The Big Show recently spoke to ESPN.com about his video game habits, who he’d like a last run with and more. Check out the highlights:
On his video game habits: “I’m a big ‘Call of Duty’ fan, and I used to play a lot online while I was in the bus, but I hate to be the guy who is lagging everybody out. The Internet connection from the road can be spotty, so usually when I’m on the tour bus, I’m playing ‘God of War.’ Then when I get back home and can get serious, that’s when I jump back into ‘Call of Duty.’ Kofi Kingston plays a lot, Hornswoggle jumps in and tries to play, but I’m a serious ‘Call of Duty’ guy. I have about a 40-to-1 kill/death ratio in the game, so when they get on the game, I try to help them out. They’re pretty much gun fodder. I point them in different directions to go get shot, then I take out the people who killed them.”
On WWE ’13: “They have the Attitude Era in the game, so they have me in there as Paul Wight with the long hair, and they have me as The Big Show. I can even fight myself; then again, I seem to do that every day.”
On why the Attitude Era is great for a video game: “The Attitude Era was so great because you had the best collection of superstars of any one time period. You had The Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Mick Foley … all of these guys are legends, but it wasn’t just about the top of the card. We had house shows where you had Rock versus Stone Cold, you had Triple H versus Mick Foley, The Undertaker against Kane, The New Age Outlaws versus LOD, Edge and Christian against Jeff and Matt Hardy, and Big Show against Mark Henry in a bodyslam match. That might sound like a dream card, but that’s a card we ran almost every weekend. We would have sold out show after sold out show, no tickets available, because we had such incredible superstars who were really established as characters, and everyone couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.”
On his favorite Attitude Era memory: “My favorite memory happened after the show would end. The Rock would bring his guitar to the ring and Stone Cold would sing and everyone would spend the night BSing, then they would break out The Rock Bottom or the Stone Cold Stunner to end the night. These guys were just so entertaining, but the main difference is that in the Attitude Era, there weren’t as many rules. We weren’t so corporate, we weren’t in the PG era, so back then, it was more of that crazy, rock and roll atmosphere. That’s the big difference about the Attitude Era — it was just really out there, rock and roll.”
On whether WCW was as “screwed up” as it was made out to be: “I think it got too big for its britches too quick. We had the NWO and we were beating the WWE in ratings, but then I started to see the infrastructure start to break down. My contract was up, and a lot of the more seasoned and experienced guys told me that I needed to go to New York, that I needed to go to WWE in order to take the next steps in my career and really make my mark. It was about then, WWE started killing WCW in the ratings and WCW caved in on itself.”
On the atmosphere of the Attitude Era: “It wasn’t really chaotic, it was more of competition and a place to go. If you’re talent, it’s better to have options, and you had more freedom to experiment with things. Now, it’s very structured, very rigid, and basically, we’re the only game in town. In terms of the talent, if you don’t make it here, you have no place else to go. If you had competition, if it didn’t work out for you here, at least you still might make it somewhere else. So I think there’s a lot more pressure on guys to be successful now, because if you don’t make it here, there’s really no where else to go.”
On CM Punk and the Rock: “Punk is a guy who you can’t shake his confidence, and The Rock is the same way, you can’t shake his confidence, so I think anything Punk says to Rock, any of his wittiness, you know Rock is going to be right there competitively. I think the biggest difference is Punk is right here every week doing this, he’s been the champ for over 300 days, and he’s a great athlete, so I can see Punk pulling this out. Rock’s an explosive athlete, while Punk is a showman who is also gritty and tough, so I think if these two end up coming to blows, you can pretty much flip a coin. When The Rock beat John Cena, I was actually pretty surprised, so I have no idea what will happen.”
On Sheamus: “I’m really impressed with Sheamus. The thing about Sheamus is he’s very, very physical. He’s a brawler. He’s strong, he’s hungry, and if he’s smart, he’ll learn to avoid my right fist. [laughs]“
On what dream matches he’d like to have: “I’d like to have one more match with The Undertaker. He was very influential in my career and always one of my favorites, so I’d like to have one more run with him. I’d like to have another match with Stone Cold. I’m a big fan of Stone Cold, both as a person and as a talent, so I’d like another run with Steve. I wouldn’t mind getting another shot at The Rock, either. Any of those three guys in a high-profile, main-event match would be pretty exciting, and a pretty good payday, too.”
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