WWE Trying to Body Slam Nuggets Over NBA Playoff Dates

Vince McMahon is trying to perform a suplex on the NBA, because of a scheduling conflict that leaves his WWE pinned. But the wrestling federation is out of it's league in this battle. 

The story goes something like this: game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Nuggets and the Lakers is scheduled for 9 p.m., on Monday, May 25th. The NBA, in case you hadn't noticed, is kind of a big deal. So due to their national television deal with ABC and ESPN, the dates that they decided upon for their late round playoff games are pretty much set in stone.

That last part poses a significant problem for Kroenke Sports, who owns both the Denver Nuggets and the arena that was promised to McMahon and company for the same date, as a place to host the wrestling show "Monday Night Raw."

Just as you'd expect from an organization built on conflict and drama as a way to promote its form of entertainment, McMahon isn't exactly willing to take this scheduling conflict lying down. And in fact, one could argue that he's using the situation to create some cheap heat -- along with some additional publicity -- out of an honest mistake that was made by the people in charge of scheduling events at the arena in Denver.

“Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs, obviously Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke did not have enough faith in his own team to hold the May 25th date for a potential playoff game," McMahon said in a statement about the situation.

Can you smell what McMahon is cookin'?

Obviously, the NBA is a lot larger than the WWE in terms of a worldwide audience, so it's not surprising that McMahon would use this opportunity to grab the spotlight for his sport, along with possibly some extra cash, in the form of damages or restitution that the Pepsi Center's ownership group might be forced to pay down the line.

Besides the "Nuggets people had no faith in their team" statements that McMahon was throwing out there, he's also stated that he has absolutely no intention of changing his own organization's plans for the night of Monday the 25th.

Without a quick resolution, McMahon plans to send his trucks to Denver, the Associated Press reported.

"That's what we intend to do," he said. "We're going to show up."

Great. So what, John Cena is going to do a run-in with a steel chair while the Denver Nuggets are going through the introduction of their starting lineup? We seriously doubt it.

This is about money and publicity, plain and simple. The Nuggets' ownership group screwed up by double-booking the WWE with the NBA's Western Conference Finals, and Vince McMahon -- being the eternal worker that he is -- is simply squeezing everything he can out of the mistake.

The story is already leading the WWE's website, and if McMahon has his way, there will be plenty more press clippings to come down before this story comes to its obvious and uninteresting conclusion.

Copyright NBC Owned Television Stations

Leave Comments