Mike Tyson was known for his explosiveness, punching power and intensity in the boxing ring during his Hall of Fame boxing career — but how would those talents transfer over to the other squared circle, the pro wrestling ring? Or more importantly, how would the 56-year-old Tyson look landing clotheslines, body slams and snap suplexes?
We might soon find out, as “Iron” Mike recently called out WWE superstar Logan Paul in an interview with Forbes. Tyson also was proud to note that he was not only a boxing Hall of Famer, but a pro wrestling one as well, and that his interest in pro wrestling growing up as a kid helped teach him the value of bringing the element of entertainment and emotion to the boxing ring, something which cemented his legacy as one of the most recognized boxers in all the world.
“I’m in the wrestling Hall of Fame,” Tyson said. “I loved wrestling all my life. The Valiant Brothers, Bruno Sammartino, that’s just who I was: the arrogant talker and the bad guy who people booed. That’s when I realized you can’t remember the good guy without the bad guy. That’s what makes the good guy famous, is the bad guy. The good guy is nothing without the bad guy, the bad guy is the biggest draw. That’s why Floyd Mayweather and myself were the biggest draws because we were the bad guys.”
Logan Paul, on the other hand, first called out Tyson a few shorts weeks after going the distance with boxing great Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition match in 2021.
“Someone mentioned Mike Tyson,” Paul told Michael Benson of talkSport.com. “My lawyer mentioned it and he’s like, ‘Nah, Tyson will rip your head off, you don’t stand a chance.’ I’m like, ‘I just went through all this.’ You can’t tell me I can’t beat Mike Tyson. He’s old, old.”
When asked about that particular callout, Tyson replied, “I don’t think he’s really that serious [about a boxing match], but I’m just happy he’s receiving the success that the has. For my ego, I feel I had so much to do with that.”
While Tyson doesn’t think Paul is serious about a boxing match, he didn’t rule out one in the WWE. Paul, who first joined the WWE in 2022, has shown a natural inclination for pro wrestling, putting on quality matches with the Miz, Seth Rollins and even undisputed WWE heavyweight champion Roman Reigns.
Tyson, while not as active as Paul in pro wrestling is certainly no stranger to the world; his confrontation with Stone Cold Steve Austin in the events leading up to WrestleMania 14 in 1998 was pervasive in mainstream media news headlines and helped cement the WWE’s comeback against rival organization WCW. Tyson also recently appeared in another pro wrestling organization, All Elite Wrestling back in May of 2020, interacting with such superstars as Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho. And he’s not shy about what he’d do to Logan Paul in the pro wrestling ring either.
“Have you ever seen me wrestle before?” Tyson joked, before stating, “I would do it! I would kick his [expletive] ass, yes I would do it. Even though I love him, though (laughs). This is what I found out about WrestleMania: everybody says, ‘That’s fake, that’s fake.’ But the check is real. Deep down inside—don’t let [WWE] know—I would do this for free.”
Who knows, maybe a pro wrestling match between Tyson and Paul could set a boxing exhibition as well.
What do you think of the fact that Mike Tyson wants to face Logan Paul in a WWE match? Would you want to see the two square off in a boxing exhibition as well? Will we ever see Mike Tyson land a hurricanrana or Shooting Star Press? Let us know in the comments.
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