 Silva in 2008. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paulo César da Silva (1963-07-21)July 21, 1963 (age 62) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Giant King Giant Silva Gigante Silva The Great Charlie The New Giant Paulão |
| Billed height | 7 ft 2 in (218 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 385 lb (175 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Dory Funk Jr. Tom Prichard |
| Debut | 1985 |
| Retired | 2010 |
Paulo César da Silva (born July 21, 1963) is a Brazilian former nationalbasketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and latermixed martial artist andprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring nameGiant Silva. He stands 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) and weighs 175 kg (386 lb). A super-heavyweight wrestler, he was both aface and aheel in severalprofessional wrestling promotions. Known for his great height, in 2014 he was described as the sixth tallest professional wrestler in history.[2]
In the 1980s, Silva was originally a professionalbasketball player. He played with the seniorBrazilian national basketball team at the1988 Summer Olympics with the nickname "Paulão" (Big Paulo).[3] Very much likeEl Gigante/Giant Gonzales, who also started as a basketball player, the 7 ft 2 in (218 cm) tall Silva played as a reservecenter on Brazil's national team, wearing the #13 jersey.[4]
After turning pro in late 1997, Silva signed withWorld Wrestling Federation. After debuting he was given the name: "Giant Silva" and was a member of theOddities stable. For most of his WWF tenure, Silva was a cornerman for the Oddities and his matches on TV were tag matches, teaming up withGolga and/orKurrgan.[5] His only highlight was atSummerSlam 1998 when he, Golga, and Kurrgan defeatedKai En Tai in a 3 on 4 Handicap match. During his time in WWF, Silva was not used as much. Silva was released around February 1999.
He would return only once with long hair on the July 4, 1999 episode ofWWF Super Astros in a victory overPantera.
After his WWF tenure, Silva joined Mexican promotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and was renamed Gigante Silva. He was introduced bymidget wrestlerTzuki and soon became an ally totecnicos, often teaming up in tag team matches against numerically superiorrudos. Silva struck an occasional team with fellow superheavyweightBrazo de Plata and had part in a feud withGigante Kurggan, who was brought by Los Capos (the faction led byApolo Dantes andUniverso 2000) in order to oppose him. In November 2003, Silva turnedrudo himself and allied withPierroth Jr. and his valetLa Comandante before leaving Mexico for Japan full time.
In 2001, Silva joinedNew Japan Pro-Wrestling. He originally debuted on August 12, 2001, as a member ofMasahiro Chono's stable: Team 2000[6] where he was paired up with another Giant:Giant Singh (better known as The Great Khali) as the tag team: Club 7. Silva made his in-ring debut for New Japan when he took part in the G1 World Climax tournament where he finished in 4th place with 4 points.[6] He and Singh made their debut as a tag team at Indicate of Next on October 8, 2001, where they defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi,Kenzo Suzuki,Yutaka Yoshie, &Wataru Inoue in a 4 on 2 handicap match.[7]
In the fall of 2001, Silva teamed with Chono in the2001 G1 Tag League with the team finishing in 7th place with 6 points.[8] In 2002, Silva took part in several tournaments. In February he was part of the a tournament for the vacatedIWGP Heavyweight Championship but lost in the first round to eventual winner:Tadao Yasuda.[9] Two days later on February 3, Silva, Singh, and Chono won the Teisen Hall Cup 6 Man Tag Team Tournament.[9] In March, Club 7 then entered a tournament for the vacatedIWGP Tag Team Championship.[10] In the first round, they defeated fellow Team 2000 members:Scott Norton andSuper J, but lost toYuji Nagata andManabu Nakanishi in the semi-finals.[10]
In the spring of 2002, Club 7 broke up and began feuding shortly afterwards. The two were scheduled to face each other at Toukon Memorial Day on May 2, 2002, but an injury to Singh prevented the match from taking place.[11] The two finally fought at Cross Road on August 29, 2002, with Silva defeating Singh.[12]
From 2004 to 2008, Silva wrestled forHUSTLE where he took part in a variety of matches and formed teams withScott Norton,Toshiaki Kawada, andMark Coleman.[13]
Silva also competed in National Wrestling Superstars mainly working in handicap matches.
After his career in NJPW, Silva was signed byDream Stage Entertainment and competed inPride Fighting Championships, a defunctmixed martial arts organization based inJapan. Although at one time he trained with members of theGracie family, most notably Ricardo Gracie andRalek Gracie, he only had a crash course inBrazilian jiu-jitsu when he had his debut atPride Shockwave 2003 against 250lbsHeath Herring. Silva led the more experienced fighter to the third round, absorbing repeated leg kicks and taking Herring down once, but Heath capitalized and reversed it into arear naked choke for the win.
In April 2004, Silva took part in the Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, whose first round saw him facingsumo wrestlerHenry "Sentoryu" Miller, only 85lbs lighter. Sentoryu accomplished a takedown on Silva and attacked his guard, only for Silva's height to neutralize hisground and pound attempts, as the sumo wrestler could not reach his head. Miller finally got side control, but then Silva reversed him with aKimura lock and made him tap out. The pro wrestler then advanced to the second round, being pitted against former world judo championNaoya Ogawa, who won the fight by ground and pound TKO.
Silva would then face another professional wrestler,Pro Wrestling NOAH'sTakashi Sugiura, who used his wrestling acumen to take Silva down and land knees and punches for the stoppage. The match had some controversy, as a brawl erupted after the bout and Silva had to be restrained by several ring crew men.[14]
On December 31, 2006, Giant Silva finally faced a heavier opponent, the former yokozunaAkebono Tarō, atK-1 Premium 2006. The sumo wrestler clinched Silva and pressed him against the ropes, until Silva broke the hug and transitioned to aKimura lock on the ground, submitting Akebono for his second and last win.
| 8 matches | 2 wins | 6 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 4 |
| By submission | 2 | 2 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 2–6 | Akebono Taro | Submission (kimura) | K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!! | December 31, 2006 | 1 | 1:02 | Osaka, Japan | |
| Loss | 1–6 | Ikuhisa Minowa | TKO (knees) | Pride – Bushido 10 | April 2, 2006 | 1 | 2:33 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 1–5 | James Thompson | TKO (soccer kicks) | PRIDE Shockwave 2005 | December 31, 2005 | 1 | 1:28 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 1–4 | Choi Mu-Bae | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | PRIDE Shockwave 2004 | December 31, 2004 | 1 | 5:47 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 1–3 | Takashi Sugiura | TKO (punches) | PRIDE Bushido 4 | July 19, 2004 | 1 | 2:35 | Nagoya, Japan | |
| Loss | 1–2 | Naoya Ogawa | TKO (punches) | PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 | June 20, 2004 | 1 | 3:29 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 1–1 | Henry Miller | Submission (kimura) | PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 | April 25, 2004 | 1 | 4:04 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 0–1 | Heath Herring | Submission (rear-naked choke) | PRIDE Shockwave 2003 | December 31, 2003 | 3 | 0:35 | Saitama, Japan |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database