Gladiators star crashes WWE Live London show in row with top wrestler-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Gladiators star Apollo went face to face with JD McDonagh (Picture: WWE)

WWE and Gladiators are closer than people might think, and the two worlds have collided in a major way.

On a star-studded Friday night at The O2 arena in London, with the likes of Anthony Joshua, Wayne and Coleen Rooney and rapper ArrDee in attendance, one of the hit BBC revival’s new stars Apollo made his presence felt.

The new Gladiator came down to the ring during high flying superstar Ricochet’s match with Judgment Day’s JD McDonaugh, and confronted the latter during the bout.

The pair came face to face on the entrance ramp, and Ricochet was able to pick up the win over his rival to the delight of the crowd.

He celebrated his win at The O2 – the site of last year’s record breaking Money In The Bank premium live event – with Apollo by his side, continuing the rich crossover history between wrestling and Gladiators.

Current SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis is actually a former Gladiator, having appeared as Oblivion on Sky1’s reboot in 2008 and 2009, while recent contender Wesley is a professional wrestler on the UK independent scene.

Gladiators and WWE are closer than you’d think (Picture: WWE)

Apollo celebrated with Ricochet after his big win (Picture: WWE)

The stars were out, with champion boxer Anthony Joshua pictured backstage with current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, beaming as he even got to hold the prized title belt.

Other big names made their presence felt, including Wayne Rooney, who caught the eye of Drew McIntyre as he sat in the front row with wife Coleen and their sons.

The Scottish Warrior couldn’t resist calling out the retired Manchester United legend, noting he ‘smashed’ it in his football career before taking a cheeky dig.

Anthony Joshua met with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes backstage (Picture: WWE)

The boxing icon posed for a photo with wrestler Natalya (Picture: WWE)

Wayne Rooney laughed off the jibes from Drew McIntyre (Picture: WWE)

He teased: ‘Aren’t we the same age? What happened to you?’

Thankfully Wayne laughed along, having had a very different reaction in 2015 when he laid out Preston-born wrestler Wade Barrett at a WWE event in Manchester when their social media row over the recent FA Cup final bubbled over.

The current SmackDown commentator admitted he actually loved getting to work with the footballer at the time, and it’s a moment in his WWE career that he’ll never forget.

It’s such a silly little thing, you don’t go into a career to do things like that. That’s never the aim when you become a wrestler with WWE,’ he exclusively told Metro.co.uk last year.

The Manchester United legend was joined by wife Coleen and their sons (Picture: WWE)

Nine years ago, he got physical with WWE star Wade Barrett (Picture: WWE)

‘But that’s one of those silly little things that people will always remember. People love talking to me about that time I got slapped by Wayne Rooney!’

The O2 show opened with Jey Uso beating Drew McIntyre, before the likes of Natalya, Ricochet and Tegan Nox picked up big wins.

It was a good night for champions too, with World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest, Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes all successfully defending the gold.

WWE returns to the UK on June 15 for Clash At The Castle in Glasgow. Combo tickets including SmackDown the previous night go on sale at 10am on April 24.

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