Paul Donald Wight II (born on February 8, 1972, in Aiken, South Carolina), also known famously by his WWE ring name Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1995 to 1999 as (the) Giant and his tenure with the World Wrestling Entertainment Federation (WWE) from 1999 to 2021 under the ring name (the) Big Show. Wight played college basketball at Wichita State University before transferring to other schools. He began his wrestling career in 1994. In 1995, he signed with WCW, where, due to his great height and large frame, he was known by the ring name The Giant and initially introduced as "the son of André the Giant". In early 1999, he left WCW to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Between WWF/WWE and WCW, he has held 23 total championships - including being a seven-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWF/WWE Championship twice, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice and WWE's ECW Championship once, (making him the only wrestler who has won all four titles),[10] and an 11-time world tag team champion, holding the WWF/World, WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships multiple times with various partners. Having also won the Intercontinental, United States and Hardcore championships, he is the 24th Triple Crown and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history.[11][12] He also won the 60-man battle royal at World War 3 and the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WCW and WWF/WWE since 1995, including the 16th edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania. Outside of professional wrestling, Wight has appeared in feature films and television series such as “Jingle All the Way”, “The Waterboy”, “Star Trek: Enterprise”, the USA Network's comedy-dramas “Royal Pains” and “Psych and the USA Network action-drama series “Burn Notice”. He had lead roles in the WWE Studios comedy film “Knucklehead” and the Netflix sitcom “The Big Show Show”. Wight began his career in 1994. In 1995 he signed with WCW, where, due to his very large frame, he was known by the ring name The Giant (and was initially introduced as "the son of André the Giant"). In early 1999, he left WCW to join WWE. Between WWE and WCW, he is a seven-time world champion, having held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWE Championship twice, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, making him the only wrestler who has won all four titles. He is also an 11-time world tag team champion, holding the World, WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships multiple times with various partners. Having also won the Intercontinental, United States and Hardcore championships, he is the 24th Triple Crown and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history. He also won the 60-man battle royal at World War 3 and the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WCW and WWF/WWE since 1995, including the 2000 edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania. Outside of professional wrestling, Wight has appeared in feature films and television series such as Jingle All the Way, The Waterboy”, “Star Trek: Enterprise”, the USA Network comedy-drama shows “Royal Pains” and “Psych” and the USA Network action-drama show “Burn Notice”. He had lead roles in the WWE Studios comedy film “Knucklehead” and the Netflix sitcom “The Big Show Show”.
