For years, it’s been rumored that the WWE was trying to get Big Show vs. Shaq on one of the Wrestlemania cards. Just thinking off the top of my head, it seems like this was something they rumored as far back as 2010. At the very least, there have been rumblings of WWE’s desire to run this match since the early 2010s.
Well, it looked like those plans were gaining traction when Shaq showed up as a surprise entrant in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 32 in 2016. He came face to face with the Big Show – the first indicator that this match was finally going to happen.
Big Show was in the best shape of his career heading into Wrestlemania 33, but the match fell through. Now we know Shaq’s side of the story…
Shaquille O’Neal says WWE is squarely to blame for dropping the ball on his highly anticipated WrestleMania 33 matchup with Big Show … saying, “They messed it up.”
The 7-footers had been calling each other out for months in the hopes of colliding in the squared circle at the biggest wrestling event of the year … but it didn’t happen.
Shaq opened up about the situation on “The Big Podcast with Shaq” on PodcastOne and pointed his extremely large finger at Vince McMahon‘s people.
“They kept playing,” Shaq said … “First, they said it was me and Big Show. Then, they said it was going to be 3-on-3. Then, they canceled it so when they canceled it, I made other arrangements.”
Shaq says WWE called him back and tried to get a deal done — but by then it was too late.
“I just said, ‘I’m not going to do it.’ They messed it up.”
Shaq’s co-host, John Kincade, asked if he was afraid WWE wasn’t going to script him to win the match — and Shaq shot that down saying he’s DEFINITELY willing to take a loss “for the kids.”
Boom – bad business. Non-committal booking decisions. Can’t blame the guy – this is show business. If something falls through, you want to fill that calendar up as soon as possible. I’m eager to hear if WWE puts out a response to this.
For now, it just seems preposterous that the WWE could screw up such a sure thing.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork
