Paul Wight probably wasn’t expecting this kind of response.
The former Big Show had just blasted wrestling’s old-school “pay your dues” culture when a former WWE NXT UK star jumped on social media and accused him of acting like one of the very veterans he was criticizing.
That wrestler was Sam Gradwell.
After Wight’s comments started making the rounds, Gradwell took to Twitter and recalled what he says happened during a WWE tryout years ago.
According to Gradwell, Wight confronted a group of extras and tryout wrestlers over a paperwork issue that he claims wasn’t even their fault.
Gradwell alleged that Wight shouted at the group, told them they didn’t deserve to be paid and even said they’d never make it in the wrestling business.
“Does Paul remember what a nasty intimidating piece of s*** 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.”
Gradwell also pointed out that this wasn’t exactly a group of unknown wrestlers.
He said Joe Hendry, Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, Zack Gibson and Nathan Cruz were all there that day before taking another shot at Wight, saying every one of them was “more professional, talented and deserving” than him.
That’s what makes the timing so interesting.
Just before Gradwell’s post, Wight had been talking about wrestling’s old “pay your dues” mentality, arguing that too many veterans use it as an excuse to bully younger talent instead of helping them succeed.
“Paying your dues to me is an old-timer’s way of intimidating and bullying… the younger talent for no goddamn reason.”
Whether Wight remembers the tryout the same way is unknown, and he hasn’t publicly responded to Gradwell’s claims. We’ll just have to see if Wight does decide to respond in the end.
Does Paul remember what a nasty intimidating piece of shit 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. Fuck off https://t.co/ojbkQMGZjW— Sam Gradwell (@sam_gradwell) August 18, 2026
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