Images via: Wight-Variety, Taker and Jake-Tape Machines are Rolling
Paul Wight, the former Big Show in WWE, has been seen and heard on AEW programming, but unfortunately not as much as he would have liked to have been. Turns out, Tony Khan would have liked to see him in a few more active roles as well within the company, but a number of injuries (mostly hip-related) kept Wight from doing more.
In some recent comments, Tony Khan suggested that perhaps there is a bright future still within the company for Wight despite his only sporadic appearances so far. This is of course great news for Wight fans and in the end, it’s great news for AEW in general.
At 50, Wight still has quite a bit to offer in the performance aspect. Maybe not necessarily in the ring, but he can tell a story just as well as anyone on that roster if not better than most—he is a veteran of this sport…a 28 year veteran actually.
via AEW on YouTube
At the same time, I wouldn’t take him out of a possible return to the ring just yet. Here’s what Khan had to say while speaking to Robbie Fox of In My Mom’s Basement:
“Paul, seeing him up and around has been great. Paul Wight is such an awesome presence in pro wrestling and when he’s healthy, and can be on the shows again, you know, I want to feature Paul…
Unfortunately, a lot of his time in AEW has been hurt. He’s great on commentary when he’s been able to travel. I think that’s something, he has a great future quite frankly. I think he’s worked really, really hard at it and deserves opportunities there. So I have a lot of great things to say about Paul Wight.”
Does The Undertaker owe his career to Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts?
Jake Roberts and The Undertaker definitely go way back, but in some recent statements he made on a recent episode of DDP Snake Pit, the legend of the ring had some pretty telling words on the equally legendary Undertaker:
“Without me, there is no Undertaker. Without me, there is no Steve Austin. I even helped Shawn Michaels as much as I could. Shawn spent some time in my car. I’m the one that came up with the ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have an urgent message. Shawn has left the building’, which is so cheap, so fu**ing bullsh*t. You know?
But anyway, the Road Warriors would have never happened without me because they were under my tutelage for quite a while. Yeah, they would have made it eventually but they wouldn’t know what I’ve taught him, and I enjoy teaching. I love to create new characters.”
The words could be considered a tad staggering for some, but at the same time, for those of us who were watching at the time, there could be no truer words spoken. The man is totally right. For instance, he mentions Steve Austin. Without Jake Roberts in the ring on that night for the King of the Ring tournament in 1996, reading from his bible, there would never have been the greatest pro wrestling promo ever cut by Steve; so no Roberts didn’t physically give these men their careers, but he helped create the platform in which they respectively shone.