Paul Wight reveals the origins of 'The Big Show' name
Paul Wight joined AEW to take up a new role as a commentator. But before he took the ringside job, he wrecked havoc for nearly two decades as The Big Show.
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Paul Wight discussed how his name came about in WWE. The World's Largest Athlete revealed that it was Vince McMahon who came up with the name.
"That was Vince. When I first came into WWE I was Paul Wight, I just don't think Vince liked the spelling of my name or just my name. But what would Vince know about marketing? [laughs] But he walked by me one day and he goes 'So how's The Big Show today?' I go 'I'm good but who the hell is The Big show?' He goes 'You! You can walk, you can talk, you're an athlete. You're The Big Show.' He walked off and I thought oh dear God I hope that is not my wrestling name. But it was. But think back then it was the attitude and the Monday Night Wars," revealed Wight.
He then went on to add how the changing of the name, and the brand as a whole, could turn out moving forward:
"But over the years, like anything, if you do it long enough you can make it your own. But it's now a little hard to rebrand. I have a great Big Show autograph. My real signature is good, but I don't want to put that out there. I don't want to own a timeshare in the Bahamas. I'm just trying to figure out that new identity, and I have some input on my character. Hopefully I won't change 2 or 3 times in a match now," Paul Wight said.
Paul Wight enjoyed great success as The Big Show in WWE
Paul Wight will go down as one of the greatest big men in the history of professional wrestling. For a man his size, he was serviceable in the ring, carried himself well on the mic and had a compelling presence.
He enjoyed a remarkable career in WWE, winning the WWE Championship and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship twice, the United States and Intercontinental Championship once each and the tag team titles 8 times. Paul Wight also received 5 Slammy Awards during his time in WWE.
He's set to return to the ring on September 5 at AEW All Out against QT Marshall and it remains to be seen if he will add to his long list of championships in AEW. Nevertheless, it should be fun to watch the big man in the ring once again.