Paul Wight looks back on the early days of his legendary pro-wrestling career.
The former world champion spoke on this topic during a recent interview with Fightful. Wight begins by stating that he started in the business at the early age of 22, and that most of the veterans he was working with were either ten or twenty years older than he was at the time.
This is the good stuff, man, for me. I mean, for so many years of my career, when I came into the business, I was the youngest guy by 10 or 12 years when I first started. I was 22 or 23, and the most of guys that were working and doing anything were mid-30s and early 40s. So I was really young and then over the years that has changed and I’ve seen so many talents that are incredible world renowned stars, some of them Hall of Famers, that I remember when they started off and how they came in and experienced that with them.
Speaking about younger talents, Wight mentioned the success of The Acclaimed and how they made the most out of every opportunity that AEW gave them. He says that them giving their all on AEW Dark/Dark Elevation helped earn them a spot on the weekly televised programs.
It’s a beautiful thing to see Max Caster and Anthony Bowens on Elevation. They had so much energy. You kinda knew. Like I knew at once, if these guys keep plugging away, they get an opportunity, they’re gonna do something with it. When you see that for talent, because this business is about opportunities and making the best of those opportunities. Sometimes, you think, ‘I’m not gonna get an opportunity,’ but every time you’re in front of a crowd, that’s an opportunity. Sure, they weren’t on Dynamite and we didn’t have Rampage then. It was just Dynamite and Elevation and AEW Dark. But they took every opportunity and made the most of it. I can’t wait to hear what Max is gonna rap. I can’t wait. The place is gonna go crazy and poor Anthony Bowens is probably gonna explode ‘cause he gets so excited with the crowd. The more intense the crowd is, 80,000 people, he might explode into a cloud of dust, you know? I’m excited for the talent and they deserve it, they’ve put the work in. For me, I’m just happy to be a part of this industry, be a part of AEW and contribute however I can.
Wight’s full interview with Fightful can be found here.