Paul Wight & Mark Henry Lied To Each Other About Joining AEW
How Mark Henry and the former Big Show kept their AEW deals under wraps.
Paul Wight has revealed that he and his fellow former WWE roster-mate Mark Henry lied to each other about signing with AEW, doing so in a new interview with the Miami Herald.
Speaking with Jim Varsallone, the former Big Show revealed that he and Henry kayfabed each other on their respective AEW deals, referring back to the former powerlifter's famous salmon jacket promo in WWE (h/t POST Wrestling for the transcription):-
"No, we both lied to each other. I lied to him [Mark Henry] before I went to AEW and then when he was coming to AEW, he lied to me about coming so, we both — the term in the business is called kayfabe and we’re old timers and we appreciate kayfabe and I mean, he did that years ago when he had on that pink salmon jacket and was gonna retire and dropped his boots at that stage and I was at home watching and I got all emotional and then he turned heel and got me all upset. If I had been there, I would have kicked his butt."
Wight was signed by AEW prior to Revolution 2021 in February. He was immediately used to introduce a "Hall of Fame calibre" signing at the pay-per-view, which turned out to be Christian Cage, and has now slotted into a regular role in the Dark: Elevation commentary booth alongside Tony Schiavone.
The prospect of wrestling again remains for Wight, whose AEW contract allows for him to step between the ropes in the future.
Henry, meanwhile, came into AEW three months after his colleague, making a surprise introduction at Double Or Nothing 2021 in May. He will work primarily as an analyst on the upcoming Rampage show, which debuts in August.