NBA Star Enes Kanter Talks WWE Future, What He Was Told About AEW, His Wrestling Mt. Rushmore

As noted earlier this month at this link, former WWE 24/7 Champion and current NBA player Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics recently stated that he has an offer to go work for WWE. Kanter recently spoke with former WWE creative writer Jensen Karp on his "No-Sports Report" podcast. You can see the interview below or access the podcast website at this link. The show also sent us highlights from the interview.

Kanter told Karp that he plans to leave the NBA for WWE in around five years or so.

"I think, I am hoping to play five more years. So like, yeah, I got to finish up like 14-15 years in the league," Kanter said.

Kanter, who was once linked to Dana Brooke, is looking forward to working as a heel in WWE. He was asked if he plans to be a heel or a babyface.

"Oh my God. I'm going to be heel," Kanter said. "I'll be the biggest heel the WWE has ever seen! I feel like it is more fun. It's like entertaining people more. And for me, it's like getting in people's face and trash talk them and troll them. I don't cuss, but I trash talk a lot? It's just definitely more fun to go out there and be a heel, be a bad guy, I don't know, I just like it better."

Kanter revealed that his idol is The Undertaker. He recalled meeting Taker backstage at a WWE event from Madison Square Garden, and finding out if his signature eye roll is real or not. He also revealed how RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman has encouraged him to come to WWE.

"I went backstage, I saw some of the wrestlers, girls and guys and I'm like, 'Oh my God, this is so like amazing.' But at the same time, it's so weird," Kanter said. "I actually got to meet with Undertaker in Madison Square Garden. He came to our locker room and I was wanting to like know that the eye roll thing is fake or not. And I asked him and I took a video of it. It's actually on my Instagram and it's real! He did that. I actually got to talk to him a little bit. He asked me, 'How old are you kid?' I'm like, I am back then I was like I'm 25 years old. He's like, 'I got boots older than you.' I'm like, 'Okay, well like...'

"He was like my idol, my knees were shaking. But just because I played for the Knicks, Paul Heyman actually would come to some of our games and he's actually my really good friend. He actually was like, 'Hey, let's go. Are we doing this?' I'm like, dude, like, relax. I gotta finish my basketball career first, then I am all yours."

Kanter also named who would be on his Pro Wrestling Mt. Rushmore – The Undertaker, The Rock, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan.

"Obviously, Undertaker. I got to go with The Undertaker, he is my favorite," Kanter said of his Mt. Rushmore of pro wrestlers. "The second, I'm going with The Rock. Like you said, what he did for wrestling, it was just amazing. My third one, I'm going with Ric Flair. Just the "Woo!" and everything was just so amazing? my last one, probably Hulk Hogan."

Karp, a former WWE writer, responded to Kanter naming Hogan as his fourth pick.

"Number one, I have him for sure, he's changed the game. This dude is the most famous, in my opinion, the most famous man on the planet," Karp said of Hogan. "He started in pro wrestling. I think Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is my first induction into Mount Rushmore. My second is a glass shattering, Stone Cold Steve Austin. I think, if you look back at the legends and all the moments and the things that have happened, Stone Cold is at the front and center of all of it. He was the attitude era as one person. Third, I think you never get to where we are right now in the WWE if it wasn't for the first initial boom. so you have to say Hulk Hogan. Listen, let's pretend he never said anything weird. Hulk Hogan, the wrestler, not the man, okay? For now, this is my controversial pick because there's a lot out there and I know your number one is right on the cusp of being my number four, but my number four is Vince McMahon. The character, not even the man, I'll say the man, obviously he started the whole thing, but the character of Vince McMahon, I think pushed wrestling and also like his matches in the Attitude era were really fun and good."

Kanter won the WWE 24/7 Title back during the pre-RAW Main Event tapings on September 9, 2019, in New York City. He quickly lost the title right back to R-Truth as the title change was done as a promotion with NBC Sports. Kanter talked about what it was like to win the title at MSG. He recalled meeting Triple H and Vince McMahon.

"Oh, you have no idea. I was so nervous," Kanter admitted. "And like Paul Heyman said, 'You're going to be the one of the most hated person in New York that night. Are you ready for it?' I'm like, I'm born for this, let's go! So like I pinned 'em. I win the title, I reveal my jersey, it was a Celtics jersey. The whole crowd was booing, cause I played for that team [Knicks], they should love me, but the whole crowd was booing. For me, it was just like a lifetime experience, man, because like every wrestler was there? backstage, I got to meet with them, with Vince McMahon. I talked to Triple H a little bit, he's like, 'Make sure you keep my number in your phone.' I'm like, okay, sure."

Kanter also revealed that he wanted to do Taker's Tombstone Piledriver during the 24/7 Title segment, but the request was denied.

He said, "For like 24/7, I told one of my friends, 'Can I like Tombstone them?' And he's like, 'You're not there yet. You're not there, you don't want to break nobody's neck.'"

Kanter said he was also told by someone not to waste his time with AEW if he ever wants to make it with WWE.

"I watched a little of AEW," Kanter said. "But like they said, 'Hey, if you ever want to get on WWE, do not mess with it.' I'm like, okay, sure. I'm not! (laughs)"

Kanter also revealed that he'd like to go up against veteran WWE Superstar Big Show in a match.

"I'm going for big, I'll go for Big Show," he said.