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WWE giants with big boots to fill who either stood tall and proud or tumbled.
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00:00Do you know what professional wrestling likes a lot? Tall people. And if you are tall and you
00:04want to be a professional wrestler, I would tell you to go to your local wrestling school right now
00:08and in around about three months you will be pushed even if you're not very good.
00:13If you are good, well you're probably going to get signed. So using the rules of the internet,
00:17we here at WhatCulture did sit down and we figured out who are the 16 tallest people ever to walk
00:21through the WWE hallways and what the flump happened to them. I am Simon Miller and let's
00:27find out. The 16 Big Cass at 6 foot 10. Now of course Big Cass was super successful down in
00:32NXT
00:32and on the main roster with Enzo Amore and never forget their debut on Raw. That place went totally
00:38crazy for them, which is why it was totally stupid when WWE broke them up. This was Vince McMahon's
00:45favorite thing to do. Oh my gosh, we have a hot tag team. Now let's start planning how we can
00:50make
00:50them single stars. That's what happened to Big Cass in 2017 and it didn't really go that well because
00:55one, nobody wanted to see Enzo Amore and Big Cass break up and two, he had that very strange feud
01:01with Bryan Danielson or Daniel Bryan as he was then. Like the match was actually quite good but it just
01:06didn't really seem like we knew what to do with the big man. That's because there was absolutely
01:11zero plan and then soon after this he got released. Now Cass himself has talked about this, it was
01:15mostly down to some personal issues he was having and I implore you to go listen to him on the
01:19Talk is Jericho podcast. He was absolutely getting into a bunch of trouble when he had to sit down with
01:24Vince McMahon and everybody agreed you need to go and get help and that's what he did. He came back
01:29to AEW. He became a tag team champion alongside Ricky Saints or Ricky Starks, whatever the flub his name
01:35is nowadays and that's why you should go and read his story. The man figured it out. These days of
01:39course
01:40you can find him next to Brian Keith in AEW as Big Bill and the man just rules. Plus he's
01:45really tall
01:46and apparently you can't teach that but we did put a man on the moon so you just never know.
01:51Number 15 Kevin Nash at 6'10". I mean what can I really tell you about Kevin Nash that you
01:55don't
01:55already know? I mean he was awesome back in WCW and that didn't work out. When he did go to
02:00the World
02:00Wrestling Federation he teamed up with Shawn Michaels and around about five minutes he was the WWF
02:05champion and not just because he was tall it's because the man just had something. Now this run would
02:10have been totally fine as well but Vince McMahon decided we should turn you into the next Hulk Hogan
02:15so he zipped away all of his cool points and we made him sell, we made him sell, we made
02:19him sell.
02:20Go and look at any picture of Nash. The dude is huge. Nobody wanted to see him getting beaten up.
02:26We wanted to see him do the beatings. That's why it didn't work. Of course eventually he would
02:29jump ship to WCW where he was a part of the NWO which also revolutionized the business but he did
02:35jump back to the WWE in 2002 like it was okay before he had all those terrible leg and quad
02:40injuries
02:41that essentially ended his career. He did actually have a long old run in TNA for about 2006 to 2011
02:47and I suppose it's fine but it didn't match up to what he'd done beforehand. Really after all that
02:52he went on the shoot interview scene as well before starting his podcast with Sean Oliver
02:56called Click This and fair play to Nash. He will always tell you exactly how he sees it. Sometimes
03:02you're going to agree with him. Sometimes you're going to think he has an absolute loon but he always
03:06finds a way to be pretty damn entertaining. Either way when all is said and done he will go down
03:10in the
03:10history books even if it's just as a meme and somebody who was like well if you want me to
03:15lay
03:15down you better pay me more. I love Kevin Nash. I think he's brilliant and he once told me when
03:20I
03:20asked him for an interview nobody wants to talk to you on your stupid YouTube show. He wasn't entirely
03:27incorrect before Team Big John Studd at 6'10". The really interesting thing about Big John Studd is that
03:32Andre the Giant wasn't particularly fond of him mostly because he was a big dude and Andre like most
03:37wrestlers was protective of his spot so when another Giant did come into the locker room
03:42I think he was like I better keep an eye on him. It's probably why at the first ever Wrestlemania
03:46it was Andre who eventually slammed Big John Studd and you probably remember or you've heard of the
03:51Big John Studd challenge. That's all it was. Can you slam this guy and around about 56,000 people
03:56weren't able to do it until Andre figured it out. I guess he was just a little bit stronger.
04:01John Studd was also a surprise winner of the 1989 Royal Rumble and as Bruce Pritchard said on his podcast
04:06Vince McMahon was ready to push that guy to the moon until he realized Big John Studd wasn't able
04:11to move as he once did so that thing got totally crushed. It also resulted in a massive row about
04:16the payoff from that Royal Rumble which is when John did leave the company although actually he did
04:20pretty well in TVs and movies he even guest starred in the A-Team. That means nothing in 2025 but
04:26believe
04:26you me if you walked onto that show in the 80s you were big deal. Studd was also posthumously inducted
04:31into
04:32the Hall of Fame in 2004 after he passed away in 1995 after issues with his kidney. He was only
04:38in
04:39his 40s and I tell you man that is way too young. Number 13 The Undertaker at 6 foot 10.
04:44I mean this
04:44one even more than Kevin Nash if you know you know and if you don't know you should probably go
04:49and
04:49watch a specific video about The Undertaker to learn. But if I was gonna sum it up in headline form
04:54if you want to tell me that the dead man gimmick is the greatest gimmick of all time
04:57well I'd probably just sit there and nod like a dog. He also had an incredible run in the WWE
05:02because he went from 1990 all the way to 2020 and yes he had that Wrestlemania streak and it was
05:08such
05:08a big deal most people will probably talk about the Brock Lesnar loss at Wrestlemania 30. I mean here we
05:14are on the cusp of Wrestlemania 42 and people are still debating it. If you want my opinion I actually
05:19think WWE did use it to take Brock Lesnar to a next level. We've talked about it elsewhere. He probably
05:24retired from the ring at Wrestlemania 36 after the Boneyard match with AJ Styles and it probably
05:29was the right time to do it because before that there was everything with Goldberg and that crazy
05:33tag team bout in Saudi Arabia where life went. Oh hello Undertaker came Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
05:39You probably think you are going to have a good match but none of my watch. These days the real
05:43life Mark Calloway has found a new lease on life as well because he just does so many podcasts and
05:48he
05:48tells you so many stories and of course the reason this is so gimmicky and cool is because when he
05:53was in
05:53character he never uttered a peep he barely did one interview and now you can't shut the guy up.
05:58They say that in a positive way he's very interesting. He went into the Hall of Fame in 2022 and
06:03nobody would
06:03debate that and the best part about The Undertaker is that he is an old school wrestler who had a
06:08long
06:08career and these days he seems perfectly happy. I shouldn't laugh but it's actually quite depressing
06:14you try and find somebody else like that it's pretty flipping tough. Number 12 Nathan Jones at 6 foot 10.
06:20The story of Nathan Jones kind of sums up everything that happened after the Attitude Era
06:24where Vince McMahon was so desperate to get the business back to where it was he would just
06:28start big guy after big guy after big guy give them no time in developmental called them up to
06:32the main roster give them about a month before he was like well this guy doesn't even know the
06:36fundamentals and everybody else around Vince McMahon was like yes that's because you rushed him.
06:41That's exactly what happened to Nathan Jones as well because he came in in 2002 and by 2003 he had
06:47already
06:47left. Now one it is because we had to stop anything we were going to do because he wasn't ready
06:52when
06:52he just became The Undertaker's friend which was a bit weird but also Nathan eventually realized much like
06:57Brock Lesnar the following year I don't want to travel I don't want to do it anymore so he left
07:01he walked away and he
07:02barely wrestled again. Talk about making the right choice though because he moved into Hollywood and basically paid all these
07:06big man roles
07:07and you can see him in Mad Max you can see him in Hobbs and Shaw you can see him
07:11in Troy you can see him in
07:13Ricky Snicky however you pronounce that movie that had John Cena in it but of course it also means he's
07:18worked with Brad Pitt he's worked with The Rock this dude has essentially had an incredible career in the
07:23movies and he didn't have to take one bump he has talked about this quite a lot as well and
07:27he seems
07:28over the moon which was not the case back at that Wrestlemania where he was indeed meant to tag with
07:33The Undertaker and literally almost at the last minute and WWE just changed their minds and it was a
07:38handicap match instead that's when Nathan Jones ran to the ring and he slipped over. I feel sorry for
07:44the man to be honest with you he probably could have been a right success story but if you don't
07:48give anybody time in school how the hell do you expect them to pass the exam? Number 11 Currigan at
07:546'11
07:54Now you probably remember this man in one of two roles from the WWE one he was the interrogator of
07:59the
08:00Truth Commission or he was in the Oddities as Currigan a very stretched team throughout the Attitude Era
08:07if you go back and watch it now I have no idea what that was meant to be. Now these
08:11two personas
08:11were totally different but if we do go what people have said about the real life Robert Maylitt
08:15he is well closer to what he was playing when he was in the Oddities everybody just says he's the
08:20nicest guy in the world. He stopped wrestling in 2011 and maybe he saw what Nathan Jones had done
08:25because he did want to follow suit and he's totally smashed it too. Do you remember this character
08:29the Uber whatever it's called from 300? That was flipping Currigan. He was also in Sherlock Holmes,
08:34The Immortals, Hercules and Deadpool 2 and while every single time he does play a big guy or a big
08:39monster or somebody you're meant to be intimidated by this is like the dream career after you are done
08:44with sports entertainment because you get to continue to perform and you don't have to worry
08:48that your body is a little bit broken up and again go and read the few interviews he has done
08:53he has a smile on his face and he's skipping around the houses more of this please. Number 10 Matt
08:57Morgan at 6'11. So Matt Morgan is probably better known for everything he did in TNA as opposed to
09:02WWE which is very strange because he was like Vince McMahon's perfect wrestler but once again
09:07he got stuttered with a terrible gimmick because he had to stutter. I mean can you imagine anyone
09:12doing that in 2025? No you can't. Matt was also another guy that was around in that 2005 period
09:17where nobody got a chance but eventually he did leave he went to New Japan got loads better
09:22before he jumped back to TNA in 2007 and he actually had a pretty decent run. He was there for
09:27six years and became a two-time tag team champion before he decided to leave and after he semi-retired
09:32he got into politics which is either a good or a bad idea depending on how you look at it.
09:37As I can tell as well his last match came in 2019 and ever since then he's been chilling. Now
09:42he did
09:42make an appearance in TNA in 2022 so you never know and while some people have said he could be
09:47a
09:47Royal Rumble surprise in the future I very much doubt that. Listen Matt Morgan had a pretty decent career
09:52but it kind of feels like it's been left in the past so you could probably call him untapped potential
09:57in terms of what he was able to do in WWE but I wouldn't put that on him. Let me
10:02just repeat
10:02myself. Pushed too fast. Given a stupid gimmick. What was he meant to do? Number nine Jackson Andrews
10:08at six foot eleven. So you probably don't remember this guy at all but back in 2010 Jackson Andrews was
10:13indeed the one-time bodyguard of none other than Tyson Kidd. It seemed like it was going right for a
10:19few
10:19weeks when Vince McMahon woke up one day and just decided nope I've changed my mind. Weeks after
10:24this Mark Henry absolutely decimated him like he may as well have pulled his arms off when poor
10:28Jackson did get the kiss of death. He was told uh sorry pal you have to go back to OVW
10:33and anytime
10:34somebody got sent back to developmental well it was rare you ever saw them on the main roster again.
10:39That's true too because soon after this he did get released in 2011 and there may be some information
10:45out there but I couldn't find it. I don't really think he had that many matches. His last one did
10:49go
10:49against Mason Ryan though which was quite funny because it was like one big guy beating another big
10:53guy and both people's pushes weren't going to be handled very well and then very worryingly he had
10:57a domestic issue with Rosa Mendes after Rosa had pushed charges. I don't 100% know what's happening
11:03there but as a PSA don't do that and for goodness sake just be a nice person. Number eight Eli
11:09Cottonwood at
11:09seven feet tall. So all you need to do today if you'd like to understand the WWE career of Eli
11:14Cottonwood is go to the second season of NXT when it was a game show and listen to the promo
11:19he had
11:20to cut. This is when the contenders would be given a subject and they had to talk about it for
11:23about a
11:24minute and this time it was moustaches and old Eli here started saying you can't be a WWE superstar
11:30unless you have a moustache when he realized he didn't have a moustache and maybe it was time to grow
11:36one. Very sadly this did do the rounds and everybody said it was absolutely embarrassing. I disagree it's
11:42laugh out loud funny. That's what wrestling's meant to do. WWE didn't agree with this though and he was
11:46never given a second chance although in 2012 he was put with Bray Wyatt for a while and that could
11:51have
11:51worked when old Cottonwood got released. Now actually it was Eli that asked for this in 2012 I think because
11:56he
11:56felt he needed to hit reset and in 2016 he retired for good and in between those dates well he's
12:02another one
12:03I don't think he worked that much. Instead he did start a yoga studio and began a wrestling company
12:07called FHW in 2016. That thing only lasted for a year. My favorite thing about it is that even though
12:13Eli Cottonwood was seven foot WWE had to say he was seven foot one because they can't help themselves
12:20if they can exaggerate they always will. Number seven the big show at seven feet tall. So whether we're
12:25talking about the big show in WWE, Paul White in AEW or the giant in WCW I think we can
12:30all agree that he
12:31is a future hall of famer. If for nothing else who had more heel turns back to face turns than
12:36this
12:36guy? But at one point I'm not kidding he was literally doing it every week. What a run he did
12:41have as well because he was the WCW world champion in about a day when he came across the WWE
12:46and had
12:46a mammoth push where he also became a world champion and even though he's been more of a background
12:51contender in AEW everybody seems to really like him. That's a pretty cool thing to have. Everybody forgets
12:57well that he actually left WWE in 2007 to pursue a boxing career when understandably the big show
13:03decided he didn't like being punched in the face so he returned in 2008. In case you are keeping track
13:07he did join All Elite Wrestling in 2021 where again he's still there so he has to be doing okay
13:12but in
13:13the future of course he'll come back to WWE because he does need to go into that hall of fame.
13:18I don't
13:18think anybody would begrudge him. These days it feels like he is mostly in an agent behind the scenes
13:22role and he also has some really bad knees. The only reason I bring that up is because people
13:27always throw insults at wrestlers that struggle to walk. We need to 180 that man. They deserve
13:32nothing but our respect. They couldn't have given more to pro wrestling. Number six Shanky at seven
13:37feet. So Shanky was another giant when in 2022 the decision was made that he should be teamed up with
13:42Jinder Mahal and Shanky would dance. Then Jinder Mahal would get mad at him dancing and it was one of
13:48the
13:48weirdest pairings of all time. Very sadly this is actually something that WWE has done a lot.
13:53Remember Lord Tensai? How did he end up? He teamed up with a dancing dinosaur. The great Khali was the
13:58same and the right was on the wall as soon as Triple H took over because even though Shanky actually
14:03took on Gunther at that Indian pay-per-view that WWE did do, around about one week later Shanky was
14:10shown the door so that man was never given a chance as soon as we had the new WWE. And
14:15the interesting
14:15thing with Shanky is that he's only wrestled twice since unless there is more information out there
14:19that I can't find. But I think he's still only 33 years old which is nothing in wrestling terms.
14:24So if he is out there getting more experience I doubt he would ever come back to WWE. But you
14:29may
14:29not have seen the last of him. Also even if he turned WWE down. Could you blame him? He was
14:35a giant
14:36giant man and he was reduced to being like I don't know Jinder Mahal's annoying friend. That one is
14:42just really really strange. What are you gonna do? I guess you gotta take the creative and just do the
14:47best with it that you can. Number five the great Khali at seven foot one. This ties into what we
14:51were
14:51just talking about because when the great Khali was first brought in not only was he beating the
14:55Undertaker and becoming the world champion he was pitched as the oh my gosh you're never gonna be
14:59able to take this guy down. And then a few years later he was farting with Natalya and doing a
15:05kiss
15:05can. I also think they called him the playboy or something ridiculous. I mean it's utterly stupid. People also
15:10forget that he did return to WWE at Battleground 2017 after the Punjabi prison match to help Jinder
15:16Mahal defeat Randy Orton. I don't know whether it was planned or whether it was not planned but it
15:20was the great Khali that took the world title and started going oh my gosh I've done it and obviously
15:24Jinder looked really mad. If WWE did plan to do something like this well surprise surprise it went
15:30absolutely nowhere and it was just really weird. He also showed up in the greatest ever Royal Rumble in
15:332018 just so we could do that spot where it's like oh my gosh who's gonna be able to throw
15:37him out
15:38and actually he did get inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021. That one went right over my head.
15:43In terms of what he is doing now he is a massive star in India to the point he can't
15:48even walk down
15:49the street without being recognized so in terms of his overall career that guy actually is considered
15:55a goat. Fair play to him. Number four the Giant Silver at seven foot two. Now Giant Silver was also
16:00in the oddities from 1998 to 1999 and given that Currigan was in that group too has to be one
16:06of the
16:06tallest stables of all time and as you can hear in my voice Giant Silver was even taller than his
16:11mate. He only started wrestling in 1997 that's probably why he did get released soon after this
16:16although he did go to CMLL he did go to New Japan where he was just booked like a big
16:21guy and sure
16:21his skills were limited but due to his size he got over with those crowds. Amazingly in 2003 he
16:27actually joined Price meaning he was now an MMA fighter and he left that career with a win-loss record
16:32of two wins and six losses which I actually think is pretty damn decent and do you know how he
16:37got
16:37both those victories via submission so he wasn't even just smacking people in the face. As far as I
16:41can tell he's not had a match since 2010 so I have to imagine he is done with wrestling and
16:46if you
16:46really want to see how tall he was just go back and watch SummerSlam 1998. It's absolutely ridiculous
16:52he towers over everyone. Number three Omos at seven foot three. Now the biggest thing not a pun I want
16:57to say
16:57about Omos is that he is the nicest guy ever. Any time I've got to interview him he is just
17:03a happy
17:03dude and that is more important than wrestling that's more important than wins and titles and
17:07all of that stuff. It costs nothing to be nice. His run with WWE as well has been so strange
17:12because
17:12under Vince McMahon he got pushed and pushed and pushed and then when Triple H took over well he
17:16magically appeared at that battle royal after Wrestlemania in 2024. Then he had that small excursion
17:22to nowhere and now it does seem like he's going to go down to AAA and do some stuff but
17:26he's never
17:26consistent which isn't his fault. I think we should book him more. He's truly massive as well if you've
17:31never met him and don't forget he did have that Brock Lesnar match at another Wrestlemania.
17:35I thought that was fun for what it was and who doesn't want to see a giant guy beat F5?
17:40Well Omos probably didn't enjoy it but what are you going to do? In terms of WWE as well we
17:44really
17:44haven't seen him since that Raw battle royal after Wrestlemania 40 but I want to make it very clear
17:49which you can figure out from where he is in this list. He is genuinely one of the biggest dudes
17:54that has ever walked through WWE which is saying something so if you ever can go to a meet and
17:59greet I would then you will marvel at the man's size. Number two Andre the Giant at seven foot four.
18:04Andre the Giant is surely the most famous big man ever and not only did he travel the world just
18:08being a huge celebrity but he helped put wrestling and the WWF on the mat and don't forget what he
18:14did
18:14at Wrestlemania 3 that's an all-time moment. By the time the late 80s rolled around though he was
18:18struggling so much with wrestling that travel was just absolutely wearing him down and that's one of the
18:24these days if you do go and watch later clips of Andre you do not understand how good he is.
18:29Try and go to the early 80s or even the late 70s the dude was a marvel because of course
18:34he was a
18:34giant and yet he moved like a ballerina. It did mean that he died long before he should and he
18:38sadly passed away in 1993 in Paris but the legacy that he did leave was never going to be forgotten
18:44and sure some people say he wasn't really a legitimate 7-4. I don't even care man he is worthy
18:50of
18:50being at the top of any list. A lot of that could come down to the fact as well though
18:53that he did have
18:54health issues that his height did go down. This is all statistics this is all numbers. Every single
19:00person that's even at least a little bit affiliated with wrestling knows the name of Andre the Giant
19:04and when you get into a business like this that's exactly the legacy that you want to leave.
19:10Andre the Giant is one of the GOATs.
19:11Number one Giant Gonzalez is at 7 foot 7.
19:14Now I don't know whether he was a legitimate 7 foot 7 but go and watch his Wrestlemania 9 match
19:18with the Undertaker and good grief does he tower over Mark Calloway. You may not notice that though
19:24because in terms of Wrestlemania matches the Undertaker had this is absolutely the very worst
19:29one. It's pretty damn bad. It doesn't help as well that he is wearing the strangest costume ever like
19:34he must have been a relatively big dude but he has like this strange overall on with hair stuck to
19:40it
19:40and muscles drawn on. If you could help me with that dear watcher I would massively appreciate it in
19:45the comments. Well kind of sum this up is that he did debut at the 1993 Royal Rumble and then
19:49by
19:49October the WWF did leave him go. All of this after Vince McMahon had seen him in WCW and gone
19:55oh I could definitely do something with that guy. Turned out he was totally wrong. Back in World
19:59Championship Wrestling he was called El Guiante 2 and after all of this he did go to war and New
20:03Japan and once again they loved him because all the fans would just look up to him and go oh
20:08are
20:09amazing. He too was able to do lots of TV shows and movies after this just because who has a
20:13size
20:13like that guy and of course do you want to know how tall WWE built him once? Eight feet. I
20:19mean that
20:20is so stupid why do we believe it but I did because I'm an idiot. He was somebody else that
20:24very sadly
20:24died way too soon because he was only 44 when he passed away and it came from diabetes and I
20:30would
20:30assume this did come down to the fact he was so big and the body wasn't working the way that
20:34it was
20:35meant to. So when you do remember that he managed to carve out a pretty good career for himself
20:39even if he did have two left feet. Who the flub cares man that guy went and did it. Now
20:44of course
20:45please do share any memories you have of any of the wrestlers we've talked about today in the
20:48comments below and let me know who is your favorite tall wrestler like we are eight years old before
20:52you like the video share the video and subscribe and if you would like even more information just
20:56about wrestlers in general you can click this video that's on the screen right now but otherwise
20:59I appreciate you my friends have a terrific day shout out to all my tall watchers it's a dumb
21:05thing that I've said but I will see you on the next one.
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