Shaquille O’Neal Pinning Charles Barkley to the Ground Leaves John Cena Stunned During Peacemaker Promotion

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have built one of the most entertaining dynamics in all of sports television. Whether it’s mocking each other’s playing days or going full WWE in studio skits, the two legends have turned their playful rivalry into a cornerstone of basketball culture. On a recent episode of Inside the NBA, Shaq and Chuck got into a wrestling exhibition.

Considering their age and risk of getting injured, it was fortunate that they did it in an expert’s presence. WWE legend John Cena was there to promote his show, Peacemaker. The show is set to return for a second season.

But it wouldn’t be a Shaq and Chuck story if they didn’t mock each other first. The Inside crew had several helmets on the set similar to the ones Cena’s character wears on the show. After expressing his concern that the helmets might not fit them, Chuck said, “Shaq, I know your big fat a** can’t fit in there.”

Somehow, they made it work as Cena entered. Mr. Peacemaker himself wore his helmet before shaking hands with the boys. And before they knew it, Shaq started choking Chuck and tried to pin him down on the floor. After a few attempts, the big fella was successful, but he had to go down first in order to pull Chuck.

After that, Kenny Smith did the standard 1, 2, 3 count like they do in the WWE, and Shaq won. Barkley did try to throw his leg up in order to avoid losing, but he didn’t realize that it only counts when the wrestler throws their arm up. Chuck said, “Oh, I gotta get my shoulder up. My bad.”

Cena was impressed by both NBA legends and their dedication to wrestling. Shaq has been a lifelong wrestling fan and has also made several appearances inside the ring. So, it wasn’t surprising that he quickly came up with a strategy to take Chuck down.

Shaq and Cena have previously linked as well. They have also tried arm wrestling together once, which ended in a draw. Heaping praise on Cena during his previous TNT appearance, Shaq said, “John is probably the strongest guy in the NBA. He’s really strong. And he can dunk, off the vert, two hands. He did it. No stretch at all, he went two hands, knees, and I was like ‘OK!”

In this scenario, the NBA stood for the ‘National Ballers Association.’