Being a fan of wrestling almost forces you to imagine everything as a storyline, and it doesn't hurt that sports media tries to dramatize it all as well. Just like in the world of scripted promos and rehearsed matches, the "unpredictable" world of sports, such as the NBA, tries to create a movie out of their most important moments and players. From commercials to interviews to promotions highlighting the significance of the NBA finals, everything is hyped up to a million in efforts to glue eyes to the screen and dollars to their pockets. It makes one, or me at least wonder, what if the players were wrestlers or vice versa? Who would they be and why?
Well, here's my list. Fair warning, this isn't based on appearance, because the tallest wrestlers are the average NBA player, and the biggest NBA players are the average size of a wrestler.
1. LeBron James: John Cena
Yes, both were in the movie "Train Wreck," but that's not the point. Cena and LeBron are both the faces of their respective companies, with many fans and many vocal haters. John Cena's got the older wrestling fans chanting "Cena sucks!", and even a guy who tries to attend the events with a "we hate Cena" shirt. LeBron James has Skip Bayless and Michael Rapaport, just to name a few. When both began their careers, they were given the green light and given a lot of positive attention from critics and fans, but as soon as their success and status became apparent, more negativity ensued.
In addition, they had their respective heel turns, at least in the eyes of the fans; LeBron when he joined the Miami Heat, and Cena when he started winning the WWE Championship every year and beating everyone all the damn time. Despite this, they have been able to find success outside their jobs, having roles in movies and TV. Although other stars are up and coming, both are still seen as extremely important parts of their companies.
2. Jason Jordan: Lonzo Ball
This was an easier pick than LeBron and Cena, and way easier to sum up. Both have bald, popular, talkative dads (albeit Jordan's is storyline based) that back them up whenever, wherever, to a fault at times. While both have had success prior to their current position, with Jason Jordan winning the tag team titles in NXT and Lonzo Ball posting impressive stats in UCLA while helping them reach the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, their transitions into the big leagues haven't been so fluid. Due to this, both have been seen as up and comers, who have been excessively hyped. Even though they have had their moments, they're still green and need to do more to be accepted as a solid player by the fans.
3. Braun Strowman: Giannis Antetokounmpo
"The Monster Among Men" and "The Greek Freak" have more in common than you think, albeit their appearances don't hint at it at all. Both started their careers, though with potential in their physical statures, quite slowly. Giannis averaged around 13 points his first 3 years in the league, before posting up career highs of 23, 9 and 5 last season, and then decimating the stat sheet to start the NBA season. Braun Strowman joined the main roster as part of the Wyatt family, but his lame finisher and lack of in-ring skill shoved him into the mid-card.
Fast forward to this year, Strowman competed at WrestleMania 33, eliminating half the competition in the "Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal," He also developed solid feuds with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, the latter of whom he got a championship match with him, and being one of the final 2 RAW superstars standing after the Survivor Series PPV's main event. Both have not won any chips yet, but 2017 has been their year thus far and the potential for getting the gold is definitely there.
4. Russell Westbrook: Dean Ambrose
From a madman gimmick to a madman style of play, Westbrook and Ambrose are quite equivalent. Both started their rise to stardom as part of impressive, young trios, and both were turned on by one of their teammates, one by a cupcake snake, and the other by a talented guy who wanted to branch out, leading to ex-teammate rivalries (yes I'm a Seth Rollins fan).
In addition, they are quite unpredictable, in both their way to perform, with Westbrook throwing down dunks or picking up crazy and-one shots in rapid fashion, and Ambrose surprising opponents or fans at times with his moves. At the same time, they've had their individual success, with Ambrose winning the world title, and Westbrook, the MVP only to fall a tad short in becoming a consistent perennial contender. Now both are back with their trios, albeit a tad different for Westbrook, and are now even more focused on the team than individual success.
5. Roman Reigns: Kevin Durant
You could have made Durant's equivalent any superstar who turned on his teammate and got instant success, but Reigns, in particular, stood out like a superman punch. Mind you, this choice was fueled by hatorade more than anything else.
Roman Reigns started in a trio like Durant; both of their groups split and their two old teammates had their own successes. However, unlike Durant, Reigns is now back with his and unlike Reigns, Durant has only won the title one. Their similarities lie deeper, and probably more so in my mind than others, but hear me out. The way Durant won his title is what pissed off many fans, much like Reigns. We all know wrestling is scripted, and when someone undeserving is shot to the moon to be a prime-time player, fans will react, and that's what happened to Reigns.
Both of these guys are great athletes and heralded as the future of their company until they made certain moves. Durant was a fan favorite after taking his team to the 2013 NBA finals, and the same with Reigns after eliminating 12 superstars before being the last one eliminated in the 2014 Royal Rumble. Both were young, up and coming, and proving their worth. Then problems arose when the success truly came; Durant chose the easy way, joining a 73-9 Warriors team basically 5 minutes after losing to them, to go on and cruise to the title a year later, losing once in the playoffs. Roman Reigns went on a John Cena type run, beating everyone en route to the title, losing one WM main event, when Seth Rollins cashed in and (deservingly) won the title.
Fast forward to right now, both have proven their right to stand before the best in their leagues and be respected as such, but to much criticism from the fans as to how they got there. They're slowly inching towards being fan favorites to more than just little kids again. But they're seemingly caring less about it, although both will occasionally clap back at fans on Twitter (Durant WAY more than Reigns, but it's my list so whatever.)
