Tyson Fury’s US ban over Daniel Kinahan links costs him millions in WWE appearances

In June, the boxing Heavyweight champion and his younger half-brother, Tommy Fury, fell foul of sanctions imposed against the Kinahans and their associates which stopped him from travelling to the US.

That led to the cancellation of a long-anticipated Tommy Fury vs. Jake Paul show down.

New reports show how the restrictions on Fury, who made his professional wrestling debut with WWE in 2019 during a Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, have since cost him millions.

According to The US Sun, WWE had been eyeing Fury for appearances at both next month's Royal Rumble and WrestleMania in April but these are expected to go ahead without his involvement.

Fury eventually distanced himself from Daniel Kinahan after the United States State Department issued a series of tough sanctions against the crime boss who ran a massive boxing business empire through his management company MTK Global.

Kinahan co-founded MTK Global, the boxing management company that backed Fury in 2018, but the company had cut ties with Kinahan in 2017.

Fury is among 600 names linked to Kinahan that are banned from the US, with the US Treasury having imposed sanctions on Kinahan, on top of the US Department of State offering $5 million to anyone with information that would lead to the arrest and/or conviction of three members of the Kinahan family.

But before the sanctions hit, Kinahan had regularly appeared in photos with Fury, while Fury’s promoter, Bob Arum, said Kinahan had made millions in deals related to Fury’s fights against Deontay Wilder, Tom Schwartz and Otto Wallin.

“What the US have said they’ve said, and that’s it, we have to listen to the government, and that’s what we do,” Fury told Sky Sports in April 2022.

“End of. Because I don’t want to get into trouble with the US government, and I never have been, and that’s it. I haven’t done any dealing business with him for a long time. I think there was a statement released in 2020, so that was the end of the business.”

The US Sun spoke to a source within WWE who said: “Tyson is well-loved at the WWE and him popping up in any match and a run to WrestleMania would generate huge headlines and fan interest.

“Tyson and the legal team are getting this whole grey and tricky area resolved. But non-entry, quite simply put, means non-payment...turning up for a match or being part of the shows, not even fighting, earns him several million dollars.”

The inside source also noted that WWE works with foreign athletes “all the time in aiding their visa processing” and the promotion's “legal team are on the sidelines offering support in this matter, but ultimately getting approval is on Tyson's head and how US immigration assesses his case”.

The source does also point out that Fury still has the potential to appear in WWE's shows outside the US. His debut match came in Saudi Arabia, and his last appearance in the UK, meaning that he very well could appear next at one of WWE's international super shows.