{"id":65620,"date":"2020-03-26T13:19:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T17:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=65620"},"modified":"2020-03-26T13:19:49","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T17:19:49","slug":"muhammad-ali-a-wrestling-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/03\/26\/muhammad-ali-a-wrestling-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"Muhammad Ali: A Wrestling Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Muhammad Ali<\/strong> is arguably the biggest name in sporting history.\u00a0 Ali transcended the sport of boxing like no other (at least until Mike Tyson<\/strong>) and became a world-renowned celebrity.\u00a0 Though initially disliked by much of the paying audience (more on that later), Ali would become a beloved figurehead of American popular culture.\u00a0 Something of an interesting, under-discussed topic is the impact Ali had on professional wrestling – how he inspired so many within the industry, some of whom would go on to be global stars themselves.\u00a0 Even less covered is the impact professional wrestling had on Ali himself.\u00a0 This article will explore the decades-long relationship between Muhammad Ali and professional wrestling and perhaps pitch an argument for his inclusion in the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Muhammad Ali: Early Career<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17th, 1942 in Louisville Kentucky.\u00a0 Clay would begin boxing training at twelve years of age, after another child stole his bicycle.\u00a0 The young Clay told then trainer, Joe Martin, that “if I find the kid who stole my bike, I’m gonna whoop him”.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Clay would never recover the stolen bike.\u00a0 However, the loss of the now famous red bike would begin a boxing career affectionately dubbed “the greatest of all time”.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Sports Illustrated<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just six years later (1960), Clay, fighting as a light-heavyweight, would win an Olympic gold medal at the Rome Olympics.\u00a0 Despite becoming an Olympic champion, Clay would not receive his deserved hero’s welcome back home.\u00a0 Segregation still rife within Louisville, Clay would be told – upon trying to purchase a hamburger – that “we don’t serve negroes”.\u00a0 Clay would reply “I don’t eat them either, just gimme the hamburger”.\u00a0 The racist treatment of Clay and other young African-Americans would lead to Clay joining the Nation of Islam.\u00a0 This would, of course, lead to the man formerly known as Cassius Clay becoming Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Muhammad Ali<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ali vs Liston<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Muhammad Ali was a member of the Nation of Islam – a sect of Islam whose objective it was at the time was to establish a new, separate nation for black Muslims.\u00a0 This is of course not reflective of the core beliefs of traditional Sunni and Shi’a Islam.\u00a0 Clay would make the transition to Ali after the infamous first Sonny Liston<\/strong> fight (1964).\u00a0 Ali, a huge underdog going into the fight, scored one of the all-time great upsets – causing Liston to surrender in the seventh round.\u00a0 To put the scale of the defeat into context: Johnny Tocco<\/strong>, who trained Liston, as well as Mike Tyson and George Foreman<\/strong>, maintains that Liston was the hardest hitter of the three.\u00a0 He was undefeated and perceived invincible.\u00a0 Boxing punters were so convinced of this that they believed Liston’s dominance to be damaging to the sport.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Irish Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ali was a lanky (6″3), thin heavyweight who could move lightning fast.\u00a0 Though he was undefeated himself, his chances of beating Liston – 7\/1 – were virtually non-existent.\u00a0 Ali would beat Liston in this fight and then dominantly knock him out in the 1965 rematch – with the infamous “phantom punch”.\u00a0 Over the course of the two fights, Ali successfully established himself as the ultimate trash talker.\u00a0 He would famously describe his fighting style as “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.\u00a0 Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.”\u00a0 He would declare that he was “handsome, young and pretty and can’t possibly be beat.”\u00a0 Trash-talking would very much become a staple of Ali’s character.<\/p>\n

“Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can’t talk. he can’t fight. The man needs talking lessons. he needs boxing lessons. And since he’s gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ali: Inspiring Wrestling Legends<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Muhammad Ali’s legendary trash talking has had a profound effect on both pro-wrestling and sport as a whole.\u00a0 When UFC<\/strong>‘s Conor McGregor<\/strong> began the cocky, brash routine, he was compared to Ali.\u00a0 When current lineal and WBC Heavyweight Champion, Tyson Fury<\/strong>, began calling prospective opponents “big dosser”, he was compared to Muhammad Ali.\u00a0 Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong>‘s early-career cockiness, too, was compared to Ali’s.\u00a0 In sporting history, there is perhaps no one who has more adopted the Muhammad Ali persona than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson<\/strong>.\u00a0 The self-proclaimed “People’s Champion” actually borrowed the moniker from Ali himself – with his blessing.<\/p>\n