Tyson Fury restrained by security after jumping barricade in shock WWE appearance to confront Braun Strowman

Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury appeared to signal a move towards the WWE when he appeared at Friday night’s Smackdown Live event, with the boxer having to be restrained by security after jumping the fan barricade to confront Braun Strowman.

Fury is currently awaiting his rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who has agreed to face Fury again as long as he comes through his next fight against Luis Ortiz unscathed on 23 November.

The ‘Gypsy King’ was last seen in the ring on 14 September when he scored a unanimous points victory on 14 September against Sweden’s Otto Wallin.

But on Friday night Fury was sat ringside for WWE Smackdown Live inside the Staples Center, Los Angeles, in what was a major event for the brand as it made its debut on the Fox TV network.

But Fury quickly found himself more involved than fans would’ve expected.

Watching on as an eight-man tag-team match unfolded between the team of Heavy Machinery, The Miz and Strowman took on Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler.

After laying out the opposing team outside the ring, Strowman turned his attentions to Fury, raising his fists to taunt the former WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion. Fury responded with a similar pose and a grin for good measure, before Strowman carried on his business. But Strowman quickly refocused on Fury by launching Ziggler into the barricade where he was standing, knocking Fury off-balance and back into his seat.

Fury reacted by jumping the guard rail and tried to enter the ring to get his hands on Strowman, only for a number of security guards to restrain him and prevent the clash from happening.

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And while Fury is known to be one of the more unpredictable characters within boxing, it looks pretty obvious that this was a planned drama tasked to build up a future role for Fury in WWE.

He is not the first boxer to find himself crossing codes to the WWE, with Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather both previously making appearances in respective feuds against Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels, and The Big Show.

Brock Lesnar has also made two successful careers out of swapping between WWE and MMA, with the former UFC heavyweight champion currently on the wrestling roster as one of their star attractions.

Lesnar claimed the WWE Championship by defeating Kofi Kingston to regain the title, only to then be confronted by another UFC star in Cain Velasquez - the man who defeated Lesnar to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship nine years ago at UFC 121. Velasquez walked out with WWE veteran Rey Mysterio - who earlier had been on the receiving end of a vicious attack by Lesnar, and Velasquez promptly took Lesnar down before throwing a number of punches at him in a famous rivalry renewed.

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What the future holds for Fury though is anyone’s guess, with the British fighter currently weighing up whether to wait for his rematch against Wilder of plan another contest before his world title shot. But what does seem certain is that somewhere down the line, the WWE is going to feature.