Do you think there is a place for fat wrestlers.

[ThumpSquids]

I heart Bam Bam Bigelow.

[Carbomb]

Big Daddy V was the last great fat monster of the age, and it is absolutely outrageous that he was released. He fit in perfectly with the informal "Monsters Division" Smackdown had for a brief period, with Henry being a strength monster, Khali and Big Show being giant monsters, Kane being a big power monster, Lashley being a Goldberg/"Destroyer" monster, and V being a blubbery vortex of fatty power.

I think you've rose-tinted that. There were never that many of them on the go at the same time. It was just Kane vs Khali, Henry or Big Daddy V every week from what I remember. I went to a dire TV taping around this time and some combination of them had at least two matches that night, one (possibly two) on ECW and one on Smackdown (I think Kane might have tagged with CM Punk against Henry and Khali). But I don't think Big Show or Lashley were ever knocking about the same time as Big Daddy V, were they?

 

Nah, probably not, but I do remember a match which was all monsters - V, Henry, Kane, Khali and one other, along with one face; I forget who; think it was an elimination chamber or something.

 

Yeah there is they need to be fit as fuck thou.. Would love someone like Joe but not as lazy but with the same kind of hard hitting style, with a moveset that includes a powerbomb, lariat and some sort of top rope move like a moonsault.

 

Nah. That's a bit of a pet peeve these days for me: just because Vader and Bam Bam did moonsaults, now all big blokes are expected to do them. What people often forget is that even those two only busted those moves out on big occasions, as Limit Breaks. They weren't a regular part of the arsenal.

 

I heart Bam Bam Bigelow.

 

So do I, but I personally don't count him as a fat monster, because he simply didn't move like a fat monster - the threat of Bam Bam was the fact that he'd take the fight straight to you and beat the living piss out of you, not squash you with his bulk.

[Wrasslin]

Big Daddy V was the last great fat monster of the age, and it is absolutely outrageous that he was released. He fit in perfectly with the informal "Monsters Division" Smackdown had for a brief period, with Henry being a strength monster, Khali and Big Show being giant monsters, Kane being a big power monster, Lashley being a Goldberg/"Destroyer" monster, and V being a blubbery vortex of fatty power.

I think you've rose-tinted that. There were never that many of them on the go at the same time. It was just Kane vs Khali, Henry or Big Daddy V every week from what I remember. I went to a dire TV taping around this time and some combination of them had at least two matches that night, one (possibly two) on ECW and one on Smackdown (I think Kane might have tagged with CM Punk against Henry and Khali). But I don't think Big Show or Lashley were ever knocking about the same time as Big Daddy V, were they?

 

Nah, probably not, but I do remember a match which was all monsters - V, Henry, Kane, Khali and one other, along with one face; I forget who; think it was an elimination chamber or something.

 

Yeah there is they need to be fit as fuck thou.. Would love someone like Joe but not as lazy but with the same kind of hard hitting style, with a moveset that includes a powerbomb, lariat and some sort of top rope move like a moonsault.

 

Nah. That's a bit of a pet peeve these days for me: just because Vader and Bam Bam did moonsaults, now all big blokes are expected to do them. What people often forget is that even those two only busted those moves out on big occasions, as Limit Breaks. They weren't a regular part of the arsenal.

 

I heart Bam Bam Bigelow.

 

So do I, but I personally don't count him as a fat monster, because he simply didn't move like a fat monster - the threat of Bam Bam was the fact that he'd take the fight straight to you and beat the living piss out of you, not squash you with his bulk.

 

 

I think we need to make a distinction of what we're talking about here. Are we talking about wrestlers who 'were fat'. Or wrestlers who 'worked a fat style'? I agree with the fact that Bam Bam didn't really wrestle a fat style (Vader certainly did though, I'm not having that) but it's undeniable he was a portly gentlemen.

 

Bam Bam is the kind of guy I'd like to see wrestling now, he had an amazing look and had good matches with people you never would have thought possible (Lawrence Taylor) and also had great matches with people he should (Bret Hart).

[Carbomb]

I think we need to make a distinction of what we're talking about here. Are we talking about wrestlers who 'were fat'. Or wrestlers who 'worked a fat style'? I agree with the fact that Bam Bam didn't really wrestle a fat style (Vader certainly did though, I'm not having that) but it's undeniable he was a portly gentlemen.

 

This is what we seem to have established in the other thread. Also, it's clear that my image of Vader is largely based on his Japan work, as I didn't see as much of him as I would've liked in the US, so it's understandable that I'd see him as more of a power monster than a fat one, whereas you would see the opposite.

 

When I refer to a "fat monster", I mean guys who work a "fat style". Think you nailed the definition there.

[Richie Freebird]

There are some terrible fatties in the trashy IWA Mid / Deep South promotions. Ones who use middle rope double stomps too!

[JLM]

For me one of the greatest testaments to the power of fattitude is Yutaka Yoshie. Before his transformation into The Flying Pink Tank I used to find him very dull and only remembered his name because of his ridiculous haircut. However, since he went to Europe and came back fat he has been one of my favourites and he was one of my favourite acts in All Japan in the mid-late 2000s.

 

His newfound fatness instantly gave him a role to play as an immovable object and squasher of smaller wrestlers whereas before he was pretty bland and unremarkable. I also like that he went with the jolly pink fat man persona rather than monster heel, simply because he has clearly found his calling with the former option. Also, rather oddly, he can also play underdog babyface a lot of the time because the promotions he does freelance work for can usually wheel out someone with even more bulk than him. Babyface giant vs even bigger heel giant is actually a very entertaining dynamic as long as at least one of them can go for longer than five minutes without flagging and neither of them are Giant Gonzales.

 

Here he is preparing to pit his fat against Giant Bernard:

 

 

and looking dapper in the pink on pink: