Giant silva

Silva was born on July 21, 1963 in Sao Paulo . He began his sports career with a game sport, played basketball , but then came to wrestling . He spent most of the fights in Japan. The debut of the Giant took place in 1997 . It is noteworthy that he fought in the Pride Fighting Championships and K-1 Dynamite in MMA, he spent 8 fights and won only 2 matches.

In the 1980s, Silva was professionally involved in basketball . He took part in the 1988 Olympic basketball tournament in Seoul as Paulo da Silva ^[2] . Looking at the Argentine giant Jorge Gonzalez and his career in sports, he also began to play for the country's basketball team. With a height of 219 cm, da Silva was the reserve center team of Brazil at number 13 ^[3] .

Speeches at WWE (1998-1999)

After gaining professional status in 1997, Silva signed a contract with the WWE Federation. After the debut, he received the nickname Giant Silva and joined the Oddities team. Most of the time, Silva was in the corner of Golg and Kurgan ^[4] . His most memorable outcome was the 1998 SummerSlam victory over Kaentai 3 versus 4. Since 1999, Silva has not performed in WWE promotion.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1999-2003)

In 1999, da Silva joined the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and became known as Gigante Silva . He was introduced by the wrestler- dwarf Tsuki , and he soon became an ally of the tecnicos , who fought the superior rudos .

Silva's partners were also Shocker, Dr. Wagner, and rivals - Giant Singh , Shibata, Puma Inoue.

Japanese Promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling and Hustle (2001-2008)

In 2001, da Silva joined the Japan Japan Professional Wrestling Federation New Japan Pro-Wrestling , in which he debuted on August 12, 2001 as a member of the Masakiro Kono Team 2000 Team ^[5] . In the team, his partner was a friend from another promotion, Giant Singh , who became known as Club 7 in a pair. Da Silva made his debut in promotion at the G1 World Climax tournament, where he became fourth with 4 points ^[5] . Together with Singh, they made their debut at the Indicate of Next event, which took place on October 8, 2001, where they defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenzo Suzuki, Yutaku Yushira and Wataru Inue in match 4 against 2 ^[6] .

Independent Speeches (2008—2010)

Silva also appeared in the National Wrestling Superstars promotion.

After starting cooperation with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Silva signed a contract with Dream, which was engaged in the promotion of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Including the company organized one of the largest events of the Pride Fighting Championships , and tournaments were held in Japan. During this period, Silva trained for some time with members of the Gracie clan . With them, he studied the basics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu , and then made his debut in the 2003 Pride Shockwave tournament against former pro-wrestler Heath Herring . Silva brought the battle with a more experienced fighter to the third round, repelling kicks of the enemy, and also sending him twice to the canvas. However, Herring managed to get out and he had a painful reception - strangulation from behind, after which Silva was forced to surrender.

In April 2004, Silva, as part of the Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, met with sumoist Henry Miller (Centoru) , who was a little lighter than Silva himself, but his height was only 175 cm against the declared 230 at Silva. Henry managed to pass in one leg and make a takedown, after which he began to finish in the round-end-pound, which was the only right decision with such a difference in height. The position from above did not give Miller anything, since he could not carry out punctuated blows and still did not reach Silva’s head. As a result, Miller managed to get lateral control, but Silva turned it over and in turn held a kimura. As a result, Silva won the first victory in MMA and went into the second round, where he met with former pro-wrestler and judo master Naoya Ogawa . Ogawa almost immediately carried out a takedown and delivered blows from the position of the grande and pound, as a result of the fight for Silva ended with a technical knockout.

In the next tournament against Silva, another former professional wrestler, Takahashi Sugiura, representing Pro Wrestling NOAH, came out. He was much lighter and lower than Silva. At the beginning of the first round, the fighters began to look closely at each other, throwing single punches, mainly indicating an attack. Then Sugiura made a single leg pass and pressed Silva to the ropes, after which he made a takedown. After Silva was squeezed in a corner, Sugiura tried to take the opponent’s hand and punched several times, but the judge decided to move the fighters to the center of the ring, and Silva remained on the canvas. Sugiura still tried to catch his hand and punched single shots, after which he got up and knocked him out. He succeeded in the round-end pound from which he punched Silva in the head with two hands, adding with his knees. As a result, in the third minute, the judge decided to stop the fight, and Silva again lost to the easier opponent by technical knockout. The match turned out to be ambiguous, because after it a fight began, and Silva was restrained by several teammates ^[7] .

In December 2004, as part of the PRIDE Shockwave 2004 event, Silva met with Korean Choi Mu Bae , who was also much lighter and lower than Silva. The battle began with Silva's aggressive attacks with blows from which the Korean dodged. Choi began to clinch, and then transferred Silva to canvas. The Korean began to finish Silva in the ground and pound, but he managed to get out, as a result, the judge raised the fighters to the rack. However, the battle did not last long on the feet - the already well-known weapon against the giant worked - a one-leg pass and a takedown. Despite the fact that Silva became much better at defending himself against the ground and pound, Choi delivered single blows to the head and prepared the passage. After lateral control from the Korean, elbows and knees hit the body, from which Silva could not defend himself. Also, the Korean punched in the head and liver. As in the previous battle, the judge decided to move the fighters to the center of the ring, and here Silva was close to overturning the opponent on his back, but could not complete the move and ended up in a worse position. Choi managed to take his neck and he tried to hold the strangulation through his hand, as a result, the giant lost by strangulation with a triangle.

As part of the next PRIDE Shockwave 2005 tournament, Silva met with English fighter James Thompson . Already in the first seconds of the battle, Thompson with blows sent Silva to canvas, where he continued finishing. Since Silva was half behind the ropes of the ring, the judges stopped the fight and lifted the fighters into the rack. The fight resumed, this time Silva managed to catch Thompson running towards him with blows, however he could not hold him and Thompson takedown and got side control, after which he began to finish off Silva lying with kicker kicks and blows. Thompson also connected his knees, and ended up again with kicker kickers. As a result, at 1:28 of the fight, the judge stopped the match, in which Thompson won by TKO.

On April 2, 2006, Silva fought with Ikuhisa Minova , whom he lost in the first round by technical knockout after being hit by knees.

On December 31, 2006, Silva met a heavier rival, former Yokozuna sumo wrestler Akebono in the K-1 Premium 2006 tournament. Silva tried to meet the sumo wrestler with a rack, but Akebono nearly knocked him over the ropes and clanged. Silva broke the grip and stood holding a kimura, after which the fighters fell, and Akebono fell on his back, and Silva completed the pain, which brought him victory. For Akebono, this was the fourth fight in mixed martial arts, and in all four he lost. For Silva, this was the second pain and second victory in the MMA, after which he ended his career with a result of 2-6.

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • Torneo de Trios (2001) - from La Fiera
• New japan pro wrestling
  • Teisen Hall Six-Man Tournament (2002) - With Masahiro Kono and Giant Singh ^[8]

• Giant Silva spent half of his fights (4 of 8) in mixed martial arts on December 31.

• Giant Silva at Sherdog.com
• Profile on Pride FC website (archive)