Bruce Prichard Explains Why NFL Star Bo Jackson Never Joined WWE

NFL and MLB legend Bo Jackson never dipped his toe in the wrestling arena. However, Bruce Prichard revealed on "Something to Wrestle" that WWE did make overtures to Jackson in 1991 for a potential appearance at WrestleMania VII. After showing some initial interest, Jackson ultimately declined the offer based on the physical requirements.

"We were talking about Bo being a three-athlete star if he wanted to come in," Prichard said. "But Bo was concerned as far as how that would jeopardize his football and baseball career. Any little thing, yeah, he just wasn't interested. He was interested. But he thought, 'Oh, wrestling's fake. Yeah, I can do that.' Then when he found out, no, man. You gotta be a hybrid athlete to do it. And Bo was a great athlete. I just don't think Bo had any desire to learn how to take a bump or do any of the things required to get into the ring."

There are countless wrestlers with a background in football and other sports, including Bill Goldberg and Ron Simmons. Meanwhile, NFL greats Lawrence Taylor and William Perry have . made the jump to the squared circle for one-off appearances. Given the height of Jackson's stardom at the time, an appearance in 1991 would've made for a memorable Mania moment. However, Prichard believes that it takes a certain type of mindset for celebrities to be successful in WWE.

"With a lot of outside talent, they think, ah, this is gonna be easy," Prichard said. "But that's why I have so much respect for a guy like [Mike] Tyson and a guy like Floyd Mayweather... Even today, the Bad Bunnys of the world, the Logan Pauls of the world. Those guys, they live it... It's not just a guy coming in and showing up for a match and doing a couple of moves. That won't work, especially with today's audience."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Something to Wrestle" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.