Wrestling Hall of Fame – “Big John Studd”
There has always been some controversy in determining the biggest and the most powerful giant of professional wrestling world. However, whenever critics debate about the biggest and the strongest giant, there has always been a strong contender by the name of Big John Studd.
Big John Studd who started his WWE career in 1976, he quickly became one of the most dominating wrestler in the ring. This was the time when other huge figures like Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan were the face of professional wrestling, so making a name was not an easy task. Nevertheless, Big John Studd who was 6 foot 10 inches tall entered the ring with only one huge task and that was to challenge established wrestlers and giants.
The storied career of Big John Studd is characterized by historic rivalries with Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. He weighed around 364 pounds and used to knock out his opponents by simply running into them. Big John Studd had the honour to be trained by a wrestling legend and Hall of Fame, Killer Kowalski. Big John Studd further learned from Killer Kowalski, when he entered the ring as his tag team partner. Big John Studd was so determined that he won the World Tag Team Wrestling Championship along with Killer Kowalski in the year of his WWE debut. The legend of Big John Studd became famous because he and Killer Kowalski competed in the ring by wearing a mask and with the name of Executioners.
WWE seemed to be too small a place for the giant known as Big John Studd. He moved to the Mid – Atlantic region and teamed up with another future WWE wrestler, Ken Patera. Big John Studd did not leave his mask and won the Mid – Atlantic Tag Team Championship in 1978. Then came the time when Big John Studd had to remove his mask when he lost a famous match with another wrestling legend, Blackjack Mulligan. After losing his mask, Big John Studd thought about trying his luck in singles wrestling matches and that was the time when the world knew about the real talent of this huge giant.
Big John Studd fought in many professional wrestling organizations like AWA and NWA but returned to World Wrestling Federation to become part of the Heenan family. As the famous saying goes that there can’t by two giants in the same wrestling ring so Big John Studd engaged in a bitter rivalry with the great Andre the Giant. Their rivalry started to determine the true and biggest giant of professional wrestling. The rivalry reached its peak in December 1984 when Big John Studd along with Heenan cut some of Andre’s hair during a tag team match.
Then Big John Studd engaged in a match with Andre the Giant which will be remembered for ages to come. This match was a Body Slam Challenge at the inaugural Wrestle Mania one in Madison Square Garden. The winner was to receive the prize of $ 15,000 cash. Big John Studd fought the match of his life time but at the end, Andre the Giant picked him up and slammed his body on the ring floor. The match was far from over as friends of Big John Studd stole the money of Andre the Giant. Big John Studd also reached the height of popularity at Wrestle Mania 2 when he eliminated Chicago Bears famous NFL player, William “The Refrigerator” Perry from the Battle Royal.
It was in 1989 Royal Rumble when Big John Studd entered as the 27th participant and eliminated another Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase to become the Royal Rumble winner. Sadly, he passed away on March 20, 1995 due to liver cancer and Hodgkin’s disease. In recognition of his services another giant of WWE, the Big Show inducted him in Hall of Fame on the night before Wrestle Mania XX in 2004. He will always be remembered as one the greatest giants of professional wrestling.
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