A New Show Debuts - television personality Paul Wight, a.k.a. "the Big Show"

Wrestling Digest, Oct, 2001 by Alex Ristic

The Big Show sounds off about what he learned from his demotion, his early WCW success, and the controversy surrounding his "goofs" comments

THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL wrestling is full of peaks and valleys. Just ask Paul Wight, who after standing on top of the tallest peak, made the long, unenviable descent into the deepest valleys.

It all started in June 2000, when Wight, a.k.a. "the Big Show," was sent to Louisville and the WWF's Ohio Valley Wrestling feeder system to work some kinks out. In the business for six years, Wight has been both WWF and WCW heavyweight champion, yet somehow he started out on the wrong foot and has been paying for it since, culminating in his demotion a year ago.

"My first initial thoughts were, of course, ones of heartbreak," the Big Show says. "I just came off the knee surgery, and quite frankly, I just laid up at the house, and didn't do as much cardio as I needed to do, and just went to gym to lift weights, ate like a horse, and ballooned up to 480 pounds. I came back two weeks after the knee surgery and my cardio wasn't where it needed to be to perform at the caliber of the Undertaker's, Kane's, and Steve Austin's. I just didn't have my stuff together. I had a lot of stuff going on the side--like a divorce I'm fighting--and I think I just lost track of my most important goal, and my most important goal is to be successful."

The saying "how the mighty have fallen" comes to mind. For most, seeing The Big Show demoted was strange. After all, here's a former major beltholder for the two largest federations in the world, a highly recognized name, and someone who has headlined with the current top names of the business. Why did he need to get sent down?

"Quite frankly, I thought I was bulletproof. 'I'm "the Giant" I'm this, I'm that. I'm the most athletic guy for my size.' I listened to all that hype and b.s. and it developed a real bad case of insecurity with me, because I knew deep inside I didn't have the background of the guys I was working with. I didn't have the experience and I didn't have the knowledge. I didn't know how to go up to an Undertaker or Triple H, and even though these guys are my friends and want me to do well ... I didn't know how to say, `Hey, I don't know what to do here. I don't know what to do. I'm lost here, and I'm lost here.'"

Perhaps one reason for the Big Show's fall was all the quick success that came his way after he debuted in WCW in 1996. After all, being world champion in a matter of months, as well as being put into a program with Hulk Hogan almost right off the bat, certainly couldn't help someone who didn't have a grasp on the fundamentals of the business.

"I experienced success at first in the aspect of popularity. My first match was against Hulk Hogan. I won match of the year, wrestler of the year, and rookie of the year, all in the same year. I didn't know the work, the pain and the sweat, blood and the tears that guys put in this and never get recognized; to never even get a chance to work for a big company after busting their entire lives doing independent shows and never getting a break."

Once again with the cliches: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." From the stratosphere, the Big Show fell out of the sky and landed in the town of Louisville. But far from being the worst experience of his life, Wight says the opposite is true.

"I think going to Louisville was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm not just saying this because I'm a company guy. I swear to god that it's the best thing to ever happen to me, because it actually gave me the chance to experience what 90% of the guys in our business have to go through.

"I think going to Louisville has made me be able to say that this business is a learning business everyday," he says. "I'm humbled enough now to say if I don't know something, I will ask for help. And I will, and I want to put the work in. I watch my tapes now. I bust my ass doing cardio. I try to do everything I can to make myself better so that people can enjoy my performance and hopefully not be bored with it It's too bad that the first five years I was in this business I walked around with my head up my ass. Going to Louisville really helped me pull it out and hopefully become a better talent"

The "goofs" controversy

Wight isn't out of the woods yet, though. His wrestling career has always appeared to be a case of two steps forward, one step back. He won the WCW world heavyweight title on April 22, 1996, and was then overshadowed by the New World Order phenomenon. He won the WWF world heavyweight title on November 14, 1999, and was then placed in a feud with Shane McMahon. And now, he's triumphantly climbed back from the depths of wrestling purgatory only to be embroiled in further controversies.

After Wight's recent comeback from Louisville, it appeared he had worked hard and won his way back onto the WWF roster. Yet soon into his return, during a promotional segment on "RAW" on April 16, 2001, Wight said the word "goofs" in talking about his opponents Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Sho Funaki). The word was misconstrued as "gooks," a racial slur used against people of Asian descent. Wight steadfastly denies saying the slur, and the incident was one big misunderstanding.