Stephen A. Smith Scottsdale, AZ – February 10, 2023 – Old Town Scottsdale: Stephen A. Smith on the set of NBA Countdown prior to Super Bowl LVII. (Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)

Stephen A Smith and his showmanship would be a fascinating presence on WWE television. So it’s a good thing, perhaps, that the ESPN personality came away from WrestleMania weekend with one big takeaway. He wants to get in the ring.

Smith’s presence at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles was something the longtime TV personality said he wanted to happen. So it came as no surprise that he appeared on the Kickoff Show on Peacock prior to the event’s broadcast.

Smith, on Friday, said that left the mega-event knowing one thing: He wants to get in the ring.

“I left WrestleMania last weekend knowing one thing…I’d like to be in the ring…as a manager. Maybe in Dallas…with a cowboy hat on,” Smith tweeted.

“And by the way, I wasn’t joking about my participation in it. If Snoop Dogg can get in the ring, I can too. But I ain’t fighting nobody,” Smith said on Know Mercy with Stephen A Smith. “I want to be a bad guy manager,” he declared. Stephen A. cited the legendary Bobby “The Brain” Heenan as inspiration.

“I’d be a villain, I ain’t gonna lie, and I’d love it,” he said with great enthusiasm. Stephen A. then openly fantasized about what it would have been like to be there last year when WrestleMania took place in Dallas.

“Could you imagine if I had walked out there with a cowboy hat on as a bad guy manager in Dallas, Texas? Me? In Dallas? Cause you know how I feel about them damn Cowboy fans. Could you imagine? That would’ve been spectacular, I’ll admit.”

It seems as if he’s definitely serious about liking it there. Given Smith’s exuberance and off-the-page dynamic, you could expect Smith to take to it right away if he ever got a shot, too.

WrestleMania XL is in Philadelphia, the city where he first made a name for himself as a journalist in. Wouldn’t that be something if Stephen A Smith showed up again at Lincoln Financial Field next April?

[Stephen A. Smith]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022