AEW star Paul Wight has commented on the “chairgate” row concerning AJ Styles’ son, prompting a strong response from one name who was previously signed to WWE NXT UK.
The controversy dubbed “chairgate” online concerns a recent appearance made by AJ Styles’ son Avery at an independent show. Arik Cannon (a longtime indie wrestler who promotes F1RST Wrestling in Minnesota), claimed that Avery shied away from responsibilities at a recent show, with putting out chairs for the audience being a point of contention. AJ Styles came to the defence of his son, and a debate concerning nepotism and “paying your dues” in the industry continued on X for a number of days.
Speaking on TMZ’s Inside The Ring podcast, Wight dismissed the idea of paying dues as “bullsh*t.” The AEW wrestler and announcer went on to say that it is a form of bullying and has no place in wrestling:
“How much can you swear on this show? F*ck that bullsh*t. Paying your dues, to me, is an old-timer’s way of intimidating and bullying and f*cking with the younger talent for no goddamn reason. If a talent comes in respectful with a good attitude — don’t come in like you own the place, don’t have an attitude — but why should you take heat because your athleticism, your look, or what opportunities you’ve been given, you’ve been successful on? Why should someone hold that against you? Because you didn’t drive for 35 dollars a night and you didn’t set up some broken, torn-ass-down ring and you didn’t struggle for all this stuff? Okay, why punish somebody for that?”
Continuing, Wight questioned what is classed as “paying your dues” in the current era:
“What are paying the dues now? You know, the business has changed so much. These kids have brands now with social media and they understand TikTok and Instagram and Twitter. They are smoking it on that and building their brand and extending their brand,” Wight said. “What’s the difference between them doing that or riding up and down the road sticking 8×10 sheets of paper to a telephone pole to let everybody know that everybody’s wrestling at the armoury that night? I think it all depends on the talent, and I think it depends on their attitude toward the business.”
Wight was previously the target of jealousy when he first broke into the business. With his first matches in WCW being against World Champion Hulk Hogan, others felt that he had not earned his spot at that point.
Former NXT UK Star Calls Out Paul Wight
35-year-old wrestler Sam Gradwell, who was previously signed to the NXT roster, gave his own take on Wight’s comments. In a post on X, Gradwell claimed that Wight mistreated him and a group of British wrestlers when they were extras:
“Does Paul remember what a nasty intimidating piece of sh*t he was to my group of extra/tryout talent? Shouting over us that we didn’t deserve to be paid and that we’d never be in the wrestling business because of a U.S paperwork misunderstanding on WWE’s part, not ours. F*ck off”
Names noted by Gradwell included Joe Hendry, Nathan Cruz and Zack Gibson. Gradwell also provided a follow-up post stating that none of the group could have said anything at that point in time:
“To act like you’re an ally to young talent now you’re at the end of your career is laughable. None of us were in a position to do or say anything at the time and he knew it. Not bothered, we did laugh it off, but can’t see him give an interview like that and not call it out.”
In May 2025, Paul Wight provided an update on his AEW status.
Featured image: AEW
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