While most of the world expected Mike Tyson’s comeback in combat sports to happen in boxing or even bare-knuckle fighting, it appears that his first stop is in a different kind of ring — and he apparently has some backup.
Tyson was involved in a storyline segment at the end of All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite show on Wednesday, which aired on TNT. He faced off with wrestling legend Chris Jericho on the live show in Jacksonville, Florida, in a continuation of a story that started 10 years ago in WWE.
Tyson, 53, has gotten himself back into fighting shape, and reports are that he is considering some kind of return to combat sports. Names including Tyson Fury, Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva have said that they have been approached about competing against Tyson in some form of fighting.
In the AEW segment, Tyson walked to the ring flanked by several big names from the MMA world, most notably former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo.
.@IAmJericho wanted @MikeTyson. He got him AND @vitorbelfort AND @HenryCejudo AND A WHOLE LOTTA TROUBLE 😱 #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/iqvEnqx9Nb
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) May 28, 2020
Two days earlier, the UFC announced that Cejudo was considered retired, and his bantamweight title was vacated. Cejudo was involved on Tyson’s side in the storyline brawl against Jericho’s faction. With Tyson and Cejudo on Wednesday were UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans and MMA legend Vitor Belfort, who is currently on the ONE Championship roster.
Cejudo, 33, successfully defended the UFC bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz on May 9 in Jacksonville and announced his retirement from MMA in his postfight interview. He has been coy about his future beyond fighting, and many have speculated that he’s angling to get a bigger contract from the UFC.
Tyson is a longtime friend of AEW president Tony Khan, whose family owns the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tyson appeared Saturday night at AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view event, awarding the new AEW TNT championship belt to title winner Cody Rhodes.
“Special moment to have Mike there for so many reasons,” Rhodes said Saturday. “Just surreal. That’s the best way to really describe it.”
Belfort was at Double or Nothing, seated next to American Top Team gym owner Dan Lambert. Cejudo also was in attendance on Saturday night but was not shown on screen.