Dynamic duo?
Pete Rose joins Tyson in unlikely pairing for WWF event
Posted: Tue February 24, 1998 at 3:04 PM ET
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Who would have thought five years ago that Rose (left) and Tyson would be appearing on WrestleMania together?
(AP, Stephen Dunn/Allsport)
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ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- Just when you thought former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's appearance at WrestleMania couldn't get any more bizarre, it did.
Tyson, who will be a 'special enforcer' at the event, is now being joined by Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader.
Rose announced Monday night on the WWF's television show 'Raw Is War' he will join Tyson at the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania on March 29.
Rose, who had 4,256 hits in his major league career, will
serve as a guest ring announcer at WrestleMania.
At a recent WWF news conference, Tyson was asked if his
involvement with the WWF would diminish his chance of being inducted
into the Boxing Hall of Fame.
"Quoting the great Pete Rose, `If they don't put me in the [Boxing] Hall of Fame, they shouldn't have a Hall of Fame,'" Tyson said.
Rose is serving a lifetime ban from baseball, including the Hall of Fame. The ban was agreed upon in 1989 between then-commissioner Bart Giamatti and Rose after it was discovered Rose had bet on sporting events. It has never been ascertained whether or not he bet on baseball, although Rose vehemently denies ever betting on his own sport.
Rose currently resides in Florida where he hosts a nationally-syndicated radio sports talk show five days a week at the Pete Rose Ballpark CafÈ in Boca Raton, Florida.
The World Wrestling Federation's annual event, WrestleMania,
featuring Tyson as 'special enforcer' for the World Wrestling
Federation Title Match between WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and Stone
Cold Steve Austin, will be telecast live on Pay-Per-View from the
FleetCenter in Boston.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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