Charles Barkley Discusses Shaquille O’Neal’s Wrestling Skills, How He Would’ve Been Great 25 Years Ago

As previously noted, former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal had a successful return to pro wrestling in March of last year, as he teamed with Jade Cargill to defeat Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. In a recent appearance on The Sessions with Renee Paquette, Charles Barkley, Shaq’s teammate on Inside the NBA on TNT, discussed his colleague’s wrestling skills.

Barkley noted Shaq’s work ethic and how he would’ve been great at pro wrestling 25 years ago (via Fightful):

“That’s the perfect word, this dude is crazy. His body probably can’t take the abuse today, but with his personality, he’s one of the most fun people I’ve ever been around. He’s a really hard working dude. He’s on every commercial. It’s just a matter of time before he starts doing Depends commercials. I know he’s turning 50 in the next couple of weeks so he’s close to Depends. He’s a great businessman. He does a lot of stuff, clearly. With his personality, if he really wanted to do [wrestling] 25 years ago, he would have been great.”

Shaq’s most recent match prior to AEW was in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32.