Wayne Rooney stole the show at a WWE wrestling event on Monday night by ‘slapping’ Wade Barrett after he goaded him from inside the ring. Barrett, a Preston fan, has had a feud with Rooney ever since he accused the Manchester United and England captain of diving to win a penalty against North End in the FA Cup last year, and on Monday Rooney came face to face with the wrestler at RAW in Manchester.

Barrett spotted Rooney on the front row with his six-year-old son Kai at Manchester Arena and yelled from the ring:

“I don’t like the way you’re looking at me, Wayne. You’re looking at me like you’ve got some kind of problem with me.

“I would offer to have you step inside this ring so we can fight this out like men, but I would hate for your little boy to sit there and watch his own father fail because let’s face it he gets to experience that every single time you step on a football pitch.”

Barrett, who stands 6-feet-7-inches tall, then climbed out of the ring to confront Rooney in person.

The wrestler threatened to knock Rooney out and prodded the striker in the chest. Rooney responded by slapping Barrett and he theatrically fell to the floor.

As is the case in all WWE fights, the action was pre-planned and done in the name of entertainment, so Barrett was not hurt.