Shaquille ONeal, John Cena make surprise ring appearances at WrestleMania 32

It wasn’t necessarily a shock to see Shaquille O’Neal at WrestleMania 32, but the fact that he actually got into the ring and competed in a match? Yeah, that was unexpected.

That was the scene that unfolded during the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at the WWE’s annual mega-event Sunday, held this year at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., before a crowd of over 100,000. O’Neal was the last competitor to climb through over the ropes for the melee, and it didn’t take long for the Big Retired Center to square off with the Big Show.

That’s over 14 feet and countless pounds that Kane was trying to corral at the end of the clip above, and not surprisingly, it didn’t go well for him. Shaq and the Big Show gave Kane a double choke-slam before O’Neal tossed Damien Sandow out of the ring, leaving room for the two behemoths to fight each other.

Of course, the WWE wasn’t about to let a non-wrestler such as O’Neal extend himself too far, so as he and the Big Show grappled, the other wrestlers came up from behind and gave them both the heave-ho. Eventually, the match was won by NXT up-and-comer Baron Corbin.

If O’Neal shocked the crowd by entering the ring, John Cena didn’t exactly accomplish the same thing, as he was widely rumored to be on the WrestleMania slate. However, it was more a matter if timing for him, as his music played just as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was facing a sticky situation with the Wyatt Family. The Rock and Cena had fought against each other in two previous WrestleMania main events, but this time they were allies.

Cena had been out of action since a January shoulder injury that required surgery, and he had previously indicated that he would only “watch WrestleMania” this year. But he helped give the event a major dose of star power — as if The Rock wouldn’t have been enough — and he may have set up a future story line with the Wyatt Family.

That’s how it ended, but it wouldn’t be right to discuss The Rock’s appearance at WrestleMania without showing his own entrance. Setting your stage name on fire with a flame-thrower is a pretty darn solid way to announce your presence.

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