Paul Wight Accused Of Being A 'Nasty Intimidating Piece Of Sh*t' By Former WWE NXT UK Talent

Paul Wight has been accused of being a "nasty intimidating piece of sh*t" by former WWE NXT UK wrestler Sam Gradwell over an interaction that Gradwell and other wrestlers had with the former Big Show at a WWE tryout.

Reacting to Paul Wight's comments about the social media spat over Avery Styles not setting up chairs at a GCW show, Gradwell tweeted: "Does Paul remember what a nasty intimidating piece of sh*t he was to my group of extra/tryout talent? Shouting over us that we didn't deserve to be paid and that we'd never be in the wrestling business because of a U.S paperwork misunderstanding on WWE’s part, not ours. F*ck off."

Gradwell noted the group of wrestlers that Wight was intimidating towards included Joe Hendry, Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and two of Wight's current AEW colleagues in Zack Gibson of Grizzled Young Veterans and Nathan Cruz. Gradwell stated those talents were "all significantly more professional, talented and deserving of being paid" than Paul Wight.

Gradwell's post was prompted after Paul Wight stated on TMZ's Inside the Ring that veterans wanting young wrestlers to pay their dues was "bitter sauce" and older talents should instead focus on inspiring younger wrestlers.

"F*ck that bullsh*t, okay. Paying your dues to me is an old-timer's way of intimidating and bullying and f*cking with the younger talent for no goddamn reason. If a talent comes in respectful and with a good attitude - don't come in like you own the place, don't have an attitude, but why should you take heat because your athleticism, your look, or what opportunities you’ve been given you've been successful on? Why should someone hold that against you because you didn't drive for $35 a night and you didn't set up some broken, torn-ass down ring, and you didn't struggle for all this stuff? Why punish somebody for that?" Paul Wight stated.

"My thing is when I came in, everybody was so mad at me because my first match was against Hulk Hogan. I was 22-years-old. Was that my fault? Should I have gone to independents? Should I have learnt how people lie, manipulate bullsh*t in smaller leagues and promoters don't pay you and all these other stories that all these other old-timers went through that made them seasoned? To me, that's bitter sauce. I don't like that punishing a younger talent because that's not what our business is about. Our business should be about inspiring younger talent, helping them so they don't make mistakes."

Paul Wight has not responded to Gradwell's comments as of the time of writing. The former Big Show is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling and he has become a regular on TV in recent weeks as a commentator. Wight has not wrestled since the Jericho Cruise in November 2024 and he hasn't wrestled on AEW TV since 2023 when he appeared in the Like a Dragon Gaiden Street Fight.

Sam Gradwell made his WWE debut in 2017, wrestling in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament. He was then featured in the early episodes of NXT UK and was a regular on WWE's UK brand from November 2020 until it was shuttered in 2022. Gradwell remains active on the UK indies.