The Knicks completed an improbable comeback against the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, erasing a 22-point Cleveland lead in the final eight minutes to win 115-104 in overtime. While Jalen Brunson's play could be described as charmed, as he score 15 points in the fourth quarter, the truth is, the Cavaliers were just cursed.
Anyone watching ESPN’s daytime programming ahead of Game 1 probably saw a professional wrestler covered in face paint popping up one or more shows. That would be WWE's newest superstar, Danhausen, who cursed the Cavaliers on NBA Today. He also appeared on First Take and then he showed up at Madison Square Garden to make sure something horrible happened to his latest enemies, the Cavaliers.
Danhausen at MSG after he cursed the Cavs 👀 pic.twitter.com/TqoLS8oRO6
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 20, 2026
After the game he went on social media to take credit for the Knicks’ victory and demanded courtside seats between Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner.
Danhausen and the Knicks
As strange as this paring sounds, yeah, it's a pretty strange pairing. Danhausen actually cursed the Knicks a little over a month ago when he first appeared on First Take ahead of WrestleMania. In a sea of strange appearances by wrestlers on ESPN's airwaves to promote the show, Danhausen stood out.
He cursed the Knicks and Stephen A. Smith ahead of the opening weekend of the playoffs and New York fell behind in their first round series against the Hawks, losing Game 2 and Game 3.
Danhausen curses Stephen A Smith on ESPN pic.twitter.com/A9J8lQ8JA3
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) April 17, 2026
Eventually, someone paid Danhausen human money for a Cameo and he lifted the curse on the Knicks ahead of Game 6. They then went on to win six straight games, including a dominant sweep of the 76ers, before Danhausen showed back up at the ESPN studios on Tuesday where he got to be in the same studio as Mike Wilbon on the same day that Wilbon criticized ESPN for their coverage of Aaron Rodgers. Wilbon seemed slightly more amused by Danhausen.
Later in the day he appeared on First Take with a jar full of teeth, made Brian Windhorst and a couple of retired basketball players kind of nervous, and cursed the Cavaliers.
Now he's taking credit for the comeback as well as the current seven game postseason winning streak. James Dolan had better make those tickets happen if he wants this to continue.
Who is Danhausen?
If you're just a normal basketball fan who has stumbled upon this and wondered what the hell was going on, well, you're not alone. Danhausen is a brand new WWE superstar. He signed with AEW in 2021 and earned a profile in New York Times Magazine in 2023 that described him like this:
Danhausen is a ghoul, maybe, or some kind of gremlin. He wears makeup that looks as if he’s in a silent film about Kiss, and he speaks in a kind of generally European accent. He may or may not have magic powers. He refers to himself in the third person and punctuates many of his on-camera appearances by asking his co-stars for money, which he refers to as “human money.” His physical presence is somewhere between frail and confused; he tends to hold his hands at chest level, one on top of the other, like Zorak from “Space Ghost,” and his reactions are characterized by rapid head movements, as though he were continually startled by stage lights, objects being handed to him, etc.
His persona is nice and evil and he's into pop culture, citing The Simpsons and Conan O'Brien as huge influences.
He made his WWE debut in February and the oddness did not go over well initially, but the weirdness has since caught on. It's probably not unrelated to cursing Stephen A. Smith a month ago that he's become one of the top merchandise-sellers in the WWE.
Even if you're not into wrestling, you should be able to appreciate the absurdity. Especially when it takes place on the set of a sometimes overly serious sports talk show. It's the kind of thing that makes you look up from whatever you're doing and wonder what is going on?
If the Knicks continue to roll, expect Danhausen to stick around. Should they reach the NBA Finals for the first time this century, they'll need somebody like Danhausen because a curse might be the only thing that works against either of the teams that might come out of the Western Conference.
