Paul Wight, FKA The Big Show in WWE, recently appeared on Oral Sessions podcast with host Renee Paquette. Now signed with AEW, they discuss why he decided to sign with All Elite Wrestling, who he would like to work with in AEW, and needing new music now his iconic theme can no longer be used. Here are the most notable points from the show.

On why he chose to come to AEW:

“I’ve gone back and forward with Paul Heyman, Bruce Prichard and Vince McMahon. I had some medical issues a couple of years ago where I had some problems with my hip. You know how things are there [WWE], if you kind of get out of the loop a little bit, it’s hard to work you back into it. No matter how much talent you have to offer. It was frustrating to me because I was making money and I worked against Drew and with Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe, but I wanted more. I have never been a sit on the bench guy. I’m not going to take money to sit at home and be happy like a little princess it’s not my deal. I like to work for my money and I like to earn it, I like to perform. I was with WWE for 18 years without missing a single year tour of spring and fall. People say how do you fit on the plane. I had to do what I had to do. I could either go to work or I could not. The biggest let down was not getting something going creatively. If you are not at TV, you’re just sitting there, nobody is like Paul is still alive Paul can work. I just got frustrated at trying to knock on the door. They wanted me to do other tings. They wanted me to do community relations thing, which I love doing. But they were trying to do me a favour and put me out there in Shady Pines, and I didn’t want to be out there. So I had an opportunity to do something else and I took it.

“I talked to Vince and I talked to Kevin Dunn. No one is mad and no one is upset. It’s not an anger thing, I’ve done a lot of things for them. It’s not about burying WWE, it’s just business. I get to work with younger talent and in an environment where I really get to contribute. I get to do colour commentary, I hope I don’t screw the pooch on this one. There’s a lot of younger talent here that are bigger guys that I can help. I can still perform ion front of fans. When you have more in the tank you want to give it.”

On who he wants to work with in ring:

“Personally it’s Darby Allin. I want to be a heel and work with him. He knows how to sell and have that you won’t break me no matter what attitude. A lot like Jeff Hardy, it’s that intrinsic value that not a lot of people have. The I look at Luchasaurus, Wardlow, Brian Cage, obviously Kenny Omega, Adam Page. Lance Archer and I could have a lot of fun, I could do some stuff with him as a babyface.

On why he started doing commentary:

“I didn’t want to come in right out of the gate, new gear, and get in the middle of a title hunt. With Kenny and with [Jon] Moxley, they’ve built this angle and got to this point where there’s nothing worse than having this asshole jump in the middle of your programme. So my thing now is to do the best service that I can. I’m going to do the commentary because it’s a passion. Also, watch and evaluate the talent, get to know them. In WWE, I was constantly absorbing all the time. I’m the new kid here [AEW], so it gives me a great opportunity to study and find the right talent to start with.”

On losing his iconic WWE music:

“It might be a while before I get in the ring because we are working on that [new music] now. I am friends called Lenny Kravitz, who might be working on something for me. I don’t want to be that guy that wants to ask for the favour because he is super busy. I will do anything for my friends but I hate asking for anything. I don’t want to be that person.”

On an amusing Brock Lesnar story:

“In Cape Town, I had some bad food and this is back when I had the leather pants you know, thank God. I hit that mat, [Brock Lesnar] goes ‘Did you shit?’ I said ‘Yeah’ He goes ‘Haha, you shit.’ Then while I’m laying in the ring after the F5, he keeps stepping on my stomach like he’s trying to get more to come out. He had dumped Paul Heyman in the ring too. That was the finish and then I would usually get up, pull Paul up, throw Paul over my shoulder, and carry Paul out. That was the end of the night for the heels. We were totally humiliated. This night I was humiliated. So, Paul is lying there he goes ‘You gonna carry me to the back?’ I’m like, ‘No’ ‘What do you mean you’re not gonna carry me to the back?’ ‘I shit myself’ ‘What?’ ‘I shit my pants’ ‘I can’t hear you. What?’ I then yell ‘I shit myself!’ ‘Oh, okay, are you alright?’ I’m the guy in the back of the arena with the hose. I think the gear was in a trashcan in an arena I left it there.”

Paul Wight can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here

Full podcast audio can be found here.