Soccer and wrestling are two sports that are poles apart in so many ways that you rarely see a connection between the two. But if you look hard enough (and we looked pretty hard) then you’ll see that there are links between the sports. Times when the stars of wrestling dipped their toes in what they call ‘The beautiful game’ and vice versa.
When Wade Barrett allowed Wayne Rooney to slap him
We all love the showmanship of the world of wrestling with shouting matches and stare downs part and parcel of the game. And every now and then you get a mismatch like Great Khali vs. Rey Mysterio, but it’s usually still great to watch.
What wasn’t great to watch was the diminutive Rooney try a weak slap on Barrett. Rooney said he did it to make his son proud but if anything he just looked a bit silly. It wasn’t what you would call a classic moment, but Barrett has vowed to take revenge. Poor Wayne.
When The Rock went on Soccer AM
The English soccer show has had quite a few wrestlers on its couch, but the standout guest was, of course, The Rock. We all know The Rock has the charisma to charm anyone and it seems that he managed to impress pretty much everyone in the studio and in particular, Macclesfield Town fans. On the show, he decided to become a fan of the team and was promptly awarded a season ticket by the club.
Mr. Nice guy that The Rock is, he stills supports the club, and if he’s ever asked his favorite soccer team, Macclesfield Town FC is the answer. And why is this such a big deal? The club doesn’t even play in the professional leagues; it’s a tiny small town club.
When John Cena went to London
On a promo tour of the UK, Cena decided to drop by Tottenham Hotspur’s home ground, White Hart Lane. We say ‘decided’, but we doubt he made the decision himself. He was a true champ, graciously receiving his complimentary Spurs shirt with his old college football number on it.
As an ‘avid fan’, and we use the term very loosely, Cena will no doubt be ecstatic that BetStars have Spurs at 18/1 to win the Premier League. So it seems he chose a much better club than The Rock. Will he make a trip to White Hart Lane to congratulate the boys should they claim the title? Something tells us Cena has better things to do, like hosting Children’s TV awards shows for one.
When the slightly overweight Goalkeeper became a pro wrestler
Stuart Tomlinson is not a name that springs to the mind of any wrestling fan, but then why should it. He was a goalkeeper for League One side Burton Albion and was victim to a torrent of abuse from away fans who thought him a little on the chubby side for a footballer.
He got fed up with the abuse and so headed for WWE changing his name to Hugo Knox.
His developmental contract only lasted two years at which point he returned to the UK to take up goalkeeping again. We’re pretty sure that at his present levels of fitness, no one will be giving him much abuse.
As far as we’re concerned, there’s no contest between the two sports. While soccer or football is nice to watch now and then, it’s got nothing on the blood, sweat, and tears of the true ‘beautiful game’ of wrestling. So we implore the wrestlers of the world to just leave soccer to the soccer guys.
