There was a time when Shaquille O'Neal was the hottest name in AEW.

… yes, you read that correctly; it may seem crazy for fans who are relatively new to the second-biggest wrestling brand in America, but before Jade Cargill was the undefeated wonder with a Goldberg-esque TNT Championship reign, she was known simply as Shaq's tall female friend who wanted to hit the ring against Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, and eventually Red Velvet, once the woman known as Eve to the WWE Universe was put on the shelf with a pregnancy.

While O'Neal hasn't been seen in AEW since, with his final act that of being loaded into an ambulance before disappearing into the night, apparently, “Big Diesel” is willing to get in the ring for Tony Khan once more, but only if he can bring his buddy Diamond Sheik – who you might recall as the manager of Kayla Rossi after Joey Janela left – as his tag team partner against Big Show. Sending out a video to his 545 Twitter followers and counting, Sheik shared a message from Shaq that hopefully makes its way to Khan, as it could make for a very interesting opportunity indeed.

“Yeah, you know who I am, I’m the man who beat Cody Rhodes. You’re lucky you transferred, Cody,” O'Neal said. “Anyway, I wanted to deliver two messages, one: nobody messes the Diamond Sheik. And two, I present this new, diamond championship belt, yeah, this is for you (Diamond Sheik.) And do not mess with the Diamond Sheik, you already know what will happen if you mess with the Diamond Sheik.”

After throwing a few fake fists, a sight made all the more ridiculous by “Big Diesel” wearing a B-52s shirt, O’Neal made a bold statement about his future in an AEW ring.

“And Cody or whoever want it, Big Show,” O'Neal said. “Matter of fact, I’ll tell you what: Diamond Sheik and Shaq versus Big Show (Paul Wight) and whoever else you want.”

“Let’s do it, lets put it on the books, Sheik added. Do you hear that Tony?”

“Let’s do it, AEW, Shaq concluded.”

Could O'Neal actually return to AEW with Sheik by his side to put in the business against Paul Wight, aka WWE's Big Show? Only time will tell, but the duo have discussed each other in the past, so anything is possible.

Shaq and Show have a history predating AEW.

If you're wondering why Big Show and Shaq sound so familiar in a sentence together, it's because the duo actually shared the ring together once before, in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, even if the actual interaction left something to be desired. Still, O'Neal remembers his time in the ring with Wight and, more importantly, remembers his trash talk.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Jade Cargill with a text bubble reading, "Everybody wants to see me succeed" with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Warriors, Lakers

Jackson Stone ·

Booker T with a text bubble reading "It’s a no-brainer" next to Jade Cargill with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“I hear Paul Wight's still talking trash, so I'm going to work out really hard this summer, and maybe we could do something very, very soon,” O'Neal said in a 2021 interview with Pop Culture. “Last time it was due out of bureaucracy and red tape, now there is no red tape. So, I'm going to go on because I'm still kind of sore from the table, so I'm going to go for it this summer, pump these muscles up here. I'll be waiting for you, Mr. Paul.”

Fortunately, Wight was a fan of O'Neal's match with Rhodes, Cargill, and Velvet and asserted that he, too, would like to test his mettle against the “Man of Steel.”

“It was a great match,” Wight said via Comicbook.com. “I thought Shaq did a great job with that match. Cody did as well. I saw Cody did a lot of things in that match that he used to do against me. I was thinking, ‘I've seen Cody fight the same way against another tall guy.' Shaq did great. Jade did great too, that was one of her first matches. It was a big match for Jade and Red Velvet. The whole thing came off really good for everybody involved. Hopefully, I'll get to wrestle Shaq, but who knows. The powers that be and the way the world works, hopefully. What I do need to talk to Shaq about is getting me a Krispy Kreme franchise.”

Though there's yet to be any word on the Krispy Kreme franchise, O'Neal has now officially called out Wight for a match, and the ball is now officially in “Captain Insano's” court to will the bout into submission. Fortunately, Khan has been open to both incorporating jewelry into his angles – Sheik made the Dynamite Diamond Ring – and bringing in celebrities like Action Bronson and O'Neal, so it very well could happen.