National Ledger - Paul Heyman on WWE WrestleMania Headliner Paul "Big Show" Wight

Paul Heyman has posted his latest blog on The Sun UK, and this week the master of the Hustle discusses his friendship with Wrestlemania headliner Paul "The Big Show" Wight. Heyman was a powerful force behind the scenes in World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002, the head writer for the Smackdown show and the on-air "Agent" for then-WWE Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar when Vince McMahon made the decision that Lesnar was worth more to WWE as a "babyface" (fan favorite) chasing the title instead of a "heel" (villain) with the championship.

Paul Heyman on WWE WrestleMania Headliner Paul "Big Show" Wight (Image: UK Sun)

McMahon scripted a storyline in which Heyman would doublecross Lesnar and cost him the title at Madison Square Garden, crowning Big Show the new champion in the process. That scenario, which played out at Survivor Series, set up return matches all over the world, with Lesnar attempting to get revenge on Show, who now had Heyman as his on-air Agent.

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Heyman recalled, "When Brock was turned babyface, WWE scheduled house shows that saw Brock just beat the Hell out of Show... and me, too! It was brutal. Brock never knew his own strength and he hammered us unmercifully, even though he genuinely liked us. Brock would suplex Show all over the ring and at the time Show weighed 500 pounds.

Those suplexes tore Show's body apart. He was hurting big time. A big man with big pain. Then came the night Brock, doing the F-5, threw me across the ring like it was a dwarf tossing contest and I landed head-first and I suffered a severe neck injury. Big Show likes to say "you looked like a larn dart".

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"Because Show, Brock, and I were on top... because I was the lead writer of Smackdown at the time... and because Wrestlemania was only 2 months away, I decided to hide the fact I was so hurt, and to continue working through the injury. But watching Show and I drag our beat-up bodies in and out of planes and cars was pitiful."

"We were so beat up, in so much pain, simple tasks like breathing produced an "owwwww" because every inch of our bodies had been brutalized by our friend, "The Next Big Thing." Here comes the best part. Show and I were never miserable about the situation. To the contrary, we had the time of our lives. We laughed at ourselves the entire time. We acted like two old Jews, kvetching about our aches and pains, laughing at the absurdity of going to work so beat up, so injured, because - and this was a constant joke we'd tell each other - we didn't want Brock to work with anyone else and put their lives through such torture!"

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Heyman also pulled the scripted "South Philly Screwjob," doublecrossing Rob Van Dam on July 4, 2006 on a memorable night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when RVD had been arrested (while WWE and ECW combined champion) on a marijuana charge. Heyman's heel turn enabled Show to become the new ECW World Champion as the promotion had just been re-launched on the Sci Fi Channel.

Heyman speaks very highly of Big Show in his blog, calling the 7 foot tall giant "my favorite person in the entire wrestling business."

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You can read the blog in its entirety here and episodes of THE HEYMAN HUSTLE, including the recent episode with controversial rapper Ice-T and his trophy wife Coco, can be found at the Heyman Hustle. Check Out all of our WWE coverage here.

Paul Heyman on WWE WrestleMania Headliner Paul "Big Show" Wight

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