He may not be WWE’s favorite NBA superstar superfan at the moment — Danhausen isn’t the unofficial king of New York for no reason, and WWE did give NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and his Knicks squad getting a whole episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. But Tyrese Halliburton may not even care. The Indiana Pacers star has never been quiet about his pro wrestling fandom, and WWE’s always been happy to support and promote his love of the sport/artform/business.
So coming back for his first game since
rupturing his Achilles in his own Finals appearance 16 months ago, as the Pacers opened the 2026-2027 NBA season in New Orleans last night (Oct. 21), Halliburton enlisted WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque to narrate his comeback video:
And when he arrived to Smoothie King Center to face the Pelicans, “Hali” enlisted Haitch’s wardrobe from the wrestler-turned-executive’s return from a quad injury in January 2002, in a building that’s unlikely to ever turn Reggie Miller’s successor face, NYC’s Madison Square Garden:
The Pacer’s star got off to a slow start, but came alive in the fourth quarter and gave Indiana its final margin of victory:
The emotion came through in what was definitely a face promo after the game:
