There has been “serious” talk about ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith getting involved with WWE.
On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed Kevin Nash’s comments where Nash urged TKO to stop messing with WWE’s creative. Meltzer noted that TKO does not actually get involved much, but they seem to do so at the worst times, like Pat McAfee being inserted into the WrestleMania 42 build. We’ll have to see how WWE/TKO adjust to the criticism McAfee’s role received, but Meltzer knows there are people internally who have been favorable to the idea of McAfee’s ESPN colleague Smith crossing over into pro wrestling.
“They really don’t do a lot, but as I was told, they don’t do it much but they seem to always do it at the most inopportune times,” Meltzer said. “It happened this year at WrestleMania, it sure did, yeah. We haven’t seen anyone forced on them. I mean, we haven’t seen anything with Stephen A. Smith — yet, although, boy, that name has been talked about. And I know it’s serious talk. Put it this way, a lot of the people who were not happy about Pat McAfee in fact are favorable to Stephen A., as far as internally it goes.
“But we’ll have to wait and see. I mean, it’s like, we haven’t had — other than Lil Yachty, he’s around a lot — but other than that, we haven’t had any celebrities since right after WrestleMania, I guess.”
Smith mentioned last month that WWE President Nick Khan had once talked to him about getting involved on-screen, but the 58-year-old Smith was not interested in a role where there would be any kind of physical involvement. A fan of old-school heel managers like Bobby Heenan, that would likely be the type of character Smith would play if he were to appear for WWE.
One of the biggest personalities in sports media, Smith hosts ESPN’s First Take every weekday and is one of the faces of the network. He originally started out as a basketball reporter before really making his name on sports debate shows. Smith has even crossed over into pop culture with a recurring role on the soap opera “General Hospital,” along with teasing potential political aspirations.
WWE has had a regular presence on ESPN since the two sides began their PLE deal in September 2025. During WrestleMania week, WWE was more prominently featured on ESPN’s daytime lineup than all other sports except for the NFL and NBA. There was also cross-promotion leading into Backlash with WWE stars like Danhausen, Seth Rollins, and more appearing on ESPN.
