ironworks
03-02-2012, 05:54 PM
Feed Source: Bleacher Report
Will he or won’t he?
That seems to be the unanswerable question about former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who has claimed for months now that he’s going to compete at WrestleMania 28, but has yet to return to WWE TV.
No one seems to really know what Shaq’s WWE future holds, if anything, and the closer we get to the biggest pay-per-view of the year, the less it looks like he will be there.
From the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestleZone.com):
The Wrestling Observer is reporting that despite claims by Shaquille O'Neal that he will indeed be at WrestleMania this year, there is still no definitive word on whether or not WWE intends for him to be a part of the big event.
Shaq has noted several times that he will be appearing at the show, and even said back in December that he would be wrestling Big Show on the PPV card. However, WWE announced other plans for Big Show at the Smackdown tapings this week (we will not spoil the results here in this article) and it appears as if the rumored Show vs Shaq singles match will not be taking place.
The original plan was to have the Shaq/Show feud kick off at this Monday night's Raw at the TD Garden in Boston, so you can expect that if Shaq does not show up on Raw, or is not mentioned in anyway on the show, then negotiations between him and WWE likely fell through.
While there’s still a slight chance that Shaq returns to the WWE on the upcoming edition of Raw and kicks off his feud with Big Show, it just wouldn’t make any sense.
Big Show is already embroiled in an intense rivalry with Cody Rhodes, leaving little to no space for Shaq to get involved, especially when you consider that Shaq would likely be a baby face and Big Show is, too.
I’m sure the WWE could find some ridiculous way to work Shaq into the feud, but at this point, that’s really not even necessary.
The main appeal with bringing Shaq into the WWE in the first place was to have him wrestle Big Show one-on-one in a battle between one of the biggest stars in NBA history and “The World’s Largest Athlete.” That appeal would largely be gone, however, if Shaq competed in a tag team match or was simply in the corner of another star.
I like Shaq and would love to see him participate at Mania in some way, but the progression of the Rhodes/Show feud and a number of other factors are going to prevent that from happening.
Oh well, maybe the WWE can bring in Rex Ryan at WrestleMania 29. Gosh, I hope I didn’t just give the creative team an idea.
Will he or won’t he?
That seems to be the unanswerable question about former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who has claimed for months now that he’s going to compete at WrestleMania 28, but has yet to return to WWE TV.
No one seems to really know what Shaq’s WWE future holds, if anything, and the closer we get to the biggest pay-per-view of the year, the less it looks like he will be there.
From the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestleZone.com):
The Wrestling Observer is reporting that despite claims by Shaquille O'Neal that he will indeed be at WrestleMania this year, there is still no definitive word on whether or not WWE intends for him to be a part of the big event.
Shaq has noted several times that he will be appearing at the show, and even said back in December that he would be wrestling Big Show on the PPV card. However, WWE announced other plans for Big Show at the Smackdown tapings this week (we will not spoil the results here in this article) and it appears as if the rumored Show vs Shaq singles match will not be taking place.
The original plan was to have the Shaq/Show feud kick off at this Monday night's Raw at the TD Garden in Boston, so you can expect that if Shaq does not show up on Raw, or is not mentioned in anyway on the show, then negotiations between him and WWE likely fell through.
While there’s still a slight chance that Shaq returns to the WWE on the upcoming edition of Raw and kicks off his feud with Big Show, it just wouldn’t make any sense.
Big Show is already embroiled in an intense rivalry with Cody Rhodes, leaving little to no space for Shaq to get involved, especially when you consider that Shaq would likely be a baby face and Big Show is, too.
I’m sure the WWE could find some ridiculous way to work Shaq into the feud, but at this point, that’s really not even necessary.
The main appeal with bringing Shaq into the WWE in the first place was to have him wrestle Big Show one-on-one in a battle between one of the biggest stars in NBA history and “The World’s Largest Athlete.” That appeal would largely be gone, however, if Shaq competed in a tag team match or was simply in the corner of another star.
I like Shaq and would love to see him participate at Mania in some way, but the progression of the Rhodes/Show feud and a number of other factors are going to prevent that from happening.
Oh well, maybe the WWE can bring in Rex Ryan at WrestleMania 29. Gosh, I hope I didn’t just give the creative team an idea.