Shaq To Fight Cody Rhodes On Dynamite Next Month, Not Revolution
Shaquille O'Neal is confirmed as an upcoming opponent of Cody Rhodes, a match he's been clamoring over for several months. The former NBA center, now a basketball analyst with TNT among a host of other things, challenged the AEW executive vice president earlier this month and it was expected that the two would butt heads at the promotion's Revolution PPV.
As it turns out, that won't be the case. Shaq will team up with Jade Cargill to take on Rhodes and Red Velvet at AEW Dynamite on March 3rd, just a few days before Revolution.
Related: Shaquille O'Neal Called "Overgrown A**hole" & Has Drink Thrown In His Face During AEW Appearance
The Deisel made the announcement on TNT's Inside the NBA on Wednesday night, also demonstrating his special move which he's dubbed the "Black Tornado." The move was executed on what appeared to be a sheet of plexiglass and consists of a somewhat spinning elbow and a roundhouse punch.
You could take a look at it below:
As to why O'Neal's highly-anticipated match will be taking place on Dynamite and not on the March 7 PPV: it's due to the NBA and NBPA coming to terms on an All-Star Game.
"The NBA and NBPA have agreed to host the All-Star Game on March 7 in Atlanta, sources tell The Athletic," Shams Charania announced on Thursday morning. "Sides are finalizing details of the plan as soon as Thursday."
“March 7th is the All-Star game. He couldn’t do the pay-per-view because it’s the same day as the All-Star game, so it’s gonna be on Dynamite," Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio (H/T Wrestling News.co). If nothing else one would think this would draw a good television rating. All of Shaq’s appearances have done very well.”
We Can't Wait
Shaq has always been a huge wrestling fan and has had involvement with WWE, as well as Impact, in the past. He was expected to fight Big Show several years ago but those plans didn't come to fruition. You could read on how here.
His gigs with AEW have been great for the promotion, with his appearance on Dynamite in December helping the show reach 1.2 million views.
We really can't wait to see that Black Tornado in action.
