5 cricketers and WWE wrestlers with similar personalities and career graphs
The world of cricket and the world of professional wrestling are two ends of a very eclectic pole. Professional wrestling today has fallen victim to sports entertainment, which implies that while the viewer is definitely watching a sport, it’s one where every moment of play has been predetermined. It’s a weird, complex bubble of kayfabe entertainment to live in, but it works – a fan of a wrestler prays not for the wrestler doing well, but rather that the writers have written a positive result for the wrestler in a match.It’s like a movie, but not quite. It works because scripting it allows the product to cater exactly to the fans’ needs, rather than fall victim to the whims and fantasies of an unprecedented sport. Cricket, apart from dubious leagues that are more of a sideshow than flagship events, takes the game seriously. The wins and the losses, the pride and glory are all unscripted. The team to win is not the one ICC feels is gaining momentum or has multitudes of sycophantic fans behind it, but the one that performs better on a given day. Within these two domes of contrast, there are a few prominent individuals with strikingly similar histories. Click through for a look at some cricketing stalwarts and their equivalent wrestling personalities.
#1 Chris Gayle - Ric Flair
Chris Gayle and Ric Flair have always been the paragon of style. The Caribbean Juggernaut and the wheelin’, dealin’, stylin’, profilin’ Nature Boy play the game hard and live life king size.
To a depleted West Indies cricket team that was a shadow of its former greatness, Gayle was a leader of a pack that promised big things. In 2002, he became one of the three West Indians to score 1,000 runs in a calender year, behind Sir Viv Richards and (surprise surprise) Brian Lara. An aggressive, confident batsmen and a handy bowler, Gayle was a trump card the West Indian team could afford to risk.
Apart from registering the highest T20 International score before it was broken by Richard Levi and becoming the only batsman to score a double century in an ODI World Cup match, Gayle is also one of the four batsmen to score two triple centuries in Test cricket. As of today, he remains the only player with a century in T20 Internationals, a double century in ODIs and a triple century in Tests.
Apart from West Indies, Gayle has played for various teams over the years – Jamaica, Worcestershire, Kolkata Knight Riders, Western Warriors, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sydney Thunder, Barisal Burners, Stanford Superstars, Matabeleland Tuskers, Dhaka Gladiators and Highveld Lions.
A sneak peek into his Instagram account paints a picture of a life filled with opulence. He is either partying or in a pool or with women, or all of the above.
Flair is a record 16-time world heavyweight champion and, as of today, the only wrestler to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame twice. He is a Triple Crown champion in both WCW and WWE. Like Gayle, Flair, too, has wrestled for multiple organizations, viz. American Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.
In terms of personality, Ric Flair embodied opulence. He entered the ring in ornate sequinned fur robes, rode limousines and flew jets, because the dirtiest player in the game was also the one with the most panache.
Much like Gayle, who now refuses to run for singles in cricket and has a questionable fitness, Flair might have slightly overstayed his welcome, wrestling well beyond his prime.