Paul Wight spent 22 years with WWE between 1999 and 2021, establishing himself as one of the most recognizable names of his generation as Big Show. Despite that longevity, the veteran says he never once felt secure in his spot.
Speaking with TMZ’s Inside The Ring, Wight said working under Vince McMahon meant constant pressure to keep proving his worth.
“But I never for once laid back on my ass and thought that I had it made. No, there was a lot of anxiety and a lot of stress daily, making sure I knew I was only going to be there as long as I was valuable, as long as I produced.
And when I stopped producing, I wasn’t going to be there anymore because that’s the role that he saw me in.”
Wight also pinpointed the exact moment he knew his run as an active WWE performer was coming to an end. During the pandemic era, McMahon called him “Paul” in a meeting, something that had never happened before.
“I’ll tell you when I knew I was done with WWE: Vince called me ‘Paul’ one day during the COVID era.
In all the years that I knew Vince McMahon, he never called me Paul. He always called me Show or Big Show. He never called me Paul.”
According to Wight, the shift came while WWE was discussing using him in an interview segment during his storyline with Randy Orton. He took it as a sign that McMahon already viewed him more as a company ambassador than as active talent.
Wight didn’t see the decision as malicious, but he wasn’t ready to step away from in-ring competition. His final WWE segment aired on the January 4, 2021 episode of Raw, fittingly in a confrontation with Orton.
Weeks later, on February 24, 2021, AEW officially announced his signing to a long-term deal that included in-ring work and commentary duties.