Paul Wight has absolutely no patience for wrestling’s old-school obsession with “paying your dues.” With the Avery Styles controversy still rolling along, Wight says the entire concept has too often been an excuse for veterans to bully younger wrestlers simply because they had an easier path into the business.
Speaking to Inside the Ring, Wight was asked what paying your dues should actually mean in wrestling. His answer started with three words.
“F*** that s***.”
Wight doesn’t believe young wrestlers should walk into a locker room acting entitled. They should be respectful, have the right attitude and understand where they are. But that’s considerably different from punishing someone because they didn’t have to struggle the same way previous generations did.
“Paying your dues to me is an old-timer’s way of intimidating and bullying and f**ing with the younger talent for no goddamn reason.
If a talent comes in respectful with a good attitude, don’t come in like you own the place. Don’t have an attitude. But why should you take heat because your athleticism, your look, or what opportunities you’ve been given, you’ve been successful on?”
That’s where Wight’s own career came into it. He was only 22 years old when WCW immediately put him into a major program with Hulk Hogan. Other wrestlers weren’t exactly thrilled watching a newcomer walk straight into that position, but Wight still doesn’t understand what he was supposed to do about it.
“Everybody was so mad at me cuz my first match was against Hulk Hogan. I was 22 years old. Is that my fault?”
Should I have gone to independents? Should I have learned how people lie, manipulate and f*** in smaller leagues and promoters don’t pay you and all these other stories that all these other old-timers went through that made them seasoned? To me, that’s bitter sauce.”
Wight sees the same mentality whenever someone argues that a younger wrestler should have to endure miserable conditions simply because the people before them did.
“Why should someone hold that against you? Because you didn’t drive for $35 a night and you didn’t set up some broken, torn-ass-down ring and you didn’t struggle for all this stuff?”
Okay, why punish somebody for that?”
His idea of what veterans should be doing is almost the complete opposite. Instead of making younger wrestlers repeat their struggles, Wight believes experienced talent should help them avoid those same mistakes.
“I don’t like that, punishing a younger talent, because that’s not what our business is about. Our business should be about inspiring younger talent, helping them so they don’t make mistakes, helping them avoid pitfalls.”
That help isn’t unlimited either. Wight has a three-strike rule: he’ll offer advice three times, but if someone continually ignores it, they’re on their own.
“I have a three-strike rule. I will tell you something, give you advice three times. If you don’t listen to it, I’m done. I’m not going to waste my breath. You can figure it out yourself.”
The Avery Styles argument has already had wrestlers debating chairs, ring setup and what a 19-year-old should be expected to do before and after an independent show. Wight’s position cuts through all of that pretty quickly: struggling yourself isn’t a reason to make sure the next generation struggles too.
What do you think of Paul Wight’s take on wrestling’s “pay your dues” mentality? Let us know in the comments below.
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