WWE confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Mike Tyson would host the 1/11 edition of RAW only to later remove the confirmation from its website.
The story initially read, “Very familiar with being the center of attention inside the squared circle, Mike Tyson is ready to return to the ring. Unlike old times, however, the former heavyweight championship boxer will not be slipping on the gloves and delivering knockout punches. He will, on the other hand, be delegating responsibility to WWE Superstars as Monday Night Raw’s special guest host on Jan. 11 from Minneapolis.”
Tyson was clearly tapped to help WWE counter the UFC Fight Night special, which airs live on Spike TV that Monday. While a regular Fight Night event poses no chance of topping WWE in a head-to-head ratings race, its presence would absolutely make a dent in RAW’s viewership.
It is unclear if WWE removed the announcement due to plans with Tyson falling through, due to a website worker jumping the gun on the story or due to the media attention it got for clearly counter-programming UFC despite often maintaining that UFC is not a direct competitor.
