Five-division champion Floyd Mayweather has appeared countless times in the squared circle during his tenure in the sport. However, back on March 30, 2008, ‘Money’ gave the wrestling world one of the most shocking moments in its history when he faced off against 7ft tall Paul Wight, aka The Big Show. 

This was after Mayweather had beaten Ricky Hatton and was on his short-lived retirement when he crossed over to WWE. During WrestleMania 24, Mayweather confronted the world’s largest athlete at WWE’s No Way Out pay-per-view. During this confrontation, Mayweather broke Big Show’s nose with a punch. 

This set up their match, which Mayweather went on to win, maintaining his undefeated persona. According to a report from talkSport, Mayweather claimed he was paid $20 million for the fight. 17 years since the unforgettable segment, Triple H, aka Paul Michael Levesque, appeared in the FLAGRANT podcast with Andrew Schulz, where he revealed a surprising truth about Floyd Mayweather. 

The wrestler claimed he had trained Mayweather for the match, but the real highlight of the conversation was Triple H revealing the origin of Mayweather’s ‘Money’ persona. “You know, he’s a huge WWE fan growing up,” the wrestler said. “That’s where the whole ‘Money’ Mayweather thing came from.”

“He had that conversation with me about like, ‘Look, I knew ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd was only going to get so far,’” Triple H said. “‘You can make the argument that I was the greatest boxer, but the real argument is, what’s the greatest box office? How do you make that? I need to create a character, and I need an avenue in which to sell that character.’” 

The 55-year-old then added that Mayweather, inspired by the WWE, went on to create his ‘Money Mayweather’ persona. “He created the character, and then he went and sold 24 seven days HBO. And then that was the avenue in which to sell the character.” Interestingly, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd was less of a showman than his later persona, ‘Money’ Mayweather, focusing more on in-ring performance than self-promotion.

On the other hand, ‘Money’ Mayweather was a larger-than-life showman, embracing controversy and wealth to become a cultural icon. That said, did you know Levesque wasn’t the only one who had spoken about the legendary segment involving Mayweather in WrestleMania 24?

Big Show recollects asking Floyd Mayweather to break his nose

According to a report from talkSport, WWE legend Paul Wight recalled asking Floyd Mayweather to legitimately break his nose during their iconic 2008 segment. Wight said, “I told [Floyd], ‘hey, when you do this, run, because I’m half-nuts so if I get my hands on you…’” The adrenaline rush turned real when Mayweather busted Wight’s nose at No Way Out. 

“There was only about 15 or 20 seconds where… I was a little out of my mind,” Wight admitted, adding, “Shane [McMahon] was the only one [who came over] because Shane’s got b**ls bigger than anybody.” Wight praised Mayweather’s professionalism, stating, “He is a showman, and he understands the showmanship part of it.” The encounter, though lasting just under 12 minutes, remains one of WWE’s most unforgettable crossover moments.

Having said that, it appears WWE had indirectly inspired Mayweather’s transition from ‘Pretty Boy’ to ‘Money’ Mayweather. And it clearly worked for the five-division champion, as he went on to become the richest boxer in history with zero losses. Do you think that without WWE, Floyd Mayweather would have made the change?