Chris Jericho has shared the ring with some of the biggest names in wrestling history, but when it comes to the tag team partner he enjoyed working with more than anyone else, one man still sits at the top of his list: Paul Wight.
Speaking during an appearance on TMZ’s Inside the Ring, Jericho was asked about Wight’s recent work behind the commentary desk in AEW. Wight has continued contributing to AEW through commentary appearances while spending considerably less time wrestling, and Jericho believes the role fits his longtime friend perfectly.
Jericho explained that Wight has found another way to contribute after decades in the ring, while admitting that even he sometimes forgets just how massive the former Big Show really is.
“I mean, it’s perfect. Once again, here you have this seven-foot guy that’s now making a second career as a commentator. You know, you don’t want to get too many shots of him because he looks so ridiculously big, and you forget. Like, we’ve known him for so many years, and he’s one of my best friends in the business.”
Jericho had plenty of praise for Wight away from the ring as well. He described him as a great person while joking that Wight certainly has another side when his temper gets going.
“He’s just a sweetheart of a guy. He gets pretty angry and cantankerous too, but, you know, I’ll see a picture of him and I from, you know, 2010 or whatever, like, ‘Oh my gosh. Holy [], is he [] big.’ You forget.”
The conversation then shifted to a recent AEW moment when Jericho ended up sitting on Wight’s lap at the commentary desk during his match with Kevin Knight in Las Vegas.
“To see him at the commentary table, we had a great moment, the Kevin Knight match in Vegas, where I flew off the top and landed on Big Show—or on Kevin Knight—and then I went and sat on Big Show’s lap, and it was such a great moment.”
Jericho also had some fun with the screenshot that came out of the moment. He joked that he looked great before and after sitting down, but one awkward frame was all critics needed to jump on him.
“It’s funny too, because I was kind of slumped over sitting on his lap, and, you know, sometimes you get a picture which is not very flattering. So it’s abs Jericho, abs Jericho, sit down on Big Show’s lap, look like Jabba the Hutt for two seconds, get up and abs Jericho. And of course all the haters are like, ‘Is this what you wanted to see back in WWE?’ And it’s just like, I’m looking like a big blob because I’m sitting like this.”
That story eventually brought Jericho back to their history together, and that’s when he revealed just how highly he ranks Wight among the countless wrestlers he has teamed with during his career.
“But it was a really great moment that, you know, he’s still my all-time favorite tag team partner that I ever had. We just really—we had great, great chemistry together.”
Jericho and Wight became known as Jeri-Show in WWE after joining forces in 2009, and their size difference ended up becoming one of the biggest strengths of the team. Jericho explained that playing the cowardly heel became much easier when he had a seven-foot giant standing behind him ready to handle anyone who came after him.
“Here I am, the cowardly heel, and who’s going to beat me when I got this guy behind me? You got a problem with me? Talk to my friend. And that’s all I needed.”
Jericho said having Wight as backup also allowed him to stand his ground against people who physically towered over him.
“Like, I was going toe-to-toe with Shaq, toe-to-toe with freaking, you know, whoever. And it’s like I can go toe-to-toe with Shaq because you got to deal with my guy.”
For Jericho, however, their connection clearly went beyond simply having complementary wrestling characters. He once again stressed their chemistry together before describing himself and Wight as two veterans from another generation who have somehow managed to keep finding roles in the business.
“It was really great chemistry, and he’s a really good guy as well. And he’s like me. We’re survivors from another time that are still, you know, still out there doing it.”
Wight has remained involved with AEW even as his in-ring appearances have become increasingly rare. Ringside News previously covered Wight returning to the AEW Collision commentary booth, and he has continued appearing for the company in different capacities. Jericho believes commentary gives Wight a natural path to remain part of wrestling once taking bumps is no longer realistic.
“Obviously, he’s not taking bumps at this point. I’m sure he wants to, but it’s also pretty cool to see him out there every week commentating because that’s the next step of our careers. What do you do when wrestling’s done in-ring if you still want to be in the business? That’s not a bad way to continue forward if you can do it.”
Jericho has spent more than three decades working with wrestling legends across WWE, WCW, ECW, NJPW and AEW, so calling anyone his all-time favorite tag team partner carries some serious weight. After everything they accomplished together as Jeri-Show, Jericho made it clear that nobody has knocked Paul Wight out of that spot.
What do you think made Chris Jericho and Paul Wight work so well together, and where would you rank Jeri-Show among WWE’s best tag teams from that era? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
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