5 cricketers and WWE wrestlers with similar personalities and career graphs

The world of cricket and the world of professional wrestling are two ends of a very eclectic pole. Professional wrestling today has fallen victim to sports entertainment, which implies that while the viewer is definitely watching a sport, it’s one where every moment of play has been predetermined. It’s a weird, complex bubble of kayfabe entertainment to live in, but it works – a fan of a wrestler prays not for the wrestler doing well, but rather that the writers have written a positive result for the wrestler in a match.It’s like a movie, but not quite. It works because scripting it allows the product to cater exactly to the fans’ needs, rather than fall victim to the whims and fantasies of an unprecedented sport. Cricket, apart from dubious leagues that are more of a sideshow than flagship events, takes the game seriously. The wins and the losses, the pride and glory are all unscripted. The team to win is not the one ICC feels is gaining momentum or has multitudes of sycophantic fans behind it, but the one that performs better on a given day. Within these two domes of contrast, there are a few prominent individuals with strikingly similar histories. Click through for a look at some cricketing stalwarts and their equivalent wrestling personalities.

#1 Chris Gayle - Ric Flair

Chris Gayle and Ric Flair have always been the paragon of style. The Caribbean Juggernaut and the wheelin’, dealin’, stylin’, profilin’ Nature Boy play the game hard and live life king size.

To a depleted West Indies cricket team that was a shadow of its former greatness, Gayle was a leader of a pack that promised big things. In 2002, he became one of the three West Indians to score 1,000 runs in a calender year, behind Sir Viv Richards and (surprise surprise) Brian Lara. An aggressive, confident batsmen and a handy bowler, Gayle was a trump card the West Indian team could afford to risk.

Apart from registering the highest T20 International score before it was broken by Richard Levi and becoming the only batsman to score a double century in an ODI World Cup match, Gayle is also one of the four batsmen to score two triple centuries in Test cricket. As of today, he remains the only player with a century in T20 Internationals, a double century in ODIs and a triple century in Tests.

Apart from West Indies, Gayle has played for various teams over the years – Jamaica, Worcestershire, Kolkata Knight Riders, Western Warriors, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sydney Thunder, Barisal Burners, Stanford Superstars, Matabeleland Tuskers, Dhaka Gladiators and Highveld Lions.

A sneak peek into his Instagram account paints a picture of a life filled with opulence. He is either partying or in a pool or with women, or all of the above.

Flair is a record 16-time world heavyweight champion and, as of today, the only wrestler to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame twice. He is a Triple Crown champion in both WCW and WWE. Like Gayle, Flair, too, has wrestled for multiple organizations, viz. American Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.

In terms of personality, Ric Flair embodied opulence. He entered the ring in ornate sequinned fur robes, rode limousines and flew jets, because the dirtiest player in the game was also the one with the most panache.

Much like Gayle, who now refuses to run for singles in cricket and has a questionable fitness, Flair might have slightly overstayed his welcome, wrestling well beyond his prime.

#2 Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Triple H

The men who could do no wrong.

MS Dhoni has been India’s most successful captain, and arguably one of the greatest in cricketing history. He walked in when the Indian team was in shambles, under the malevolent coaching of Greg Chappell and insipid captaincy of Rahul Dravid. Since then, he has become the undisputed leader of the pack and has extended great control over team selection in order to mould a team for the future.

Under his leadership, India was won an Asia Cup, T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and the Cricket World Cup, besides leading India to the no. 1 position in ICC rankings. He also took Chennai Super Kings to two IPL and Champions League wins. His captaincy displays his supreme knowledge of cricket, for Dhoni is one of the smartest captains in the game and, at times, one of the most humble ones.

Triple H has been one of the most successful WWE wrestlers, with 13 championship reigns, King of the Ring and Royal Rumble victories, and six Wrestlemania main events. His marriage with Stephanie McMahon led to his inclusion within the WWE think-tank, and it helped him extend control over the direction of the company of which he is now the COO.

Triple H is seen as one of the driving forces behind WWE’s upheaval of WCW in the Monday Night Wars and is known to have led many successful stables in Degeneration-X, Evolution and The Authority. The Cerebral Assassin has displayed an immense intricate knowledge of wrestling in his matches and storylines in NXT and continues to be one of the smartest workers around. Infamous of squashing talent in his prime, he now regularly loses to upcoming superstars to give them credibility.

#3 Virat Kohli - Daniel Bryan

The insurgence of fresh talent, and a promise for a bright future.

Virat Kohli has whizzed through, at a very young age, into every Indian cricket fan’s heart. He has happily stepped into the mighty shoes of Indian legends and given India the current world’s best no. 3 batsman. His barrage of runs has led to many comparisons among greats, and he continues to improve with each passing day, coming closer to a certain level of mastery over batting.

Kohli is also known for being outspoken, committed to a hardened work ethic and hot-tempered and is sporadically reprimanded for the latter. Kohli has abused journalists, abused spectators and abused opponents as well as fellow teammates so far, with lots more to come in future.

Daniel Bryan is widely regarded within the wrestling sphere as the current best technical wrestler. After proving himself in the independent circuit, he rose quickly among the ranks in WWE, riding the wave of immense crowd support to main-event Wrestlemania and emerge victorious. He is the answer to everyone’s doubt over who would carry WWE after John Cena, and he is only getting better with age.

One of Bryan’s most popular gimmicks was when he portrayed an extremely angry individual, who was forced to go through several anger management classes. He was also controversially fired for choking WWE announcer Justin Roberts with his tie.

Both Bryan and Kohli, however, stand out for their exceptional talent and unending passion for the sport.

#4 Kevin Pietersen - CM Punk

Kevin Pietersen and CM Punk were controversy’s favourite children. They thrived in it, exploited it to some extent, and finally succumbed to it.

As a sportsman, Pietersen was a dependable batsman who always strove to reinvent himself. His execution of the switch-hit sparked some debates over batting stances. Unfortunately for him, his off-field antics always stole the spotlight.

Pietersen, while supremely talented, was a bit hard to handle. His (cited) cocky arrogance and general demeanour never really gelled with the ECB and the England cricket team, and he always viewed himself as an outcast. This never affected his performance on the field, but it eventually led his infamous spat with the ECB and consequently an expulsion from the team.

A bitter tussle with the authority, especially Peter Moores, became a constant in Pietersen’s life. He switched domestic teams, resigned from captaincy, retired from cricket only to be called back and was finally exiled. Pietersen burnt all possible bridges by putting down some harsh words for his former teammates and managers in his autobiography.

CM Punk was a wrestler who always believed he was better than the roster, yet for some reason was being held down by the authority. This audacious, rebellious persona fully came to life when he mouthed off against the WWE in an infamous ‘Pipebomb’ promo, where he declared he would quit the company. He came back, only to once again be the guy who rebelled against the people in charge.

Punk always had an issue with Triple H, who is the COO of the WWE, and never saw eye-to-eye with any of the writers or the Chairman, Vince McMahon. Despite being an exceptional wrestler with fantastic promo skills, he was also overshadowed by his antics backstage.

Punk, too, shared a bit of detail on the inner politics within the WWE and the truth behind his departure and consequent firing from the WWE in a viral podcast with Colt Cabana.

#5 Misbah-ul Haq - John Cena

When it comes to cricket, there can be no sadder story than that of Misbah-ul-Haq – for the man was everything a volatile, capricious Pakistan Cricket needed to build a stable platform around, yet he has been vilified and hated for it. Misbah, much like WWE linchpin John Cena, is an extraordinary performer forced to shoulder a massive burden of carrying a team and overshadowed by the consequences.

Misbah has been an interesting player to watch – for the man is capable of aggression no bowlers can stop, yet forced to reconcile in a shell of unflappable temperament and stoic anchoring roles in a batting line-up that has grown completely reliant around him. This very self-imposed meditative batting style has garnered the criticism and blunt hatred of a legion of fans, nicknaming him Tuk-Tuk for his defensive play.

Even though Misbah has never failed to perform, if the rest of the team failed, he would be blamed. He was, after all, the right player at the wrong time.

John Cena has arguably carried the WWE through the PG era, and he has been booed week in and week out for it. To most adult male fans, he stands as the mascot of the PG era, a driving force for a wrestling product increasingly catered to a younger demographic. A good wrestler with exceptional promo skills, despite selling out arenas around the world for years, Cena will never be liked and admired as much as he should be.

For the interests of the company, Cena had to curb his aggressive rapper gimmick and refrain from a heel persona and instead settle into a meditative superman persona because it works.