Basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal is going to be stepping into a wrestling ring next week as he's now set to become the guest general manager for WWE.
Shaq in WWE
Vince McMahon has never been one to avoid doing things to gain media attention for his company.
That's why Pete Rose is in the WWE Hall of Fame. That's why Donald Trump was allowed to participate in storylines despite not being able to show any charisma whatsoever on the mic.
As a smart businessman, Vince McMahon knows that getting mainstream media attention (especially for free) is good for his company because it might draw in a few new viewers.
When the idea came up to use celebrity guest hosts on Raw each week, Vince McMahon basically fell in love with the idea since he knew that there was a chance for him to gain more and more mainstream media attention.
The media hates WWE, but they will cover it. Usually, they'll cover wrestling when something bad happens. However, the media has also shown an inclination to cover wrestling whenever a celebrity gets involved
Thus far, WWE has managed to secure the likes of Seth Green and ZZ Top as celebrity guest hosts. They decided to take things up a notch next week.
During this week's edition of Raw, WWE announced that NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal would be the guest hosts for next week's show.
A Bump in Business
The wrestling purists are going to hate the focus being taken away from the ring, but signing Shaquille O'Neal is going to provide WWE with a nice boost in business.
First of all, you can bet that a bunch of wrestling fans in the Washington DC area are going to try to get their hands on some tickets and attend the event live in person next week.
Secondly, there's going to be much more interest in teh show next week, which should cause a rise in the ratings. Not only are wrestling fans going to tune in, but sports fans are going to tune in as well just out of curiosity.
It's really doubtful that Shaquille O'Neal is going to be able to keep the new fans interested in WWE after he leaves, but the one week bump in ratings should be enough for WWE to put a positive spin on it to the media and stockholders.
Potential Role
Shaquille O'Neal isn't like any other celebrity guest host. He stands at 7'1", 325 pounds.
At that size, he's bigger than just about every single wrestler on the roster. Some may weigh more, but none (with the exception of Great Khali) is as tall as he is (WWE exaggerates the height of the other wrestlers).
His tremendous size puts him in a unique position to where he can actually be used as an in-ring performer. Shaquille O'Neal is going to look diminutive like Seth Green did.
The fact that Shaquille O'Neal is the type of person that loves to show that he's playful means that he's more likely to get physically involved than most of the celebrities that WWE will end up getting.
The one thing that might prevent him from actually wrestling, though, is going to be his NBA contract.
Shaquille O'Neal is scheduled to make approximately $20 million next season in salary. Pretty sure that the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't going to be all that happy about him risking any potential injuries prior to the start of the season.
Closing Thoughts
As a wrestling fan, I think it would be cool to see Shaquille O'Neal wrestling. However, I do understand how business works. He's too valuable to his employers to put his body at risk. |
