If there was one takeaway the boxing community took from Tyson Fury's brief run in WWE, it's the constant reminder from Fury that he will fight WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on February 22, 2020.
The rematch, which many boxing fans clamored for especially after the faced off in a dramatic pay-per-view main event in 2018, has not been officially announced, but it is believed that a rematch is in play for early 2020. With Tyson Fury having wrapped up with WWE for now, Fightful got to ask Wilder in a recent media call if he would consider doing the same.
Before he gave his full answer, Wilder said Fury went to WWE because he wanted to raise his profile in the United States, especially after what some believe to be sub-par attendance numbers for Fury's two fights this year, both of which took place in Las Vegas. Earlier in the call, Wilder did tell another member of the media that he applauded Fury for being able to have an opportunity to make money and do something that wasn't boxing related and wished he had seen it when it was actually happening.
"WWE was a thing that we years ago talked about as far as promotion and different things and that's the reason why [Fury] is doing it for promotion. He is trying to get his name bigger in America and that's a good route to take because WWE has millions upon millions of followers that look at it. So that was a good approach for him trying to build his name especially after coming from his Vegas shows and their ticket sale. The only reason he sold the first time was because he was coming to have a fight with me," Wilder said. "So now he is trying to find some type of way to market himself even more before the rematch or the fight. We are going to tell the difference when I fight in Vegas, you are going to see the difference of what I do and what he did and we will know for sure who sold the pay-per-view and I guarantee you right now it's going to be me."
Fury first appeared on SmackDown's premiere episode on FOX, starting a feud with Braun Strowman. The two would trade words back-and-forth on WWE programming and had a match at WWE's Crown Jewel show on October 31 which Fury won.
Although Wilder was happy seeing his past rival in WWE, don't expect him to be in a WWE ring anytime soon with the sole purpose of raising his popularity. Wilder wouldn't outright close the window on a potential WWE run, but a lot of factors must be in play for him to consider it.
"But if the opportunity came by at this point in time who knows. It all depends on what I have got going on at the moment in time or when the opportunity presents itself what the scale will be looking like. My stardom has grown tremendously everywhere. I have got multiples of countries wanting to host me to their country. I'm popular right now. Life is great and I just want to continue to add to that. I can't say no and I can't say yes. You know, I'm going to keep that bridge open. You never want to burn bridges because you may never know when you may need to cross them again. So that bridge is still open," Wilder said.
But for now, Wilder is focused on his upcoming title defense against Luis Oriz, set to headline the November 23 PBC on FOX pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
