Outside Interference–Rob Sklarz
Professional Athlete’s Gone Wrestling
Our intrepid young journalist anticipates the Floyd Mayweather/Big Show WrestleMania showdown with an essay about other athletes who have ventured into the world of Sports Entertainment
Floyd Mayweather is not the first professional sports star to participate in a wrestling show or even a WrestleMania, he is simply the latest. The history of Sports Entertainment is littered with Athletes who have crossed over from other sports to take part in wrestling events. These roles have varied from guest referees to outside enforcers to in-ring competitors. We’ll chronicle some of the notable athletes who have dipped their toes into the world of wrestling in this edition of Outside Interference.
Muhammad Ali In June of 1976 boxing legend Muhammad Ali was sitting ringside in Philadelphia watching a one on one match between the late great Gorilla Monsoon and Baron Mikel Scicluna. Ali had recently made comments claiming that he could beat any professional wrestler. After Monsoon deposited Scicluna on the floor in the vicinity of Ali, the boxing great jumped into the ring, removed his shirt and challenged Gorilla. Monsoon fended off several jabs by Ali before picking him up into his trademark airplane spin and dumping him in the center off the ring. At this point Ali decided discretion was the better part of valor and exited through the crowd. After the altercation Monsoon told a young Vince McMahon that although Ali was a great boxer, he was a terrible wrestler. Gorilla would never confirm if the event was pre-planned, claiming he had never seen Ali before the incident or since. Muhammad Ali also appeared as a guest referee for the main event of the first WrestleMania. Incidentally, former Yankees great Billy Martin also appeared at WrestleMania I as the guest ring announcer.
WrestleMania 2 Battle Royal WrestleMania 2, held in April 1986, emanated from three different arenas. The main event of the Rosemont Horizon portion of the show was a battle royal featuring WWE Superstars and several NFL players. “Refrigerator” Perry and Jimbo Covert of the Chicago Bears, Harvey Martin of the Dallas Cowboys, Ernie Holmes of the Pittsburgh Steelers, A cocky Bill Fralic of the Atlanta Falcons, and Russ Francis of the San Francisco 49ers all competed in the match. The NFL players in the match made a good accounting of themselves. The Refrigerator had a memorable confrontation with Big John Studd in which they eliminated each other and Russ Francis was one of the final four in the match before being eliminated by the Hart Foundation. Andre the Giant was the eventual winner. The match also featured Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Dick Butkus as guest referees.
Walter Payton Chicago Bears great “Sweetness” Walter Payton appeared for WWE at SummerSlam 1994 at the United Center in Chicago. Payton seconded Razor Ramon when he challenged Diesel for the Intercontinental title. “Sweetness” was there to counteract Shawn Michaels who was in Diesel’s corner and had a penchant for interfering. After HBK interfered, Payton chased him around the ring distracting the referee. Michaels entered the ring and inadvertently superkicked “Big Daddy Cool”. Payton then held Michaels at bay while Ramon covered Diesel for the win and the Intercontinental gold. Sadly, Walter Payton passed away in 1999 at the age of 45 from a rare liver disease.
WrestleMania XI In April of 1995, WrestleMania XI featured one of the most hyped matches in WWE history. Recently retired New York Giant’s great Lawrence Taylor went one on one with “the beast from the east” Bam Bam Bigelow. This event garnered at ton of mainstream publicity for the WWE just prior to the start of the Monday night wars. The match came about after a ringside confrontation between Bigelow and Taylor at the Royal Rumble two months earlier. Taylor was surprisingly proficient in the match and defeated Bam Bam with a flying forearm from the ring ropes. Taylor was clearly spent after the match and later said it was one the hardest things he had ever done. The match featured several other NFL players who stood at ringside to keep Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation, to which Bigelow belonged, in check. Ken Norton Jr., Carl Banks, Rickey Jackson, Reggie White, Chris Spielman and Steve McMichael made up L.T.’s All-Pro team.
Steve “Mongo” McMichael Steve McMichael’s appearance at WrestleMania XI seemingly had a profound effect on him. He was bitten by the sports entertainment bug and when WCW Monday Nitro debuted on September 4, 1995, McMichael (and his dog Pepe) was there as a color commentator re christened as “Mongo”. His first match was in July 1997 at The Great American Bash. Mongo teamed with fellow footballer Kevin Greene (Carolina Panthers) against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. During the match McMichael turned on his partner and their cornerman Randy Savage and became a member of the Four Horsemen. McMichael lost a one on one match with Greene at Great American Bash 1997 and defeated the late Reggie White (Green Bay Packers) at Slamboree the same year. McMichael was active in WCW until early 1999 and held the United States Title. McMichael is now back on more familiar ground, coaching football.
Dennis Rodman NBA star Dennis Rodman made several appearances for WCW between 1997 and 1999, initially appearing as a friend of Hulk Hogan. The Chicago Bulls great’s first match was at Bash at the Beach 1997, teaming with Hulk Hogan he lost to Lex Luger and the Giant. One year later Rodman reappeared in WCW, again teaming with Hogan, to challenge Diamond Dallas Page and fellow basketball star Karl Malone. This time Hogan and Rodman got the win. “The Worm’s” final match in WCW took place at Road Wild 1999 when he lost a wild one to Macho Man Randy Savage. Rodman has made other sporadic appearances at wrestling events including a 2000 match against Curt Hennig for the i-Generation Championship.
Mike Tyson The fourteenth annual WrestleMania was a turning point in WWE history and the Monday night wars. The event marked Stone Cold Steve Austin’s first WWE title win, the beginning of the “Attitude” era and one of the most successful pro athlete crossovers in wrestling history. Mike Tyson first appeared for WWE at the 1998 Royal Rumble sharing a luxury box with Shane McMahon. Then came his famous altercation with Stone Cold Steve Austin on Monday Night Raw. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, Tyson was named the special enforcer for Austin’s WWE title match against reigning champ Shawn Michaels. Tyson aligned himself with Michaels stable Degeneration X and appeared to have it in for Stone Cold. At WrestleMania XIV Tyson rebuked his DX colors and counted to three as Austin won the WWE title. After the match Tyson knocked HBK out cold and celebrated with the Texas Rattlesnake. Within two weeks Raw would claim it’s first ratings victory over WCW Nitro in over a year and a half.
Final Thoughts Pro athletes from other sports will always have a presence in Sports Entertainment. Seemingly every week athletes from various sports are seated ringside at televised wrestling shows. Occasionally star athletes decide to jump the barrier and see what it’s like inside the ring. More often than not they leave with newfound respect for the most underrated athletes in the world, professional wrestlers.
–Rob Sklarz
Sklarz@aol.com
(3/7/08)
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