10 World Class Athletes Who Would Have Been Huge WWE Stars

10. Shaquille O'Neal

A true missed opportunity in wrestling was booking Shaquille O'Neal, a top 5 NBA player in the past 25 years, in a match. Compounding the absurd situation is that Shaq was completely on board with the idea, even telling multiple media outlets that he planned on going head-to-head with fellow giant The Big Show at WrestleMania in 2012. The WWE balked on the idea for whatever reason, and didn't end up booking the NBA legend at the event. At over 7 feet tall, 350 pounds, Shaq has always had the frame of a pro wrestler. In year's past we've seen the likes of Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone get involved in wrestling and look like bean poles in comparison. Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't have that problem. An admitted wrestling fan, O'Neal has made multiple wrestling-related appearances throughout the past two decades. Most memorably, he appeared as a Raw guest host and had a physical confrontation with the aforementioned Big Show, which ideally could have set up for a major match between the two in some manner. Shaq also appeared with Hulk Hogan once during his WCW run. Even at 42 years old, with the right training, and maybe even a tag team partner to hide his weaknesses, Shaq could still be a major attention-grabber for the WWE at a big event.