He’s a one-man wrecking crew. A 7-foot-2, 500-pound behemoth that strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents and inspires awe in the hearts of fans. The list of those who have suffered his wrath in the ring is long and daunting. Yet away from the ring, there’s a very different Big Show that fans may not be too familiar with. That’s because when he’s not breaking bones in his black singlet and boots, he can often be found dressed to the nines, martini in hand, emulating his very unlikely idols—The Rat Pack. That’s right, the Big Show is a loyal disciple of Frank, Dean, and Sammy. “I’m a fan of the whole Rat Pack era,” he says. “I love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford. I’ve seen all their movies, and a lot of the clips of the actual shows they did in Vegas. I’ve even seen the guys that imitate the Rat Pack in the shows in Vegas. I love that era.” A legendary group of entertainers that reigned supreme in Las Vegas in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, and inspired an entire movement in pop culture to boot, the Rat Pack appeared in films like “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Robin and the Seven Hoods” and performed countless times at casinos like The Sands. They were also notorious for their hard-partying lifestyle, and tales of their all-night escapades are the stuff of legend. “To me, that seemed like such a good time to be in Hollywood, a good time to be famous,” says Big Show. “These guys were fun-loving, they partied with the most beautiful women, they hung out with the most important people. They just seemed like a good bunch of guys to hang out with. It didn’t look like you could possibly have a bad time hanging out with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.” It may seem a bit bizarre that the same man seen each week on SmackDown! chokeslamming people into oblivion would be into the swingin’ cocktails-and-leisure-suits lifestyle. What’s even more unexpected is that his taste in music goes right along with it: The Big Show likes nothing more than grooving to the crazy tunes of the Rat Pack boys—especially his hero, Dino (and we don’t mean Bravo). “I love their music,” he says. “It either hits me with the rhythm, or the words might mean something to me, or the singer’s voice might have an effect on me. Dean Martin especially, he just has that groove. Anything he sings sounds good. He could sing like [breaks into Dean Martin impression], ‘Well I woke up this mornin’, I took a crap on the toilet,’ and he’d make it sound so cool.” Show clearly identifies with Dean, the laid-back crooner famous for such records as “That’s Amore,” “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?” and “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime,” and strives to be more like him in his everyday life. “Dean is the man, he’s the epitome of cool,” says Show. “In the HBO movie about the Rat Pack, the part I like the most is where Peter’s out with his girl, Frank’s got two girls, Sammy’s chillin’ with his girl—and my boy Dean? Sittin’ in bed havin’ a glass of milk, smokin’ a cigarette and watching a Western. I mean, that’s me!” Big Show’s fascination with the Sin City icons is clear, despite the fact that he’s almost as big as all five Rat Packers combined. And it may not show in his behavior on Thursday nights, but the next time you see him screaming at the top of his lungs while hurling grown men around like rag dolls, try to imagine him in a different light: Decked out in a tux, a Jack and Coke in his hand as he warbles, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…” C’mon, you can imagine that, can’t you? For an in-depth interview with the Big Show, keep your eye out for the April issue of SmackDown! Magazine, which hits newsstands in March.
