Shaquille O'Neal Thinks a Match With Paul Wight Could Happen in AEW Very Soon

A pro wrestling match between NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Wight (formerly known as The Big Show) has been a dream for fans for years. But aside from a brief encounter during the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, the two have never truly come to blows inside the squared circle. But if you ask both men, that could be changing in the near future. The four-time NBA Champion made his AEW debut back in March and defeated Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet alongside Jade Cargill in a well-received mixed tag match. Meanwhile, Wight arrived in AEW on the same night and has signed a deal to work as both a wrestler and a color commentator for AEW Dark: Elevation.

In a new interview with Pop Culture this week, O'Neal was asked about the dream match and said he's already begun training. He also hinted at why the match never took place back when Wight was in WWE.

"I hear Paul Wight's still talking trash, so I'm going to work out really hard this summer, and maybe we could do something very, very soon," O'Neal said. "...Last time it was due out of bureaucracy and red tape, now there is no red tape. So, I'm going to go on because I'm still kind of sore from the table, so I'm going to go for it this summer, pump these muscles up here. I'll be waiting for you, Mr. Paul."

Wight talked about the match during a recent interview with Jim Varsallone, saying, "It's been the biggest tease ever between Shaq vs. me for how many years. At some point, you either never do it because you can't live up to the tease or we need to hurry up and do it before it gets to be yesterday's news."

He also reviewed Shaq's debut match on AEW Dynamite, which saw Rhodes drive O'Neal through a table before Cargill picked up the win.

"It was a great match," he said. "I thought Shaq did a great job with that match. Cody did as well. I saw Cody did a lot of things in that match that he used to do against me. I was thinking, 'I've seen Cody fight the same way against another tall guy.' Shaq did great. Jade did great too, that was one of her first matches. It was a big match for Jade and Red Velvet. The whole thing came off really good for everybody involved. Hopefully, I'll get to wrestle Shaq, but who knows. The powers that be and the way the world works, hopefully. What I do need to talk to Shaq about is getting me a Krispy Kreme franchise."