Anthony Joshua meets WWE champ Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre rips Wayne Rooney in front of his family at ringside as wrestling took over the O2 Arena… with Gladiator star Apollo getting involved in the action too!

Anthony Joshua, Wayne Rooney and British rapper ArrDee were spotted at the O2 on Friday evening watching WWE Live.

Joshua not only watched the event but went backstage to meet Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and WWE Superstar Natalya. 

The two-time heavyweight boxing world champion was present to watch Apollo (Alex Gray) from the UK Gladiators make a surprise appearance.

Apollo was there to help out Ricochet in his epic battle with JD McDonough - who is a member of The Judgment Day stable.

Apollo is a 32-year-old gladiator who started his professional career in Rugby captaining the England 7s. He was also the first British rugby player to transfer over to the NFL.

Rooney has appeared at several WWE events in the past and even slapped Briton Wade Barrett at the Manchester Arena in 2015.

Rooney was sat in the front row with his son Kai when Lancashire-born Barrett grabbed the microphone and said: 'In this ring are two men who can be easily be described as championship material. Which is, of course, is more than can be said of Wayne Rooney and Manchester United.' 

Footage of the iconic incident showed the professional wrestler climbing down to confront Rooney before the footballer knocked him down in a theatrical climax. 

Rooney was also involved in Friday night's event with Drew McIntyre addressing the former Manchester United star in the opening match. 

He said: 'We're two British icons, I'm only British WWE champion three times. He's smashed football but aren't we the same age? 

'What happened to you?'. 

The former England international couldn't help but smile as the crowd erupted into laughter at the O2. 

WWE also made the headlines on Friday night for reportedly releasing several stars during their airing of SmackDown, including a former world champion.

It came as AJ Styles defeated LA Knight in a No 1 contenders match, with the former besting his opponent with a thumb to the eye and a Phenomenal Forearm.

Styles is now set to face Cody Rhodes at Backlash as a challenger for his Undisputed WWE Universal Champion title.

Bayley and Naomi also squared off for the WWE Women's Championship, and despite both wrestlers colliding with several holds and strikes, the bout was ruled a no-contest, with Bayley retaining her title.

Amid the action, it was reported by Fightful and PWInsider that Jinder Mahal, Xia Li and Xyon Quinn had all been released by the company.