"It hurt a little bit" - Paul Wight reveals what WWE told him he'd never do again
Former WWE star Paul Wight recently revealed that WWE informed him five years ago that he would never main-event a WrestleMania or a pay-per-view.
Paul Wight spoke about the numerous injuries that he's had in his WWE career during his recent appearance on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette. He discussed recovering from injuries to return and eventually having a match at WrestleMania with Drew McIntyre.
Wight said that he was told a few years ago by WWE that he would not main-event WrestleMania or any pay-per-view in WWE.
"I got the speech five years ago which was a pretty bad speech. I got called into a Talent Relations office and got told that I will never main event a WrestleMania again, I will never main event a pay-per-view again, and I'll only be used to get over NXT talent. That was said to my face. There's your fuc*ing inspiration, now go work hurt. Vince didn't say that to me, it wasn't him. But nothing gets said to you without... you know, you know where it comes from. So it hurt a little bit, I was like, 'Really? That's where we're at". Because they had to think about the future. And then I got into shape and had the abs. I made the joke to Vince, 'When I used to chainsmoke two packs of cigarettes a day and drank Jack Daniel's like water and weighed 500 pounds, I was a fuc*ing world champion. I got abs and I can't get a fuc*ing match (laughs)."
Paul Wight said that he understood what WWE was trying to tell him, as he had had a great career and perhaps should think about "slowing down."
He rhetorically asked if Vince McMahon was going to "slow down." Wight stated that the injuries were a blessing in disguise as they helped him take time off to put together his Netflix show.
Paul Wight in WWE in recent years
Wight was used sporadically in WWE over the last few years of his tenure with the company.
His last appearance in WWE came on the RAW Legends Night show in January, following which his contract expired. Paul Wight's last match in WWE came in July 2020, when he faced Randy Orton on RAW.