AEW's Paul Wight Recalls 'Freaking Out' When Ric Flair Took Him To WCW Locker Room

Before he ultimately became The Big Show, Paul Wight debuted in WCW as The Giant and at first was the kayfabe long-lost son of the legendary Andre "The Giant." Early in his wrestling journey, he got to meet the WCW locker room after meeting Hulk Hogan, and the WCW locker room was initially overwhelming for the legend.

Wight, who revealed that he started out as one of the youngest guys in the locker room, said that he had no idea that his career would take off the way it did. "When I first went to WCW, I met Hulk Hogan at a charity basketball game, who had me come to their show in Chicago to meet the then-booker, Ric Flair. And Jimmy Hart, he just took me into the locker room," said Wight on "Talk Is Jericho."

He admitted that he freaked out internally to be in the same room as many of the men he watched wrestle during his childhood. "I had a trench coat on, my hair's long, I'm dressed in the Chicago winter. So, I go into this locker room and I am freaking out on the inside. Oh, my god, there's Paul Orndorff, there's Arn Anderson, there's Sting. I'm just trying to play it cool."

Wight also recalled that Arn Anderson initially mistook him for a mob loan shark. "Meanwhile, Arn Anderson thinks that one of the guys owes the mob money and thinks I'm here to get it. So, he's telling Paul Orndorff and Paul Orndorff has his buck knife in his bag in case things go bad."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.