After enthralling football fans with his sublime skills and incredible goal-scoring prowess, Cristiano Ronaldo is now expected to make an appearance in a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) event. It is still not certain in what capacity Ronaldo will be seen in WWE. According to media reports, WWE is currently working on a deal to have the Portuguese superstar at their Crown Jewel event, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia on November 4. A report published by AS claimed that WWE wants the former Manchester United footballer to be present as a superstar guest at the wrestling event.
WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) officially merged into one company, TKO, earlier this month. It is being learnt that UFC owners, Endeavor, are interested in boosting Crown Jewel’s craze and potential revenue by bringing Ronaldo at the event. A handsome amount of appearance fee will have to be paid to secure Ronaldo’s appearance.
Cristiano Ronaldo will, however, not be the first professional footballer to grace a WWE show. Previously, ex-Norwich player Grant Holt, German goalkeeper Tim Wiese and former Wycombe Wanderers forward Adebayo Akinfenwa have also been part of WWE shows.
Ronaldo’s former Manchester United teammate and ex-England international Wayne Rooney had also made a WWE appearance in 2015. On the November 9 episode of Monday Night RAW in 2015, Rooney had occupied a front-row seat to witness the event. Rooney got involved in a heated argument with former WWE wrestler Wade Barrett. The former Manchester United and Everton footballer had even slapped Barrett in that WWE show held in Manchester.
WWE wrestler Apollo Crews was recently asked about Cristiano Ronaldo’s appearance in the show. “It’s crazy, it’s not the way you wanna see a player, ’cause he’s [Cristiano Ronaldo] 37, 38? I’ll say with confidence, I don’t think there’s gonna be any reviving of the career. He’s not gonna go to Saudi Arabia for two years and all of a sudden have a reviving of the career to come back. It’s tough to see that, the way it’s going. One of the things you don’t wanna see with such a player of high calibre. But it is what it is. As long as he gets to play the game, I guess it’s good. So, it’s unfortunate,” the former Intercontinental Champion told Metro.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently plying his trade in Saudi Arabia. Severing his ties with Manchester United last season, the 38-year-old joined Saudi side Al Nassr. He has so far scored 27 goals in 31 matches for the Riyadh-based outfit. Last month, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner guided Al Nassr to their first-ever Arab Club Champions Cup title.
