Eric Bischoff Explains Why He Supported Paul Wight Jumping From WCW To WWE

By Valentine's Day 1999, WWE had comfortably surged ahead of WCW in the Monday Night Wars, and Paul Wight's arrival in Vince McMahon's promotion felt like another gut punch for their Ted Turner-owned rival. Despite losing a big name to the competition, then-WCW President Eric Bischoff was admittedly happy for Wight, as he felt the 7-footer was getting lost in the shuffle within his crowded roster.

On "83 Weeks," Bischoff revealed he didn't try to persuade Wight into staying with WCW when "The Giant" made his intentions clear to jump ship to WWE. "He told me he was going to have a conversation with Vince [McMahon]; I told him, 'I would, too, if I were you.' He told me he had a million-dollar-a-year guarantee [from WWE] and I congratulated him."

Bischoff, who made the creative call to crown Wight the WCW World Champion in his debut match in 1995, admitted that, by 1999, he had run out of ideas as it pertains to the big man. "I like Paul; he really is a good guy, but, on the creative side, I had a hard time figuring out what to do with Paul. You can't go out there and have him beat everybody because there's no one left for him to work with. You can't get sympathy on a guy who's 7-foot tall and 400 pounds." Bischoff added that he "couldn't fix" the creative dilemma pertaining to Wight and was left with no option but to concede a big name to WWE, even as he understood the perception it would create. "I didn't want it to happen, but I didn't lift a finger to prevent it, either." While WWE's ensuing success can't be solely attributed to Wight, "WWE Raw" began more than doubling "WCW Nitro" in the ratings by mid-1999. Wight would go onto main-event WrestleMania a year later.