WWE legend details working with a difficult Vince McMahon on brainstorming wrestling gimmick 

Former WWE Superstar and current AEW personality Paul Wight has revealed that Vince McMahon was the one who came up with the name "The Big Show." The star also admitted that the name wasn't easy to get used to.

The former WWE Champion made his debut for the company in 1999 at the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" event under his real name Paul Wight. However, in the weeks that followed, he was renamed The Big Show, a name that stuck with him for nearly 22 years.

During his time with the name, he achieved everything there was to achieve in WWE. The "World's Largest Athlete" left the company in 2021 as a 4-time world champion, 8-time tag team champion, a former ECW Champion and one of only a few men to have held the Intercontinental, US and Hardcore Championships.

Speaking in an interview with Chris Van Vliet on his show Insight, Paul Wight revealed how he became known as The Big Show, and that it was a persistent Vince McMahon that made the name stick.

“That 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.’” (H/T - Wrestling Headlines).

However, Wight admitted that when he first got the name, he absolutely hated it and hoped that it wouldn't stick.

“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." (H/T Wrestling Headlines).

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Paul Wight has had to rebrand himself since leaving WWE

One of the biggest things that Paul Wight had to do when he left WWE to join AEW in 2021 was try and forge a new path under his real name.

While it hasn't been too bad for the former WWE Champion thus far in AEW, Wight did express to Chris Van Vliet that he would like his persona to be more consistent than what it was when he worked for Vince McMahon.

"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.” (H/T Wrestling Headlines).

Have you enjoyed Paul Wight's work in AEW so far? Let us know in the comments section down below!