Shaquille O’Neal Over Mike Tyson: AEW President Tony Khan Reveals Why He Picked the NBA Legend Over Boxing Legend

The AEW President, Tony Khan, is a man of surprises. Almost every week, AEW surprises its fans with a new signee or some other big news. However, one thing that Khan has made a name for himself in the pro-wrestling is letting various celebrities/athletes get some TV time on AEW. Athletes like Shaquille O’Neal and various other athletes made their AEW appearances.

From Mike Tyson to Jose Masvidal, numerous athletes from other spectra of the sports industry have appeared for the company. However, AEW President recently revealed his favorite athlete cameo in AEW.

Speaking in an interview with Josh Martinez of Z100 New York, the AEW President talked about various celebrities that have appeared for the promotion.

However, Khan admitted that the Lakers’ legend, Shaquille O’Neal, is the favorite athlete who made an AEW appearance. Tony Khan even said that Shaq’s appearance for the promotion was more iconic than the appearance of the boxing legend Mike Tyson.

“So we’ve had big names from MMA, big names from sports like Mike Tyson and Shaquille O’Neal. You know, we’ve probably never had a better guest in AEW than Shaq. He was so great on every level with us and you know, not just a hard worker and put in a great wrestling match, but also backstage the most humble person we’ve ever had in the history of the company in terms of coming in,” Tony confessed.

Shaquille O’Neal has a rich history in pro-wrestling

The Lakers’ legend was always involved in pro-wrestling in one way or another. Not just in AEW, he made sporadic appearances for Vince McMahon‘s WWE during the 2010s.

The WWE creative team even teased a feud between The Big Show, aka Paul Wight and Shaq; however, that rivalry never went anywhere.

Back in WWE, Shaq’s appearance at the WrestleMania 32 PPV during the André the Giant memorial battle royale received a lot of love from the WWE Universe, it was this PPV where the world witnessed the face-off between Shaquille and Big Show.

However, Shaq made a rare pro-wrestling appearance during the late 90s. This time it was for Ted Turner’s WCW where Shaq stood next to the two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan, and even stood at the ringside during the match between Hogan and Flair.

Eventually, Shaq’s dream of having a one-on-one match inside the squared circle came true when he appeared for Tony Khan’s AEW, where he made an excellent match with the former TNT Champion Cody Rhodes.

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Ever since that match, Shaq is confessed that he still wants to wrestle matches. However, back in 2021, during an interview, he admitted that he would like to face Paul Wight and settle the rivalry once and for all.