Jim Ross On If WWE Ever Considered Having Mike Tyson Wrestle
Arguably the hottest angle in WWE history went down 25 years ago, when WWE Champion Shawn Michaels went toe-to-toe with a white-hot "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14. Capping things was the involvement of the "Baddest Man on the Planet" Mike Tyson. The special outside enforcer that night, Tyson inserted himself into the feud on an episode of "WWE Raw," ushering in the heights of the Attitude Era and the start of WWE's dominance over WCW. The face-off between Tyson and Austin ultimately ended up being a ploy, with Tyson eventually turning on Michaels and D-Generation X to side with the new WWE Champion. Although Tyson's turn was met with widespread acclaim, many still wonder what a match between Austin and "Iron Mike" would've looked like, with WWE's Head of Talent Relations at the time detailing why that never happened.
"The bottom line is we never considered Mike to wrestle," Jim Ross said during a recent episode of "Grilling JR." "You're not going to put an untrained brute in the ring with a guy that you're counting on to lead the company who has a bad neck. You're just not going to do it, it's a risk/reward scenario that's out of proportion. Mike was never considered, at least to my knowledge."
Despite being in the WWE Hall of Fame for his contributions to the business, Tyson has never had an official wrestling match, something that was teased even recently in AEW with Chris Jericho. Continuing his statement about Tyson never stepping in the ring, Ross mentioned that despite never hearing it, the idea could've been discussed in some meetings. Ross detailed that the bottom line was to have Tyson "bring light" to the Michaels and Austin WrestleMania 14 match and "move on from there." The plan was always to build that moment at WrestleMania by having Tyson be a good "conduit" to utilize at strategic times in the lead-up, stating that Tyson did a hell of a job.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Grilling JR" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.