WWE Rumored to Have Invited Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva to WrestleMania

Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen was a guest on TSN’s “Off the Record” program on Feb. 5. As is the case during most of Sonnen’s appearances in the media, he made a controversial claim, with its legitimacy being questioned.

Sonnen claimed that WWE invited both he and fellow former UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva to meet face-to-face during WrestleMania festivities in 2015. Below are Sonnen’s words on the TSN program:

“I got a call, WWE said, ‘Look, we got WrestleMania, we have a Hall of Fame show coming up in March. If you want to come out, come out, we want to talk to you about some stuff.’ They laid out at that. If they are buying me a plane ticket, they’re giving me a ticket to the show, I do enjoy that product.”

“I don’t know what we are talking about, but I’ll give you a little bit of a scoop: Wanderlei Silva was also invited. I don’t know if he’s accepted and I don’t know if the two are related, but there you go.”

In response to Sonnen’s claim, WWE issued the following statement to debunk the rumor:

“There has been no invitation from WWE for Chael Sonnen to attend WrestleMania.”

However, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline would note that WWE did indeed have past interest in bringing in Chael Sonnen. WWE’s interest faded, following Sonnen’s departure from UFC due to a failed drug test. However, after Sonnen reemerged with ESPN and appeared to clear up his public image, WWE regained its interest in the outspoken star. Meltzer stated that he expected WWE to come calling for Sonnen upon the restoration of his public image, noting WWE would like to use Sonnen as an announcer in some capacity.

Editor’s Note

Who knows if Sonnen was telling the truth, or just trying to stir something up. If it were true, WWE would still likely debunk the claim, or at the very least, not mention it.