In the world of professional wrestling, size is basically the currency. We've seen "monsters" and "beasts" since the territory days, but there is one name that literally stands above every single person who has ever stepped through the ropes.
Honestly, it isn't Andre the Giant. It isn't Big Show. It isn't even Omos.
The tallest WWE wrestler ever was a man named Jorge González, known to most 90s fans as Giant González.
He was a sight to behold. A literal human skyscraper. When he debuted at the 1993 Royal Rumble, he looked less like a man and more like a special effect from a monster movie. He walked to the ring wearing a bizarre skin-tight suit covered in airbrushed muscles and patches of faux fur. It was weird. It was jarring. And it made The Undertaker look like a middleweight.
The Myth vs. The Reality of the 8-Foot Giant
WWE loves to stretch the truth. You know this. They've been billing guys as "7 feet tall" when they're barely 6'9" for decades.
With González, the hyperbole went into overdrive. The company officially billed him at 8 feet tall. Think about that. Eight feet. That would make him one of the tallest humans to ever walk the earth, period.
In reality? He wasn't quite there.
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Most legitimate records, including Guinness World Records, put his actual height at 7 feet 7 inches (231 cm). Still, 7'7" is gargantuan. To put that in perspective:
- Andre the Giant was usually billed at 7'4", but in his later years, he likely stood closer to 6'10" or 6'11" due to back surgeries and spinal shrinkage.
- The Big Show (Paul Wight) is a legit 7-footer, but he looks like a child next to old footage of González.
- Omos, the modern-day giant, stands at 7'3".
Even with the "missing" five inches from his billed height, Giant González remains the undisputed king of height in the ring. No one else has ever come close to that 7'7" mark in a WWE ring.
From the NBA Draft to the Squared Circle
It’s kinda wild to think that wrestling wasn't even his first choice. Jorge started as a basketball player in Argentina. He was actually the first Argentine player ever drafted into the NBA.
The Atlanta Hawks took a chance on him in the third round of the 1988 draft.
The problem? His knees. Carrying that much weight—he was over 400 pounds—at that height makes moving at NBA speed almost impossible. When the basketball dream faded, Hawks owner Ted Turner didn't want to lose the spectacle of Jorge. Since Turner also owned WCW at the time, he suggested Jorge try wrestling.
He debuted in WCW as El Gigante. He was a "babyface" (the good guy) and wore simple wrestling trunks. Fans actually liked him! He wasn't a great worker, obviously. He was slow. He was lumbering. But you couldn't look away.
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Why the WWE Run Was So... Different
When he jumped to the WWF (now WWE) in 1993, Vince McMahon decided to lean into the "monster" aspect. This is where we got the suit.
The airbrushed muscle suit with the fur.
Many fans think the suit was a way to hide that Jorge wasn't "shredded," but it mostly just made him look like a mythical creature. He was immediately thrown into a feud with The Undertaker. This resulted in a match at WrestleMania IX that is, frankly, pretty difficult to watch.
The match ended in a disqualification because González used chloroform to knock out the Deadman. Yeah. Chloroform. It remains the only time The Undertaker won a WrestleMania match by DQ, keeping the Streak alive but in the weirdest way possible.
The Heavy Price of Being the Tallest WWE Wrestler Ever
Being that big isn't a gift; it's a medical condition. Jorge suffered from acromegaly, the same condition that affected Andre the Giant and The Great Khali.
His heart had to work overtime to pump blood through that massive frame. His joints were constantly under fire. By the time he retired in the mid-90s, he was in rough shape.
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He eventually returned to Argentina. Life wasn't easy. He dealt with diabetes and kidney issues for years. Sadly, Jorge González passed away in 2010 at the age of 44. It’s a recurring theme with the true giants of the industry—the very thing that makes them famous is often what makes their lives so difficult.
How He Compares to Other WWE Legends
If you're looking at the history books, the "Tallest" list usually looks like this:
- Giant González: 7'7" (Billed 8'0")
- Giant Silva: 7'2" (Billed 7'4")
- The Great Khali: 7'1" (Billed 7'3")
- Omos: 7'3" (Billed 7'3")
- Andre the Giant: 6'11" - 7'0" (Billed 7'4")
People often argue about Andre because he was so wide. He had a presence that González lacked. While Jorge was taller, Andre was a massive, thick human being who looked like he was made of stone. González was lanky by comparison, which is probably why WWE gave him the muscle suit—to add the "bulk" that usually comes with being a wrestling giant.
The Actionable Takeaway for Wrestling Fans
If you want to truly appreciate the scale of the tallest WWE wrestler ever, you have to look past the win-loss records. Most people will tell you he was a "bad" wrestler. Technically? Sure. He couldn't do a dropkick or a moonsault.
But wrestling is about the spectacle.
If you want to see what a "true" giant looks like in the ring:
- Watch his debut at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Ignore the suit for a second and just look at the way he towers over the top rope without even trying.
- Compare his height to the referees. A standard WWE referee is usually around 5'10". The top of the referee's head barely reached Jorge's chest.
- Check out his WCW matches as El Gigante if you want to see him without the weird fur suit. You get a much better sense of his actual frame there.
Jorge González might not have a Hall of Fame career filled with five-star matches, but he holds a record that may never be broken. In an era where "big men" are getting smaller and more athletic, we probably won't see another 7'7" human in a ring ever again.
To dig deeper into the history of the giants, you should track down the WWE Vault footage of his "Rest in Peace" match against The Undertaker at SummerSlam 1993. It's the best look you'll get at the sheer physical logistics of a man that size trying to navigate a standard 20-foot wrestling ring. It's a reminder that sometimes, being the biggest is a mountain of its own to climb.