During the latest episode of WWE's After the Bell Podcast, former World Champion Big Show revealed that Brock Lesnar had requested to work with the giant after competing with him at a house show:
“I remember hearing the story that they [WWE] were asking Brock [about] his next opponent, and he goes, ‘I wanna work with Show. He’s a giant, he can work.”
According to Big Show, WWE was essentially 'sleeping on him' before this fued and it was the rivalry with the Beast, which opened the eyes of WWE officials:
“Brock and I started working and tearing the house down and it changed a lot of people’s perceptions of who I was as a talent and who I was as an individual, and I really owe that break to have them [WWE] re-look at me and it’s because of Brock.”
Quotes via SportsKeeda