Before that Brock Lesnar had overcome early skepticism about his Pro wrestling background to become a Heavyweight Champion in UFC and became a notorious characters for his heel/bad guy theatrics Like his post fight interview after defeating Frank Mir at UFC 100
Whether Lesnar will be back to challenge for the Heavyweight Championship is anyone's guess. What is definitely true and much to the chagrin of a certain MMA fans is that the connection between Pro Wrestling and MMA are even more apparent than they ever where.
The skepticism about pro wrestlers competing in the world of MMA seems to stem from a contempt towards wrestlers as not being tough enough and too fake for the world of MMA. The source of the contempt is varied and ranges from wrestling being “fake” to those with MMA skills thinking that wrestlers are poseurs who would quickly fold to anyone with a ounce of Martial Training. As Both a old school wrestling fan and a occasional fan of MMA, I wouldn't be writing this if I thought this was true.
INFLUENCE OF PRO-WRESTLING ON MMA
Wrestling's impact on MMA fighting is visually subtle, underrated and deeper than most give it credit for.
Rampage Jackson's habit of wearing a Padlock chain to the ring is said to be inspired by The Junkyard Dog, one of his favorite wrestlers growing up. Many MMA fighters current and former have gotten their inspiration from pro-wrestling. Former MMA fighter Mark Kerr became interested in fighting through his early aspiration of wanting to be a Professional Wrestler.
A little know facts is that of the 8 inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame, 3 of them also participated in professional wrestling. Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock wrestled for the WWE back in the 1990's. Mark Coleman occasionally wrestled for a Japanese federation known as Hustle.
As far as current fighters we have the beginning career of Daniel Puder who does MMA and also Pro Wrestling, being a part of the WWE Tough Enough program, and also popular MMA fighter Mirko “Cro Crop” Filipović shown here, making this appearance at a Japanese Wrestling Event.
In Japan the snobbish line between Pro wrestling and MMA is mostly ignored. Antonio Inoki, whose popularity in Japan as a public figure matches many professional athletes, has competed in both Professional Wrestling and MMA events.
Kazushi “Gracie Killer” Sakuraba (named for scoring multiple defeats against the Gracie Family) has also competed in professional wrestling and started his career in various Japanese Pro Wrestling federations. He also has some of the most awesome entrances BTW.
To go even further back in time and visit Latin America, Conde Koma aka Mitsuyo Maeda, the founder of Brazilian Jujitsu, was also a early fixture on the Lucha Libre/Mexican Pro Wrestling scene.
Despite all of this Pro Wrestling is still looked down on by many MMA fans who cite wrestling's falseness and lack of genuine toughness in comparison to MMA fighters.
T and A (TECHNIQUE AND AGONIES)
One of the things you quickly learn about wrestling is that manufactured or choreographed is probably a more appropriate word than fake. Despite the fact that the results of match are choreographed, Wrestlers suffer a variety of injuries that can range from bumps and bruises to falling off 30 foot scaffolding.
Every nightly wrestling event as at least one if not more wrestlers getting injured. In some cases they end up being serious injuries like Steve's Austin Compressed Spine, or a infamous accident to wrestler Buff Bagwell that nearly left him crippled.
And as far as Tough Guy and Martial Arts credential goes, Plenty of Wrestlers have enviable Martial Arts backgrounds.
Roddy Piper ( Golden Gloves competitor, Black Belt in Judo,)
Ernest 'The Cat' Miller (3 Time World Karate Champion)
Great Muta (Amateur Wrestling and Judo)
CM Punk (Muay Thai )
Rob Van Dam (Akido, Tae Kwon Do, Kick-Boxing and Karate background)
Batista (Kempo, Muay Thai and Arnis. Unfortunately about to find out, you don't fuck with the S on Superman's chest)
Kurt Angle (Olympic Gold Medalist in Wrestling. Kick boxing and Jujitsu training)
“Bad News” Brown (Bronze medalist for U.S. Judo Team)
The Undertaker (Trained Kick Boxer, Brown Belt in Jujitsu)
And if there is any doubt about whether Wrestlers can hold their own against MMA or other Martial Artist, A infamous incident in England that occurred between WWE Wrestlers and professional Kick boxers should make those doubts a little less stronger.
The biggest difference between Professional MMA Fighters and Professional Wrestlers is not one of martial art skill, toughness, or other tangible or intangible factors that might come up, but a certain mental aspect, that was revealed in a interview with Paul Wight A.K.A. The Big Show.
PULLING PUNCHES
In a interview about his WWE match against Floyd Mayweather, Paul Wight pro moniker “The Big Show” talked about this mentality.
Stating that it would be really easy for somebody his size to toss Floyd Mayweather across the room, and someone wit Floyd's Boxing skill could easily break his ribs and other ways in which they could both seriously injure each other.
He and anyone else wrestling had to take great care not to injure each other since a serious wrestling injury affects the other guys ability to provide food for his family and their health. (Coincidentally not quite used to this philosophy, Floyd Mayweather actually broke The Big Show's nose in his first appearance during this story line.)
MMA Fighters and Pro Wrestlers due to high risk of injuries in their given professions are very unlikely to be covered by traditional health insurance. Quite a few Pro Wrestlers, much like MMA fighters have families to support.
The big difference between the two is that unlike MMA matches, which may take place once a month or every few months, wrestling matches are at least once a week and often more.
Given the increased chance of injuries and the lengthy recovery time that it takes to recover, during which the wrestler and their families are usually without salaries, they take great care not to unduly injure each other.
While a worthwhile mentality for Pro wrestling getting out of that mindset before entering a MMA ring is something that every pro wrestler would need to do not to place themselves at a serious disadvantage. Unfortunately a good example of this is Bam Bam Bigelow's one and only disastrous foray into MMA.
So whether Pro Wrestlers will continue to make the transition to MMA remains to be seen. But the naysaying MMA fans need to know that that this transition is nothing new. the distance between a DDT, and a Guillotine is not as as it would seem.
