Paul Wight Explains Why He Never Explored Fighting In Combat Sports, Recalls Training In Boxing During Year Off From WWE In 2007
Paul Wight explains why he never explored a potential fight in combat sports, recalling boxing training he went through in 2007.
Paul Wight explains why he never explored a potential fight in combat sports, recalling boxing training he went through in 2007.
Wight, who previously wrestled under the ring name ‘The Big Show’ is one of the most iconic giants in pro wrestling history, winning several world championships and also exploring other avenues in acting. However, one thing that the former WWE Champion has not explored, is fighting in other combat sports.
While speaking to Gareth A Davies in a new interview, Paul Wight explained why he never explored a fighting career.
“I didn’t need to. I got into, wrestling very early, 21, when I met Hogan and started with WCW. So, financially, it was a lottery ticket for me, and I’ve never been, a person that really feels like I have something to prove in that genre I have a lot of respect for for guys that do that. I did a little bit of boxing myself in 07. I took a year off from WWE and trained boxing. I sparred with Oliver McCall. It takes a lot of courage to step over those ropes and know that someone’s going to do physical harm to you and you need to protect yourself and do physical harm back on a… What was it my boxing trainer said? Fatigue makes cowards of us all. So there’s a big difference in… fight conditioning versus, you know, other conditioning, and that 10 months of boxing that I did with Artie Artwell, his boxing trainer, changed the game for me. He had a couple of great sayings. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. Potential is a French word for you ain’t worth a shit yet, and we don’t eat cake, we eat steak. So, because, you know, we were doing it. No sugar, no carb training plan. But, yeah, the whole fight thing was never – I appreciate it. It just wasn’t anything that crossed my mind with it. There’s nothing for me to win, I think, too, is the biggest thing. There’s nothing for me to win at this size to get in that because you know if you know combat sports for real. Size and strength play a point in it. But actually, it’s training and unconscious competence was another word I already said. Because there’s a lot of times where if I’m thinking about throwing a jab or thinking about… It’s already too late. It depends on what time you get in these sports. These are sports that you have to have a real natural aptitude for, and I realized a long time ago that I’m good at doing the pretend stuff, and I’ll stick with that. So I’ll leave… Like, you know, I’ve had Shamrock, Ken Shamrock, years ago show me some stuff, and all the boys were like, ‘quit showing him that stuff. He’s too damn big,’ and it was like, you know, it was fun. But, no, my hat’s off to guys like Brock and John that stepped in there and did that because there’s no upside if you fail. You know, and it wasn’t a question of not having confidence in myself. To me, it was like I didn’t- I was very fortunate in the career that I have. I like entertaining people. I like making people laugh. I like doing what I do in wrestling. I like doing the movies and the TV shows and that stuff. That’s more my drive. I don’t feel that desire to test my mettle. I think a different life, different opportunities, sure. You know what I mean? I’m blessed with what I have.”
Elsewhere in another recent interview, Wight discussed his weight loss journey. You can read more about that here.
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