ESPN

You do not need to know much about professional wrestling to realize ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith appears to be in the early days of a WrestleMania angle.

From ComicBook:

The stars might be aligning for one of sports’ most popular personalities to jump into the world of professional wrestling. During an appearance on ESPN First Take earlier this month, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair revealed to host Stephen A. Smith that WWE was discussing bringing him in for WWE WrestleMania 39. Smith responded enthusiastically, but stressed he has some demands if he is ever to step inside the squared circle: he wants to be a heel, and no one can lay a finger on him. This led to some laughs from the First Take crew, leaving viewers uncertain of how serious Smith was about getting involved with WWE.

If a recent tweet is anything to go off of, it does seem like Smith is keen on doing WWE work at some point in his career. Following a dream promo matchup prompt that pitted Smith against current WWE mouthpiece Paul Heyman, Heyman blasted the ESPN host.

“Stephen A. Smith is not in my league. He’s a screaming voice crying out for attention from the Ocean of Obscurity,” Heyman wrote. “I, on the other hand, reside on the Island of Relevancy!”

This got the attention of Smith, who claimed that he would “take [Heyman’s] job” if his schedule was open.

I am going to guess Smith’s schedule will be open April 1-2, when WrestleMania is held in Los Angeles. But here’s the real question: Can he bring Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo along with him? They can co-manage someone. And we know Doggie is in good enough shape to take a bump. It’s a short drive from Russo’s New Canaan house to Titan Towers. He can be hands-on with the creative process. Get Triple H on the phone.

MORE ON ESNY:
5 New York sports talk questions for 2023: Michael Kay’s future, more
Yankees’ Aaron Judge pummeled every type of pitch in 2022
Giants’ Darius Slayton has gone on quite a journey during 2022 season
Here’s why it’s OK to still be optimistic about Mets and Carlos Correa
Let’s talk about the awful hat Carmelo Anthony wore to MSG on Christmas

James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com

James Kratch is the managing editor of ESNY. He previously worked as a Rutgers and Giants (and Mike Francesa) beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.