A former WWE World Champion recently got candid about exploring a path in the combat sports. Professional wrestling and combat sports are two different beasts that require different sets of skills. Sports like Boxing and MMA are more physically demanding, and the WWE star talked about his experience in that realm.
The star in the spotlight is former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Big Show, aka Paul Wight. Show is a legend in the world of professional wrestling with a career spanning three decades. He has competed across promotions like WCW, WWE, and in AEW as well. Recently, Big Show revealed that he took a year off from the Stamford-based promotion to train for becoming a boxer in 2007.
Speaking to Gareth A Davies in a new interview, the former World Heavyweight Champion gave props to the people who perform combat sports. He said it takes a lot of precision and focus than any other sport because it is much more physically demanding. Show revealed that he got this understanding after trying some boxing in 2007 with Oliver McCall.
“I didn’t need to. I got into, wrestling very early, 21, when I met Hogan and started with WCW. So, financially, it was a lottery ticket for me, and I’ve never been, a person that really feels like I have something to prove in that genre I have a lot of respect for for guys that do that. I did a little bit of boxing myself in 07. I took a year off from WWE and trained boxing. I sparred with Oliver McCall. It takes a lot of courage to step over those ropes and know that someone’s going to do physical harm to you and you need to protect yourself and do physical harm back,” said Show. [H/T: Fightful]
Check out the full interview below:
While the AEW star has not been a boxer, he has faced a legendary boxer in WWE. In 2008, Show had a blockbuster match with Floyd Mayweather at WrestleMania 24 in Orlando. It was a major match in Big Show’s career, and he suffered a defeat at the hands of Mayweather.
Big Show talked about getting punched by Floyd Mayweather in WWE
Big Show and Floyd Mayweather had some incredible segments in WWE back in 2008. Their feud was one of the major talking points heading to WrestleMania 24. In one episode of RAW, Mayweather had to punch Show to sell out the match. However, accidentally, the boxer busted open the former World Heavyweight Champion.
In the same interview with Gareth A Davies, Show revealed that he told Mayweather to hit a right-hand tap on his nose and then walk out of the ring. The former WWE star said he was afraid he might have hit the boxer in the heat of the moment.
“So here I get a chance to start this big angle. ‘Okay, punch me’ I said, “but don’t shove it through the back of my head, Just tap it.” You know, he’s one of the best strikers, I think, in a long time with his punch placement and his speed. He looked at me and I said ‘But when you do, run… I’m about 70% Viking in my ancestry, there’s going to be about 45 seconds where if I get a hold of you I’m going to sling your guts all over the place. So… run.’,” he said.
Many people thought that Mayweather might have broken Show’s nose. That is what happened, and Show believes everything went according to plan, and Show and Floyd went on to have a match at WrestleMania 24.
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Edited by Anugrah Tyagi
