Manchester United star Wayne Rooney lays the Smackdown on WWE wrestler and Preston North End fan Wade Barrett.
Wayne Rooney is the greatest Dad in the world.
Captaining Manchester United and scoring more goals for your country than anyone alive or dead are great achievements. But they both pale into insignificance to the act of slapping a WWE wrestler to the floor in front of your devoted son.
That’s exactly what happened on Monday night when Rooney was confronted by 6ft 7 inch WWE wrestler Wade Barrett at the Manchester Arena.
It’s a slap that heralds all the way back to February and Man Utd’s 3 v 1 FA Cup victory over Preston North End at Deepdale. Barrett is a Preston fan, and he accused Wayne Rooney of diving to get a penalty on Twitter.
It seems Barrett had a score to settle.
Wayne Rooney was at ringside with his son Kai, Man Utd Assistant Manager Ryan Giggs, and his former colleague and poker afficianado Darren Fletcher when Barrett confronted him.
Bish.
Bash.
Bosh.
King @WadeBarrett just got slapped by @ManUTD‘s star striker @WayneRooney!! #RAWUK @PremierLeague pic.twitter.com/PQL25Vtr7L
— WWE (@WWE) November 10, 2015
Retribution?
Barrett is a former bare knuckle boxing fighter who was once stabbed by someone trying to steal a purse from him. The man with the knife ended up in a worse state than Barrett and the money never left his wallet.
So Rooney better watch out.
The following day Barrett went looking for Rooney at Old Trafford and jokingly asked if anybody had Phil Bardsley’s phone number in reference to the infamous kitchen fight in which former United full back Bardsley knocked Rooney out during a mess about fight in the stars home.
Does anyone have Phil Bardsley’s phone number?
— Stu Bennett (@WadeBarrett) November 10, 2015
Hanging out in the Old Trafford changing room. Where’s @waynerooney at? @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/3JMZXtE4jx
— Stu Bennett (@WadeBarrett) November 10, 2015
Rooney is in Good Company
It’s not the first time the WWE has used their affiliation with stars of the sporting world to draw attention to their specialised form of entertainment.
The Main Event of Wrestlemania I pitted Hulk Hogan and Mr. T in a tag team match again the late Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Ondorff. Muhammad Ali was the special guest referee and knocked Piper out.
In Wrestlemania XIV, Mike Tyson was the special guest referee in the championship match between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Tyson getting involved to knock Michaels out before getting down and counting one, two three for Austin to win the title.
More recently, Floyd Mayweather climbed into the ring with The Big Show to compete in a match during Wrestlemania XXIV. Mayweather donned a pair of brass knuckels to flatten the 7 ft tall monster.
