NBA star details canceled WWE SummerSlam appearance

NBA star Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers has revealed that he planned to walk out with John Cena at WWE SummerSlam had circumstances changed.

Appearing on Logan Paul’s IMPAULSIVE podcast, Haliburton said that he and WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque discussed an idea that would have seen an NBA Champion Haliburton leading the then-WWE Champion Cena to the ring at MetLife Stadium for his SummerSlam main event against Cody Rhodes.

Haliburton said:

“The plan was like two months ago, and when I say plan, I mean, like, very, very loosely. I talked to H [Levesque] about it maybe one time. It was like, if Cena is a heel in New York and we [the Pacers] win a championship, let me walk him out with the [NBA Finals] trophy.”

Haliburton’s plan didn’t come to fruition on several levels, as after defeating the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers lost in the NBA Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the deciding game of the OKC series, Haliburton suffered a catastrophic Achilles injury that will likely cost him all of next season.

Haliburton said:

“When I got hurt, the first things were like [this cost me]– this game [Game 7], next season, John Cena.”

The full IMPAULSIVE episode with Haliburton is embedded below.