Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) was born February 8, 1972, in Aiken, South Carolina. He was born with acromegaly, a disease of the endocrine system that causes accelerated growth. By the age of twelve, he was 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall, weighed 220 lb (100 kg), and had chest hair. In 1991, as a member of the Wichita State University basketball team at age 19, he was listed at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m).[18] He underwent successful surgery in the early 1990s on his pituitary gland, which halted the growth. His shoe size is 22 5E, his ring size is 22, and his chest is 64 inches (1,600 mm) in circumference. In 2005, he leased a bus and hired a bus driver because of the practical problems his size presents to air travel and car rental.

Wight played basketball and American football in high school at Wyman King Academy in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. He was a standout center for the basketball team and a tight end for the football team. He quit football after his freshman year because of disputes with the coach. He continued to support the team by joining the cheerleading squad as a sophomore, partly from spite.

After leaving high school, Wight attended Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, where his basketball averages of 14 points and 6.5 rebounds earned him all-conference honors and helped the team win the Western Division of the Oklahoma Bi-State Conference. He went on to attend Wichita State University, where in 1991-1992 he played for the Wichita State Shockers. Wight subsequently attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 1992 to 1993, where he was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Cougars basketball team and scored 39 points for the Cougars in limited action; he joined the Xi Beta chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

After graduating, Wight worked various jobs including bouncing, bounty hunting, and answering phone calls.

Wight paid $5,000 to train at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory, but due to Sharpe's gout at the time, he was only very minimally trained (Johnny Polo taught him the collar-and-elbow tie-up). Wight wrestled the first match of his career on December 3, 1994, at a World Wrestling Association (WWA) show in Clementon, New Jersey; he lost by count-out to WWA Heavyweight Champion Frank Finnegan.

While attending the Monster Factory, Wight made an audition tape and gave it to Mike Chioda, whom he had met in a Philadelphia bar. Chioda forwarded it to Pat Patterson, who did not bother watching it because he assumed Wight was another wrestler, Kurrgan. Only when he later saw The Giant debut in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) did Patterson realize his mistake, much to Vince McMahon's displeasure.

While answering phones for a karaoke company, Wight met Danny Bonaduce in a live microphone amateur contest on his morning radio show. Bonaduce introduced Wight to his friend, WCW wrestler Hulk Hogan. They had an informal basketball game, as part of a WCW promotion for an upcoming show at the Rosemont Horizon. Hogan liked how Wight worked the crowd and recommended him to WCW's vice president, Eric Bischoff. Wight went to the Horizon show, and was invited into the locker room, where he met Ric Flair, Arn Anderson (his boyhood hero) and Paul Orndorff. He later met Bischoff there and came to a deal.

In 1995, Wight signed with WCW. He debuted in May 1995 at Slamboree, where he was billed as the son of André the Giant (although this was later dropped) and accordingly used the ring name "The Giant" as a member of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable. Wight made his professional in-ring debut at Halloween Havoc against Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He won the match after Hogan's manager, Jimmy Hart, purposely got Hogan disqualified and then turned on him. The next night The Giant showed up on WCW Monday Nitro wearing the championship belt; Hart, who became The Giant's manager, revealed that he had put a stipulation in the contract for the match that if Hogan lost via disqualification, he would lose his championship. WCW responded by nullifying the title change due to the circumstances surrounding it and the championship was vacated.

The Giant then entered the sixty-man battle royal contested for the vacant championship at World War 3 in November 1995. He was one of the final six combatants, being eliminated simultaneously with Sting and Lex Luger by Hogan. The Giant did not leave the ring upon being eliminated and pulled Hogan underneath the ropes while Randy Savage was eliminating the One Man Gang from the match. The referee did not see The Giant's actions, only that Hogan was on the floor, and thus awarded the match and the title to Savage. The Giant teamed with Ric Flair to defeat Hogan and Savage at Clash of the Champions XXXII, but was defeated by Hogan in a cage match at SuperBrawl VI. The Giant regained the World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Flair. After Hogan formed the New World Order (nWo), he defeated The Giant for the title at Hog Wild following interference from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.

The Giant joined the nWo 23 days later, citing Ted DiBiase's money as his primary motivation, feuding with Lex Luger and the Four Horsemen. After winning the battle royal at World War 3, Giant asked Hogan for a World Heavyweight Championship title match. For this, he was thrown out of the nWo on December 30. He fought against the nWo along with Sting and Luger, winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice.

In 1997, The Giant began a feud with nWo member Nash, who constantly dodged the Giant, including no-showing their scheduled match at Starrcade. In 1998, at Souled Out, the two finally met in the ring, with Nash accidentally injuring The Giant's neck when he botched his signature jackknife powerbomb finisher. The botch was worked into a storyline, according to which Nash had intentionally dropped the Giant on his head in order to break his neck. When Nash left the nWo and formed his own stable, the nWo Wolfpac, The Giant rejoined the original nWo to oppose Nash and his allies. While back with the nWo, The Giant won two more Tag Team Championships, once with Sting as an unwilling partner (as the match was signed before The Giant returned to the nWo) and once with Scott Hall. In the interim between those two reigns, he lost his half of the titles to Sting in a singles match where only the winner would remain champion and could choose a new partner.

On the October 12, 1998, episode of Nitro, Bill Goldberg defeated The Giant in a no-disqualification match. In a show of strength, Goldberg executed a delayed vertical suplex before executing the Jackhammer on The Giant. After the nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac stables merged again in January 1999, Hogan declared that there was only room for one "giant" in the group, forcing Giant and Nash to wrestle for that spot. Nash defeated Giant following a run-in by Scott Hall and Eric Bischoff. The Giant was then attacked by the entire nWo. On the "Building An Army" episode of the Monday Night War feature from the WWE Network, Wight stated that he was making a fraction of what the main eventers were making and his salary was not increased after he requested it be by Eric Bischoff; as a result, Wight allowed his WCW contract to expire on February 8, 1999, his 27th birthday.

Wight was arrested in December 1998 by the Memphis Police Department for allegedly exposing himself to a female motel employee who was the front desk clerk at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The charge though was subsequently dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Wight signed a ten-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation in the midst of the promotion's "Attitude Era" . He debuted on February 14, 1999, under the name "Paul Wight" at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, establishing himself as a member of Vince McMahon's villainous stable, the Corporation. During McMahon's cage match against Stone Cold Steve Austin, Wight tore through the canvas from underneath the ring and attacked Austin, establishing himself as a heel. After he threw Austin into the side of the cage, the cage broke, causing Austin to fall outside to the floor, resulting in Austin winning the match. Wight subsequently served as McMahon's enforcer.

In March 1999, Wight was charged with assault by Robert Sawyer, who alleged that Wight had broken his jaw during the summer of 1998 in the course of an altercation at Marriott Hotels & Resorts in Uniondale, New York. Wight claimed that Sawyer had verbally abused, threatened, and shoved him, and that he had responded by punching Sawyer. After three days, Judge Thomas Feinman delivered a verdict of not guilty.

Renamed as The Big Show, he made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania XV, facing Mankind for the right to referee the main event between Austin and The Corporation's WWF Champion The Rock. However, Big Show incapacitated Mankind and was disqualified in the process, losing the match. After the match, McMahon slapped him, so he punched McMahon, turning face and leaving The Corporation. After being defeated by Mankind in a Boiler Room Brawl, they formed a stable with Test, and Ken Shamrock known as The Union, who fought against the Corporation and later The Corporate Ministry. On the June 7 episode of Raw, Big Show faced The Undertaker for the WWF Championship, which ended by referee stoppage and Undertaker retained his title. Big Show later turned heel once again by teaming with Undertaker, wrestling against X-Pac and Kane at SummerSlam, and they won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice.

Big Show then took on Big Boss Man, Prince Albert, Mideon and Viscera at Survivor Series in a 4-on-1 elimination match. He won the match after Big Boss Man was counted out. Later that night, Big Show participated in a Triple Threat match against The Rock and the WWF Champion, Triple H, winning the title. He lost the title against Triple H on the January 3, 2000, episode of Raw.

Trying to regain the title, Big Show participated in the Royal Rumble match where he was last eliminated by The Rock. They started a storyline where Big Show turned heel once again by producing a videotape that showed The Rock's feet striking the ground first, leading to a match with The Rock at No Way Out, with the WrestleMania title shot on the line. At No Way Out, Big Show defeated The Rock when Shane McMahon interfered, knocking out The Rock with a chair shot. The Rock was desperate to reclaim his title shot and eventually agreed to a match with Big Show on the March 13 episode of Raw – if he won, the WrestleMania title match would become a Triple Threat match, and if he lost, he would retire from the WWF. Shane McMahon, now actively supporting Big Show's bid to become champion, appointed himself as the special guest referee. However, The Rock defeated Big Show when Vince McMahon assaulted Shane and donned the referee shirt, personally making the three count.

After The Undertaker threw Big Show off a stage through a table on the August 7, 2000, episode of Raw, he was removed from WWF television for the remainder of the year. Big Show was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWF developmental territory, to lose weight and improve his cardiovascular fitness. Indicating the company's lack of faith and plans for him at the time, he was completely removed from the upcoming WWF video games.

In October, Big Show was traded to the SmackDown! brand, immediately challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. During this time, Big Show adopted a new attire, donning black jeans and taking on a new hairstyle and facial hair. Big Show won the WWE Championship by defeating Lesnar at Survivor Series 2002, ending Lesnar's undefeated streak with help from Paul Heyman. He lost the title to Kurt Angle a month later at Armageddon.

On the June 12 episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar superplexed Big Show off the ropes and the ring imploded, two ring posts moved and three rows of ropes came down. The referee called for the event physician Dr. Burke, EMTs, medics, trainers, and even more referees. This kept the title in Lesnar's hands and both went to the hospital.

On the June 26 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show, Shelton Benjamin, and Charlie Haas defeated Mr. America (a disguised Hulk Hogan), Lesnar, and Angle in a six-man tag team match when Big Show pinned Mr. America. This was Hogan's last appearance as Mr. America. For several months afterwards, WWE hyped up Big Show as the man who retired Hogan.

At No Way Out, he faced John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) for the WWE Championship in the first-ever Barbed Wire Steel Cage match. He chokeslammed JBL through the ring and broke the lock on the door but JBL crawled from under the canvas and won.

At WrestleMania 21, Big Show faced Sumo Grand Champion Akebono in a worked sumo match; the match was added to the show to attract a strong pay-per-view audience in Japan, where Akebono is considered a sporting legend. In the weeks preceding the match, Big Show pushed over a jeep driven to the ring by Luther Reigns to show that he was capable of moving the marginally heavier Akebono. Big Show lost to Akebono at WrestleMania 21.

At Taboo Tuesday 2005, Big Show teamed with Kane to defeat Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Championship.

On the December 16 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show and Kane were booked to face Batista and Mysterio, the WWE Tag Team Champions, at Armageddon. Big Show and Kane defeated Batista and Mysterio at Armageddon.

At WrestleMania 22, Big Show and Kane defeated Carlito and Masters, marking Big Show's first victory at WrestleMania. On the following night on Raw, Big Show and Kane lost the World Tag Team Championship to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey following copious interference from the other members of the Spirit Squad.

At Night of Champions 2009, Big Show was introduced as Chris Jericho's new tag team partner due to Edge needing time off to tend to an injury, thus taking Big Show out of the six-pack challenge for the United States Championship. Together, Jeri-Show were able to successfully defend the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against The Legacy. Jeri-Show successfully defended the titles against Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam, MVP and Mark Henry at Breaking Point and Rey Mysterio and Batista at Hell in a Cell.

Jeri-Show lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs to D-Generation X (DX) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. As a member of the SmackDown roster, Jericho could only appear on Raw as a champion and so DX intentionally disqualified themselves in a rematch to force Jericho off the show. Eventually the teams had a match with a definitive finish on the January 4 episode of Raw, though DX still won, signalling the end of Jeri-Show.

On the February 8 episode of Raw, Big Show regained the titles from DX with his new tag team partner The Miz in a Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination match, which also included the Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows). On the February 16 episode of ECW, he and Miz successfully defended the titles against Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust on the final episode of the show. On the March 1 episode of Raw, Big Show and Miz defeated D-X in their rematch. At WrestleMania XXVI, Big Show and Miz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the titles again. At Extreme Rules ShoMiz was in a tag team gauntlet match where the team that beat them would get a title match the next night on Raw. ShoMiz beat the first two teams in the gauntlet match, John Morrison and R-Truth, then MVP and Mark Henry. They then lost to The Hart Dynasty, who earned the title shot. On the April 26, 2010, episode of Raw, Big Show and Miz lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship to The Hart Dynasty.

On the April 22 episode of SmackDown, the Big Show & Kane defeated Corre members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, their second championship win as a team. After defending the titles against Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson at Extreme Rules and CM Punk and Mason Ryan at Over the Limit 2011, Kane and Big Show lost their titles to Michael McGilligutty and David Otunga on the following night on Raw.

On December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Big Show finally defeated Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Chairs Match. Afterwards, Henry knocked Big Show out with a DDT onto a chair and Daniel Bryan immediately cashed his Money in the Bank contract on Big Show to win the title. This gave Big Show the shortest-ever World Heavyweight Championship reign at 45 seconds.

Big Show began a feud with Rhodes after Rhodes highlighted Big Show's embarrassing moments in previous WrestleManias, often costing Big Show to lose matches in the process. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Big Show defeated Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Championship. With this, Big Show became the twenty-fourth wrestler to win the Triple Crown Championship and the twelfth Grand Slam Champion in the WWE. After a four-week reign, Big Show lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Rhodes at Extreme Rules in a Tables match.

Big Show received his title opportunity on October 28 at Hell in a Cell 2012, where he defeated Sheamus to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On the January 11 episode of SmackDown, Big Show lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Del Rio in a Last Man Standing match, ending his reign at 72 days.

Big Show went on to win the 2nd Annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31.

Wight is also well known for his frequent turns between face and heel throughout his career, to the point it has become a running gag among wrestling fans. One wrestling site has estimated that through 2018 Wight has made approximately 34 turns since his WCW debut in 1995, four of those alone coming during his first year with the WWF. Wight himself acknowledged that while the frequent turns may have hurt his legacy and his mystique, he was also honored with the fact that he can play both roles well and fit in wherever he is needed to put younger talent over.

Wright has appeared in a number of films such as "Jingle All The Way" & "The Waterboy". He has also made numerous television appearances on shows like "Thunder in Paradise", "Star Trek: Enterprise", Hogan Knows Best" & "Psych".

This skin was made for me by Toosty.