Paul Wight, aka Big Show, still thinks about a frightening moment involving Rey Mysterio at WWE Backlash 2002. Following their singles match at the event, Wight picked up a stretcher carrying Mysterio and threw it into the ring post.
The stretcher slipped out of Wight’s hands in what became a scary moment for everyone involved. Wight detailed the incident on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast.
“I hate that spot! That gives me nightmares,” Wight said. “That went so bad. Oh, that went terrible because it was my idea, because Rey was tied in it, and then I thought I’d rib him in the afternoon, whereas I’ll just pick him up scare him. Oh, I can [pick him up]. This isn’t that tough. So what about swinging the pole? My God, that’ll look crazy. But the whole thing was, I was gonna swing him on the pole, swing him on the pole again, and I was gonna shove him back in the ring. Somewhere, somebody before us, because it sure as hell wasn’t me, the guys used to put this conditioner crap on their hair, and sometimes it would get on the ropes, and it makes your hands so slimy, like even if you grab the top rope, getting out of the ring, your hand just comes right off.
So when I swung Rey into that pole, that thing popped right out of my hands, like it squeezed, like a hard-boiled egg or something. It just popped right out, then I saw Rey go, and I went, Oh, I just killed Rey. Oh, Jesus. So I’m freaking out on the inside, but we’re still doing our thing. He’s moving. Oh god, they’re putting him in the ambulance. Oh my god. So I ran back to the locker room, grabbed my clothes, threw them in the car, and drove to the hospital in my rental car, because I’m thinking, man, if Rey’s seriously f*cked up, I’m done. I’m quitting. I’m done. Because I really cared about taking care of the other guys. I get there and Rey sits in the hospital bed with his hands behind his head, just chilling. ‘Hey, man, that was good, huh?’ I’m like, ‘You’re okay?’ [He says] ‘Oh yeah, man, I’m fine.’ I’m like, ‘You know what I went through driving over here worrying?!'”
Wight also recalled Mysterio’s habit of taking big bumps on house shows.
“Rey used to love in the house shows when he worked, he used to love to sit on the top turnbuckle and have me chop him in the chest. And he would bump from the top turnbuckle to the floor, and it looked like he got assassinated. There’s a loud smack, and then boom, there’s no more Rey. He just disappears and goes down. Arn Anderson was the agent. Arn said, ‘You know, when I see you do that to Rey, I want to call the police on you.’ It’s not me. It’s his idea. That’s not me doing that. That’s Rey. That’s getting me in trouble.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Insight with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
