NBA players are some of the biggest superstars in the world today. The incredible amount of athleticism they display on a nightly basis makes them some of the most popular personalities in the world. But what happened when Shaquille O’Neal, one of the biggest names in NBA history, made his way over to WWE to host Monday Night Raw?
Shaquille O’Neal guest-hosted an episode of Monday Night Raw in Washington DC on July 27, 2009. Shaq came out to a massive ovation and told the DC fans that his new teammate, LeBron James (whom he joined in 2009 with the Cavaliers) said hi, a statement that drew a lot of boos from the fans, presumably there were a lot of Wizards fans in the arena.
But before Shaq could go any further, then-WWE superstar Chris Jericho walked down to the ring and interrupted O’Neal. Jericho, who is not a small man, standing in at 6’1, stood face to face with Shaq and looked quite small. He then went on to share a scathing diss directed at O’Neal which praised his former teammate Kobe Bryant in the process (1:19 mark).
“When I heard the most dominant player in NBA history was going to guest host Monday Night Raw, I automatically assumed it was Kobe Bryant.”
Jericho would go on to say that LeBron and Shaq were not the most dominant duo in the world of sports, but it was actually his tag partner The Big Show. Before Jericho could continue, Shaq immediately dubbed him ‘Christina’ and gave Jericho a peck on his forehead.
This was far from the first time the WWE showed support for Kobe Bryant. Earlier that year, Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWE got petty revenge on Stan Kroenke and the Denver Nuggets for canceling their show by having a Lakers vs. Nuggets tag team match, which the Lakers team won.
