Tyson Fury has been called out by former WWE champion Drew McIntyre ahead of this September's event in Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
The colourful boxer had said he wanted to "knock him (McIntyre) out" moments after retaining his WBC heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte at the weekend. And now McIntyre, the first British WWE champion after winning the belt at WrestleMania 36 in 2020, has responded to Fury's challenge - saying the ball is in the two-time world heavyweight champion's court.
"I was watching the fight as best as I could as I had a show in Reading, Pennsylvania," McIntyre told WalesOnline. I predicted he'd win as he's the better boxer. I didn't expect a knockout, but he's the best at what he does.
Read next: Tyson Fury wants to fight Drew McIntyre at Cardiff's Principality Stadium WWE wrestling event
"Then afterwards, he took the time to mention WWE, Cardiff, SummerSlam and, of course, Drew McIntyre and talking about knocking me out. He can run his mouth all he wants.
"I appreciate it and the publicity, but he's going to have to pick up the phone and make that call if he wants anything to happen. He can keep talking about me all he wants.
"My goals right now are the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship and Roman Reigns. But if Tyson picks up the phone, maybe I could be distracted long enough to smash him.
"The ball's in his court 100 per cent."
McIntyre, who hails from Ayr in Scotland, no longer holds the WWE belt, with Roman Reigns having unified both the WWE and Universal belts by defeating Brock Lesnar earlier this year. So while the prospect of Fury is a tempting one, the chance of winning back his belts on British soil would be one he couldn't pass up.
"You've got to go with the belts," he added. "The Fury thing would be a huge spectacle. Such a big name in his world and I'm a big name in our world, especially being the first ever British WWE champion.
"It would be a huge attraction match and I know I'd get a great match out of him. He works hard, he's an entertainer and he's got a passion for it. But at the same time, the dream was become WWE champion one day, with tens of thousands of people screaming.
"I did it at WrestleMania in front of zero people. I'm the only person in history to win the main event at WrestleMania, win the title at WrestleMania and somehow have no fans there screaming. When I won it back, it was with virtual fans on screams.
"Having the chance to win it in front of fans, it would be the perfect situation to face Roman on home soil and win it back. That would be pretty fricking cool. But, failing that, if Tyson wants to box me, I'll take him down and he'll be wailing around on his back like a turtle."
This wouldn't be Fury's first foray into WWE, having made an appearance back in 2019. Since then, a fight with McIntyre has long been trailed - but has yet to happen.
"He's very friendly to everyone in WWE except me," said McIntyre. "He's a 6ft 9in ninja. Whenever I go to hunt him down, he vanishes into thin air and then reappears in the middle of my matches.
"I saw him at the Thunderdome trying to get my attention. I wasn't going to give him that. But he works hard at this. Whatever preconceptions people have of wrestling, try it and see how you feel the next day. I respect him for putting himself into it like that."
This September's event will be the first stadium show in the UK since SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley. That event inspired a generation of British wrestling fans and the hope is that this will do something similar.
The fact that ticket pre-sale registrations for Cardiff surpassed any other WWE event in the first 24 hours - including WrestleMania - is a good sign. For McIntyre, it's justification of something he's been pushing for years.
"It's awesome to be in Cardiff," he explained. "People are going to be talking about this for years. The atmosphere here is like nowhere else on earth. I keep looking at the stadium and picturing how loud it is going to be.
"I say to everyone in Wales that you should be really proud that WWE is bringing the event to Wales. I love the Principality, I love the city. It's going to be great for so many people coming here.
"Something will hook you. There's something for everyone. Get yourself to that show, you'll be hooked for life.
"I've been talking about it for years. I've always said the UK deserves a stadium show. It got to the point that I was talking about it so much that someone mentioned something might be going on. But I kept talking about it.
"Nothing's official until it's official. When I met with people from Cardiff, I knew these were the right people to host the show. But I still wasn't convinced it would happen - even at Wrestlemania. Then when the announcement was official, I bloody believed it!
And the Rangers superfan already has his heart set on the WWE's next stadium visit. And if one Welsh footballing star currently turning out for the Gers can work his magic in Glasgow, he might yet be a guest of honour in Cardiff later this year.
"Oh yeah, I've already got it planned out in my head. Cardiff will be perfect - that will be phase one. Then I'll keep talking about Ibrox because when I say stuff, it seems to happen."
"And if Aaron Ramsey gets us through to the Europa League final and wins it, I'll have him as my special guest and he can do whatever he wants. The dream is to smash West Ham 5-0 in the final - I'm not sure that'll happen! If he makes it happen, he can walk me to the ring!"
