Curtains rise for Big Show

MANILA, Philippines - Paul Wight Jr. is known in the grappling business as Big Show, a nom de guerre that was coined by mat mogul Vince McMahon in 1999 when the 7-foot, 438-pound giant signed a 10-year contract to perform for the group now called the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Wight, 44, was in Manila early this week to promote the WWE’s live one-night-only event at the MOA Arena on Sept. 9. If there’s anyone who fits the bill as being larger than life, it’s Wight. His fingers aren’t extraordinarily long but his palms are like a baseball catcher’s mitt. His legs are like stumps of a Redwood tree and his feet are safely tucked inside made-to-order size 22 shoes.

Despite his gigantic frame, Big Show isn’t scary. He came across as a regular guy who’s sociable, fun-loving and gregarious during a Star one-on-one interview at the Conrad Hotel last Tuesday. But inside the ring, it’s a different story.

Big Show was afflicted with acromegaly, a pituitary gland disorder that produces excess growth hormones, as a boy. When he was 12, Wight stood 6-2 and weighed 220 pounds. In his teens, the unusually stratospheric Wight turned to basketball as a possible gateway to a sports career. He played at Wichita State, a Division I school that produced NBA veterans like Xavier McDaniel, Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston.

“At one time, (becoming a professional basketball player) was my goal,” said Big Show. “But when I got to Wichita State, it was a rough time. Coach (Mike) Cohen, whom I wanted to play for, got fired then I lost my father and grandfather to cancer that same year. So three very influential role models, I lost them all in a year. It was a tough time for me and I just lost the flavor for basketball. From a guy who played ball seven to eight hours a day, woke up early every morning, shot free throws … I didn’t even want to hold a basketball. I did odd jobs. I worked at bars, I sold cars, I did karaoke shows. I didn’t get to find a true love and true passion until I discovered wrestling.”

Big Show said when he met wrestlers like Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Terry Taylor and Paul Orndorff, it was like joining a brotherhood. “I wanted to be a part of the select fraternity,” he said. “For a young man who was 22, who didn’t have enough sense to put water out of a boot, I learned a lot from those guys. I went from not having any positive role model to having 15 to 20 wrestling superstars influencing my life.”

It was Hulk Hogan who turned Wight on to wrestling. Wight met Hogan through radio host Danny Bonaduce who organized a two-on-two celebrity basketball game to promote a wrestling event in Chicago. Big Show teamed with Bonaduce to beat Hogan and Mr. T. “My shot was too good back then,” he chuckled. Fate brought Big Show and Hogan together in the ring in 1995. It was Big Show’s pro debut and Hogan staked his world wrestling title. Big Show dethroned Hogan on a disqualification because of manager Jimmy Hart’s interference.

“My first match was with Hogan and I walked out with the title,” he said. “Nobody had ever done that before. It just doesn’t happen. The fact that Hogan took that chance on me, green and young as I was, showed his faith in my potential as a human being, as a person. He told me I’m going to put you on the map and that’s what he did. Then, he told me after the match, you just won the heavyweight championship so when you go to the airport tomorrow, wear the belt so everyone knows you beat Hulk Hogan. So in the morning, I’m walking at the airport with the title belt around my waist and all the guys were giving me thumbs up, calling me champ. I’m 23 and stupid, I take the title belt off for the metal detector then (wrestler) Sting, with his blond hair and shades, came over to tell me I look like an idiot, to take off the belt and put it in my bag. There were like 15 wrestlers, including Jim Duggan, laughing at this rookie with the belt on my waist. I was just so proud to wear it and I thought it was a good idea to show it off. Pro wrestling’s a great fraternity, a great business of brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and daughters, it’s an amazing business.”

Asked what he eats on a typical day, Wight joked he gulped down two fried midgets for breakfast. “Seriously, for breakfast this morning, I had a 12-ounce steak and six eggs,” he said. “Then, for lunch, it was another 12-ounce steak, no carbs. For dinner later, I’ll do chicken and some steak. Over the past five or six weeks, I’ve lost 34 pounds so now, I’m down to 438. I’ll be 400 by December. I’ll cut out the junk, no chocolate, no carbs after 2 p.m.”

 When the interview was over, Big Show posed for photographs and signed personalized picture cards without hesitation. There wasn’t a semblance of ego or arrogance. The future wrestling Hall of Famer delivered a strong message that with great size comes a great responsibility to show respect, humility and sincerity.