Paul Wight Reflects On AEW's All In Accomplishment, His Previous Experiences In The UK

With over 80,000 tickets sold, AEW All In looks to be one of the biggest shows in professional wrestling history. Outside of ticket sales, AEW reportedly boasted another impressive number with over 90,000 advanced US domestic pay-per-view orders placed as of August 23. Ahead of AEW's historic event in Wembley Stadium, Paul Wight puts these numbers into further perspective.

"What I'm excited about is for this new brand, it's just a few years old to pull this kind of accomplishment out, and the ratings that we're doing in the UK and our television and the fact that just announcing the AEW was coming to Wembley Stadium sold the majority of the tickets, without even a card advertised," Wight said in an interview Denise Salcedo. "Now you complement that card with MJF and Adam Cole and all the talent that we have on this card, this is an exciting moment for AEW. I think that's one of the reasons why I'm still in the industry and still passionate, is the chance to see young talent like this experience what an incredible show this is going to be because believe me, you have not wrestled until you wrestled in front of a UK rabid crowd because you guys are rabid."

Looking back on his prior experience in the United Kingdom, Wight recalls fans asking if he was the bodyguard of former WWE Champion Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. At the time, Wight had just made the jump from WCW to WWE in early 1999, which means his character hadn't carved out an identity quite yet. This, in combination with WCW's minimal exposure to the UK, is what Wight believes to have caused some UK wrestling fans to raise questions about his role in WWE. Luckily, though, Johnson clarified the situation.

"Dwayne was so cool," Wight said. "He was like, 'No, no. He's the new WWF superstar. This is Paul Wight.' And I was just like, 'Wow, How does everybody know this guy?' Obviously because WWF had such a presence."

Over the next two decades, Wight said he cultivated some great memories in the United Kingdom, which helped to strengthen his relationship with the fans across the pond. "As far as the fans go, my favorite experience is how much they get the product. I come over here as a bad guy, it's [them chanting], 'You fat w*nker.' You fat w*nker.' I come over here as a good guy, [they chant] 'You still got it!' That's such a wonderful feeling as a talent to know that, like, 'Aw you guys understand what I'm doing.' It's awesome,' Wight said.