Compilation Video of 10 Times Real Pro Athletes Got Physical in WWE

Wayne Rooney scrapped it up with King Barrett on Raw this week. The mainstream pro athlete interference in WWE is kind of a lost art, at least insofar as they used to be part of bigger angles and matches, not just one-off events. This compilation of past scraps includes Shaq, Floyd Mayweather, Lawrence Taylor, Dennis Rodman, Muhammad Ali, Pete Rose, Ronda Rousey, and Mike Tyson.

Last December, I asked Jim Ross why it seems like WWE no longer goes after pro athletes from major American sports for big matches, like they did with Lawrence Taylor versus Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania XI. He answered:

"I don’t know that they haven’t, and I also don’t know if some of the contracts of these NFL guys are restrictive of things like that. My God, they can’t ride a motorcycle. I don’t know. I think you’re going down a road that doesn’t end anywhere with that question. The generation of football players now, you can’t find very many guys who have had real success in the NFL that want to go and devote the effort and work you need to become really good at pro wrestling. Lawrence Taylor was broke. He had great name identity, and he needed the money. He trained like a crazy man and pushed himself to be ready. We had a great performer in Bam Bam Bigelow to carry the match, and Pat Patterson was the referee to make sure he could talk to LT and guide him through it. That’s the exception to the rule. You’re just not gonna find a great star who’s fallen on hard times and is willing to put in the hellacious effort to make it work. He was a one-hit wonder, and it was never going to be anything more than that. A lot of guys who have had long NFL careers don’t feel motivated to make the money that’s there for them in WWE based on what’s there for them from playing football. They want something for nothing. They want to be paid more than they might be worth. It’s a hard transition, and it’s just not a good fit sometimes. You mentioned Steve McMichael. That didn’t really work out in the long run. He was a role player. Now, you get some guys who were in the league for 2-3 years and flamed out, there are some people like that in NXT. That’s a different animal. Not just anybody can be a pro wrestler. The training is not anything like what people think it will be."

Nevertheless, imagine how amazing it would be if they could get someone like Gronk headlining a PPV.