Paul Wight Recalls Being Mistaken For Rock’s Bodyguard During WWE UK Tour

Paul Wight says that his first UK tour for WWE led to his being mistaken for The Rock’s bodyguard instead of a WWE star in his own right. The AEW star joined WWE back in 1999 after leaving WCW, and he recalled in an interview with James Sweetnam for Sporf that he immediately went on a media tour with the Great One where people didn’t know who he was.

Wight also spoke about wanting AEW to do more UK tapings for TV and how he thinks it would be a great opportunity for the company. You can see highlights below:

On His First UK Tour:

“My first tour over here, I was in the WWF at the time [for] maybe a couple of weeks, and they sent me on a media tour with The Rock. And I had been in Germany with WCW, but we still didn’t have a strong TV presence at all, WCW didn’t. And I came over with The Rock, and no one in the London knew who I was. You know, I was a former WCW World Champion. I’d fought Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, I thought I was a pretty big deal. And I came over here and they’re like, ‘Oh, are you the Rock’s bodyguard? And Dwayne was really cool, he was like, ‘No, he’s Paul Wight. He’s a new superstar.’ But I was like, ‘Wow, these people over here are tough.’

“And it took me a couple of years of coming over here and building that relationship with a fanbase and being on TV to get, I would say, fully embraced by the UK crowd, the London crowd. And then over the years, we’ve had a great love-hate relationship where if I’m a bad guy, they call me a fat wanker. And if I’m a good guy, they cheer for me.”

On Talking To Tony Khan About Doing the UK:

“It was one of the first conversations Tony Khan and I had when I literally just inked my deal with AEW. We were talking about plans for AEW and making it grow, which I’m very excited about. I said, ‘Man, I’m telling you, we’ve got to get to London. We’ve got to work in O2 Arena. It’d be so great for our talent. I know the UK London fans, they will absolutely love AEW and what we bring to the table. They will be massive for [us], we’ve got to get into O2 Arena.’

“And of course, Tony Khan being a smart billionaire, he went right around O2 Arena and went straight to Wembley Stadium and sold 80,000 plus tickets. So there you go. That’s why he’s a that’s why I work for him. He’s got the big brain.”

On Wanting To Do More Shows In the UK:

“London’s become our global destination. We’ve had great success over here, we love coming over here. I’m personally pushing to do more television over here. I know we’ve done a small one in Scotland. I want us to do more work over here. It’s just a great environment to come over here, I would love to do like a couple week tour over here. I know the logistics are hard on that, but hit like Birmingham, Sheffield, all the places that I’ve hit over the years with those great arenas, that great environment. Because you know, you guys are rabid over here far as fans go. So that’s a great opportunity for AEW going forward in the future. I’m sure we’re going to explore this market much more with live events and televised events.”

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