Paul Wight Looks Back On WWE WrestleMania 24 Bout Against Floyd Mayweather

Never thinking he would get his stuff handed to him by "The Best Ever" in Floyd Mayweather Jr., former WWE star The Big Show (Paul Wight) was delighted to stand in opposition of the well-renowned boxer on "The Grandest Stage of Them All," at WrestleMania 24, in 2008. In an interview with Gareth A. Davies, the former two-time World Heavyweight Champion recounts how the angle turned exhibition match was originally presented to them.

"It was supposed to be a tag... Floyd Mayweather and I against Batista and Rey Mysterio," Wight revealed. "Then both guys got hurt... so they asked me if I'd consider working Floyd in a singles match. At WrestleMania? At the time he's the hottest boxer on the planet. Absolutely!"

Before those two locked horns officially, Wight was on the receiving and viciously battered end of the fighting stick with Mayweather, as the now 50-0 elitist punched Wight in the nose (as part of a shoot), a moment most can't unsee, yet were happy it didn't happen to them. From there, the fight was on, as Mayweather (and his crew) showed up to Orlando, Florida, to take on the heavy hitter. Wight recalls the electricity and excitement from Mayweather before and during their match, and the overwhelming tongue-lashing he got from Mayweather's grandmother after.

"We had to talk him out of stuff. His enthusiasm was so high. Like, dude, you're worth half a billion dollars right now. I'm not choke slamming you through a table. I'm not press slamming you to the floor. Like, if you get hurt, I might get sued. You're the golden goose. We're going to take care of you and have fun," Wight recalled. "At WrestleMania, I stood on him in the match. After the 'Mania match...his grandmother pulled me off to the side, and was ripping me a new a** for standing on him...She's intimidating. Floyd had to come over and say, 'Hey, Nana, it's okay.' She said, 'You stand on him like that, he's small...I could have burst him' or something...Oh, she was ready to fight."

In that fight, Mayweather was truly the living embodiment of the adage that "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog," when he proved that the Big Show wasn't that big for him.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Gareth A. Davies," with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.