Mike Tyson dabbles into pro wrestling anew
FILE – Mike Tyson attends the Citi Taste Of Tennis on August 22, 2019 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images for AYS Sports Marketing/AFP
MANILA, Philippines — Mike Tyson’s potential ring return just took an interesting turn.
Yes there are plans for the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world to suit up for a possible comeback, although, no opponent has yet to be named.
Pro wrestling star Chris Jericho, however, might just take up that offer as Tyson waits for his boxing foe.
Talking to ESPN, Jericho (real life Christopher Irvine) is embroiled in a storyline feud with Tyson in All Elite Wrestling and the transcendent wrestler is offering to take on the “Baddest Man on the Planet” in either a wrestling or boxing match.
“Obviously, the idea is to do something more. That’s the thought process, I think between both parties. What that is at this moment, we’re thinking and discussing,” said Jericho. “Look, Chris Jericho versus Mike Tyson in a wrestling match, in a street fight, in a boxing match, would be big.”
The two began their feud at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view on May 23 then escalated further during AEW’s Wednesday Night Dynamite on TNT that saw Tyson and his crew, that included former UFC champions Henry Cejudo, Vitor Belfort, and Rashad Evans, brawl with Jericho’s Inner Circle.
Jericho, who’s also the frontman of the band Fozzy, admitted that he’s nowhere near the combat prowess of Tyson, who reigned as undisputed champion from 1987 to 1989, but he said he can adjust to what Iron Mike wants to do.
“I’m not Mike Tyson. I’m not 1/1,000th of Mike Tyson, but I’ve been boxing for six years. I know how to box. I could win fights on my own against people of my skill level,” said Jericho. “So if that’s what he wants to do, that works too. Whatever he feels comfortable with, I can make it good. That’s what I do for a living. That’s what I’ve been doing for 30 years.”
This is neither the first time Tyson got himself involved in professional wrestling, nor is this Jericho’s first dance with the legendary boxer.
Tyson was involved in several angles with WWE in 1998 that culminated in him double crossing Shawn Michaels and the D-Generation X in Wrestlemania XIV, helping Stone Cold Steve Austin become the WWE Champion and thus starting the rabid Attitude Era.
Jericho, meanwhile, had his first tussle with Tyson in 2010 when he was still in the WWE in an angle that once again featured Michaels and Triple H (real life Paul Levesque).
It was also in 2010 when Tyson dropped Jericho with a right hook in an episode of Monday Night Raw.
Tyson, 53, has been training and getting into shape for a potential charity match 15 years after his retirement in 2005.
