Shaq re-signs with TNT, says he’s coming for Cody

Shaquille O’Neal’s never been shy about hitting the squared circle. He’s a pro wrestling fan, and did a WCW angle with a pre-nWo Hulk Hogan in his younger days, and worked with the Hulkster again at TNA. He entered the the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, and even eliminated a guy (Damian Sandow) before getting thrown out himself.

That was supposed to lead to a Big Show/O’Neal match at WrestleMania 33. They built to it, but then called it off when WWE couldn’t come to terms with the basketball legend.

Shaq is hyping a match again, and if he’s serious, we’re a lot more confident it’ll actually happen this time. That’s because O’Neal has re-upped with TNT/WarnerMedia to continue as one of the faces of their NBA coverage, among other projects. TNT is AEW’s broadcast partner in the U.S., and Tony Khan’s company also works with WarnerMedia’s B/R Live as a PPV distributor.

And in the press release announcing Shaq’s new deal, the media giant is outright teasing that one of his “other projects” might be an appearance on their Wednesday night wrestling show:

Shaq Fu Coming to AEW?

Could Shaq return to the ring, making a cameo at a future All Elite Wrestling (AEW) event on TNT? We shall see….

If that’s not clear enough for you, O’Neal spoke more plainly in an interview with The Athletic about his new contract:

“I’d love to fight Cody. Write it. Print it. Text it to him. Call AEW up and tell them.”

If Cody doesn’t want to tangle with the Diesel (Shaq, not Kevin Nash), then there’s another AEW star who’s got history with the four-time NBA champ...

Wait until he meets Orange Cassidy. That showdown will be epic.