Jim Ross recently talked about a wide range of topics on his Grilling JR podcast including WWE bringing in Mike Tyson for WrestleMania 14 to be the special enforcer for Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels. Here are the highlights:
Whether he knew that Tyson being on Raw for the showdown with Austin would be one of the biggest moments:
“I didn’t go that far with it because I wasn’t sure and we didn’t have a lot of momentum, which I’m big on the momentum. We didn’t have a great deal of it stored in a closet ready to break out and use. We were all very, very hopeful. The investment was significant in his fee and he’s high maintenance and we knew that going in. I think that’s why Vince, I think Vince kind of seemingly maybe unofficially assigned Shane McMahon to be the babysitter. I remember one time I was in a meeting with Vince and Shane came in and Mike wanted a motorcycle. Vince being the old promoter that he is didn’t want anything to stand in the way of Mike’s happiness and productivity. So, buy him a — motorcycle and that’s what they did.”
Whether Tyson wrestling was ever pitched:
“I think the idea is the bottom line is that we never considered Mike to wrestle. You’re not going to put an untrained brute in the ring with a guy that you’re counting on to lead the company who has a bad neck. You’re just not going to do it. It’s a risk reward scenario that’s out of proportion. So, Mike was never considered, at least to my knowledge, that look in some meeting somewhere through the rpocess was it ever mentioned? I’m sure it was. Why wouldn’t it be? But, I think the bottom line was that we wanted Mike to bring light to this Shawn Michaels match at WrestleMania at 14 and move on from there.”
Quotes via 411 Mania
