A long history revisited
Tonight, the 7-foot, 500-pound Big Show will put his ECW Championship on the line against fellow 7-footer Undertaker in the main event of ECW on Sci Fi. This match was made after Big Show helped The Great Khali attack the Deadman at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but it certainly isn’t the first clash between these two behemoths.
Their first encounter was all the way back in May 1999 on an edition of RAW. The two met one-on-one, and Big Show won by disqualification after the Deadman shattered a baseball bat over Show’s massive skull.
They would go on to have several more battles that summer, but would eventually become teammates. Together, Show & Undertaker wreaked havoc throughout WWE, demanding a championship opportunity. And at SummerSlam 1999 in Minneapolis, Show & Undertaker reached the pinnacle as a team, defeating Kane & X-Pac to become World Tag Team Champions. The reign only lasted eight days, as they lost the gold to The Rock & Mankind on the Aug. 30 RAW.
However, Show & Undertaker would quickly rebound, regaining the gold 10 days later by defeating Rock & Mankind in the first-ever Buried Alive Match on SmackDown. Rock & Mankind would regain the gold 11 days later on RAW when Mideon & Viscera subbed for the Deadman, and that was the end of the team.
They would rekindle their rivalry in 2001 while Big Show was Hardcore Champion, but the two men would soon find themselves on the same side once again. Along with The Rock, Chris Jericho and Kane, they were part of Team WWE in a Winner-Take-All Elimination Match against Team Alliance at Survivor Series that year. While both were eliminated, Team WWE went on to win and put the Alliance out of business.
In 2003, however, the Deadman would once again be tormented by the World’s Largest Athlete. At No Way Out that year, Undertaker defeated Big Show by referee’s decision, but the damage was done after the match, as Big Show’s associate A-Train came to the ring to destroy the Deadman.
Their war culminated at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle; originally, a tag team match was scheduled between Show & A-Train and Undertaker & Nathan Jones. However, Show & A-Train took out Jones, forcing Undertaker to go it alone. In the end, however, Jones made an appearance to help boost the Deadman to victory…a win that propelled his WrestleMania record to 11-0.
Undertaker and Big Show would later clash a few times that summer, as both men were chasing Brock Lesnar and the WWE Championship. Their final clash came on the October 23, 2003 SmackDown, as the Deadman defeated Show & Lesnar in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Handicap Match.
Nearly three years later, Undertaker and Big Show were brought together once again on Saturday Night’s Main Event, and new history will be made tonight.
In just five days, the Deadman will meet The Great Khali in a Punjabi Prison Match at The Great American Bash; considering the trouble the Deadman has had with Khali in the last few months, it’s obvious that this match will be weighing heavily on Undertaker’s mind.
Will he be able to overcome the odds and bring the ECW Championship to SmackDown, or will the Deadman just become the next to fall to the massive ECW Champion? We’ll see tonight on ECW on Sci Fi at 11/10 CT.
WWE Shows Latest Results
Raw results, Nov. 11, 2024: Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Naomi and IYO SKY dispel Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton!
Full ResultsWWE NXT results Nov. 6, 2024: Zaria pins NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez to cap off an unforgettable night inside the 2300 Arena
Full Results