The show must go on: in basketball, professional wrestling and life in general, Paul Wight has had his share of triumphs and disappointment

Wrestling Digest, Feb, 2002 by Stephanie Levitt, David Kimble

IT'S NO SECRET WHY PAUL WIGHT IS known as "the Big Show." At 7'1" and 410 pounds, Wight is one of the biggest performers to ever enter the squared circle. But how he got that big was more a result of a medical oddity than the genetic traits passed down to Wight by his parents.

As a child, Wight suffered from a condition that caused his pituitary gland to secrete above average levels of growth hormone. This gave Wight a condition called acromegaly, which causes abnormal growth throughout the body.

Making the best of the situation, Wight's intent was to use his condition to his advantage and eventually play professional basketball, but through some bad luck and circumstances beyond his control, he never realized that dream.

Instead, a chance meeting with Hulk Hogan put Wight on the track to wrestling stardom, and while there have been some mishaps and misconceptions along the way, Wight is intent on proving that "the Big Show" is not a big fluke.

A Big Kid with Big Dreams

Paul Wight II was born on February 8, 1972, in Aiken, S.C., to Paul, an airplane mechanic, and his wife, Dorothy, a deputy sheriff. Because of the nature of his father's work, the family lived somewhat of a vagabond existence, moving to Maine, back to South Carolina, to Kansas, and back to South Carolina again all before Wight's 11th birthday.

Due to his pituitary gland condition, Wight grew abnormally fast. By the time he was six, he stood over 5'0" and weighed over 100 pounds. At 12, he was 6'0" and weighed 220 pounds. At 13, he was 6'5" and could easily dunk a basketball. The game became an obsession as Wight quickly realized it was a way for him to fit in at school and later in life, allow him to get a college education.

With Wight's advanced size came advanced responsibilities and expectations, none more so than from his father. His dad was a hard-worker and was quite demanding of his son and seldom treated him like a child. At a very early age, Wight was helping his father around the house, working on cars, in the yard, and generally doing tasks normally reserved for people much older. This was the case throughout Wight's childhood. Wight's father believed feeding and housing his son was the end of his responsibilities. As a result, Wight worked for his clothes, his expensive basketball shoes, and other things. The thought of his son playing basketball rather than working as much as he could did not please the elder Wight. The entire Wight family was a hard-working bunch, and playing basketball created tension at home. As a result, his father was not supportive of his athletic pursuits, leaving Wight with a difficult balancing act of academics, work, and basketball.

Because of his prowess on the basketball court, Wight knew, at the very least, he would be assured of a college education. As a result, Wight was not convinced that homework was more important than basketball. Stubborn and headstrong, none of Wight's teachers could convince him of how crucial an education would be. Wight had one goal: attend college on a basketball scholarship and become a professional basketball player.

From Basketball to Karaoke

Wight attended Wagner Salley High School in Wagner Salley, S.C. During his freshman year, Wight fell in with the wrong crowd and found himself in trouble with his father. The next year, his father enrolled him in St. Angela's catholic school, about 40 miles from the Wight home. There, Wight began attracting attention with his agility and basketball skills. Unfortunately, an encounter with the head nun, Sister Veronica, over his poor study habits led to his dismissal from the team. At the end of the year, the school closed its doors due to financial issues.

Wight was offered a basketball scholarship his junior year to attend Wyman King Academy, a Christian school located in Batesburg, S.C. There, Wight continued to reap the benefits of countless hours spent on the basketball court During his junior and senior years, Wight averaged 30 points, 20 rebounds, and 11 blocks a game. He scored 50 points or more in seven games during his senior year. Wight was a two-time all conference player for King and led the team to a final four and runner-up finish in the state tournament. While his basketball skills were getting better, his grades weren't.

In 1990, Wight graduated from Wyman. Despite being heavily recruited by the University of South Carolina, he headed to Northern Oklahoma Junior College to mature, get his grades in order, and play against some stronger competition. That season, Wight averaged 14 points and 6.5 rebounds a game and earned an all-conference selection. He played there for one year before transferring to Wichita State University, where according to then-coach Mike Cohen, "Paul displayed good hands, good passing ability and a nice shooting touch."

Wight averaged 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for the Shockers.

Cohen was a father figure for many on the team, including Wight, but mid-way through the season Cohen and the players learned that his contract would not be renewed, which left all involved extremely dejected. After considering transferring to Ft. Hayes State in Ft. Hayes, Kan., to be with his girlfriend, Wight reconsidered and enrolled at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, a division III school. Before he played one game for the Cougars, he sustained what was thought to be an injury to his left knee during a pickup basketball game. Instead, he had a condition called sciatica, which are irritations to large nerves that start at the lower spine and travel through the legs. That prevented him from playing basketball, and the school informed him that it would cancel his scholarship if he could no longer play. His dreams of NBA stardom were over, and so was his chance at an education.