Sports mimicking pro wrestling
For years, pro wrestling has looked at different avenues of life to come up with storylines.
But let’s take a look at situations when sports have copied pro wrestling.
There have been countless examples, and this is a topic I am hoping to look at here and there, if not weekly.
Let’s look at four examples of games that I attended within the last year.
Last year at MLB’s inaugural Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, I enjoyed the pregame “show” which included Kevin Costner walking through the corn stalks and onto the field with a camera up close.
This was a moment straight out of Pro Wrestling 101.
When I journeyed to New Orleans for the Final Four, as a lifelong Duke fan, I knew it was inevitable that I would witness Mike Krzyzewski’s last game as Duke’s head coach.
Unfortunately for Coach K and Duke, the Blue Devils lost to archrival North Carolina, and watching Coach K walk off the court for the last time, it reminded me of Ric Flair’s walk from the ring after his last WWE match at WrestleMania XXIV.
Twice in the last two weeks, I attended NBA Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) games between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.
I attended Game 3 in Boston, and Celtics point guard Marcus Smart sprained his ankle and was carried off the court.
Minutes later, he was shown on the big screen above the court walking in the hallway by the locker room and then he ran out to the Boston bench.
When fans saw him start his sprint from the back, the TD Bank Garden erupted at a level I have only seen twice live:
When Steve Austin made his way to the ring for the WrestleMania XIV main event against Shawn Michaels in 1998 and 20 years later in Game 7 of the NBA ECF in 2018 when then-rookie Jason Tatum dunked on LeBron James.
The second moment from the NBA ECF was in Miami last Sunday for Game 7.
A massive storm hit the area and as I was driving in downtown Miami getting ready to park, streets were flooding.
This took me back to a WWE PPV when I was younger.
At In Your House: Beware of Dog in 1995, a massive storm hit Florence, S.C., and the power went out causing WWE to run Beware of Dog II on PPV two nights later.
Seeing street corners flooded, I couldn’t help but think about the game being canceled because of a power outage.
Fortunately, the game was played and fortuitously, the Celtics won, sending my beloved C’s to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.
I am headed to Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Boston, so will there be another example of when something happens in the game and it reminds me of a storyline or event in pro wrestling?
If a sporting event reminded you of a pro wrestling angle or match, email or tweet me about it and I will try to share some in a future column!
WWE Hell in a Cell card
WWE presents Hell in a Cell on Peacock Sunday night, and the main event is scheduled to be Cody Rhodes taking on Seth Rollins inside the cell.
Also taking place inside the cell is Bobby Lashley facing Omos and MVP in a handicapped match. Other matches announced as of Thursday include Bianca Belair defending the Raw women’s title against Asuka and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match, Edge, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley face AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan in a six-person tag match, Theory defends the United States title against Mustafa Ali and Kevin Owens faces Ezekiel.
There has been talk that Balor may turn on Styles as a fourth member is said to be joining Edge’s Judgment Day faction soon.
Wyatt back soon?
On Tuesday, the former Bray Wyatt posted a few cryptic messages on Twitter that he is ready to return to the ring.
If so, for which promotion will it be?
A&E announces WWE shows
A&E will begin airing its three WWE weekly shows on Sunday, July 10.
The nine-week run will include the second season of Biography: WWE Legends and the first seasons of both WWE Rivals and WWE Smack Talk.
MJF’s situation with AEW
There has been talk for a while that MJF has been unhappy with AEW as he feels he has outperformed his current contract which runs out Jan. 1, 2024.
Over the course the last eight days, things were quite turbulent for the 26-year old star.
Scheduled to face Wardlow at Double or Nothing last Sunday in Las Vegas, MJF no-showed AEW’s Fanfest Saturday and there was a belief that he was going to blow off the PPV.
Instead of showing up at Fanfest, MJF was seen playing slots at Mandalay Bay, according to www.pwinsiderelite.com.
A flight was booked for MJF to fly home to New Jersey Saturday morning, and when he did not arrive early for the PPV, the belief was he was not going to show up.
MJF arrived backstage just before his match with Wardlow, and after Wardlow won, as expected, MJF left.
At some point Tuesday, MJF met with Tony Khan and the two aired their differences.
MJF appeared on Dynamite and cut a scathing, profanity-laced promo that saw the censor button hit several times and eventually, MJF’s microphone was cut off.
Several readers emailed asking if the whole situation was part of a storyline or if it was all real.
MJF being unhappy is completely real, but considering Khan and MJF met, and when you factor in that MJF was given a microphone on live TV, things have been ironed out, to a point.
While MJF was removed from AEW’s website and his merchandise was taken down from AEW’s merchandise page, things appear to have been ironed out and the legit tension will apparently be turned into a storyline.
This Week in History…
In 2000, Eric Bischoff defeated Terry Funk to win the WCW Hardcore title.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.