‘Iron Mike’ is one of the biggest combat sports fans of all time. With that being the case, it makes sense that other promoters would like to get in on the fun. One of those promoters was WWE owner and executive chairman Vince McMahon.
In 1998, the wrestling company was as popular as ever. Stars such as ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, The Rock, and others helped define what was known as the Attitude Era. For that year’s WrestleMania, they decided to bring in more star power.
The main event for the event was Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels, with Mike Tyson being brought in as a special-guest referee. Despite feuding with ‘Stone Cold’ at the time, he wound up helping him get the win.
For the main event, the boxer was paid $3 million dollars. However, as Vince Russo revealed in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Vince McMahon was hoping that was the beginning of the paydays with Tyson.
In the interview, Russo revealed:
“That was all Vince. 1000 percent. The interesting thing to me, though, was I don’t know if I have told this story here on not, bro there was no doubt in my mind Vince had an ulterior motive. I think Vince really wanted to manage Mike Tyson’s career.”
“Bro, he attached Shane to Tyson. It’s like wherever Tyson was, Shane was right there. I think Vince was really thinking if there was a way somehow he could represent Tyson. I really believe that.” (3:08 – 3:45)
Did Mike Tyson work with Vince McMahon again?
Vince McMahon didn’t wind up promoting Mike Tyson, but he did bring ‘Iron Mike’ back to WWE. For a decade, the boxer’s last time in the wrestling ring was at WrestleMania in 1998.
Shockingly, Tyson returned to WWE as a guest host for Monday Night Raw in 2010. There, the former heavyweight champion even made his tag team debut. He teamed up with Chris Jericho against the D-Generation X team. Despite Tyson turning on Shawn Michaels 12 years prior, he made amends that night.
Mike Tyson wound up knocking out his tag team partner, allowing D-Generation X to pick up the win. It was his last time in the wrestling ring but wound up being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame two years later.