Big Show on Undertaker: “it’s ridiculous how that guy goes through pain
In an interview with Pardon My Take, Big Show discussed who he thinks are the toughest guys in wrestling, naming The Undertaker, Kane, and John Cena and noting several injuries they worked through, and talking about how he worked a match the night before knowing he needed knee surgery. Highlights are below.
On the toughest guys in wrestling: “There’s three guys that come to mind. One is Undertaker. Two is Kane. Another one is John Cena. I’ve seen John Cena wrestle with a torn cornea. I’ve seen him, he had neck surgery in Pittsburgh at 11AM. At 5PM he came by the arena to say hi to everybody and wish us a good night on RAW. It’s another level that guys like that set the bar to. I’ve seen Kane have a completely blowed SI joint in a match to numbness in his leg, extreme pain, and I’ve seen Kane pull it together to finish the match. The Undertaker, we all know. I’ve seen Undertaker just do, it’s ridiculous how that guy goes through pain. I’ve seen him wrestle with a 103 degree fever and get an IV bag as soon as he got back through the curtain where the guy had some kind of stomach flu and running a fever but still put the match on.”
On how seeing guys work through pain is inspiring to him: “That kind of internal gut is inspiring, believe me. Those of us that get it, you don’t talk about your pain, you don’t whine about it, because it doesn’t matter. You go out there and you get the job done. If you’re on the card and the fans pay to see you, then you show up. If you’re breathing you can get it done, you can find a way.”
On how he wrestled the night before needing knee surgery: “I had to wrestle Edge and ‘Taker in Washington for a PPV, and I had a bone fragment locked in my knee, so my knee was either bent or it was straight, and I was going to get surgery the next day, and I was talking to ‘Taker, I said, ‘I don’t know, do I wrestle?’ He says, ‘Are you going to see the doctor tomorrow?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He says, ‘Lock it up and go, we’ll work around it.’ So I had them put a straight leg brace on where I couldn’t bend my leg, and this giant knee brace on that locked my knee in a position where I could move it, and went out there and did the triple threat with Edge and ‘Taker and got through the match. And I’m proud of myself that I got through it because I didn’t let Edge down, I didn’t let ‘Taker down, I didn’t let the fans down.”
