6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Oct 7)

5. Wrong Tyson

About 21 years ago, WWF made a huge gamble and recruited former world boxing champion Mike Tyson to become a centerpiece of the main WrestleMania 14 storyline, which gave the company a huge amount of mainstream press and helped propel the company forward in its battle with WCW, just as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was peaking in popularity.

Flash forward to this month, as WWE is taking a gamble on lineal world boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to square off against perpetual special attraction Braun Strowman, and…. That’s where the comparisons end.

WWE has been chasing mainstream appeal for decades. Sometimes they hit a home run, such as Mike Tyson, Cyndi Lauper, Shaquille O’Neal and *sigh* Donald Trump. Other times, they strike out, like with Snooki, Kevin Federline and Freddie Prinze Jr.

With Fury, WWE has latched onto a legit boxing star, but someone nowhere near the level of fame as Iron Mike. That Tyson was a household name, one of the most famous athletes in the world at the time. Fury, on the other hand, is someone people who don’t follow boxing won’t necessarily know.

All this being said, this isn’t a terrible move on WWE’s part, aside from the likelihood that Fury is not going to actually get in the ring and fight Braun. Monday’s pull-apart brawl was fairly timid with minimal contact between the two. It also comes at a time the company is pushing a former UFC champion as well, so you have two major storylines involving non-wrestlers who aren’t exactly household names.

Bottom line: This isn’t a cardinal sin, but if WWE considers this as anything more than a sideshow, they’re sorely mistaken. But as always, this disclaimer: Prove this wrong, WWE.