Shaquille O'Neal Promises a Great Debut on AEW Dynamite, Pat McAfee Responds

This week's AEW Dynamite will feature a special celebrity matchup as Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet [...]

By Connor Casey

This week's AEW Dynamite will feature a special celebrity matchup as Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet will team up to face newcomer Jade Cargill and NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal in an intergender tag match. The NBA Champion has popped up in the pro wrestling world numerous times before, but other than an appearance in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 he's never actually competed in a match.

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times leading up to Wednesday's show the big man not only promised a victory but guaranteed he would deliver a better match than other celebrities and pro athletes who have stepped inside the squared circle.

"Oh, I'm winning," O'Neal said. "Guaranteed... I'm the type, I can never back down from a challenge. I'm not a professional wrestler, but I've been in a match before. I've got a lot of moves in my arsenal. When you step inside somebody's world, you have to stick to what you're masterful at. I'm not acrobatic. I'm not going to be jumping off the ropes. I'm coming with the power game. When I get hands on him, I'm going to display this power."

When asked about past celebrity matches, specifically Dennis Rodman & Karl Malone in WCW and Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI, O'Neal said, "this one will top them all."

This prompted a response from Pat McAfee, the former Indianapolis Colts punter and talk show personality. McAfee competed in his first match against Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX last year and shocked fans with how well he handled himself in the ring.

Somehow, this led to an interaction with AEW's Miro.

Stay tuned for live coverage of O'Neal's match on AEW Dynamite this Wednesday night!

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