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WWE Rumors: Will Shaq fight the Big Show at WrestleMania 33?

By Matt Couden

NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 13: American professional wrestler Big Show during an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times on February 13, 2014 in New Delhi, India. Big Show, whose real name is Paul Randall Wight, interacted with 10 lucky HT City readers, all of them over six-feet tall, who won the contest. He revealed the secret behind his popular wrestling move, choke slam, to one of the fans. Well, the choke slam was given to me in 1995 by Paul Michael Levesque (Triple H). That time, we were looking for something which was exciting, had a lot of agility involved, and at the same time looked powerful, he said. (Photo by Waseem Gashroo/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 13: American professional wrestler Big Show during an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times on February 13, 2014 in New Delhi, India. Big Show, whose real name is Paul Randall Wight, interacted with 10 lucky HT City readers, all of them over six-feet tall, who won the contest. He revealed the secret behind his popular wrestling move, choke slam, to one of the fans. Well, the choke slam was given to me in 1995 by Paul Michael Levesque (Triple H). That time, we were looking for something which was exciting, had a lot of agility involved, and at the same time looked powerful, he said. (Photo by Waseem Gashroo/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) /
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In the latest WWE rumors, a match featuring Big Show vs. Shaq at WrestleMania 33 may have been set up at Wednesday night’s ESPYs in Los Angeles.

Will a Big Show vs. Shaq match take place at WrestleMania 33? During Wednesday night’s 2016 ESPYs in Los Angeles, two of the world’s biggest behemoths in sports and entertainment met up on the red carpet, with what sounded like a challenge issued by Show towards Shaq. The two appeared to be on friendly terms and shook hands to potentially seal the deal as seen in a video clip posted by WWE to their Twitter page.

If the match takes place, it would mark the first time a professional basketball star has officially stepped into the ring for a one-on-one match. Shaquille O’Neal has not been a stranger to the ring, appearing in this past year’s WrestleMania 32 “Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.” During that appearance, he and Big Show immediately stood face-to-face and toe-to-toe, eventually working together on a double chokeslam of their fellow opponent, Kane. Shaq was eventually eliminated by multiple contenders after eliminating Damian Sandow himself.

Shaq also served as one of the Monday Night Raw guest hosts a while back and ended up involved in a tag team match featuring Big Show. After taunts by Big Show, Shaq tore off his guest referee top and climbed into the ring, eventually working with the former tag team Cryme Time to knock Show out of the ring.

The reason this would work well for WWE is based on the recent media attention they’ve been getting from ESPN, amongst other sports networks. At WrestleMania 24, Big Show took on professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., losing the match which drew decent reviews for the bout.

It makes perfect sense to involve a sports legend and avid pro wrestling fan such as Shaquille O’Neal with WrestleMania 33 taking place in Orlando, a place where the big man spent many seasons playing for the Magic franchise. Stay tuned as for whether or not WWE makes this one official for the card.

WrestleMania 33 is scheduled for Sunday, April 2nd at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

For more WWE rumors coverage, check out our hub.

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