When a defeated Chad Gable decided to go absolutely ballistic on Sami Zayn after he successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship, it drew pretty big reactions from all over the professional wrestling world, with upset reactions coming from fans, other wrestlers, and… NBA Hall of Famer and TNT NBA panelist Charles Barkley?

Surprising? You bet, but it's true, as, in the most unlikely piece of news you will read today, the former Philadelphia 76ers forward stopped by The Pat McAfee Show to talk about the USA Olympic team and the NBA Play-In games and somehow started talking about all things WWE, noting that he was so upset to see Gable turn on his former friend that he almost flew to Montreal to “whoop his a**” on the spot.

“You know what, I was going to fly up there, and whoop, Gable's a**,” Charles Barkley hilariously exclaimed on the Pat McAfee Show. “That man whooped [Sami's] a** in front of his wife and parents, man. I didn't like that at all. You can't kick a man's a** in front of his wife and parents, man, I didn't like the ending. You can't kick a man's a** at his house, man, that's bad karma.”

You know what, you've gotta give it to Chuck, when he's on, he's on, and when he has an opinion, he's not going to be afraid to say it, even if it's an opinion on the of the more niche figures in the WWE Universe, at least from a mainstream perspective. And yet, when you really think about it, is anything Barkley said really wrong? Gable 100 percent turned heel on Zayn for the crime of being a slightly better wrestler and did it in front of the greater Zayn family, leading to Baby Zayn crying over what happened to his Baba, just like how Gable's own daughter cried when Gunther secured his record-breaking title defense back in Minnesota last year. If Gable and Barkley ever end up in the same room, don't be surprised if the “Round Mount of Rebound” gives him a piece of his mind, or better yet, a 6-foot-8 SmackDown.

Charles Barkley is a massive fan of The Rock's charisma.

While Charles Barkley isn't the biggest fan of Chad Gable for what he did to the “Underdog from the Underground” in front of his hometown crowd on RAW, he isn't totally down on the WWE product, as he's actually got quite a few favorites on the promotion including Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a man he considers must-watch whenever he shows up on weekly television.

“I've been watching y'all for the past few months. Has The Rock got the best personality, charisma on television? Roman, Cody, all those guys are fantastic, but The Rock has the best. He has that thing. When you see a player and you're like, ‘He's different than everybody else.' When you see The Rock perform, you're like, ‘Man, he's good.' His personality, when he's talking, you're like, I have to watch him. I love Cody. I love Seth Freakin' Rollins. I love Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso, but The Rock, when he's on television, he's always had it, but for him to come back and do his thing like he did the last couple of months, I'm like, ‘D**n, man,' he has the charisma bug,” Charles Barkley said on the Pat McAfee Show via Fightful.

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TNA Kurt Angle with a text bubble reading "That would be worth it for me" next to Chad Gable with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Charles Barkley with hand in face, saying my bad

Fabian Diego Miguel de la Paz ·

Jim Ross with a text bubble reading "Austin is probably the most particular guy" next to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin with the WrestleMania 40 logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“I was impressed. I've known him, we're not great friends, but I've known him for a long time, and when I saw him, I was like, ‘Hey has that thing,' and when he's working, I want to watch. He plays the heel perfectly. His charisma, it's an honor.”

Welp, there you go, folks; while Barkley isn't a fan of Gable's heel turn, he has no issue at all when The Rock does it, as he's simply too charismatic and/or compelling to look away from when he's on television doing what he was born to do. And the best part? Even though The Rock is out of action for the next few months as he prepares to start filming The Smashing Machine with Bennie Safdie for A24, Barkley should still be plenty entertained by his other favorite WWE Superstars, as Reigns and Rollins will likely be back on television in the next few weeks and Jimmy Uso and Cody Rhodes are going to be around on one, if not both shows weekly for the foreseeable future as they work through the ramifications of the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania 40. With the NBA season approaching its end, Barkley should remain plenty entertained.