Paul Wight Wasn't A Fan Of His Big Show Moniker When Vince McMahon First Pitched It
It's been over 20 years since Paul Wight made his WWE debut, arriving in February 1999 at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Shortly after that, however, and up until his departure from WWE in 2021, fans knew him as The Big Show. Professional wrestlers can come by their ring names through various means, so why this particular moniker?
Taking into account his original billing — seven feet tall and over 500 pounds — the name makes some sense, but according to Wight, he had nothing to do with it. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet in August 2021, he gave all the credit to Vince McMahon (via TJR Wrestling).
"That was Vince," Wight said. "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."
Paul Wight Leaned in to Making The Big Show His Own
While Wight didn't take to his new name at first, he understood why it came to be. And it didn't stop him from making the most of it going forward.
"Back then, it was the Attitude and the Monday Night Wars," he continued. "But over the years, like anything, if you do it long enough you can make it your own."
Of course, Wight was unable to use the name upon his arrival in All Elite Wrestling in 2021.
"Tt's now a little hard to rebrand," he admitted. "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."
Before he finished that thought, though, the man formerly known as The Big Show couldn't help but get one last little shot in.
"Hopefully I won't change two or three times in a match now," he joked.