NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal recently appeared on Access to discuss his AEW Dynamite matchup against Cody Rhodes, where the Diesel explained why he chose the ring gear he ended up wearing, as well as how Mario Lopez inspired him to stay in shape. Highlights are below.
On his ring-gear for his match with Cody:
Look, Cody challenged me to a fight, I’m showing up in fight clothes, sweatpants and a tank top. I respect him, I respect his family, I respect all the wrestlers, what they’ve done. I don’t want to come in with a gimmicky costume. This man challenged me to a fight. I’m showing up like it’s going to be a fight. So I’m just going to wear sweatpants and a tank top.
Says Mario Lopez motivated him:
Guess who motivated me? One day I was looking on the internet and I’d seen my good friend Mario Lopez take his shirt off and I got jealous because we used to hang out back in the day. We used to look similar and now you’re killing me, so I wanted to say thank you for motivating me. You look fabulous. I want to say I’m proud of you. But I’ll be ready tonight, March 3rd, I’ll be ready.
Check out Shaq’s full comments below. (H/T and transcribed by Fightful)