10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1997
3. The Original Mike Tyson Idea
Or to be more specific, the original Mike Tyson idea from that era. Tyson was set to appear for WWE in 1990, guest starring as an official for a Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage Saturday Night’s Main Event match as the organisation continued to ride the wave of their late-1980s momentum.
He never made the February 23rd showdown, because his recent rival did. Buster Douglas had shocked the world and defeated ‘The Baddest Man On The Planet’, and got this guest spot instead. Eight years later, “shock” wouldn’t quite capture the full range of emotion around Tyson.
Banned from boxing having bitten Evander Holyfield’s ear on June 27th 1997, ‘Iron Mike’ was a golden opportunity circus attraction for WWE to court for WrestleMania XIV, but both events could have been binned had he accepted Ken Shamrock’s out-of-nowhere challenge for a fight on an April edition of Raw.‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ was there to plug his pay-per-view debut against Vader the following month, but with ‘The Mastadon’ still sequestered under house arrest in Kuwait for assaulting a breakfast television host (!), ‘The World’s Most Dangerous’ man targeted another famous fighter instead.
Nothing came of the call-out, and the two terrifying ships never had another chance to pass in the night.