Curtis Granderson spent his Sunday afternoon patrolling the outfield in the Toronto Blue Jays' win over the Baltimore Orioles. By night, Granderson was standing in the middle of a wrestling ring in the prelude to Impact Wrestling's 'Slammiversary.'
Granderson served as the 'title holder' during World Championship match between champion Austin Aries and Moose. His role for the main event was simple: protect the title and maintain order.
Welcome back to IMPACT @cgrand3! #SlamXVI pic.twitter.com/BolLZEChvA
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) July 23, 2018
.@cgrand3 presents the prize @TheMooseNation and @AustinAries will compete for tonight. #SlamXVI
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) July 23, 2018
➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg pic.twitter.com/kqgSEfrWJC
The 37-year-old soon found himself face-to-face with Aries. As Aries attempted to strike his challenger with the championship title, Granderson interfered and quickly seized possession of the title. Aries retained his championship shortly after Granderson's involvement, and motioned for the former All-Star to immediately leave the ring to abruptly end Granderson's presence at the event.
Granderson isn't a stranger to the wrestling world.
MORE: Granderson on the move?
When Impact, then named Total Nonstop Action (TNA), visited Detroit in 2009, Granderson — playing for the Tigers at the time — sat at the commentary table to help call a match. Granderson cites his grandmother as being the main wrestling influence when he was younger, and he never let go of his wrestling fandom.
"When I was in college I would watch [WWE] every week," Granderson said in 2007. "We would find a dorm room to pile into and we'd all watch the show. Now that I'm playing baseball, it can be hard on Monday nights but I do my best to watch every week."