Paul Wight Explains How He Got “Big Show” Name in WWE

Well, it’s a Big Show! That’s the song that Big Show used in WWE, but that wasn’t what we heard when he made his WWE debut over 20 years ago.

It was: “Wait a minute! My God! King! My God! King! That’s Paul Wight! That’s Paul Wight!”

That’s not Paul Wight arriving in AEW, that was the former WCW star arriving in WWE at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in February 1999.

While Wight would become known as The Big Show for the next two decades, when he burst through the ring on February 9th, he was simply Paul Wight. It was an interesting change for the former WCW Champion who was known simply as The Giant during his WCW days.

Speaking in a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Wight, who has reverted to his real name since joining AEW, revealed who came up with ‘The Big Show’ moniker. The multiple-time World Champion explained that the name was a Vince McMahon creation. Not that he thought it was a particularly good one at the time.

“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. 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.”

After more than 20 years with WWE, Wight left the company in early 2021, signing with AEW in February. Initially, Wight appeared as a commentator on AEW Dark: Elevation but has recently confirmed that he will be returning to the ring.

The slow-burning feud between announcer Tony Schiavone and The Factory hit a flashpoint on the August 11th episode of Dynamite with QT Marshall attacking Schiavone’s son, Chris. Wight who commentates alongside Schiavone on Elevation then hit the ring to make the save, hitting a devastating Chokeslam on Aaron Solow in the process.

On last week’s episode of Dynamite, Wight came to the ring for an interview with Schiavone. The announcer thanked Wight for his help the previous week, before the giant said that he’d got an announcement.

However, before Wight could finish he was interrupted by QT Marshall. The leader of The Factory attempted to pour cold water on the idea of Wight getting back in the ring by highlighting his recent injury issues. Marshall reeled off Wight’s recent hip surgeries, showing a photo of a huge scar on the former WWE Superstar’s hip on the big screen.

Far from embarrassing Wight, the former World Champion revealed that he had spoken to AEW President Tony Khan about returning to the ring. Wight then announced that he would be facing Marshall at All Out.

Wight hasn’t wrestled since being beaten by Randy Orton on the July 20th episode of Monday Night RAW back in 2020.

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