"I got cussed out for 15 minutes" - AEW's Paul Wight (fka Big Show) opens up about taking his first unprotected chair shot to the head

Paul Wight at an AEW event in 2021
Paul Wight at an AEW event in 2021

AEW star Paul Wight has opened up about the first time he took an unprotected chair shot to the head.

Medical advancements have allowed doctors to study head trauma much more in-depth. This has resulted in wrestlers no longer taking unprotected chair shots to the head due to the damage it causes. Now, rather than sustaining a concussion and just gritting their teeth to work. Head injuries are taken more seriously than they were when the man formerly known as the Big Show broke into the industry.

Paul Wight spoke on the Onorato and Company show to promote AEW Dynamite coming to Albany, New York for the first time. He peeled back the curtain on his past, and admitted that he got cussed out for trying to protect himself the first time he got hit in the head with a chair.

"When I first started they were like ‘don’t put your hands up, you’ll break your fingers idiot.’ So like your normal reaction would be to put your hands up, the first time I did that, I got cussed out for 15 minutes on what my character would look like and ‘just tuck your chin and take it on the crown of your head, you’ll be fine.’" [17:06-17:28]

Fortunately, it doesn't seem as if Wight has lost his sense of humor after taking those chair shots, as he sarcastically stated that taking a shot to the head made all the sense in the world.

"That’s the way the business was when I started, so yeah it makes so much sense looking back ‘sure a shot to my brain is much better than breaking a finger possibly.’ It makes so much sense, it explains why I am the way I am now probably.” [17:29-17:41]

Paul Wight has even taken some chair shots during his time in AEW

Despite being in the business for over 25 years at the time of writing, Paul Wight isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. He even took a chair shot from Billy Gunn in the lead up to the 2021 AEW All Out pay-per-view.

The chair shot was to the back rather than the head, but it was still extremely shocking at the time, given the fact that Wight and Gunn have so much history between them.

However, the chair shot didn't stop Wight from annhilating QT Marshall just a few days later at the pay-per-view, defeating him in around three minutes.

Would you like to see more of Paul Wight in the ring in AEW? Let us know in the comments section down below!

Please credit "Onotaro and Company" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.

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Edited by Brandon Nell