Simba was hanging out with Timon and Pumba for at least a month now. It was rough after Mufasa was taken away from him, but ever since he met the two, he felt like he was with a whole new family. The relationship worked out both ways, because now not only did SImba have another family, not only did Timon and Pumba have a new buddy with them, but that buddy was a lion, a lion that could protect them from any predators that would otherwise have them on a silver platter. One day, they decided that they needed to let any nearby predator know what kind of creature was protecting them. Conveniently, a group of animals were hosting an animal wrestling tournament for any animal to prove their strength.
"So, wait, you want me to beat up a bunch of other animals?" Simba asks Timon as they approach the wrestling arena the animals set up. There are tall trees spread equidistant from each other, and three vines were tied from tree to tree to tree to tree then back to the first one. A crowd of ostriches, zebras, wildebeests, and other native animals surround the arena, waiting to see one opponent destroy the other.
"Don't worry about it. Animals beat each other up all the time. You doing it wouldn't by any-" Timon starts while riding on Pumba's snout.
"No, that's not it! It's just, aren't I a bit small for this?" Simba interrupts.
"Don't worry about that. You're a lion, just follow your instinct and you're sure to get the jump on any chump here. Okay?"
"...If you say so." Timon's positive Simba's got this in the bag. He's a lion after all, there's no way he'd let himself get flattened by some wrestler nobody. The trio made their way up to the arena, where a vulture stands in wait, waiting for each opponent to show up to fight their appropriate opposite. The vulture looks down at Simba, and snickers.
"What's so funny?"
"Just try not to let the match end to soon, shrimp. The crowd came to see a show," the vulture responds, to Simba's confusion. He's saying that because he's a lion and lions could, literally and figuratively, eat anyone here for dinner, right? "Simba the lion, for this match, you'll be facing..."