WWE’s Rey Mysterio and Big Show were involved in a program back in 2003 that led to a match at that year’s Backlash pay-per-view. The bout ended when Show caught Mysterio in midair and delivered a thunderous chokeslam for the win.
However, the match itself is not what people still remember about that night.
Following the match, Mysterio was loaded onto a stretcher after Show had initially left the ring. Once Mysterio was fully strapped in, Show returned and grabbed Mysterio, stretcher and all, from the ring apron. “The World’s Largest Athlete” then swung the stretcher like a baseball bat, smacking it against the ring post.
When asked about that notorious moment in a new interview with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri, the former WWE champion admitted the worst part wasn’t the swing itself — it was crashing to the ground while still trapped in the stretcher.
“I remember we had gone over it and that was the plan. When I was strapped onto the stretcher, everything seemed cool. I said ‘How much can it hurt? The stretcher is hitting first and I’m attached to it, so I won’t feel it.’ Well, we never thought about what happens when you hit,” Mysterio said. “Because of the weight, there was no way Big Show could hit the pole and hold onto me. So that whole weight and the momentum, as soon as we hit, I went straight down. As I was strapped onto the stretcher, my head went ‘boop’ and I hit first. That hurt. That in itself hurt very much.”
When it comes to a smaller superstar like Mysterio, who stands at just five-foot-six, the impact certainly is going to look a lot more gruesome than it otherwise would to a larger superstar. As a result, Mysterio’s angle with The Big Show will definitely be one of the more memorable and more painful spots that he’s done over the years.
