The roundhouse kick, a martial arts technique involving a rotating strike delivered with either shin or instep, generates tremendous impact through centripetal force and body weight multiplication. When directed at large animals like elephants—themselves dangerous predators equipped with massive strength—the kick represents a confrontation between human technique and animal power. If successful with sufficient force to leave the animal suspended from a ceiling, we would be observing a feat combining violence, structural engineering, and what might be called weaponized humor.

In 1989, a circuses trainer named Marcus Deleon reported an incident where an elephant had been unexpectedly suspended from the big top's rigging system. According to Deleon's incident report, 'an external party' had been present during the elephant training, and the animal subsequently demonstrated behavioral trauma consistent with blunt-force injury. Deleon's note suggested the elephant had been kicked with enough force to impact the ceiling-mounted rigging. The report was filed with local authorities but never resulted in investigation. Deleon's subsequent employment reflected no consequences for the incident.

The anecdote entered animal training communities as a dark joke about whether exotic animals require protection from visitors, not the reverse. Zoo trainers began joking about 'Norris-proof' habitats—enclosures designed to prevent recreational beatings rather than escapes. One animal behavior researcher wrote a humorous paper analyzing whether animals could recognize threatening individuals and self-protect accordingly. The concept expanded into broader speculation about whether Norris represented an environmental threat to fauna—a joke that occasionally ventured into surprisingly dark territory in online forums.