Paul Wight Jokes About AEW Return: "Tony Khan Paid Me a Sh*t Ton of Money"

Paul Wight hasn't wrestled in AEW since the eight-man street fight on the November 15th, 2023 edition of Dynamite. In a recent interview with Downunder The Ring to promote AEW’s debut in Australia, Wight opened up about his in-ring status:

“God, I hope so (I can get back in the ring) because Tony Khan paid me a sht ton of money to get in the ring and so far, I haven’t done sht. I did (take a bump onto a car). Then right after that, I went and got my knee replaced. Thanks, Will Hobbs (he laughed)."

Wight also discussed the possibility of making a return as his iconic character, Captain Insano:

“I have heard from him (Captain Insano). I heard his fat-ass had knee surgery a couple of months ago but is hoping he’ll be back real soon. Definitely, I hope he’s gonna compete in February here in Brisbane. A lot of it is intellectual property, and Tony Khan — because I lost The Big Show — that’s WWE intellectual property. It’s tough when you’ve built a brand for 20 years, but it’s business. I understand. But, building a new identity is like starting all over. People always identify you as one thing. I’m not that guy anymore, I’m this other guy. Captain Insano is a cool gift, and Tony Khan worked it out, got the intellectual property rights for me.

I’ll be honest, a lot of it’s been my fault. Surgeries and stuff have held me back, so it’s about getting in the gym and getting ready. It’s basically a one-shot run. I can’t pull the trigger on this half-assed and fail. When I do it, it’s gonna be 100 percent. We run till the wheels fall off and ride off into the sunset. I want to make sure that when I bring that character out, I can do whatever Tony asks—tag, singles, whatever. That’s why I haven’t done a lot in AEW. Tony Khan’s given me the time to get my sh*t straight.

Believe me, there’s a ton of pressure to get this right for the fans, so I don’t want to go out and have people thinking, ‘Oh, that sucks. Shoot him. Put him out of his misery.’ Like Old Yeller. I don’t want to get put down yet. I kind of want to go out like Sting, have a nice run, some great matches, work with this amazing young talent, and slide out with that goal accomplished. Then I’ll move to New York and become a world-famous playwright. It’s a joke because I can’t spell...

Hopefully, Captain Insano will have a match at Grand Slam: Australia. You’re gonna see a 400-pound guy in spandex—well, a sexy, good-looking, bald, 400-pound guy in spandex, in my opinion."