When Big Show debuted in WCW as The Giant in 1995, he was billed as Andre The Giant's son.
He is not Andre The Giant's son.
"When I first started, because that's the way wrestling was done back then, if you want to give someone validity, they were related to somebody else that already made a name," Big Show said on Broken Skull Sessions with Steve Austin. "Arn was related to Ole, that kind of thing. It gave me some credibility. I came from a good lineage, character-wise, but it was difficult because I didn't feel like I worked like Andre. I was too athletic for my own good. The backside of it sucked because there were so many people that loved Andre. It was very hard to have sincere fans shake my hands and get teary-eyed and tell me how much they loved my dad. I'm like, 'My dad was a mechanic.' I always felt a little shady. The business was protected back then. I still get people who are fans for 40-50 years who came up and say, 'I love watching you and your dad.'"
Big Show being Andre's son didn't have much legs and was quietly dropped. But given the size of both men, it was easy to draw the comparison. However, once Big Show got to WWE in 1999, Vince McMahon never looked at him the way he looked at Andre.
"Vince never put me in an Andre category. Vince wanted more from me than Andre. He saw the size and presence, but he also saw my intelligence, charisma, and charm. Vince always wanted more for me, not to settle. That was a big thing that pissed Vince off when I first got there, I would settle," he recalled.
Elsewhere during the interview, Big Show discussed the current state of the WWE locker room and how he thinks people are a little too happy to be there. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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