Shaquille O’Neal may be a legendary name in the NBA world, but the former Lakers player is ready to rumble in the world of wrestling. The 49-year-old entered the ring for the first time in his premiere match for AEW Dynamite back in March. The tag match ended with the Hall of Famer and Jade Cargill beating Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. But according to NBA.com, O’Neal had every intention of walking away with a win.
Now that he’s entered a new realm of sports, fans have been yearning to see him go head-to-head with The Big Show — also known as Paul Wight — the new color commentator for AEW Dark: Elevation. During an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, O’Neal revealed this could very well be possible in the near future.
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“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,” he said. Fans will remember the two had a face-off in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, but a match has never truly come to fruition. However, when O’Neal was asked if it could be brought to life after fans have patiently waited, he confirmed to PopCulture there “shouldn’t be any problems” with making it happen.
“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.” O’Neal is still trying to recover from being pulled out on a stretcher after his first match, but he’s ready to go because much like his favorite DC character, he’s “made of steel.”
“There’ll be no broken bones [and] it was actually fun,” O’Neal said when asked how he didn’t break his back falling backward onto a wooden table but instead forcing it to snap in half. Despite leaving on a stretcher, the 49-year-old can’t wait to do it again, stating he is looking “forward to doing it again.”
While O’Neal is on board for a matchup against Wight, the former WWE, WCW, and ECW World Champion is as eager as O’Neal is to make it happen too. “I hope so at some point,” he confessed to Fightful, according to PopCulture’s sister site, ComicBook.com. “It’s been the biggest tease ever between Shaq [versus] 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.”
Until this happens, the NBA star is excited to share the news that The General — a company he’s been a longtime spokesperson for — has officially bought the naming rights for NRG’s Rocket League team, making it the first Rocket League naming rights agreement in the history of North America.
“I’ve been with The General for about six years, I’ve been with NRG probably a little bit more, and it was just great synergies. You got the Rocket League; cars got crashed; it was great to introduce them to The General.” Starting July 6, fans can vote from four jersey designs for the team’s new jerseys that will debut in August. Participants have through July 20 to do so at their official website.
