The Big Show & The Bar: An Incredibly Random WWE Faction

Nineteen years on from the show’s premiere, the 1000th episode of SmackDown took place on October 16, 2018 from Washington, DC’s Capital One Arena. The show had a number of big moments, from Batista poking fun at Triple H for never beating him during the Evolution reunion to a retired Edge making his first appearance on WWE TV for several months to host the Cutting Edge with Becky Lynch. 

A SmackDown Tag Team Title match was also booked for the show as The New Day continued their programme with The Bar. The match looked set to be another simple tag team affair between the two teams that would likely see The New Day come out on top, once again. That definitely looked to be the case after the match ticked past the 10-minute mark when The Big Show suddenly made his way to the ring, seemingly to prevent The Bar from putting Kofi Kingston, who was at ringside supporting his New Day stablemates, through the announce table.

The World’s Largest Athlete marched to the squared circle, forcing Cesaro and Sheamus to retreat, before The Big Show helped Kingston to his feet. All of a sudden, though, Paul Wight picked up Kingston and sent him crashing through the announce table with a Chokeslam.

Big E could do nothing but watch the turn of events, and the distraction ultimately left him easy prey for a Brogue Kick from Sheamus. One pinfall later and The Bar were the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions courtesy of interference from The Big Show in one of his many, many heel turns. 

Paul Wight had been a member of numerous factions during his decades-long career, from The nWo in both WCW and WWE, to The Authority, The Corporation, and the Dungeon of Doom, but what would become a one-month stint as part of The Bar with Sheamus and Cesaro was certainly The Big Show’s most random group. 

The Build To The Big Show And The Bar

Sheamus and Cesaro had been linked since the reintroduction of the WWE brand split in the summer of 2016, with the two competitors embarking upon a Best-of-Seven series that would end without a winner and would result in them forming a tag team where they initially struggled to get along. The duo would quickly enjoy success together, though, ending The New Day’s then-recording breaking WWE Tag Team Title at Roadblock 2016.

After deciding they could actually work together, Sheamus and Cesaro added three more reigns as Raw Tag Team Champions to their list of accolades before they were defeated by Braun Strowman and a child named Nicholas at 2018’s WrestleMania 34.

Sheamus and Cesaro didn’t enjoy that same tag team success upon being moved to SmackDown as part of 2018’s Superstar Shake-Up, however. The Bar would be definitively beaten by The New Day in a brief feud, during which the extra member of The New Day at ringside did not interfere once.

The Bar then disappeared from WWE TV for two months before they returned to compete in a number one contenders' tournament for the right to challenge The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at SummerSlam. The Bar reached the final of the tournament courtesy of a win over The Usos, but they would, once again, lose to The New Day in a win that was as clean as a whistle for Big E and Kofi Kingston, with Xavier Woods’ only involvement on the outside being some trombone playing. 

The Bar’s failure continued after SummerSlam as they lost another number one contenders' tournament in September, this time to Rusev and Aiden English, but Sheamus and Cesaro, despite their repeated losses, would end up with a SmackDown Tag Team Title shot anyway at WWE Super Show-Down on October 6, 2018, with the match just being announced by WWE as opposed to The Bar earning a title bout.

The belts were now held by The New Day as they had defeated The Bludgeon Brothers for the gold on the post-SummerSlam episode of SmackDown. The Bar would fail in their attempt to wrest the SmackDown Tag Team Titles from Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods at Super Show-Down 2018, though, as they once again lost clean in the middle of the ring.

After the pay-per-view, simply for reasons, The Bar would get another shot at the titles, this time at the aforementioned 1000th episode of SmackDown where they won the belts with the assistance of The Big Show. 

Why?

The reason The Big Show would help The Bar is anyone’s guess. Paul Wight had returned to WWE TV just one week earlier on October 9 as a babyface, ultimately losing to Randy Orton in a WWE World Cup qualifying match, which certainly didn’t suggest any alliance with The Bar was on the horizon.

The Big Show had spent the previous 13 months on the shelf, having undergone hip resurfacing surgery following the conclusion of his programme with Braun Strowman in September 2017. The surgery involved putting a titanium cap on the ball joint of the hip and a titanium receptacle on the pelvis, but the procedure would go awry as Paul Wight developed an infection that would ultimately lead to another surgery and the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion being pumped full of antibiotics, before he was eventually well enough to make his return. 

The Big Show did have history with both Sheamus and Cesaro. Paul Wight and Sheamus had feuded over the World Heavyweight Title in an underrated programme in late 2012, and Big Show would have one of his many babyface/heel turns on his way to teaming with Sheamus and Randy Orton against The Shield at WrestleMania 29, a match that ended with a Shield win and saw the Big Show turn heel again after the contest as he laid out both Orton and Sheamus with KO punches. 

The Big Show and Cesaro, meanwhile, had a memorable moment at WrestleMania XXX when Cesaro bodyslammed the big man over the top rope to win the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The Big Show had not interacted on-screen with either member of The Bar in multiple years by the time SmackDown 1000 rolled around, however. 

WWE didn’t exactly do much to explain the new alliance either. When asked about his actions following SmackDown 1000, Paul Wight simply shrugged his shoulders and pointed out he had put Kofi Kingston through the announce table with a Chokeslam. Sheamus and Cesaro also didn’t provide much of an answer when the digital exclusive promo continued as they simply said they were going to celebrate and signed off with their memorable catchphrase of, “We don’t just set the bar. We are The Bar.”

The only explanation actually provided by WWE for the new alliance was that, with Big Show’s inclusion, Sheamus and Cesaro no longer suffered from a numerical disadvantage against The New Day, something which didn’t actually play into any of their losses to a combination of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods at any point in 2018, mind you. Why The Big Show decided he would be the person to level the playing field between The Bar and The New Day simply went unexplained, however, and there has been no reason provided about why he was added to the faction beyond it simply being a case of giving The Big Show something to do now that he was able to appear on WWE TV again.   

One Happy, Inconsistently Booked Family

Regardless of why The Big Show now found himself with The Bar, the new faction was here to stay, for one whole month, anyway. 

The 1001st episode of SmackDown opened with The New Day expressing their unhappiness over losing the SmackDown Tag Team Titles and ultimately calling out The Bar and Big Show. Would we have a new mash-up theme for the new stable, or a new name, perhaps? 

No, neither of those things happened as The Bar made their usual entrance with their own entrance music and the traditional Sheamus/Cesaro point to each other instead became a big point to The Big Show as “WELLLLLL” filled the arena. 

It was probably an overall positive that WWE didn’t bother giving The Big Show, Cesaro, and Sheamus a modified faction name, though, as Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that the one being used by people backstage at SmackDown 1000 was ‘Showbar,’ something that would have undoubtedly gone down in infamy alongside The Viking Experience and Jeri-Show. 

Once The Bar and Big Show reached the ring, a brief back-and-forth would lead to a singles match between Kofi Kingston and The Big Show, during which the former Giant in WCW was booked to look absolutely dominant over a Kofi Kingston who was just six months away from winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.

Big Show would quickly level his opponent with three Chokeslams and the match was all over after just 90 seconds when Paul Wight went for a fourth Chokeslam, only for Big E and Xavier Woods to hit the ring to save their stablemate from an even bigger mauling. The Bar and Big Show would stand tall post-match courtesy of a Chokeslam from Paul Wight to Xavier Woods, with it being announced to close out the segment that it would be The Bar vs. The New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at Crown Jewel 2018. 

WWE seemingly couldn’t decide how they wanted to book The Big Show following his return. The Bar, a heel tag team, losing to the babyface team ahead of a rematch isn’t ideal but has been a common feature of WWE programming for decades, but The Big Show found himself fluctuating between looking like a monster and being used as comedy fodder.

This included just one week after his dominant performance against Kofi Kingston as Paul Wight would be on the outside with Sheamus and The New Day for Cesaro vs. Big E in a Trick or Street Fight on the October 30, 2018 episode of SmackDown. The match would see The Big Show have his face covered in red mist courtesy of a Brood-cosplaying Xavier Woods, while Big E did the same to Cesaro before the Big Ending for the win. 

Then, just three days later, The Big Show was back to looking strong again at Crown Jewel. The giant paid dividends as he distracted Big E when he was about to hit the Big Ending to Sheamus. Sheamus missed on the Brogue Kick follow-up but the Celtic Warrior and Big E continued grappling while Big Show argued with the official on the apron, which provided the opening for Sheamus to launch Big E towards the corner. One referee duck later to get out of the way and The Big Show had levelled Big E with a KO punch while the official was unsighted. A Brogue Kick followed and The Bar retained the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, much to The Big Show’s delight. 

The Big Show and The Bar continued to look dominant for at least a couple of more weeks as they picked up the win over The New Day in trios action on November 13, with Wight securing the victory for his team with a KO Punch to Kofi Kingston. The Big Show then found himself providing comedy while looking dominant at Survivor Series 2018 as BRAND WARFARE saw SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar take on Raw Tag Team Champions Authors of Pain. The most memorable moment of the match for all of the wrong reasons saw The Big Show grab Drake Maverick around the throat, something which caused AOP’s manager to urinate himself. This even played into the finish of the match as The Bar and Big Show having a jolly old time laughing at a man covered in his own urine provided the opening for AOP to hit Sheamus with their finisher for the victory. 

Comedy was the name of the game just two days later, too, as it would be The Big Show and The Bar vs. The New Day in a Thanksgiving Feast Fight. The Big Show would be particularly immobile in a match that was built around food, with Paul Wight being sent from the apron through a table filled with edible delights on the outside, getting covered in gravy and various sauces in the process. The New Day struck Sheamus with an actual flying turkey to record the win, and a food fight took place post-match which ended with Cesaro covered in cream, peas, and multiple condiments. 

The End

After looking dominant for a couple of weeks and being the butt of the joke on other shows in themed no-DQ matches, it was all over between The Big Show and The Bar.

On the November 20 episode of SmackDown, Sheamus and Cesaro made their way to the ring to face The Usos, but The Big Show was nowhere to be seen. The broadcast then cut backstage to a segment from earlier in the evening of The Bar blaming The Big Show for the trio being embarrassed by The New Day in the Thanksgiving Feast Fight, during which Sheamus pointed out he was supposed to be the faction’s equaliser against Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods.

Cesaro took to prodding Big Show’s chest while he berated him for taking a nap on a table when he was supposed to be helping The Bar win. This was the precursor for a split as an angry Big Show simply looked at his chest before he looked up and levelled Cesaro with a KO Punch to end the partnership after just over a month, with Sheamus yelling that he and Cesaro would be better off without The Big Show as the giant skulked away. That didn’t prove to be the case in the immediate future as The Bar proceeded to lose to The Usos in their non-title match. 

The reason for the split was that Paul Wight was suffering from hip issues once again. During an appearance on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions in February 2021, Paul Wight revealed that he and The Bar split up so quickly because the metal joint in his hip had broken, but he made sure to be at the November  27 episode of SmackDown to explain his impending disappearance from WWE TV. 

"For me personally, when I was doing that Braun feud, I had holes in my ball joint of my hip. I worked a year and a half like that because I felt a duty to the guys in the locker room. To be there for them, to keep the angles going. Like, even when I did the thing with The Bar, I came to The Bar that night that I knocked Cesaro out and The Bar broke up, because I didn’t want to leave those guys hanging, but the metal device that was in my hip was broken. I had surgery the next day, but I still came to Minneapolis because I didn’t want to let Sheamus and Cesaro down and just like, 'Big Show disappeared,'" Paul Wight stated. 

Life After The Big Show & The Bar

Across an 18-month period from September 2017, The Big Show would undergo five hip surgeries. He would be off WWE TV for the whole of 2019 before he made a surprise return as a babyface on the January 6, 2020 episode of Raw to team with Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe against Seth Rollins and Authors of Pain. 

That match ended in a DQ, and The Big Show would be gone from WWE TV again just one week later after WWE ran back the trios match, this time as a ‘Fist Fight’, with Big Show losing the match for his team after he was knocked out following a Seth Rollins Stomp. 

The Big Show certainly had an unusual rest of 2020 from there as he switched between being a heel and babyface one more time each, and basically main evented WrestleMania 36 as he challenged new WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for the belt immediately after his win over Brock Lesnar in a match that would air on the Raw after WrestleMania.

While he was a heel for that match, the giant was back to being a babyface once again when he returned in June 2020 to help the Street Profits and Viking Raiders fight off ninjas. A short program with Randy Orton would follow and Paul Wight would actually end up leaving WWE in January 2021, with the two-time WWE Champion signing with All Elite Wrestling one month later. He remains a part of the promotion to this day. 

For The Bar, they would ultimately win their programme with The New Day without the Big Show, winning a three-way tag at TLC 2018 against The New Day and The Usos. Their remaining time as SmackDown Tag Team Champions was short, though, as they dropped the belts to Shane McMahon and The Miz (remember that team?) at Royal Rumble 2019. The Bar would primarily be used to put over new teams on SmackDown from there and they unsuccessfully challenged The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles in a four-way with Aleister Black & Ricochet and Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 35. 

Sheamus and Cesaro then had an infamous match in the main event of the Raw after WrestleMania 35. After WWE had announced new WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. new Universal Champion Seth Rollins for the main event, that match was ended by interference from The Bar to set up a tag match. The match, which The Bar lost, would receive chants of “AEW” and “CM Punk” as WWE fans revolted against Vince McMahon’s booking. 

There didn’t appear to be a split on the horizon as The Bar were very much booked as utility players in WWE at this point, but The Bar would end up having their final match as a team just one night later when they teamed with Drew McIntyre against The New Day on the SmackDown after WrestleMania 35. In that match, Sheamus suffered a concussion and would be gone from WWE TV until January 2020. Cesaro was repackaged as a singles talent in his absence, during which he announced The Bar was no more. 

Cesaro and Sheamus would primarily remain apart on WWE TV until Cesaro departed the company in February 2022. The former tag team partners have found themselves in separate companies ever since, with Claudio Castagnoli featured in AEW, while Sheamus continues to be signed with WWE. The Bar have remained firm friends outside of the ring, though, and Claudio Castagnoli was even one of the groomsmen at Sheamus’ wedding.