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Posts Tagged ‘Paul Wight’

Former WWE champion John Cena, sidelined last fall with a shoulder injury that promised to keep him out beyond WrestleMania, returned to the active roster on Sunday as the 30th entrant in the Royal Rumble and went on to win the match and earn an automatic title shot against the champion of his choice at WrestleMania. It is almost a guarantee that Cena, who was injured by Orton, will focus on regaining his WWE title from the Legend Killer, rather than jump brands to take on Edge on SmackDown or C.M. Punk on ECW.

The Rumble event featured classic wrestlers Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Mick Foley, all sporting their retirement luxury watches; Cena’s spot had been teased to be the return of The Big Show, Paul Wight, who did not appear at the Rumble. Instead, Cena returned at least four months ahead of his announced recovery schedule, a turn of events that, while likely planned, has to have Vince McMahon and WWE stockholders sighing in relief.

Unlike previous Rumbles, no one Superstar was given a dominating run; Undertaker, Triple H and Kane all eliminate three or four guys, but only the eventual winner, Cena, had a real dominant stretch leading to the win. Even then, Cena eliminated only four, including Triple H for the win. In previous years, some WWE superstars have been allowed “ring-clearing runs,” eliminating up for six or more superstars to establish their dominance despite not being given a Rumble victory. That didn’t happen this year.

The when and where of Paul “The Big Show” Wight’s return remains a mystery but is still expected to take place, despite being used as a red herring to cover the return of Cena.

Professional wrestler Paul Wight, better known to WWE fans as The Big Show, has signed an all-new WWE contract and is set to return to television any time now; in fact, he could conceivably end up as a Royal Rumble surprise guest, either in the Rumble or inserted into one of the other championship matches scheduled for that PPV event.

Wight may be hard to recognize when he returns to the WWE ring. During his year-long hiatus, Wight spent 2007 training as a professional boxer. In that time, he dropped 60 pounds to 440, and at a solid seven feet high, may be a bit shorter but is now cutting a figure a bit closer to the physique The Great Khali has achieved. In some online interviews, he has also confessed to giving up a smoking habit, which may help him breathe better and therefore perform better in the ring.

While out of the WWE, Wight wrestled an indy match against Hulk Hogan and adopted the new moniker of Paul “The Great” Wight; however, it is expected that, at least initially, WWE will reintroduce him to their audience as The Big Show. Whether the company will eventually incorporate Wight’s new in-ring persona into his wrestling career remains to be seen; it’s just too early to know.

There are several ways for Wight to make an impact in his return. The most obvious would be to have him be a surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble. With his new, trimmer physique, he could be sold more credibly as an unstoppable threat.

When Wight last appeared in a WWE-owned ring, he was part of the ECW on SciFi franchise and his return could help that broadcast, which is struggling in the ratings as more and more people are tuning out of TV as the writer’s strike has a bigger and bigger impact on audiences with new episodes drying up. Even though WWE broadcasts are unaffected by the strike, and feature new episodes every week of the year, it seems a receding tide lowers all boats and as viewers abandon TV in general, WWE’s broadcast numbers are sinking at a time one might expect them to be gaining.

If handled well, Wight’s return could help reverse this trend. Inserting Wight into the ECW title match at the Royal Rumble would be another way to go; he could be used to cost CM Punk the title and become an immediate title shot threat. Or Wight could be shipped to SmackDown to help that show’s ratings.

About the only place ProWrestlingViews.com doesn’t want to see Wight is the already overstocked with main event talent Raw broadcast. If Wight is placed on the Raw roster, he’ll almost certainly sink to second-tier status, as happened to Chris Jericho, who also recently returned after an extended hiatus from the Fed.

One thing’s for sure: if Wight is as fit as billed, an eventual clash with the Great Khali, if built up correctly, could be a match that would be WrestleMania-worthy. Just be sure to keep the medical supplies on hand at that one!

The WWE is attempting to crack down on wrestlers violating the company’s wellness policy, but the attrition rate is getting a bit startling.

Since 11 wrestlers were suspended in one fell swoop recently, more names have been added to the list of wrestlers being confirmed as cut by WWE, some of whom have shown up, allegedly, as customers of the shady online pharmacy that started this whole scandal.

Here’s a rundown:

* Although not confirmed to have done anything illegal, wrestler Paul Wight, better known as The Big Show, was named as an online pharmacy customer. Wight left the WWE in late 2006/early 2007 after losing the ECW title at the ECW December to Dismember PPV event and has not been on the company’s active roster since.

* Although not confirmed to have done anything illegal, wrestler Ric Flair was announced to have been on this pharmacy’s list of customers as well. In possibly-related news, Flair has tentatively filed papers to step down from the WWE, allegedly because he’s upset over the lack of useful storylines the company is placing him in; however, Flair and WWE are said to be working on terms of a possible return. However, all of this could be a smokescreen to cover for alleged online pharmacy connections for Flair.

* Wrestler Nick Dinsmore, known in WWE as Eugene, has been released from the WWE. He was allegedly suspended by the company for a time on the basis of substance abuse, about a year ago.

* Sylvan Grenier, a former WWE tag-team champion, came out and admitted he was one of the wrestlers suspended by WWE for allegedly being a customer of the online pharmacy at the heart of the company’s HGH/steriods scandal, but of course insisted it was false, he was a customer, but had done nothing wrong.

Of course, it’s interesting to note that none of the WWE divas have been part of the HGH/steroid scandal. Now, if there’s ever a WWE scandal over boob jobs and wearing expensive jewelry, then watch out, diva fans! Heads and other body parts will be sure to roll… or at least bounce!