When Paul Wight jumped ship from WCW to WWE, he was given the name “The Big Show” by Vince McMahon.
During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, the current AEW wrestler and WWE legend commented on the origin of the name and his initial reaction to hearing it.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On where the name came from: “That was Vince. What was Vince. When I first came into WWE I was Paul Wight, you know? And I just don’t think Vince liked the spelling of my name or liked my name. I mean, what would Vince know about marketing, you know what I mean? 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.’”
On his initial reaction to the name: “He walked off and I thought, ‘Oh dear God, I hope that is not my wrestling name.’ And it was. But I do think back then it was the Attitude [Era], it was the Monday Night Wars. ‘The Big Show,’ also TBS. So you know, there’s a lot that went into it. And that’s okay.
“I mean, over the years, just like anything, if you do it long enough, it’s all in what you do and you can make it your own. Just as, as uncomfortable as it was to be known as The Big Show for so many years, and I’m grateful for that opportunity. Now to rebrand, to restart as myself, it’s a little hard. Because I mean, I have a great Big Show autograph. My real autograph is good, but I don’t want to put my real signature out there for document forging. Next thing you know, I’ll end up owning a bunch of timeshares in the Bahamas or something But you know, right now [I’m] just trying to figure out that new identity. And for once, I actually have a little but of input on my character. So hopefully it won’t be as schizophrenic as it was the past four decades, heal one day, babyface the next.”
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(h/t – 411 Wrestling)