The world of pro wrestling and football might be worlds apart on the surface. However, once in a while, we see them crossing over. This crossover is exciting for people who are fans of both sports.
A crossover recently happened when Harry Maguire, a defender who plays for the England National Team and Manchester United, recently celebrated his goal with a signature WWE move.
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Maguire started the World Cup qualifying match for England against Albania. Nine minutes into the game, the defender scored the very first goal of the game.
The Manchester United defender celebrated his goal by doing the signature Hulk Hogan ‘cupping the ear’ move. Then he put his fingers in his ear to show that he ignored the recent criticism against him.
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Maguire has recently been facing a lot of hate and criticism in the football world for his poor performances for Manchester United, leading them to lose crucial matches.
It’s not the first time football has crossed over with WWE. Many superstars are fans of football and actively show support for their teams The same goes for footballers, as many are fans of wrestling and have expressed their love.
When superstars do European tours, they visit football stadiums for cross-promotions and are even spotted wearing football jerseys and watching matches.
READ MORE: WWE Superstars Show Their Support to English Premier League Soccer Clubs
Harry Maguire’s Hulk Hogan celebration heavily criticized.
The fans, as well as Manchester United’s ex-player Roy Keane, criticized Maguire’s celebration. Keane described the defender’s efforts for Man United as disgraceful and called his celebration embarrassing.
However, the England National team coach came to Maguire’s defense amusingly at a press conference. He said, “I don’t know [why he was doing it]. Is he a Hulk Hogan fan!?” I don’t know what the celebration was for.”
Southgate said he didn’t know what the celebration was for, and neither did he see it, but he called Harry a fantastic player.
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He then added on, “He’s rushed back because he’s got a huge conscience to help his club. Some players hide in the treatment room. He doesn’t. I have huge respect for that.” [h/t mirror.co.uk]
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Maguire also commented on the celebration, saying that it came to him naturally and “it wasn’t directed at anyone.”
While football fans might not have liked the defender’s celebration, he isn’t the first to do a WWE-related celebration on the pitch.
While it’s not known if Maguire is a Hogan fan, however, Gareth Southgate seems to be a fan since he called his celebration a Hogan impression.
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Many superstars like Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio, Sheamus, and Cesaro are big fans of football as well.
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