Wight Noise

Wrestling Digest, Feb, 2001 by Steve Anderson

Injuries, angles, and politics have forced "the Big Show" Paul Wight away from the bright lights of the WWF to the "repackaging plant" at Ohio Valley Wrestling

WCW PUSHED HIM AS AN immediate title-contender. He made his pay-per-view debut not jerking the curtain, but by wrestling in a main event with Hulk Hogan. He won two WCW world heavyweight titles during his rookie year. The WWF came calling and lured him away with a lucrative, multiyear contract.

Standing more than seven feet tall, "the Big Show" Paul Wight is imposing. He was a terrorizing, monster heel, the type that Hulk Hogan baffled during his 1980s WWF run. Promoters liked what they saw in the young rising star, as did wrestling fans.

Wight literally tore up the ring in his debut at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1999, when he emerged from underneath the ring to assist Vince McMahon during the WWF owner's bout with Steve Austin.

Since his debut, Wight WWF tenure has been marked by both great accomplishments and noted disappointments. Within his first year in the federation, he won both the world heavyweight and world tag-team titles. In spite of his accomplishments, there were factors that still impeded the progress of the Big Show. Wight suffered an injury that resulted from his alleged lack of conditioning. Also, alterations in both his storyline game plan and persona have been made to try and spark some interest in his character.

"He's what he is. He's huge. He's got an impressive look. I just think that what he's struggling to find is his true niche, his real personality," says WWF commentator Jerry Lawler.

GOING IN EVERY DIRECTION

The Big Show's onscreen identity problems mirror the behind-the-scenes troubles he's had since joining the federation, While his size has become his hallmark, it has also become a source for concern in the WWF. While the federation may "like 'em big," they also like 'em in good shape and injury free. The seven-foot-plus wrestler has seemingly "fallen short" in that regard.

"He knows he's seven-foot. He knows he's got a gift. And he knows he's always going to have a job," says veteran wrestler Dusty Wolfe, who had a six-year stint with the WWF.

On July 7, 2000, Jim Ross was cautiously optimistic about Wight's imminent return to the the federation in his WWF.com column, the "Ross Report."

"The Big Show looks to be in better physical condition, and time will tell how mentally committed the seven-footer will be in the future," wrote Ross. "The work ethic within the WWF is very strong and anything less should not and will not be accepted by other WWF superstars or, more importantly, the fans. We believe the Big Show can and will become a major player."

Six weeks after Ross's initial assessment and three weeks after Wight's WWF return on July 24, the "Ross Report" had a decidedly different tone. "The Big Show has a herniated disk in his back based on the results of an MRI," Ross wrote. "Show will heal for a couple of weeks and then will be assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville to work himself into great condition and lose some weight. There is no exact timeframe for how long he will be in OVW, but WWF officials expect it could take up to three months to accomplish what needs to be done."

The Big Show, a former WWF world champion and main-event star, was moving to a developmental territory, which is akin to Randy Johnson or Mark McGwire being shipped to a Triple A baseball club. The rumor mill began to churn as speculation ran rampant about why Wight was demoted. Ross had already intimated a problem with Wight's conditioning and propensity for injury. He had just returned from a knee injury and now was suffering from back problems. WWF television has documented the stops and starts in storylines and the changes in persona.

"A lot of that stuff as far as why he was sent down there was, more or less, rumors. From what I have heard, it was more to recuperate than anything," says Lawler. "The last time I saw him in the WWF, he was laid out with two doctors working on him. They had to give him some sort of shot in his back, and he couldn't even get up."

CHANGE BUILDS CHARACTER

Lawler speculates that Wight's purported "demotion" is also the result of "tweaking his character and getting him into wrestling shape where he won't be so injury prone."

"He went from trying to be the killer-type bad guy, and then all of a sudden they see him with a funny personality on `Saturday Night Live,'" Lawler says. "And then [the WWF] felt that really wasn't working. I think it's not just the Big Show himself. I think the people in the WWF are really searching for exactly what they want him to be."

How does a main-event star and former world champion reach the point of being shipped off to a smaller territory? The WWF is rich in its star power; but in its ongoing--albeit one-sided--Monday night war with WCW it needs a wrestler with the talent and star power of the Big Show to be on his game.

Following Wight's stay in OVW, the WWF is hoping the Big Show will return in better condition and be less susceptible to injury. That should lead to a more defined game plan for his character.