on down and get a lesson.”
Speaking of ‘come on down,’ because of Shaq’s effort when he hosted Raw in 2009, he was a nominee for the Raw Guest Host of the Year during the 2009 WWE Slammy Awards. But legendary game show host Bob Barker won the coveted award.
http://www.youtube.com/wa...AsiZMFhbF8
Retiring after last season, Shaq joined the “Inside the NBA” broadcast team on TNT.
Is Shaq the biggest guy you’ve ever faced?
“No. I think Great Khali [7-2] is taller,” Big Show said. “I have a lot of respect for Shaq in what he has done in the NBA and the kind of athlete he is. He’s an amazing athlete for a big man, and he’s a natural showman. So I think if Shaq ever decided he wanted to apply himself and try to make sports entertainment a sideline career, I think he can do well in it, but he might want to try a little bit smaller fish first. I still have teeth.”
Big Show doesn’t mind stepping in the ring with athletes from other sports. He had a sumo match against sumo grand champ Akebono at WrestleMania 21 at the Staples Center (Shaq’s former home court) in Los Angeles and a boxer/wrestler match against boxing champ Floyd Money Mayweather at WrestleMania 24 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Big Show and Mayweather also had a confrontation prior to Mania, and South Florida’s own Tye Dye Guy, the unofficial official superfan of WrestleMania 28 Miami, was there.
http://www.youtube.com/wa...3TMncrejIw
“Most athletes who are successful in other professional sports understand the discipline it takes to do well in a sport, and they also understand the skill set required to do different things,” he said. “Most professional athletes are really good about being coached and instructed, making their bodies do what they’ve been told. That’s part of being an athlete. You’re taught by your coach, and then you apply what you’ve been taught.”
“That’s why a lot of athletes are successful because they’re able to translate that mind-body communication. So working with these other athletes who are standout superstars in their sport and bringing them into our environment to have a little fun, I think they all have a good time. One thing I’m pretty confident is that most any entertainer or athlete who’s ever had a chance to work with us, we try to make it a great, positive experience for our fans and for the people coming in to help with our product, because most of them are fans, too.”
Big Show grasps the sports entertainment concept, welcoming those from other sports and entertainment worlds into his universe.
“That’s one thing that I love about being a WWE superstar, to outdo ourselves and bring unexpected, entertaining matchups that you just wouldn’t see anywhere else.
“So I think if Shaq and I ever do compete, we should have a wrestling competition and then also a free throw contest. He won’t win the free throw contest. We’ll see about the wrestling match.”
An Aiken, South Carolina native, Big Show (Paul Wight) starred in basketball, All-State, for Wyman King Academy in Batesburg, S.C. He played a year at Northern Oklahoma Junior College, earning All-Conference honors before transferring to NCAA Division I Wichita State University in Kansas. Big Show began losing interest in basketball, after the death of his father and the dismissal of Wichita State coach Mike Cohen, the man who recruited him. He transferred to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, his final basketball stop.
How would Paul Wight have done against Shaq on the basketball court?
“I would not have done very well at all against Shaq,” he said. “He was a much better basketball player than I ever could have been. I would have fouled Shaq so freakin’ bad that he would have gotten pissed off and started a fight with me. That’s the only way I could stop someone like Shaq [on the court].
“Shaq, back in his day, was a man among boys. His quickness, his aggressiveness going to the hole. He wouldn’t have got a free shot off me, and he certainly wouldn’t have got free without taking a shot to the ribs or the nose and then sent to the free throw line. That’s for sure. I mean I would have fouled out in about two minutes, but I would have made his life he## for two minutes.”
Would you rather have a world title match at WrestleMania or a high-profile match against an athlete from another sport?
“Just being involved in WrestleMania is a huge honor,” he said. “There’s only like 10 spots on the entire card available for matches, With the multitude of talent that we have, being in position to you have a match at WrestleMania is a huge honor.
“Of course from an egocentric basis, yea, I like being the man and competing for a world title or wrestling somebody like Mayweather or Akebono or Shaq. It’s all gratifying. Being a part of WrestleMania, being on the card itself and competing is amazing. I’ve been in 11 WrestleManias. That’s an outstanding part of my career, and I’m pretty proud of that.
“I’ve had some big matches, and I really can’t complain. Being on the show, and if I can get a good spot on the card, all is good. It’s an accomplishment in itself just to be able to get a match at WrestleMania. A lot of people don’t.”
• Big Show is is 3-8 in WrestleManias, 0-2 against athletes from other sports and part of Undertaker’s 19-0 WrestleMania record.
• Big Show is a six-time world champ, having won the WCW title twice, the WWF/E title twice, ECW title once, and the World title once, making him the first person to hold all four championships. He is the most recent of four men (Bill Goldberg, Chris Benoit, Booker T) to hold an incarnation of the big gold belt in WCW and WWE.
He also won the WWE United States title once, the World tag team championship five times (twice with The Undertaker, once with Kane, once with Chris Jericho as Jeri-Show, once with The Miz as Show-Miz), the WWE tag team titles three times (once each with Chris Jericho as Jeri-Show, The Miz as Show-Miz, and Kane) and the WWF Hardcore title three times.
• During WCW’s Bash at the Beach in 1994 at the Orlando Arena, Shaq stood in the corner of Hulk Hogan as the Hulkster defeated Ric Flair to win the WCW title.
http://www.youtube.com/wa...ztSKx-6Q0o
• WWE WrestleMania 28 is Sunday, April 1 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens. Big Show is scheduled to face Cody Rhodes, the son of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, for the Intercontinental title.
