WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson recently did a Q&A with SI.com about Muhammed Ali and wrestling. In the interview, Tyson talked about appearing at WrestleMania 14 in 1998 and was asked about his and Ali’s love of pro wrestling.
“Wrestling was important to both of us. Gorgeous George from wrestling is where Ali got his style. Gorgeous George always wore that blonde wig and said, ‘I’m beautiful, baby. Get away from me, you disgusting bugs. You might give me flees. I’m beautiful. Don’t touch me, you pigs!’ He said everybody hated him and was jealous of him because of that, and Ali said,‘Woah, that’s how this guy made a lot of money.’ That’s how Ali learned that – he saw how Gorgeous George made the money. They always booed him, but he always looked good, had the money, and talked s—.”
As seen at WrestleMania 14, Tyson was the special enforcer for the WWE Title match between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. Tyson was asked if Austin’s trash-talking reminded him of Ali.
“Absolutely, I thought about Ali immediately. Wrestling means a lot to me. Getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame is one of my greatest moments ever. That’s like my bucket list. Look at Conor McGregor. All that smack talk comes from the old country, ones like Italy and Ireland. They talk a lot of s— over there. It’s tribal and they fight to the death, but they do a lot of talking, dehumanizing people, too. Those guys from the turn of the century were Irish and Italian, and they made so much money in the wrestling business.”
You can read the entire interview here.
