WWE’s Massive Plans for Mike Tyson Could’ve Changed Boxing Dynamics Forever

When Mike Tyson arrived at WrestleMania XIV, it cost WWE massively. Reportedly, Tyson made approximately $3.5 Million to be the guest referee between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels.

However, WWE’s plans for Tyson went beyond WrestleMania. It wasn’t just to bring him as a celebrity appearance, but to make a long-term investment with him.

As per Bruce Prichard on Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, the plan was to become Tyson’s manager in the boxing world as well.

“Mike was looking for something. And, as I had talked about in the Royal Rumble episode, we were looking to be the ones. Mike was on the outs with his management, with Don King. And, we were looking for that opportunity to possibly pick that up and become Mike’s manager in the boxing world as well. So, there were a lot of irons in the fire here with the Mike Tyson fire.” H/t Something to Wrestle

Had this happened, the way the world knows Tyson today would have been much different. In fact, if the company was successful, Tyson could have ended up making a difference in pro-wrestling instead of boxing.

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WWE wanted Stone Cold Steve Austin to benefit from Mike Tyson

During the same conversation, Prichard revealed that Vince McMahon knew the second Tyson’s name was linked with WrestleMania, the buyers would increase. Of course, it did.

However, keeping aside the goal of creating a long-term relationship with Tyson, WWE believed Tyson’s appearance at WrestleMania was a good springboard for The Texas Rattlesnake.

The higher officials predicted that fans would be curious to see what Tyson actually does and how it pans out. Keeping that in mind, and putting Tyson as Stone Cold Steve Austin’s match’s referee would benefit him massively.

In fact, Mike Tyson had already arrived on Raw before WrestleMania. Just as Vince McMahon was getting ready to announce Tyson’s WrestleMania appearance, Austin came ringside and a brawl erupted between the men.

Additionally, Tyson appeared during the time when Stone Cold was a hot entity and Iron Mike’s boxing license had been rescinded. This piqued the interest of fans. They wanted to see if Tyson was joining WWE as a full-time pro-wrestler!

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