'Big Show' heading back to the ring

A year after retiring from the business due to lingering injuries and mental fatigue, Paul "Big Show" Wight is returning to World Wrestling Entertainment.

Sources say both sides have agreed to the terms of a new contract, and that Wight should be starting back with the company soon within the next few weeks.

The seven-foot-tall Wight, who signed a lucrative 10-year deal with WWE in 1999 after breaking in with WCW four years earlier as The Giant, left the company early last year to take time off and deal with health concerns.

Wight, who at his peak weighed nearly 550 pounds, reportedly has dropped considerable weight since leaving WWE. He recently said he felt mentally and physically stronger than he has in the past 10 years.

Wight had been plagued by back problems, torn muscles and a herniated abdomen. The lingering injuries took a toll on his massive frame, and he announced in December 2006 that it was time to step away from the ring.

"I've reached a point in my career right now where I am a little run down and hurt pretty bad physically," Wight told the WWE Web site. I can't compete at the level I want to compete at, and that's the most heartbreaking thing."

"I think every athlete reaches a point in their career when he really has to check himself and evaluate what is going on," Wight added. "Anybody who knows me knows I need a break. People go through life so fast sometimes they miss it; I just want to put on the brakes."

Wight, the only performer to have held the WWE, ECW and WCW world heavyweight titles, said his departure was bittersweet and called the business a family.

"I've been traveling and I've been in this business for 11 wonderful years. I've been able to work with almost every top superstar in this business that's ever meant anything ... I've had some very memorable matches and I'm thankful for it."

Wight had planned on pursuing other options after leaving the wrestling business, including training to become a professional boxer and a possible career in acting, but neither materialized. He briefly came out of retirement last August to take part in a match in Memphis with longtime friend Hulk Hogan. He was a last-minute replacement for Jerry "The King" Lawler, who was pulled off the independent show by WWE, presumably to hurt the event's drawing power and to strike back at Hogan.

The show turned out to be a financial failure, as it had been largely built around Lawler, one of the top draws in the history of Memphis wrestling. A recent lawsuit was filed by Memphis promoter Cory Macklin against WWE and president Vince McMahon over the company stopping Lawler from working the show. Macklin claims in the suit that McMahon pressured other WWE performers to avoid Macklin-promoted matches in the Memphis area. The result, according to the lawsuit, was that Macklin lost a contract to do weekly wrestling promotions at Sam's Town casino in Tunica, Miss.

Wight also was critical of WWE and declared that he was one of the few talents not owned by McMahon anymore. "I renounce my slave name (Big Show). My name is Paul Wight," he declared at a press conference.

Wight said at the time that he wanted to build his name and his brand, and that Hogan would help him do it. The South Carolina native took a number of verbal jabs at his former employer, saying he would now get to do what he wants, as opposed to someone else taking 97 percent of the merchandising rights and having to do what someone else thought was funny or worthwhile.

Hogan had promoted the match with Wight as the bout that should have headlined last year's Wrestlemania. A Hogan-Big Show match tentatively had been planned for last year's extravaganza to mark the 20-year anniversary of the Hulkster slamming Andre The Giant at Wrestlemania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome. A falling out between Hogan and McMahon, along with Wight's physical condition at the time, stymied that plan. Hogan claimed the two sides had been in negotiations for the match, but WWE didn't want to take it "on the straight and narrow."

The 35-year-old Aiken native was an all-state and all-conference standout in basketball and excelled in football, baseball and track at King Academy in Batesburg.

--TNA star Kurt Angle has been ordered to stand trial on charges of driving under the influence and careless driving.

The 39-year-old Angle was charged on Sept. 28 after a motorist told police that Angle cut her off while leaving a bar parking lot that afternoon. The reports allege the Olympic gold medalist didn't only almost hit another car, but barely missed slamming into a stop sign as well.

A police officer testified he went to Angle's home in Moon Township, Pa., where the wrestler admitted to driving the vehicle and drinking a few beers at the bar that day. Police say Angle failed field sobriety tests and refused a blood test.

Angle's attorney says police couldn't place Angle in the vehicle at a specific time and argued that the case shouldn't have been allowed to continue based on the testimony of a witness who herself is facing a DUI charge.

--Some fans go to extraordinary lengths to get an autograph, but this story takes the cake.

A teenage wrestling fan who wanted an autograph from WWE star Batista now faces a first-degree misdemeanor charge of impersonating a police officer and pulling over the wrestler following a match Jan. 5 in Canton, Ohio.

The teen used a flashing red light in his car and falsely claimed to be an undercover police officer when he stopped Batista's vehicle, according to a report in the Canton Repository. Batista, though, quickly figured out he wasn't an officer and alerted police as to what happened.

The 18-year-old faces a first-degree misdemeanor that can bring up to 180 days in jail if he is convicted. The teen's father said his son is a misdirected fan who did something he knew he should not have done.

--Ric Flair's career is rapidly drawing to a close, and with the Lowcountry being one of his major stomping grounds over the past four decades, the Nature Boy left quite a mark here. Have a personal experience with the Nature Boy that you'd like to share? I'll be publishing some of the best in a future column. E-mail your favorite Flair memories to mooneyham@postandcourier.com. Submissions may be edited for brevity and clarity. Those from outside the area also are welcome to share their memories.

--Old School Championship Wrestling will hold a show Jan. 20 at Weekend's Pub, 428 Red Bank Road, Goose Creek. Bell time is 6 p.m. Main event will be an all-champions battle for the OSCW King title. Semifinal will pit Lodi against Nightmare Sixx. For more information, visit www.oscwonline.com or call 743-4800.

Reach Mike Mooneyham at (843) 937-5517 or mooneyham@postandcourier.com.