So here at the offices of ShaqFu Radio, we learned something new this week. The wrestler who for years was known as the “Big Show” … real name is Paul Wight, and he’s doing mostly behind-the-scenes work and on-air commentary for AEW Professional Wrestling.
And while Wight hasn’t been an active in-ring wrestler for a while, he’s been talking about a comeback (of sorts) match with our other favorite big man, Shaquille O’Neal. A match between The Big Show and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has been teased for years, but not much has ever happened to make it real. Yes, there was that interesting face-off between the two in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, but that’s about it.
For now, Wight (Big Show) is working for the AEW primarily as the color commentator for AEW Dark: Elevation. As for Shaq, we all know his recent wrestling history: his first official match on AEW Dynamite back in March.
It was quite the show (should we say “big show”?). As far as official results, O’Neal and Jade Cargill beat Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet, but not before Rhodes sent Shaq crashing through a table outside the ring. Shaq was carted off to an ambulance outside the ring in Jacksonville, but when a reporter went to check on him, the big man mysteriously disappeared from the medical transport.
Of course this has led to all kinds of speculation as to what Shaq’s future might be in professional wrestling. He’s expressed an interest in staying with the sport, and we’ve seen the results of his getting serious about his physical conditioning. (Impressive!)
Recently, Miami Herald sports reporter Jim Varsallone spoke with Wight about all things wrestling, and once again, the idea of a Big Show / Shaq match came up. Wight, who’s been with WWE, WCW and ECW World Champion (and now AEW), said he still thinks there’s a chance it could happen.
“I hope so at some point. It’s been the biggest tease ever,,, between Shaq vs. me for how many years. At some point, you either never do it because you can’t live up to the tease or we need to hurry up and do it before it gets to be yesterday’s news,” Wight said.
Wight also had good things to say about Shaq’s match with Rhodes: “It was a great match. I thought Shaq did a great job with that match. Cody did as well. I saw Cody did a lot of things in that match that he used to do against me. I was thinking, ‘I’ve seen Cody fight the same way against another tall guy.’ Shaq did great. Jade did great too, that was one of her first matches. It was a big match for Jade and Red Velvet. The whole thing came off really good for everybody involved. Hopefully, I’ll get to wrestle Shaq, but who knows. The powers that be and the way the world works, hopefully. What I do need to talk to Shaq about is getting me a Krispy Kreme franchise.”
Wight isn’t called the Big Show for nothing. He’s well over 350 pounds of beef on a seven foot-tall frame. A match between the two would probably set off earthquake warnings in the area where it happens… and we very much hope it does – eventually – happen.