100 Worst WWE Matches Ever - 60 - Batista vs. Big Show
ECW Championship - ECW, 1st August 2006
The most infamous match of WWE ECW’s run on Sci-Fi.
By August 2006, the problems of WWE’s ill-advised revival of ECW were far reaching. Kurt Angle was in and out of TV with health concerns that would ultimately contribute to the end of his WWE career. RVD was otherwise predisposed. Sabu was back after being suspended. During their suspensions, WWE realised they now had no star power outside of Big Show. ECW has lost its credibility, so it’s borrowing some of Raw and SmackDown’s. In what I can only assume was a desperate attempt to halt already haemorrhaging ratings, Big Show would wrestle for, or defend, the ECW Championship on every ECW show in July and this first one in August against guys that weren’t even ECW talent. After beating Rob Van Dam, he’d defend the championship in consecutive weeks against Ric Flair (Raw), Kane (Raw), Undertaker (SmackDown), and now Batista (SmackDown). In fairness, the Flair match is a kind of cult classic, mostly because Ric Flair is a sick, insane old man. What’s bizarre about this is that Paul Heyman was aligned with Big Show, and in storyline he’s booking his guy in title matches every week. It’s almost like he wants Big Show to lose the belt which, let’s face it, wouldn’t be the first time.
Unlike the July title matches, this match happens to take place in the Hammerstein Ballroom - the first time since ECW One Night Stand which featured one of the most famous crowds in wrestling history for John Cena and Rob Van Dam. That in itself should have tipped WWE off to the sort of crowd they could expect here. The 2006 One Night Stand promised a bright new future for a revived ECW - a faithful new reboot of a much beloved promotion. Like most reboots however, we get a shambolic cash grab that did irreparable damage to the brand. The fans have now had a month of seeing the direction of this new ECW. They’ve seen RVD lose the title to the Big Show, they’ve seen the Zombie, they’ve seen Macho Libre, they’ve seen the constant jobbing of ECW alumni to another failed Test push. They’ve had a month to digest the new iteration of WWE ECW and they have the perfect opportunity to express their opinions on this reboot.
The toilet roll thrown into the ring during the introductions is a telling sign of where this is going.
The boos are relentless and unforgiving. Big Show, to his credit, leans into this - easy for him as the heel and someone who has been around for a decade at this point. During the commercial break, which is kept on the WWE Network version of the show, Big Show takes the time to taunt the fans in response to their abuse. Some highlights include Show shouting “fuck you”, “shut the fuck up” and - my personal favourite - “I’ve fucked women bigger than you, pussy” to the fans at ringside, before getting on the mic and proudly declaring that RVD and Sabu aren’t here, so you sons of bitches can kiss my ass.
I’m not sure how wise it was to have Big Show incite the fans even more, but on the other hand it’s the only redeeming part of this match and there wasn’t any way of salvaging this match anyway. The fans had decided what their thoughts on this match were before it even started, so why bother trying? Half the fans are throwing you the middle finger, the other half of the fans seem to have their attention turned away from the ring, and some even decide to throw rubbish into the ring.
The chants for this match are of course the highlight of the match and one of the main reasons this match ends up on the list. It starts with your standard boos that slowly get more and more unique and innovative as the match goes on.
“You Both Suck”
“Same old shit”
“Booooring”
“Sabu”
“RVD”
“Fuck this match”
“We should riot”
And of course, arguably the greatest protest chant in wrestling history “change the channel”. An iconic protest of the new ECW that permanently tarnished the brand until they cut their losses and began to treat it as a developmental show.
By far the funniest part of this whole ordeal is Tazz and Joey Styles, who I like to imagine were questioning their life choices in much of the second half of 2006. From the first minute they’re in damage limitation mode trying to sugarcoat the fan reactions, notably describing the reaction to Batista as “mixed”. The negative reaction to this match is so overwhelming that the commentators are forced to acknowledge them on air. A rarity within WWE - reserved only for matches like this and Goldberg vs Lesnar where the fans punish the match for having the audacity of existing. Here the commentary responses are so bad that they’d have probably been better off saying nothing. “The crowd is chanting boring but this match is anything but boring” - Joey Styles. Tazz, bless him, in one final attempt to salvage something from this shitshow, responds to the aforementioned “change the channel” chant by saying “but we like it here on Sci-Fi!”
Neither wrestler looks interested in having a good match or winning the crowd over. The crowd made their mind up, and so did the wrestlers. While Big Show seemed to be somewhat enjoying himself out there, Batista looked shell shocked by the whole thing. To my memory, I believe this is the first time the fans ever rejected Batista as a babyface, and you can tell it phased him. He looks clueless and has absolutely no idea how to approach this.
I suppose I should talk about the little wrestling that actually happens in this 9 minute match. It’s Big Show in 2006, which I have talked about several times before in this project. And being a Big Show match in 2006, we have stalling. Lots of stalling. It’s probably the reason why he was so happy to take the time to berate the crowd so he didn’t have to, you know, move. Stalling is such a fool-proof classic wrestling tactic to ensure you get your babyface over when they eventually catch the heel. When Batista interrupts Show’s stalling, he’s met with nothing but more jeers. The few kickouts they have through the match are met with more boos because it continues this charade of a match. This feels like one of those awkward times where you’re stuck in a room with someone you don’t gel with, and you both know you want to stop the pain. But for one reason or another you can’t so you’re waiting uncomfortably for the end. Although I suppose that analogy only works if one of the people is shouting how they hate you and hope you die for the entire duration. .
One cool spot sees Batista hit a pretty impressive suplex, just for it to be met with the same negative reception and a “You still suck” chant. In classic WWE ECW fashion, Big Show hits Batista with the ECW Championship, which triggers an extreme disqualification. Just as one final fuck you to the fans in attendance.
Perversely entertaining, as most matches like this end up being.
WWE would never return to Hammerstein Ballroom after this.
Up Next - A match overloaded with obnoxious bickering commentary and authority figures in a prominent PPV match. And we are not talking about 2011 WWE?
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