Eric Bischoff Says The Giant Was A Hulk Hogan Project

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about the 1995 debut of The Giant, later known as The Big Show, and his immediate main event push against Hulk Hogan. Bischoff revealed that despite The Giant’s inexperience, it was a calculated move. You can check out some highlights below:

On the Confidence In Wight At the Time:

“I think there was a lot of confidence in Paul because of his unbelievable athletic ability and agility for someone so big.”

On Hogan Managing The Giant’s Creative Direction:

“This was a Hulk Hogan project, right? Hulk pretty much managed this from the beginning — for the first year, almost 100%. But Hulk knew, and he was right about this. When you’re a giant, you should work like a giant. I think Kevin Nash gave that advice to one of the ladies over at WWE recently. And she took that advice and lo and behold, it began to work for her.

“And Paul Wight, because he was a giant. Because Hulk Hogan had a very specific idea of how Paul should work. What he should do, based on what he could do, and what he should not do. Well, the list of things he shouldn’t do because he was a giant was relatively large, extensive. The list of things that he could do and Hulk wanted him to do, they were just a handful of things. Three, four or five things. So from an in-ring execution point, it was a low-risk opportunity to put a guy like Paul in, because of the limitations that being a giant who’s being directed by Hulk Hogan, who had a fair amount of experience working with giants, was able to direct. So it was it sounded risky, but it really wasn’t.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.