WWE Stopped "Big Show" Paul Wight Appearing In Gladiator?

Could we have had Big Show vs. Maximus Decimus Meridius?

by Andrew Pollard
Big Show Paul Wight Gladiator
WWE.com/DreamWorks

During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet (as per WrestlingNews.co), Paul Wight has revealed how WWE stopped him appearing in a movie alongside Russell Crowe, seemingly in the Academy Award winning Gladiator.

As the four-time WWE World Champion explained, Nic Cage had reached out to him in order to try and connect Wight with Crowe, but WWE put the breaks on anything further happening at that time.

"There were so many projects I couldn't do because of the WWE schedule. When I first signed with WWE, Nic Cage reached out to me because his son was a big fan of me. Nic Cage was trying to hook me up with this Russell Crowe movie, but it was being shot in Spain. I would have to be in Spain for six weeks for it. But I'm thinking, 'Russell Crowe is going to be a star. Nic Cage wants me. I've got'. I go to ask Vince and he says, 'I'm paying you to be a wrestler, not an actor'. So that was the end of that."

The former Big Show would add how he then found himself watching Gladiator in a movie theater, thinking how that could've been him on the screen. For those wondering, Gladiator ended up filmed largely in Malta, Morocco and England.

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Wight would also discuss how there is a lot more freedom for him now in AEW, mentioning how he "can be a part of all sorts of projects" and has "that freedom to build the Paul Wight brand".

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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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.