Paul Wight Not Ready To Retire From Pro Wrestling

Paul Wight has hardly wrestled since signing with All Elite Wrestling in 2021, but that doesn't mean the giant is finished inside the squared circle.

Wight revealed on Notsam Wrestling Live that he recently underwent back surgery, but he isn't fully ready to step away from the ring.

After being asked about an in-ring return, the former Big Show said:

"Dude, I'm hoping - it's just a week-by-week thing. I had a small back surgery done a couple months ago…You play long enough, the bill comes due. I've had a major surgery every frickin' year! For about the past five - whether it's a knee surgery or a hip surgery…I feel like that old pickup truck. Like, OK, what's broken now? I work so hard so long that when I finally stopped, the springs fell off, the tyres fell off. But, we're excited about it.

"I'm working with the best people I can work with in South Florida. I got a lot of great people on the team. I've got great support medically. Tony Khan's been extremely supportive, so we're just plugging away. I don't plan on going anywhere. I like being in AEW. So it's just getting my s**t together and getting ready, and also, bring a good product out. The last thing I'm gonna do is go out in that ring and have people go, 'Aww, poor Paul. They should just kill him, like Old Yeller or something.' We’re not gonna have that.

"If I'm not out there humping and bumping and getting after everything and slapping people's souls out of their chest and carry that presence, then it's time to hang up the boots so I'm not ready to hang up the boots yet. We're still moving forward, there's progress being made. Again, everything I'm dealing with now is mostly soft tissue, getting that stuff to work and you know, we'll get that back and we'll be in the ring.

"Trust me, I see the opportunity in AEW, I see the chances too. To have fun with the talent in the back, to entertain the fans, the financial gains for being able to compete at a more full-time schedule. Yeah, believe me, I'm salivating over here, 100 per cent."

Since joining AEW in 2021, Paul Wight has wrestled six times, although he hasn't competed on AEW TV since the Like a Dragon Gaiden Street Fight where he teamed with Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Chris Jericho against Konosuke Takeshita, Powerhouse Hobbs, Kyle Fletcher, and Brian Cage in 2023. Wight's most recent match anywhere was on the Jericho Cruise in November 2024.

Paul Wight last appeared on AEW TV at Full Gear 2025 when he helped Big Boom AJ and QT Marshall defeat Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero, having initially made the save for Big Justice.

H/T Fightful