Imagining LaVar Ball's Role in the WWE Universe

LaVar Ball's shtick suggests that he's long studied the WWE heel playbook.

The former pro football player is bombastic and loud. He garners attention by getting under people's skin. He lives off controversy and spews trash talk.

He's a WWE character disguised as a sports dad.

Ball has morphed into one of the most talked-about figures in sports despite it being 22 years since he was on the New York Jets practice squad. He's made his name by being his son Lonzo's unbridled pitchman. 

In hyping Lonzo—who the Los Angeles Lakers picked up with the second pick in this year's NBA draft— LaVar has claimed that his son is better than two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry. He's said that in his own prime, he could have taken down Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game.  

This kind of braggadocio has made him a hot commodity on the sports radio circuit. It has allowed him to become a minor celebrity and to put his Big Baller Brand shoes in the spotlight.

Now Ball is heading to the WWE ring. The WWE Twitter account teased Ball's appearance on Monday's episode of Raw with Lonzo:

This makes a ton of sense from WWE's side. 

Ball is just the kind of celebrity WWE likes to bring in to create buzz. He's a hot topic at the moment, and his personality would need no turning up, even in the loud, colorful world of WWE.

Vaughn Johnson of Philly.com is among many who think Ball would be a good fit there:

Bill Hanstock of UPROXX went as far as to call him "the world's greatest heel."

Should WWE and Ball come to an agreement and bring the Big Baller Brand to Team Red, the obvious move for a one-off appearance is to have Ball face off with Titus O'Neil in a verbal scuffle over who has the better brand.

O'Neil's latest gimmick is that of a brash, swaggering entrepreneur who is trying to get his "Titus Brand" off the ground. He currently manages athletic dynamo Apollo Crews but hasn't been able to help him achieve much of anything.

The press conferences for the Titus Brand have been about as well-attended as a Man Down screening.

O'Neil could look to recruit cruiserweight Akira Tozawa on Monday night as he's been doing for the past few weeks. As he began to make his case for the Titus Brand, Ball could emerge, saunter down to the ring and tell Tozawa the Big Baller Brand is the way to go instead.

Ball's personality could drive the back-and-forth that would follow.

It's a mutually beneficial move. Where Ball would surely be happy to get his and his sons' names into the news again, WWE would be just as glad to get some mainstream media headlines. 

But should the two sides work out the right deal, Ball's stay in the WWE landscape could easily go further than that.

Ball is a natural-born wrestling manager in an era where the art of that role is lost to a large degree. He could be the next trash-talking mouthpiece for a powerhouse in need of a spark.

He'd thrive doing the same kind of carnival barking he's done for his sons, making outlandish statements and claiming his guy is the best of the best.

The folks at Not in the Hall of Fame feel like Ball is already outdoing WWE stars at the promo game:

Ahead of a major event like SummerSlam or WrestleMania, Ball could show up and offer his services to a rising star. Maybe he steals Crews away from O'Neil and calls him the best athlete that has ever stepped inside a ring. Perhaps he pairs himself with the guitar-playing, hard-hitting Elias Samson and claims he puts Bob Dylan to shame with his songwriting skills.

O'Neil and Ball could then each have their proxies go at it in a big bout to decide which brand is superior. 

Ball's value would be in the added attention SummerSlam or WrestleMania would get from mainstream media outlets as he made outrageous proclamation after outrageous proclamation leading up to the action. During the match, he'd need only smack one wrestler with a backhand to generate a good supply of headlines.

He could then show up from time to time for more trash-talking, becoming a familiar sight in the WWE landscape as Pete Rose, Shaquille O'Neil and Jon Stewart have over the years.

WWE's schedule is too grueling to entice Ball to stick around for more than a cameo or two. He's got shoes to sell, a son's NBA rookie year to flow and sports TV appearances to make.

But as a periodic guest, Ball would find the perfect home for his personality, the ideal place to feed his hunger for self-promotion.