In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Paul Wight (formerly The Big Show) talked about a number of topics as he recounted moments in his storied career.
Among these was his match against Floyd Mayweather at WrestleMania 24, which Wight reveals was originally a tag team match:
That was a happy accident, too. Originally, that was supposed to be a tag. It was supposed to be Floyd and I against Rey and Dave [Batista]. Unfortunately, due to injuries, Dave tore a lat or a bicep, and Rey messed something up, all before we got to the TV part to start the angle. Then they were like, ‘Will you work with Mayweather?’ I’m like, hell yeah! Split the payoff between two guys? Well, really, Mayweather got most of the payoff, and I got thanks for showing up. But anyway. I thought, Yeah, that’s great.
The former WWE Champion went on to address a spot during the build to the match that saw the boxer break Wight’s nose.
I told Floyd, because Floyd’s a pro. I said, ‘Don’t break the bone. Just give me a little tap.’ It’ll bleed because you get tapped in the nose, it’ll bleed. It’s not broken, it’s just cartilage. So he was like, ‘You want me to punch you?’ Yeah, man. I said, ‘Don’t shove it through the back of my head. But you got to. If we don’t make it look like something’s happening, nobody’s going to buy it. We need to get this off the ground and running, where people go, Oh, damn. That’s what we need.’ I said, ‘But when you bust me in the nose, and it bleeds, run, because there’s gonna be 5-10 seconds that I’m not going to be in the right frame of mind. If I get my hands on you, I might hurt you, and you’re worth half a billion dollars, so just make sure you’re not around.’ He got that point, and we went out there and did it, and just as soon as that hot blood hit the back of my neck, I was pissed. Even though I know it’s work, I was pissed.
Elsewhere in the interview, Wight addressed the reputation he has for switching alightments between face and heel so often during his WWE run, getting the role of Captain Insano in the film The Waterboy, and more.