AEW signs Paul Wight to long-term deal, launching new series

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Originally published at AEW signs Paul Wight to long-term deal, launching new series

AEW CEO & General Manager Tony Khan revealed Wednesday that Paul Wight has signed a long-term deal with the company and will serve as a commentator on a new series.

Wight, 49, is joining the company as both a commentator for AEW’s newest show, AEW Dark: Elevation, while also indicating in the press release that he will be wrestling.

As 2021 shapes up to be the year for AEW’s biggest shows yet, today the promotion announced that wrestling legend Paul Wight signed a long-term deal, adding yet another universally regarded name to AEW’s roster of stars, legends, and upcoming talent. Wight will have an extensive role within AEW, and on top of his return to the ring, he will serve as a commentator on AEW’s newest show, AEW Dark: Elevation.

Furthermore, Paul enters AEW as a licensed wrestler, and he’s very much looking forward to studying our talent firsthand from the commentary desk in preparation for his return to the ring!

AEW Dark: Elevation will be airing Monday nights at 7 pm ET on the promotion’s YouTube channel. The show will feature AEW’s established and rising talent along with independent wrestlers with wins and losses being tabulated for their records.

Wight’s broadcast partner for the series will be revealed on tonight’s episode of Dynamite.

From Wight:

It’s been amazing to watch what AEW has built in just a couple of years. AEW Dark is an incredible platform to hone the skills of up-and-coming wrestlers, but I also love that established AEW talent can build out their personalities and showcase themselves in new ways on Dark. It’s no exaggeration when they say that AEW is boundless.

After beginning in WCW in 1995, Wight made the jump to the World Wrestling Federation in February 1999 where he signed a lucrative ten-year contract. His tenure with the company would extend to 22 years with highs and lows during that extensive run. Wight first won the WWF Championship in November 1999 at the Survivor Series and won it again at the same event in 2002 where he was the first person to pin Brock Lesnar since his on-screen debut earlier that year.

Wight’s biggest program occurred in 2008 when he was paired with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the key drawing match for WrestleMania 24 that year that did 1,058,000 buys on pay-per-view. The following year, he stepped in for an injured Edge (Adam Copeland) to team with Chris Jericho with the two having a very strong run as a team.

Wight would hold just about every title, including two reigns as the World Heavyweight Champion and the ECW Championship in 2006. His character was flawed by incessant turns that eventually became a running joke, even by Wight himself, where he would be a babyface one week and a heel the next.

Over the last several years, Wight had become a key ambassador for the company and branching out into film and television, including “The Big Show Show” which ran for one season on Netflix last year.

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I like the signing, as long as he doesnt wrestle much. But this show just sounds like Dark 2.0. I dont watch Dark, but hope they differentiate it somehow.

I understand the idea. It gets more people time in the ring, which a lot of their younger talent really needs, but they need to also spotlight this stuff on Dynamite more often.

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Wow. Definitely figured Big Show to be a WWE lifer at this point. How pissed is Vince right now? Probably going through the locker room right now and questioning everybody one by one like it’s the Spanish Inquisition.

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Why not? WWE never, ever booked him right. He could still be booked as an occasional attraction if the story fits. And now we can officially kill the Big Show name, which always sucked.

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Must admit, didn’t know he was out of contract.

Considering it was AEW who broke the news, shouldn’t they have basically waited and have him appear as a genuine suprise like Lex Luger appearing at the 1st Nitro?

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Very few people cared when he was in his prime in WWF/WWE. Even less will care that a well past his prime Paul Wight is in the new TNA/Impact other than a small portion of their limited hard core base.

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No. This is not even near as big as that was. Luger was still a main event player at that point and was a big deal. While this is big for AEW, it just isnt the same level.

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Big-Show-Brock-Lesnar-2003

Classic

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Whilst true, what I’m trying to say what a surprise it would have been if he showed up unannounced.

We wouldn’t have been expecting it.

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Whether or not he shows up tonight, it’s good hype on the day of a Dynamite to announce it now. Am I excited for anything Big Show might do? Not really. It’s a good get from a locker room perspective with someone who has seen the ups and downs of the business as long as he has. Plum position for him on commentary (hey, being Jericho’s neighbor has it’s perks). But ultimately I think his most substantial contribution to AEW will be this announcement and the appearance of getting one over on WWE, which goes over well with their fans.

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This is the key point. So it’s a virtually redundant signing.

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If somebody as entrenched in the ‘WWE Universe’ as Big Show is willing to join AEW with little to no fanfare it implies to me that they’re there for the long haul not for PR or this annoying WWE vs AEW narrative.

I think it’s actually much more likely that Paul Wight will become part of the AEW furniture on and off screen, to the point that people (who aren’t acting in bad faith) won’t primarily associate him with the ‘Big Show’ anymore, much like other WWE guys who’ve joined AEW.

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I don’t know, I mean, it’s starting to look like WCW except they are going to place the legends on the side like trophies on top of furniture.

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You say that like it’s not intentional. WCW without the old guys hogging the spotlight? Sounds pretty good to me. Why are people still talking about this as if that’s not the point?

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I agree with you it’s good that they are not stealing the spotlight but do you actually need them ?

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For the casual audience, the recognition and overall brand image? Do you not need them if they bring that?

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Beyond Wight (should be fine on commentary, a once a year special attraction match sounds harmless enough), I’m really curious as to how Elevation and house blend Dark will be distinct from one another. Will one be purely enhancement matches with an eye being kept open for your diamonds in the rough (as with Bear Country and Comoroto) while the other allows up and comers (Johnson, Top Flight) to get some seasoning? It’s worth remembering that Dark’s also been used to allow main roster talent to workshop new ideas or practice mic work in anticipation of specific Dynamite segments - having more space for those sorts of reps is another potential benefit of the new show.

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Yeah, that’s what I meant by trophy on the side. The trophy wives.

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Not every move has to be a Sting-level move. If you’re AEW, as long as there isn’t some big price tag, it’s an easy yes and you figure things out later. Does it move the needle? Not at all. Does this make for some demarkation that WWE lifers are willing to move on? If it wasn’t for Jericho’s close relationship with him, that might be a discussion, but otherwise it’s TBA until we have a real case. This isn’t Moxley jumping. But if you’re Tony Khan and you’re spending money on 30-40 no-names every week, how do you not do this just to say you can?

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I’m interested in seeing how he sounds on commentary but I can’t imagine it being great for some reason. In the ring, they might have a Shaq/Big Show confrontation and then after that he probably won’t do much. A job’s a job I guess so good for him. Don’t think AEW will get much out of him.

And Dark 2.0? Does Dark 1.0 do well?