Two heavyweight combat sports stars will invade the world of professional wrestling when Cain Velasquez clashes with WWE champion Brock Lesnar and Tyson Fury squares off against Braun Strowman at upcoming WWE Crown Jewel event.
Both historic bouts were confirmed by executive vice president of talent Paul "Triple H" Levesque on Friday during a WWE press conference in Las Vegas for the pay-per-view which is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, Oct. 31.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Velasquez made his professional wrestling debut at WWE SmackDown on Fox one week ago, attacking Lesnar and running "The Beast" off after he defeated Kofi Kingston for the title in under 30 seconds.
Velasquez, who defeated Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight championship in October 2010 via first-round TKO, has been training in pro wrestling and working a small handful of matches for top Mexican lucha libre promotion AAA.
He was introduced into WWE programming as a backup for Rey Mysterio and his son Dominick (who is Cain's storyline godson) after both were attacked by Lesnar during an episode of Raw. The former UFC Champion then appeared as an avenger for his fellow Mexican comrade.
"I am so excited to be joining the WWE," Velasquez said at the press conference. "Brock Lesnar crossed the wrong familia. For that, he needs to pay. I know Brock is big. He's the biggest. But he ain't the baddest. I beat him once before in the UFC, and I'm ready to do it again October 31 at the Crown Jewel."
Fury was involved in a fight with Strowman during the same SmackDown debut effort on Fox after Strowman launched the body of Dolph Ziggler into the lineal heavyweight boxing champion.
The Lineal Heavyweight Champion of the World was then given an open mic on the most recent edition of Raw this past Monday before Strowman interfered leading to a ferocious fight between the two behemoths.
"It's something I've always dreamed of as a lifelong WWE fan," Fury said of the match. "Me being the undefeated lineal heavyweight boxing champion, I fear no man ... I'm going to knock Braun Strowman out. He talks about how good his hands are, but he's messing with the man who has the best hands in boxing."
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