Giant Silva

For the New Zealand wrestler and boxer, see John da Silva.
Giant Silva
Birth name Paulo César da Silva
Born July 21, 1963
São Paulo, Brazil
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Giant King
Giant Silva
The New Giant
Paulão
Billed height 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Billed weight 385 lb (175 kg; 27.5 st)
Trained by Dory Funk Jr.
Tom Prichard
Debut 1997
Retired 2010

Paulo César da Silva (born July 21, 1963), is a Brazilian former national basketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and later mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Giant Silva. A super-heavyweight wrestler, he was both a face and a heel in several professional wrestling promotions.

Basketball career

In the 1980s, Silva was originally a professional basketball player, playing for the National Brazilian Basketball Team during the basketball preliminaries to the 1988 Summer Olympics as Paolão da Silva.[1] Very much like El Gigante/Giant Gonzales who also started with basketball, the 7'2" (217 cm) da Silva played as reserve center in national team wearing the jersey 13.[2]

Wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation (1998–1999)

After turning pro in late 1997, Silva signed with World Wrestling Federation. After debuting he was given the name: "Giant Silva" and was a member of the Oddities stable. For most of his WWF tenure, Silva was a cornerman for the Oddities and his matches on TV were tag matches, teaming up with Golga and/or Kurrgan.[3] His only highlight was at Summerslam 1998 when he, Golga, and Kurrgan defeated Kai En Tai in a 3 on 4 Handicap match. Silva was released in late 1999.

New Japan Pro Wrestling and Hustle (2001–2008)

In 2001, Silva joined New Japan Pro Wrestling. He originally debuted on August 12, 2001 as a member of Masahiro Chono's stable: Team 2000[4] 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.[4] He and Singh made their debut as a tag team at Indicate of Next on October 8, 2001 where they defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenzo Suzuki, Yutaka Yoshie, & Wataru Inoue in a 4 on 2 handicap match.[5]

In the fall of 2001, Silva teamed with Chono in the 2001 G1 Tag League with the team finishing in 7th place with 6 points.[6] In 2002, Silva took part in several tournaments. In February he was part of the a tournament for the vacated IWGP Heavyweight Championship but lost in the first round to eventual winner: Tadao Yasuda.[7] Two days later on February 3, Silva, Singh, and Chono won the Teisen Hall Cup 6 Man Tag Team Tournament.[7] In March, Club 7 then entered a tournament for the vacated IWGP Tag Team Championship.[8] In the first round, they defeated fellow Team 2000 members: Scott Norton and Super J, but lost to Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi in the semi-finals.[8]

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.[9] The two finally fought at Cross Road on August 29, 2002 with Silva defeating Singh.[10]

From 2004–2008, Silva wrestled for HUSTLE where he took part in a variety of matches and formed teams with Scott Norton, Toshiaki Kawada, and Mark Coleman.[11]

Pride Fighting Championships (2003–2006)

Silva competed in Pride Fighting Championships, a defunct mixed martial arts organization based in Japan. Silva, at one time, trained with members of the Gracie family, most notably Ricardo Gracie and Ralek Gracie.Silva is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and yellow belt in Taekwondo.On December 31, 2006 Giant Silva defeated former Yokozona Akebono Tarō by Kimura Armlock in the first round at K-1 Dynamite 2006 for his second win of his career giving him a professional record of 2 wins and 6 losses overall spanning both PRIDE FC and K-1.

Independent circuit (2008–2010)

Silva also competed in National Wrestling Superstars.

In wrestling

Silva performing a big boot to Yoshie-chan.

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 2–6 Akebono Submission (kimura) K-1 Premium Dynamite!! 2006 December 31, 2006 1 1:02 Osaka, Japan
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 1–6 Ikuhisa Minowa TKO (knees) Pride - Bushido 10 April 2, 2006 1 2:33 Tokyo, Japan
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 1–5 James Thompson TKO (soccer kicks) PRIDE Shockwave 2005 December 31, 2005 1 1:28 Saitama, Japan
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 1–4 Choi Mu-Bae Submission (arm-triangle choke) PRIDE Shockwave 2004 December 31, 2004 1 5:47 Saitama, Japan
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 1–3 Takashi Sugiura TKO (punches) PRIDE Bushido 4 July 19, 2004 1 2:35 Nagoya, Japan
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 1–2 Naoya Ogawa TKO (punches) PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 June 20, 2004 1 3:29 Saitama, Japan
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 1–1 Henry Sentoryu Submission (kimura) PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 April 25, 2004 1 4:04 Saitama, Japan
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 0–1 Heath Herring Submission (rear naked choke) PRIDE Shockwave 2003 December 31, 2003 3 0:35 Saitama, Japan

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ Giant Silva playing Basketball (Brazil Squad)
  2. ↑ Basketball Reference.com: Paulo da Silva - Basketball
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  5. ↑ Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  6. ↑ Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  9. ↑ Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  10. ↑ Strong Style Spirit. Puroresufan.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-08.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "New Japan Pro Wrestling - "G1 Tag League 2001"" (in German). PuroLove.com. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  13. ↑ "New Japan Pro Wrestling tournaments".

External links

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