Wayne Rooney’s been getting a bit agro, slapping a WWE superstar in front of thousands of fans last night.
Rooney hit 6ft 7in Wade Barrett during the event at Manchester Arena, after the wrestler trash talked him, the Daily Mail reported.
The Manchester United and England captain was sat at the front with his son Kai, 6, when Lancashire born Barrett grabbed the mic and called him out, saying:
In this ring are two men who can be easily be described as championship material. Which, of course, is more than can be said of Wayne Rooney and Manchester United.
He then added: “I’d hate for your little boy to sit there and watch his own father fail. Because let’s face it, he gets to experience that every single time you step on a football pitch.”
Footage shows the former bare-knuckle boxer get out of the ring and confront Rooney, before the footballer lays the smack down.
A WWE source told Sportsmail:
It was brilliant. Wayne was in great spirits before the event and he happily agreed to take part in the stunt with Wade Barrett. The fans absolutely loved it and I’m sure his son Kai would have enjoyed it too.
The confrontation comes from a row the pair had on Twitter in February, when Barrett accused Rooney of diving during an FA Cup match between United and his beloved Preston North End.
After the Preston incident Barrett called Rooney out on Twitter. The footballer replied saying he’d bring WWE Heavyweight Champion ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin out of retirement to back him up.
WWE CEO Vince McMahon then proposed a tag team fight, with Rooney and Austin taking on Barrett and former Preston striker Kevin Davies – unfortunately the bout never happened, though.
