Big Show
| Big Show | |
|---|---|
Wight in 2025 | |
| Birth name | Paul Donald Wight II[1] |
| Born | February 8, 1972[2] Aiken, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Wichita State University Southern Illinois University Edwardsville |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names | |
| Billed height | 7 ft 0 in (213 cm)[3][4] – 7 ft 2 in (218 cm)[5][6] |
| Billed weight | 383 lb (174 kg)[3] – 500 lb (230 kg)[4][7] |
| Billed from | Tampa, Florida[3] |
| Trained by | Larry Sharpe Thrasher[8] |
| Debut | December 3, 1994[9] |
Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1995 to 1999 as (the) Giant and his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later World Wrestling Entertainment and WWE) from 1999 to 2021 under the ring name (the) Big Show.
Wight played college basketball at Wichita State University before transferring to other schools. He began his wrestling career in 1994. In 1995, he signed with WCW, where, due to his great height and large frame, he was known by the ring name The Giant and initially introduced as "the son of André the Giant". In early 1999, he left WCW to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Between WWF/WWE and WCW, he has held 23 total championships - including being a seven-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWF/WWE Championship twice, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, (making him the only wrestler who has won all four titles),[10] and an 11-time world tag team champion, holding the WWF/World, WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships multiple times with various partners. Having also won the Intercontinental, United States and Hardcore championships, he is the 24th Triple Crown and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history.[11][12] He also won the 60-man battle royal at World War 3 and the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WCW and WWF/WWE since 1995, including the 16th edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania.
Outside of professional wrestling, Wight has appeared in feature films and television series such as Jingle All the Way, The Waterboy, Star Trek: Enterprise, and two USA Network's comedy-dramas Royal Pains, Psych and the action-drama Burn Notice. He had lead roles in the WWE Studios comedy film Knucklehead and the Netflix sitcom The Big Show Show.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
SpecialOlympicswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Milner, John; Kamchen, Richard. "Big Show". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Big Show". WWE. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "The SmackDown Special". WWE.com. WWE. November 29, 2005. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
Originally, there was a rare David vs. Goliath showdown of the 5-foot-6, 165-pound Rey Mysterio against the 7-foot, 500-pound Big Show.
- ^ "Battle for supremacy". WWE.com. World Wrestling Entertainment. June 7, 2006. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
RAW's largest athlete, the 7 foot 2, 500-pound Big Show, also offered a warning to his opponents
- ^ "SmackDown! Superstars - Big Show". WWE.com. WWE. Archived from the original on April 3, 2004.
- ^ ""Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Triple H, and Mr ..." WWE.com. WWE. September 22, 2005. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
...7-foot, 500-pound phenomenon Big Show...
- ^ Murphy, Ryan (June 9, 2010). "Where Are They Now? The Headbangers". WWE. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
- ^ "WWA | Events Database | CAGEMATCH - the Internet Wrestling Database".
- ^ "Did you Know? Big Show". WWE.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Editors' debate: Who should be the face of WWE?". WWE. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- ^ "6 Superstars who have won every active title: Photos". WWE. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2015.