Eric Bischoff Says Paul Wight Got Heat Backstage For Doing A Dropkick At WCW Slamboree 1996

Just because Paul Wight could execute a dropkick, that doesn’t mean everyone in WCW was thrilled to see him do it.

Speaking on the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast (via AdFreeShows), Eric Bischoff reviewed Slamboree 1996. The event featured Lethal Lottery Tag Team Matches and a BattleBowl Battle Royal to determine a new #1 Contender to the World Championship. The main event, however, saw The Giant (Wight) successfully retain his Title versus Sting after Lex Luger accidentally hit his friend with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone.

Bischoff loved the match and said it was a testament to how hard Wight was working, having only made his in-ring debut at Halloween Havoc a handful of months earlier. Among his many positive traits, Bischoff still marvels over Wight’s athleticism and how he was able to do a kip-up. He said the following:

“I loved every bit of it, and it certainly is a testament to how hard Paul Wight worked, and how much natural talent Paul Wight had. He was very eager at this point. He was an open book. He listened. He tried to learn, and he did a great job. He was a phenomenal athlete. If you think watching a 6 foot 10 guy do a dropkick is impressive, you should see him do a kip-up, which is something that generally only gymnasts can do. Little f**kers that weigh about 140 pounds. They can do kip-ups pretty well. You get a guy that weighs whatever he weighed at the time, 450 pounds, 6 foot 10, be able to do a kip-up, a legitimate kip-up, was mind-boggling.”

The newly inducted WWE Hall of Famer then shared how Wight got heat backstage for doing a dropkick during the match. Bischoff says he was stuck in the middle but understood why someone would argue for and against it. This is what he said:

“What’s interesting about this, is Giant actually got a little heat backstage for doing that dropkick. There was a lot of people that were like, ‘What? You’re killing your giant gimmick. You’re doing stuff that Eddie Guerrero does. Or guys that are 220 pounds do. You’re a giant, work like a giant. Giants don’t dropkick.’ That was a big conversation backstage. I was kind of stuck in the middle of it. I thought, traditionally yes, that would be right, you want to see a big giant be a big giant. You know, ‘don’t go down … … build up to it over weeks or months or years. Don’t go off your feet, you know, and by all means, don’t go do a f**king dropkick. Or a kip-up. Even though you can, don’t do it because it’ll kill your gimmick.’ There was a lot of that conversation backstage.”

Wight currently serves as the color commentator alongside Tony Schiavone on AEW Dark: Elevation, which airs Mondays on AEW’s YouTube page. Recently, he shared that he has been doing voice-over work for a ‘Fast & Furious’ cartoon.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.