Trae Young stuck a dagger into the heart of New York Knicks fans earlier this year during the NBA Playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks star showed up once more in Madison Square Garden to rub salt into the wound during WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
Young played special guest of Sami Zayn in the 10-man tag team bout on Friday, and he wasn’t just moral support. Young came out to a gigantic chorus of boos from the fans with Knickerbocker blood in their veigns as he saddled up at ringside. Young was largely responsible for the Knicks’ eliminiation from the NBA Playoffs when his Atlanta Hawks defeated New York earlier this year. Needless to say, an arena full of New Yorkers wasn’t happy to see the star point guard.
Guess who's back in @TheGarden?! ?#SmackDown @TheTraeYoung @ATLHawks pic.twitter.com/ow7VyTsAci
— WWE (@WWE) September 11, 2021
During the bout, Young grabbed hold of the neck of the legendary Rey Mysterio to choke him over the bottom rope. The official caught wind of Young’s actions and kicked him out from ringside. This soon opened up the window of opportunity for Rey and his son Dominik to hit a stereo 619 on Zayn. From there, a Big Ending from Big E secured the five men of babyface nature the victory.
YOU'RE OUTTA HERE, @TheTraeYoung!!!#SmackDown @TheGarden @ATLHawks pic.twitter.com/KVncvB3YwE
— WWE (@WWE) September 11, 2021
This isn’t the first NBA star to show up on a wrestling program this year as Giannis Antetokounmpo of the 2021 NBA Champions Milwaukee Bucks had a front row seat to AEW Rampage a few weeks back. Young and Antetokounmpo faced one another in the Eastern Conference Finals of the playoffs this season.
