So I've been following along with your Nitro reviews detailing the arrival of Hall and Nash, and I jumped forward to the Great American Bash and the following Nitro. On back to back nights, the Giant counters out of the Torture Rack, hits the chokeslam, and pins Luger clean, and then the following night shrugs off a chair shot, hits the chokeslam, and pins Scott Steiner clean. My question is this: did they have anything in mind for him long term, or was the plan only to build him up so Hogan could get the title at Road (or Hog, whichever) Wild?
I dunno, in the Observers at the time Dave is equally mystified at Giant's push. It would make sense that big bad monster heel Giant gets slain by returning babyface Hulk Hogan, because that's the one story that Hogan knows how to tell (over and over and over) so I can assume that's what the payoff was supposed to be. Which is why it's so weird that they kept the belt on him once they figured out that Hogan was going heel. The logical thing would have been putting the belt back on Savage or Luger and letting Hogan screw one of them out of the belt, instead of heel Giant who then turns heel and joins the nWo anyway.
Also, double fuck them for taking the tag belts off Sting and Luger and having the Outsiders win them from Harlem Heat instead. How perfect would it have been for the squabbling tag champs to finally get on the same page and start dominating as champions, only to get steamrolled by the nWo at Hog Wild? It would have KILLED people and ripped their hearts out. That would have been glorious!