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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Gifts Shoes to WWE Star
Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Tyrese Haliburton attends the Men’s Royal Rumble match during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is known for being a hardcore wrestling fan, often appearing at major WWE events in the front row.

During his latest appearance on Saturday, Haliburton was in attendance for Wrestlepalooza, which was WWE's debut on the ESPN App.

The event took place in Indiana, giving Haliburton a short trip to attend.

The young guard went backstage and ended up gifting WWE superstar Cody Rhodes a brand new pair of his latest signature shoe, the Hali 1s by Puma.

Rhodes, the current WWE Champion, was not the only wrestler to get a pair of the shoes. He also gifted some pairs to Jimmy and Jey Uso.

Haliburton was more than just a visitor; instead, he also offered his predictions on the matches and broke down the matchups on ESPN.

On the Brock Lesnar and John Cena match, Haliburton gave the former UFC fighter a good chance to pull off the upset.

"It could definitely happen. I don't think it's gonna happen, but it could definitely happen," Haliburton said on ESPN.

"It could definitely happen. It's Brock's first match back in a little bit...man, I was there at SummerSlam for this pop, this crowd reaction, this moment. And he looked unbelievable when he slid in the ring. Just the electricity in the arena was unbelievable. So he's going to be jacked, he's going to be ready to go. It definitely could happen."

For Rhodes' match against The Scottish Warrior, Drew McIntyre, Halburton shared that he predicts Rhodes will win, but he wants McIntyre to win.

"It's been a long time since he's been able to compete for a championship," Haliburton added.

"I'm excited for the match, and I think, him being able to face really the golden goose of the WWE, I think is gonna be exciting. And for him to get back to the top, he's got to get through the guy at the top, so I'm excited for him.

"I hope Drew wins. I want to see him get his comeuppance. I want to see him, you know, get back to the top. I mean, maybe not against Cody, but, I mean, we're here now."

In the end, the Pacers only got one of his predictions as Rhodes did pick up the victory, but Cena ended up losing out to Lesnar.

While he was certainly present in Indiana for the event, Haliburton is still hyper-focused on recovering from his Achilles injury.

This article first appeared on Indianapolis Pacers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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