10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2019

8. Show Stopped

Roman Reigns Rusev Hulk Hogan
WWE

Sticking with current AEW staffers, Paul Wight's 2021 signing with the group had been quite the shock considering how visible he'd been on WWE television in the preceding years.

Featuring prominently in angles and matches with the likes of Braun Strowman, The New Day and Randy Orton, The Big Show was seemingly mapping out the retirement years of a company lifer and part-time performer.

But not, oddly enough, in 2019.

Despite working four matches in 2018 and six in 2020 (including the bizarre post-WrestleMania WWE Championship match with Drew McIntyre), Show didn't lace the boots once in 2019. This was the first time he'd gone a whole calendar year without a match since his 2007 sabbatical, with those two years as the only empty ones in over two decades with the company.

Residing exclusively behind the AEW announce desk (as of this writing), perhaps the bumps he took in 2020 were an all-too-painful reminder of what he'd missed.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett