Paul Wight On How AEW Allows Talent To Make Mistakes

The former Big Show discusses differences between the WWE and AEW environments.

Paul Wight
AEW

Nowadays a mainstay of AEW programming as part of the Dark: Elevation announce team, Paul Wight has been discussing how vastly different the All Elite landscape is to that of Vince McMahon’s WWE.

During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, the four-time WWE Champion explained how Tony Khan very much gives talent the chance to sink or swim on their own merits, while Wight also detailed how AEW stars are allowed the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.

“He [Khan] gives them all the opportunities to get over and to be successful, but there’s no pressure to make a mistake. We all makes mistakes, it’s how we learn. But being able to make a mistake, recognise the mistake and get over that mistake and move forward is very critical in a younger talent’s career, I think.”

The former Big Show would add:

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“Having that freedom, like, ‘Okay, I made a mistake. It’s not like I’m going to be taken out back and flogged for making a mistake’. It’s a much more creative environment.”

On the other side of things, Wight explained how Vince McMahon has talents act in the way that Vince McMahon wants, rather than allowing the creative freedom afforded by Tony Khan and AEW.

One other interesting point to note, is the World’s Largest Athlete also again reiterated how he’s “itching” to get back in the ring again – with many viewing it as only a matter of time before Paul Wight gets to compete in an AEW ring.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.