AEW Reportedly Almost Had Paul Wight Reprise Classic Gimmick At All In

While AEW's next pay-per-view, WrestleDream is today, there is still some backstage news regarding the All In pay-per-view that took place in London, England at Wembley Stadium on August 27. Fightful Select is reporting that Captain Insano — Paul Wight's wrestling character from the 1998 Adam Sandler film, "WaterBoy," was pitched to make an appearance at All In.

Per the report, there were several pitches and ideas for Wight to reprise the character and team with Matt Hardy, former Impact Wrestling star Grado (or Jeff Hardy) to face Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal at All In. However, in the end, it was Grado, Wight, and Anthony Ogogo, who confronted Jarrett, Singh, Lethal, and Dutt in the ring during the Zero Hour portion of All In.

Jarrett was also said to be one who pitched for Grado to have some kind of part at All In. He wanted to have former NBA star Dennis Rodman be involved in some way too. Rodman, of course, a week after All In, was at the All Out PPV in Chicago, Illinois. The night before the event, Rodman was on the September 1 episode of "AEW Collision."

While the Captain Insano character didn't exactly make it to All In, fans were given a treat during this past Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite," when the character appeared in a pre-recorded segment with Adam Cole and AEW World Champion MJF. It was back in March 2021, when AEW filed a trademark for "Captain Insano."  Wight would first bring the character to AEW in November 2022.