The WWE universe is always looking to find a way to captivate an audience, beyond the mat and the actual action.
Vince McMahon has created his behemoth of sports entertainment by being able to react to current trends and feature characters from real life, be it athletes, music stars or actors. Kid Rock even got inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame for his involvement with the Undertaker’s American Badass character, as well as other musical contributions to the WWE.
Fans go wild for these brief forays into real life, further suspending the disbelief at some of the storylines and characters that they love watching in WWE.
Some of the very best crossovers have come when real fighters from the world of boxing enter the world of sports entertainment, with the biggest names in the world often popping up to make their mark. Ahead of the huge title fight featuring Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury in February, we’ve compiled a list of four boxers who have made appearances in WWE.
Tyson Fury
Fury is the latest in a long line of boxers to make an appearance in the WWE. He originally appeared to taunt Braun Strowman on Smackdown, later beating him in a bout in Saudi Arabia.
It seems his appearances have been part of the promotion leading up to his big fight with Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in February. The two have met before, sharing a rather unlikely drawn. bwin Sports reports that the feeling was Fury had done enough to get the decision in his first encounter with Wilder. He now has it all to do again in a fight that’s likely to see the winner square off against Anthony Joshua.
Mr T
Mr T perhaps wasn’t an actual boxer; he appeared as one in Rocky III and that was enough for him to get a short run in WWE back in the eighties.
He originally appeared as far back as the first-ever WrestleMania in 1985 as a partner for Hulk Hogan, against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr Wonderful” Paul Orndorff. He was back a year later, again against Piper but this time in a boxing match which ended when Rowdy body-slamming him resulting in disqualification.
The A-Team star was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson didn’t come cheap when he signed to the WWE, but the “Baddest Man on the Planet” was worth every penny. Sport Bible explains how he arrived for a fee of around $3.5 million and saved WWE.
He was suspended from boxing at the time and was still a huge name. His feud with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin helped catapult the Texas Rattlesnake into the mainstream, especially after Tyson turned babyface and floored Shawn Michaels at the end of his run.
Buster Douglas
Mike Tyson might have got a chance in the WWE long before he changed its fortunes, had it not been for James “Buster” Douglas. The underdog took Tyson’s boxing titles from him and in doing so, also stole his guest referee spot for Hulk Hogan against Randy Savage at WrestleMania V.
Douglas was called into action after the match referee got knocked out, counting Hogan’s win and taking some abuse from Savage, before laying him out with two right hooks.
