# Bruce Lee versus "Big Show" (or other very large wrestlers) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924 "2006-09-08T15:46:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/21 "2006-09-08T23:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Sure, for about 10 seconds, then they collapse in a heap of blubber. Most top fights last longer than 10 seconds my friend. That is why they stink at all other martial arts. [/QUOTE] Very, very true. But note, they recover quickly. Wouldn’t help much in an actual fight, but if they can get their hands on you in that 10 seconds, you’re in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/22 "2006-09-08T23:51:52Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] You guys still don’t get it, a good big man will always beat a good small man. If a good small man takes on a big slob, yeah, most likely he’ll win, but if a good small man takes on a good big man, being small has no advantages. Give it up with your rationalizing. Guy above pointed out that’s why in the real world we have weight classifications. [/QUOTE] Also true. But while it looks good, and WWE wrestlers have a high threshold for pain, what they do in a ring is no basis for comparing against actual combat. And on that note, as I’ve said on this board before, while I feel that they would probably do better, if a MMA fresh off the UFC circuit goes up against someone who has actually done combat or fought for their life, they are probably gonna loose. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/23 "2006-09-09T00:13:22Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Put your average bruiser into the ring with a 125 pound featherweight boxer from Tiajuana or a 122 pound super bantamweight muay Thai fighter from Bangkok, and he’s going to get slaughtered. I’m not saying that’s what would happen with the wrestlers against Bruce Lee; they’re obviously highly trained athletes who probably do know how to fight. I’m just saying it might not be as one sided as you might think. [/QUOTE] All it takes is for the big man to run and smash into Lee and get him on the ground. After that, his strength would overwhelm even Lee. No doubt Lee was fast as hell, but the speed differential isn’t night and day, although the strength, size and experience differentials are. If these featherweights/bantamweigts are so effective, why don’t they dominate the ultimate fighting competitions? Ring fighting is nothing like street fighting. (Is someone going to suggest that Lee could have taken Mohammed Ali in his prime–in a boxing match?) I’ve heard many claims that Lee was an “experienced fighter.” Credible cite? I’m afraid much of this is urban legend. In his youth, Lee allegedly fought many a 125-lb. (Asian) man, but that hardly is the same as an 280-lb. cage fighter. Lee himself was on record as saying that if confronted by a much bigger, much stronger man, he would definitely run. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/24 "2006-09-09T00:38:26Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] Normally, I would just roll my eyes, but on this one, I gotta call you out. Sumo is a sport, and is a martial art, same as boxing, Judo, or BJJ. Just because it’s not fancy, and the guys don’t look like what we think of as atheletes, doesn’t make it any less true. A Sumo is expected to take a lot of punishment, and be able to move quickly, with explosive power and agility. [/QUOTE] I agree 100% about sumo rikishi in general, but the example **Malacandra** linked to was of Akebono. If any rikishi qualifies as “mountain of blubber that can’t fight to save his life,” it’s him. The man gets his ass handed to him by [TV comedians](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7049495&postcount=26), for Og’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/25 "2006-09-09T02:35:45Z")
[QUOTE=Brandon] I remember reading a quote that said something like, “No matter how big or tough someone is a thumb to the eye will stop 'em every time.” [hijack] If anyone knows the actual quote and who said it I would appreciate it if you’d let me know. [/hijack] [/QUOTE] Sounds like a paraphrase of one of the great sages. "Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he’ll drop like a stone. " –Patrick Swayze _Road House_ ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/26 "2006-09-09T04:34:39Z")
[QUOTE=Number] "Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he’ll drop like a stone. " –Patrick Swayze _Road House_ [/QUOTE] Unless he shatters your knee first, then he’ll kill you. – OR ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/27 "2006-09-09T04:49:37Z")
I went to see _The Protector_ tonight and this very situation came up. Tomy Jaa had to fight not one but THREE giant sized wrestler types at the same time. Apparently the solution is to batter them about the head and shoulders with elephant bones, then break the bones into shards and sever all the tendons in their legs. If you don’t have access to elephant bones then I think you may be fucked. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/28 "2006-09-09T06:07:25Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] You guys still don’t get it, a good big man will always beat a good small man. If a good small man takes on a big slob, yeah, most likely he’ll win, but if a good small man takes on a good big man, being small has no advantages. Give it up with your rationalizing. Guy above pointed out that’s why in the real world we have weight classifications. [/QUOTE] maybe in a controlled setting with rules. It ain’t given in no holds fighting. There’s also the “Big Guy Syndrome” thinking size makes you invinceable or bullet proof. You don’t try to outbox a boxer - you break his knee at the start. Bruce would definately have the advantage over these big boxers in busting kneecaps, and that’s where he would start. Of course, not ignoring groin, kidney, ankle, neck and eyes. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/29 "2006-09-09T06:49:22Z")
First off, I don’t think Bruce Lee belongs in this discussion. Other than a lot of carefully-choreographed action sequences and some dubious secondhand accounts, there’s really no way to know for sure how good a fighter he was. Plus he’s dead. 🙂 (If you wish to substitue a living credible martial artist, go ahead.) Can a little guy beat a big guy? Yeah, sure. UFC itself devoted an entire tournament to that question, and one of the lightweights won handily. It was a long time before anyone saw the need for weight classes. Of course, that was a time when nearly all the big guys were largely immobile and had no staying power whatsoever (David Abbott, in particular, seemed especially vulnerable to running out of gas). Given rougly equal ability, the big man has the advantage…PROVIDED that he can keep up with his opponent’s speed _and_ avoid getting hurt. These are not minor points; bulk makes it harder to get around and gives the opponent more places to hit. I can say with complete confidence, however, that any reasonably skilled martial artist obliterate someone who only knows how to do theatrical fighting with lots of blowing smoke on the mike and the occasional cornball skit. 😃 Against, say, someone from Pancrase (which does equal parts works and shoots), all bets are off. P.S. - Saw Keith Hackney vs. Emmanuel Yarborough (even wrote about it on my website). The impresson _I_ got was that Yarborough was damn lucky his opponent wasn’t too powerful. Patrick Smith would’ve torn him four new ones (six if he really put an effort into it). I never thought that sumo was appropriate for the octagon, but at least do more than lie down and get pummelled, for crying out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/30 "2006-09-09T19:08:29Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I went to see _The Protector_ tonight and this very situation came up. Tomy Jaa had to fight not one but THREE giant sized wrestler types at the same time. Apparently the solution is to batter them about the head and shoulders with elephant bones, then break the bones into shards and sever all the tendons in their legs. If you don’t have access to elephant bones then I think you may be fucked. [/QUOTE] Wasn’t it pretty much every tendon in their bodies, possibly excepting the pinkies? Adhering to the OP in a rather stricter sense, and sticking to pro wrestlers (rather than the fine gentlemen of the UFC), how many of them have real martial arts/street fighting experience, and how many of them are “merely” gifted athletes? And assuming most are in the latter category, is their size and strength enough to overtake a martial artist (who may or may not be Bruce Lee) who does martial arts for a living, is an accomplished street fighter, but happens to be giving up a decent amount of size? ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/31 "2006-09-09T19:56:35Z")
Does size really matter in a fight? After all, Rocky did beat up Hulk Hogan! ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/32 "2006-09-09T20:16:24Z")
[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] Does size really matter in a fight? After all, Rocky did beat up Hulk Hogan! [/QUOTE] And Dolph Lundgren. Who said “He’s not human. He’s like a piece of iron” about him. How’s that for an endorsement? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/33 "2006-09-09T23:59:03Z")
[QUOTE=Gozu Tashoya] Adhering to the OP in a rather stricter sense, and sticking to pro wrestlers (rather than the fine gentlemen of the UFC), how many of them have real martial arts/street fighting experience, and how many of them are “merely” gifted athletes? And assuming most are in the latter category, is their size and strength enough to overtake a martial artist (who may or may not be Bruce Lee) who does martial arts for a living, is an accomplished street fighter, but happens to be giving up a decent amount of size? [/QUOTE] Former WWE champion Brock Lesnar (6’8", 300 lbs.) is training with Miletich Fighting Systems. In a sparring session with UFC 170 lb. champion Matt Hughes, Lesnar got submitted in under 2 minutes. It doesn’t matter how big or strong you are when you give up your back to a trained fighter. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/34 "2006-09-10T00:14:05Z")
Brock Lesnar was an NCAA Champion wrestler. It’s not like he isn’t trained - but he’s not as good as he thinks he is. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/35 "2006-09-10T00:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=brianjedi] It doesn’t matter how big or strong you are when you give up your back to a trained fighter. [/QUOTE] The key term is “trained fighter.” Bruce Lee was a film superstar, icon and gifted maryial artist. He wasn’t a trained “no-holds, all out, kick ass and take names” fighter, despite urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/36 "2006-09-10T00:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Brock Lesnar was an NCAA Champion wrestler. It’s not like he isn’t trained - but he’s not as good as he thinks he is. [/QUOTE] True, but he hasn’t wrestled competitively in 6 years, and not at the same size _cough_JUICE_cough_ that he’s at now. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924/37 "2006-09-10T05:20:48Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] You guys still don’t get it, a good big man will always beat a good small man. If a good small man takes on a big slob, yeah, most likely he’ll win, but if a good small man takes on a good big man, being small has no advantages. Give it up with your rationalizing. Guy above pointed out that’s why in the real world we have weight classifications. [/QUOTE] [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNMgevrH8EI) is Mirko Cro Cop’s famous knock out of Bob Sapp. Mirko is 231lbs, 6ft and 2in, while Bob weights in at 350lbs and has a height of 6ft and 5in. This is a 120 pound difference. If 135lb Bruce Lee were to fight the Big Show, who is 507lbs, the difference would be 372lbs. I still think Bruce Lee could pull it off. He would definitely be the one strike first, and according to National Geographic’s Fight Science, martial artists are capable of producing [devastating forces.](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060814-fight-science_2.html) > [@](#): > > The tae kwon do spinning back kick delivered more than 1,500 pounds (680.4 kilograms) of force, while the kung fu flying double kick produced about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of force. > But the undisputed winner practices a discipline known for its ability to deliver a knockout: Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing. > Melchor Menor, a former two-time Muay Thai world champion, uses a simple technique to incapacitate his opponents: a knee to the chest at close quarters. > Menor himself was surprised at how powerful this move can be. > “I wasn’t expecting to have the highest force. When he said the power of the knee [kick] was equal to the power of a 35-mile-an-hour [56.3-kilometer-an-hour] car crash, it was humbling.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-versus-big-show-or-other-very-large-wrestlers/371924.md?page=1)