Encyclopedia
Paul Wight, Jr. , better known by the ring names
Big Show and
Giant, is an
American professional wrestler. Wight is currently wrestling on the Extreme Championship Wrestling brand of
World Wrestling Entertainment , where he is the reigning
ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
Career
World Championship Wrestling
Paul Wight became involved in
professional wrestling when
Danny Bonaduce introduced him to
Hulk Hogan at a charity
basketball event in early 1995. Wight trained at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory for seven months and then signed with
World Championship Wrestling . He polished his wrestling skills at the WCW Power Plant, where at one point he possessed the ability to perform a
moonsault.
Wight debuted in WCW during the 1995
Bash At The Beach. He introduced himself as
The Giant, claiming to be the son of
André the Giant, and blaming Hogan for the death of his "father". He joined the Dungeon of Doom, who were at war with Hulk Hogan and his allies, and immediately began a heated feud with Hogan. At the
1995 Fall Brawl, Wight attacked Hogan while he was fighting the leader of the Dungeon of Doom, "Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, in a
cage match. After Wight destroyed Hogan's
Harley-Davidson Motorcycle using a
monster truck, Hogan challenged him to a "Monster Truck Battle" at
Halloween Havoc in
Detroit.
On October 29, 1995, the Battle took place atop
Cobo Hall, with each man driving a monster truck and trying to force the other truck out of a circle, as in a
Sumo Wrestling Contest. Hogan won the match when Wight descended from his vehicle and appeared to fall from the roof. Later that night, Wight came to the ring with The Taskmaster and challenged Hogan for the
WCW World Heavyweight Championship in what would be his WCW in-ring debut. Wight was awarded the victory by disqualification after interference from
Jimmy Hart, Hogan's manager. Hart then revealed that the contract Hogan had signed had a clause stating that the title would change hands on a disqualification, and, as Hart had intentionally caused a disqualification, Wight was the new World Heavyweight Champion. The title was held up one week later as a result of the controversial decision.
Wight tried to reclaim the title at
World War 3 but was foiled by Hogan, and
"Macho Man" Randy Savage won the vacant title. . Wight teamed with
Ric Flair to defeat Hogan and Savage at the January 23, 1996
Clash of the Champions XXXII, but was decisively beaten by Hogan in a cage match at
SuperBrawl.
After a short feud with The Loch Ness Monster, Wight eventually became a
face, winning the World Heavyweight Championship a second time by defeating Ric Flair. After Hogan turned heel by forming the New World Order, he defeated Wight for the Championship at the 1996
Hog Wild was a Pay-per-view [i] performance in World Championship Wrestling [i] from 1996 to 1999. ...
following interference from
Scott Hall and
Kevin Nash. Wight joined the nWo twenty three days later, citing
Ted DiBiase's money as his primary motivation. He feuded with
Lex Luger and the Four Horsemen.
After being thrown out of the nWo on December 30, 1996 for asking Hogan for a World Heavyweight Championship title shot, Wight fought against the nWo along with
Sting and Lex Luger, winning the
WCW World Tag Team Championships twice. In 1997 he began a feud with nWo member Kevin Nash, who constantly dodged Wight, failing to appear for their scheduled match at the 1997
StarrCade. In 1998 at
Souled Out the two finally met in the ring, but Nash accidentally injured Wight's neck when he botched a
Jackknife Powerbomb. When Nash left the nWo and formed his own
stable, the Wolfpac, Wight rejoined the nWo to oppose Nash and his allies. Nash eventually ended Wight's WCW career when he defeated him following interference from Scott Hall and Eric Bischoff. He left WCW in 1999 for the
World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation
Wight signed a multi-year contract with the WWF in early 1999. He debuted as a member of
Vince McMahon's heel stable,
The Corporation, at the February 1999 St. Valentine's Day Massacre event. During the McMahon vs.
Stone Cold Steve Austin cage match, Wight broke through the ring and attacked Austin. However, he cost McMahon the match when he threw Austin into the side of the cage and the cage broke, spilling Austin outside to the floor and granting him the victory. This meant that Austin would face The Rock at
WrestleMania XV for the
WWF Championship.
Wight performed as "Big Nasty" Paul White for several weeks and was eventually renamed
"The Big Show" Paul Wight and acted as McMahon's bodyguard. Wight later dropped his real name, and was from then on referred to simply as "The Big Show". McMahon wanted to ensure that Corporation member The Rock would retain his title at WrestleMania, so he faced
Mick Foley at WrestleMania for the right to referee the main event. Wight incapacitated Mankind, but disqualified himself in the process, meaning that neither man would be referee. After a furious McMahon slapped Wight, he punched McMahon and was arrested, turning
face. Wight concluded his feud with Foley in a Boiler Room Brawl before joining Mankind, Test and Ken Shamrock in a stable known as "The Union" who fought against the Corporation, and later against the Corporate Ministry. Wight and
Undertaker later formed an unlikely alliance against X-Pac and
Kane, with Wight turning heel in the process. Wight and The Undertaker twice won the
WWF Tag Team Championships.
When The Undertaker was sidelined with injuries, Wight set his sights on the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, turning face once more. He participated in the Six Pack Challenge for the belt at the 1999 Unforgiven, but failed to win. After Steve Austin was run-over at the 1999
Survivor Series, Wight was given his place in the
triple threat match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, where he pinned
Triple H in a match that also featured The Rock to become champion.
At the same time, Wight feuded with the Big Boss Man. After it was announced that Wight's father was terminally ill with
cancer, the Boss Man had one of his crooked police colleagues inform Wight that his father had died, and then mocked Wight's tearful reaction. Several weeks later, when it was announced Wight's father had actually died , the Boss Man first interrupted the ten bell toll, then later invaded the funeral and used a chain to couple the coffin to the hearse, towing the coffin away with a grief stricken Wight clinging on to it. He also visited Wight's mother and forced her to reveal that Wight's father was a different man, leading Boss Man to refer to him as a "bastard" on every possible occasion . During the 1999 Armageddon, The Boss Man faced Wight for the title, but even the presence of his protégé Prince Albert did not offset Wight's considerable size advantage, and Wight defeated him to retain the title.
On the January 3, 2000, episode of
RAW is the Monday night professional wrestling [i] television program [i] for World Wrestling Entertainment [i] ...
Triple H defeated Wight for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, using a title shot that he had won from Vince McMahon at Armageddon. Trying to regain the title, Wight participated in the
2000 Royal Rumble, and was the runner up, losing to The Rock. Wight was convinced that he had won, and eventually produced a video tape that showed The Rock's feet striking the ground first. He was then given a match with The Rock at No Way Out, with the WrestleMania title shot on the line. Wight defeated The Rock when
Shane McMahon interfered, knocking The Rock out with a chair shot. The Rock was desperate to reclaim his title shot, and eventually agreed to a match with Wight on the March 13, 2000 episode of
RAW - if he won, the WrestleMania title match would become a triple threat match, and if he lost, he would retire from the WWF. Shane McMahon, now actively supporting Wight's bid to become champion, appointed himself as the special guest referee. However, The Rock triumphed when Vince McMahon assaulted Shane and donned the referee shirt, personally making the three count following a
Rock Bottom.
On the March 20, 2000 episode of
RAW, Triple H agreed to defend the title against The Rock and Wight on the condition that the match would not take place at WrestleMania. Triple H managed to pin Wight, but
Linda McMahon forced him to defend the title at WrestleMania in a
fatal four way elimination match, with Mick Foley as the fourth man. Wight was the first man eliminated from the match at WrestleMania 2000 after the other three competitors worked together against him.
After WrestleMania, Wight began to turn face once more. He would wrestle his matches while mimicking other wrestlers, lampooning
Rikishi as
Showkishi,
The Berzerker as
Shonan The Barbarian and
Val Venis as
The Big Showbowski. He faced
Kurt Angle at Backlash 2000, and came to the ring dressed like his friend and role model Hulk Hogan. "
The Showster" defeated Angle with ease.
Wight began feuding with his former manager Shane McMahon after he was shown mocking Wight as slow, stupid and highly suggestible. At Judgment Day 2000 on May 21, Shane defeated Wight in a
falls count anywhere match following interference from Big Boss Man, Bull Buchanan, Test and Albert. Wight returned two months later, apparently intending to gain revenge on Shane, but instead sided with him and formed a short-lived stable known as "The Conspiracy" with Shane,
Chris Benoit,
Edge, Kurt Angle and
Christian. After Undertaker threw Wight through a table, he disappeared for some time . WWF management was so unhappy with his inability to lose weight and sharpen his skills that he was removed from two of their
video games:
for the
PlayStation and
WWF No Mercy is a professional wrestling [i] video game [i] released in 2000 [i] ...
for the
Nintendo 64, where his character was replaced with Steven Richards. In both games, certain aspects of Big Show were still usable through the use of a
GameShark: his face could be hacked in
No Mercy, while his entire unfinished character was playable in
SmackDown! 2.
Wight returned at the
2001 Royal Rumble, but after taking out all of the competitors with chokeslams and eliminating Test and K-Kwik, he was eliminated by The Rock. Angered by his quick elimination, he proceeded to chokeslam The Rock through the announcer’s table at ring side before he left the arena, this however did not eliminate The Rock as he never went over the top rope.
He then began competing for the
Hardcore Championship, which he lost to Kane in a triple threat match which also included
Raven at
WrestleMania X-Seven.
Throughout The Invasion later that year Wight remained loyal to the WWF. He faced Shane McMahon, the onscreen owner of WCW, in a
last man standing match at Backlash 2001, and was defeated following interference from Test. He was also part of the victorious Team WWF at Survivor Series 2001, though he was eliminated early in the proceedings.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Wight was the number six pick of Ric Flair in the March 25, 2002 draft. He turned heel by betraying Steve Austin in the course of a match and rejoining the newest incarnation of the New World Order, but the stable disbanded after Kevin Nash was injured. Wight achieved little success on
RAW after this, at one point even losing to the much smaller
Jeff Hardy. Wight began a feud with
Booker T, but lost the majority of his matches. He then feuded with the
Dudley Boyz, but was once again repeatedly defeated. Wight then informed General Manager Eric Bischoff that he would hurt him if he was not elevated to main event status.
SmackDown!
In late 2002, Wight was notified by Bischoff that he had been traded to
SmackDown! is a professional wrestling [i] television program [i] for World Wrestling Entertainment [i]...
in exchange for
Randy Orton, Ivory, Maven,
D-Von Dudley and
Val Venis. Upon arriving on
SmackDown!, Wight immediately challenged
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, who he defeated at the
2002 Survivor Series following interference from Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman, thus becoming a two time World Champion. He lost the title to Kurt Angle a month later.
In January 2003, Wight lost a Royal Rumble qualifying match to Lesnar. He then began feuding with The Undertaker, leading to Wight and his partner A-Train losing to The Undertaker at
WrestleMania XIX. After that, he began a feud with
Eddie Guerrero, who he defeated for the
WWE United States Championship. Wight became an associate of Brock Lesnar, but abandoned Lesnar immediately before
WrestleMania XX. At WrestleMania XX, Wight lost the United States Championship to
John Cena.
On the April 15, 2004 episode of
SmackDown!, Wight promised to quit if he failed to defeat Eddie Guerrero that night. He lost to Guerrero, and, believing that
Torrie Wilson had laughed at him for losing, upended her car and threatened to throw her off a ledge. Kurt Angle ascended to the ledge to try and talk some reason into Wight, but Wight
chokeslammed him from the ledge, concussing Angle and breaking his leg. He was "fired" as a result.
In mid-2004, Wight was reinstated by new General Manager Theodore R. Long, and at
No Mercy 2004, Wight, once more a face, fought Kurt Angle. In the weeks before the match, Wight claimed to have "lost his dignity" when Angle tranquilized him in the middle of the ring using a dart gun and shaved his head .
In 2005, Wight began pursuing the WWE Championship once more, challenging
John Bradshaw Layfield to a
barbed wire steel cage match at No Way Out 2005. After Wight chokeslammed JBL through the ring, Layfield managed to crawl to the outside, winning the match and retaining his title.
On April 3, 2005, at
WrestleMania 21, Wight faced
Sumo Wrestling Grand Champion
Akebono in a worked
sumo match that was added to the show to attract a strong pay-per-view audience in
Japan, where Akebono is considered a sporting legend. In the weeks preceding the match, Wight pushed over a
jeep driven to the ring by Luther Reigns to show that he was capable of moving the marginally heavier Akebono. Wight lost to Akebono at WrestleMania.
In May 2005 Wight suffered "injured ribs" on the right-hand side of his torso and was temporarily sidelined after
Carlito Caribbean Cool's bodyguard Matt Morgan used the
F-5 to drive him through the announcers' table . On June 16, Wight and Morgan fought in a singles match. Following a distraction by Carlito, Morgan was able to knock Wight out of the ring. He then attempted to drive Wight through the announcers' table once again after Carlito hit Wight with a steel chair. Wight, however, managed this time to reverse the F-5 and shove Morgan into Carlito, then chokeslam Morgan through the table, gaining a measure of revenge. Wight's feud with Morgan continued on June 23 when Muhammad Hassan was drafted from
RAW to
SmackDown! and immediately booked by Theodore Long to face Wight as a punishment for his arrogance. Before the match, Morgan came to ringside, ostensibly to serve as a guest commentator. When the referee was knocked unconscious by an errant blow, Morgan attempted to hit Wight with a steel chair, but failed. As Wight dispatched Morgan, Hassan struck him in the head with Morgan's chair, enabling him to secure a victory.
RAW
On June 27, 2005, Wight was traded back to
RAW in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, preventing him from participating in a scheduled six-man elimination match for the SmackDown! Championship. He successfully pinned
Gene Snitsky in a tag team match which degenerated into a singles match when both men's partners brawled backstage. After squashing his scheduled opponents for several weeks, Wight approached
Chris Masters on July 18, volunteering to try and break Masters's
Master Lock, after Masters boasted that no-one, no matter how big, could break free from the hold. Masters refused to accept Wight's challenge and retreated up the ramp and away from the ring. In the following weeks, Wight faced Masters in many tag team matches before the angle was dropped without explanation and Wight returned to his rivalry with Snitsky.
On August 15 Wight defeated The Heart Throbs in a handicap match, easily overpowering his smaller opponents throughout the brief match. The following week, he continued his rivalry with Gene Snitsky by foiling Snitsky's harassment of backstage interviewer
Maria. On August 29, Snitsky hit Wight with the ring bell immediately after Wight had won a match. As a result, Wight and Snitsky were placed in a match at
Unforgiven 2005 in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 18 in which Wight defeated Snitsky. On September 26, Wight defeated Snitsky again in a
street fight.
On October 17, Wight defeated
Edge and was thus entered in an online poll, with the winner of the poll facing
John Cena and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship at
Taboo Tuesday 2005 on November 1. The poll was won by
Shawn Michaels, and Wight teamed with Kane to defeat Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the
World Tag Team Championship.
In the weeks preceding the
2005 Survivor Series, Wight became involved in the rivalry between the
RAW and
SmackDown! brands. He and Kane invaded the November 11 episode of
SmackDown! and, along with Edge, attacked
Batista . On the November 14 episode of
RAW, a tribute to Eddie Guerrero , Wight and Kane defeated
SmackDown! wrestlers and reigning
WWE Tag Team Champions MNM in an inter-brand, non-title match. On November 21, Wight and Kane "injured" Batista by delivering a
double chokeslam onto the
windshield of a
car. At Survivor Series, Wight, Kane, Carlito, Chris Masters and team captain Shawn Michaels, represented
RAW in a match with Team
SmackDown!; JBL,
Rey Mysterio,
Bobby Lashley,
Randy Orton and Batista.
SmackDown! won the match, with Randy Orton the sole survivor.
Wight drew with Rey Mysterio in an inter-promotional match held on
SmackDown! after Kane interfered and the match was declared a no-contest. Following the match, Wight and Kane attacked Mysterio until The Undertaker chased them from the ring. Wight and Kane returned to
SmackDown! on December 2, defeating Mysterio and JBL after JBL abandoned the match, claiming the referee had poked him in the eye. Following the match, Wight and Kane's attempt to assault Mysterio was once again foiled, this time when Batista ran in to see them off. As a result, Wight and Kane were booked to face Batista and Mysterio at
Armageddon 2005 on December 18. They won the match, which pitted the Tag Team Champions from each brand against one another.
On the December 12 episode of
RAW, Wight took part in a qualifying match for a shot at the WWE Championship in an
Elimination Chamber match at
New Year's Revolution on January 8, 2006. Wight lost to his opponent, Shawn Michaels, by disqualification after
Triple H hit Michaels with a chair, intentionally costing Wight the match and the title shot. In retaliation, Wight cost Triple H his qualifying match with Kane later that evening. On the December 26 episode of
RAW, during the contract signing for the announced match between Wight and Triple H at
New Year's Revolution, Triple H struck Wight in the hand that Wight apparently favors when using the chokeslam with his sledgehammer. The following week, Wight attacked Triple H while wearing a
cast on his hand, using the padding provided by the cast to punch a hole in a chair held by Triple H, destroying a monitor from the announcers' table that Triple H intended to throw at him and chasing Triple H away from the ring. At New Year's Revolution, Triple H defeated Wight after striking him in the head with his sledgehammer.
Wight was one of eight participants in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, the winner of which would receive a shot at the
WWE Championship. In his first round match on February 6, Wight defeated
Shelton Benjamin. On the February 13 episode of
RAW, Wight faced Triple H in the tournament semi-finals in a match that ended in a double count out. As a result, Wight and Triple H faced
Rob Van Dam in a triple threat match to determine the winner of the tournament on the February 20 episode of
RAW. The match was won by Triple H after he pinned Van Dam.
In the weeks following the tournament, Wight and Kane feuded with
Chris Masters and
Carlito, leading to a World Tag Team Championship title match being scheduled for
WrestleMania 22. Wight and Kane defeated Carlito and Masters in the opening bout of
WrestleMania 22, marking Wight's first victory at
WrestleMania after suffering six defeats. On the following evening, Wight and Kane lost the World Tag Team Championship to
Spirit Squad members
Kenny and
Mikey following copious interference from the other members of the Spirit Squad. They faced Spirit Squad members
Johnny and
Nicky in a rematch one week later, but lost via disqualification after Kane "snapped" and left the ring to attack the other members of the Spirit Squad. The ensuing feud between Kane and Wight culminated in a match at Backlash 2006 on April 30, 2006 that ended in a no contest.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
At
WWE vs. ECW Head to Head on June 7, 2006, Wight defected to the Extreme Championship Wrestling brand of WWE by removing his
RAW shirt to reveal an ECW shirt during a twenty man battle royal pitting members of the
RAW and
SmackDown! rosters against members of the ECW roster. Wight went on to win the match for ECW by eliminating
Randy Orton over the ropes. Wight went on to appear at ECW One Night Stand 2006 on June 11, 2006, attacking Tajiri, Super Crazy and the
Full Blooded Italians after their tag team match before becoming a regular performer in the brand's weekly show.
On the July 4, 2006 episode of
ECW on Sci Fi, Wight defeated Rob Van Dam to win the
ECW World Heavyweight Championship with the assistance of Paul Heyman. The victory saw him become the first ever professional wrestler to hold the WWE Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship and ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Since then Wight has been involved in an angle involving The McMahons, and
D-Generation X.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
Big Show often keeps the clutch hold locked in for a submission attempt or to ragdoll an opponent across the ring
Championships and accomplishments
- PWI ranked him # 137 of the best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
- PWI Rookie of the Year Award
- PWI Wrestler of the Year Award - The first rookie to be named Wrestler of the Year.
Acting career
Filmography
- Reggie's Prayer as "Mr. Portola"
- Jingle All the Way as "Huge Santa"
- McCinsey's Island as "Little Snow Flake"
- The Waterboy as "Captain Insano"
- Little Hercules in 3-D as "Marduk"
Television appearances
...
- Weakest Link is a television [i] game show [i] which first appeared in the United Kingdom [i] on BBC Two [i] ...
- One on One *Saturday Night Live is a weekly late night 90-minute American [i] comedy [i]-variety show [i] ...
- TV total is a German [i] late night television [i] comedy [i] talk show [i] that has run sin...
- MADtv is an American [i] sketch comedy [i] television series based on the popular humo ...
- Player$ in episode "Barenaked Players"
- in episode "Borderland" as "Orion Slave Trader #1"
- Hogan Knows Best
Personal life
Like André the Giant, Wight has acromegaly or "gigantism", although he underwent successful surgery in the early 1990s on his pituitary gland which halted the progress of this condition. By the age of twelve, Wight was 6 ft 2 in tall, weighed 220 lb and had chest hair. His height peaked in the early 2000s at 7 ft 1 in , with his weight reaching a maximum of 541 lb . His shoe size is 22 5 E, his ring size is 22.5 and his chest is 64 in in circumference. In 2005, Wight leased a bus and hired a bus driver because of the practical problems his size presents to air travel and car rental.
Wight played basketball and football in high school at Wyman King Academy in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. He was a standout center for the basketball and tight end for the football team. While in college , Wight played basketball, and was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. While in WCW, he was arrested and detained for allegedly exposing himself to a hotel clerk in Memphis, Tennessee. He was later released due to a lack of evidence.
Wight is married, and his wife, Bess, is of average height. He also has a daughter, Sierra, from a previous marriage.
While appearing on the Howard Stern Show, Wight told the story of how he had been cleared of all charges after a professional wrestling fan initiated a lawsuit against him for assault. Wight had been in a hotel lobby when the fan approached him and began verbally abusing him before shoving him. Wight defended himself by punching the fan, shattering his jaw.
Wight has numerous tattoos, including a tiger on his right biceps and his wife's name on the back of his neck.
References
External links
