Why Pro-Wrestlers Shouldn’t Try Their Hand At MMA

Overview of Research on Pro-Wrestlers in MMA

After Phillip Brooks’ (CM Punk) humbling defeat, as the latest professional wrestler to try and enter into the MMA world, should pro-wrestlers accept that MMA and pro-wrestling aren’t similar and should not mingle?

While we must admire Phillip Brooks and his sportsmanship, professional wrestlers please stop trying to fight in an unscripted, non-predetermined, and a violent sport where opponents are truly trying to hurt each other.

Professional athletes from many physical sports like footballers, boxers, and pro-wrestlers have all tried their hand at MMA because of their use to physical contact sports and athleticism, thinking MMA would come easy.  However, MMA isn’t like street fighting and brawling like Kimbo Slice, a football player at University of Miami and squad member for the Miami Dolphins, with his backyard videos came to understand. MMA requires a high skill level, obtained through rigorous training over many years.

There have been examples of athletes making a successful move into MMA e.g. Matt Mitrione, former Defensive Tackle for the New York Giants, having decent success in the Heavyweight category in the UFC. Other notable names include Ken Shamrock who headlined 15 main events and also succeeded in the WWE. However, he was involved with the MMA first and transitioned into pro-wrestling.

Ikuhisa Minowa also transitioned from real fighting to scripted fighting (pro-wrestling). Daniel Puder was successful with 8 wins in 8 fights, and began MMA in 2003 before entering pro-wrestling. Dan “The Beast” Severn is a UFC Hall of Famer and All-American freestyle wrestler at Arizona State. Severn is the only person to hold MMA and pro-wrestling belts (with the NWA) simultaneously. Severn began MMA in 1994 and pro-wrestling in 1995 and so, adapted to MMA, and actual fighting, first.

Pro-wrestler Brock Lesnar transitioned to MMA very well beating Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, and Randy Couture in the UFC. Lesnar had previously competed in “real” fighting sports; in college at the University of Minnesota, Lesnar won the 2000 NCAA Division I heavyweight wrestling championship and was a two-time All-American. However, after subbing in at UFC 200 for McGregor, his win over Mark Hunt was marred by his positive test for steroids.

This instantly marks him as a cheat. A monster of a man made in a false image. His credibility is completely negated when considering he’s an enhanced ‘roid’ head. And no, one positive test can’t be dismissed. He tested positive… This time. How long did he evade testing? How long has he used PED’s? These questions now arise – and will remain – and this damages his credibility and tarnishes his legacy. He’s not the only one. Jesse Ventura, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and so on. It’s a part of pro-wrestling culture.

Why Pro-Wrestlers Struggle to Adapt to MMA

Not only does Lesnar not actually fight when participating in pro-wrestling, but then the question arises of can he fight without unnatural enhancement in MMA? If he could he wouldn’t have tested positive. So PED’s aid him in his size and strength, which is a factor in his wrestling ability. Whether he was a brilliant amateur wrestler or not, the question of his ability is forever challenged due to his PED use. There may have been a similar culture of PED use in MMA but that is being weeded out, unlike in pro-wrestling where it is nearly required.

Despite these successes, there have been more failures, as wrestlers find it too difficult to adjust to the physical brutality and summon the skill needed to succeed in the MMA, and especially the UFC.

Manny Yarbrough, a near 900lbs former wrestler and football player at Morgan State University, only won one fight. Wrestler Tony Halme aka “The Viking” enjoyed a career 0-4 record. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams got TKO’d after just 22 seconds. Pro-wrestler Sean O’Haire didn’t have much success and was memorably dispatched by Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch in seconds. The 7’2 wrestler ‘Giant’ Silva lost 6 of his 8 fights despite his size.

Successful boxers James Tomey and Ray Mercer struggled in the MMA. Footballer Marcus Jones also retired from MMA after 6 fights. Bobb ‘He broke-ed my nose’ Snapp, a beast of man who was a football player and pro-wrestler before entering the MMA, didn’t dominate despite his questionable status as human and not a Sasquatch, and Bart Gunn lost his one fight.

In 2010, Dave Bautista decided that the time was right to start his MMA career after leaving the WWE. It ended pretty quickly but he has gained a foothold in acting, with being in Guardians of the Galaxy. The list goes on and on and displays that monstrous size, strength, and athleticism don’t transmute to MMA domination and success. Rigorous training, envious skill, natural adaptive reactions, and intelligence do.

Wrestlers turn actors (with more success) before fighters, because that’s what they are, actors on steroids, but actors none the less. Pro-wrestling like the WWE is a hybrid “sport” that offers escapism through a testosterone-filled soap opera with athletic performers and crowd-pleasing stunts. It’s athletically demanding, but it’s fictional. Pro-wrestlers are trained stunt performers because they’re trained on how to land when they take these falls. MMA fighters are trained how to not fall, on how to make their opponent fall and not get back up, and on how to take a beating and bounce back.

Successes and Failures of Pro-Wrestlers in MMA

Most wrestlers are exceptional athletes who train for many hours each day to maintain their physical condition and practice for years to learn both the moves and how to execute them safely. There’s the point, safety. That’s why pro-wrestlers can’t adapt to the MMA because in MMA promotions like the UFC, safety has limits, and violence and contest, through brutality, is the point. MMA isn’t about safety. MMA is about high-octane competition through physical violence.That’s not to negate the fact that Brooks trained with Rener Gracie while wrestling or that Kurt Angle is an extremely accomplished amateur wrestler.

The skills of pro-wrestlers don’t determine the outcome of a wrestling match, writers do. They work on storylines and every match is another chapter in the story. Winners and losers are all in the plot. Moves are choreographed. Wrestlers aren’t really trying to injure each other. Opponents can be best friends but act as foes. In contrast, MMA fighters are trying to hurt each other badly in order to win and may respect or despise each other. There is no acting, just fight hyping.

Ultimately, though pro-wrestlers do suffer as the wrestling ring contains a very limited amount of padding and dangerous free falling stunts be it Shane McMahon, Rikishi, Jeff Hardy’s numerous swanton bombs off ladders, and Mick Foley, they just aren’t fighters. Yes, they put themselves through punishing feats, but they don’t engage in grueling battles. They risk injuries through their own choice, not at the hands of a nemesis who decides the ferocity of damage they wish to inflict.

Injuries occur too. Triple H suffered torn quadriceps in April 2001. He would require surgery and be left out of action for nine months. Injuries forced Stone Cold Steve Austin and Edge to retire. Joey Mercury suffered a broken nose and lost 35% of his sight in his right eye due to a mistake with a ladder in the ring. Darren Drozdov was left paralyzed by an in-ring accident. But how many MMA fighters have suffered terrible pain and injuries? Many beyond count and that’s without jumping off 12 feet platforms. Such choices have increasingly become essential to illicit reaction and fan interest in pro-wrestling. All done to earn ratings, stay relevant and exciting, and hold a jaded fan base.

The WWE and many pro-wrestling associations in the world do not have an off-season, remaining on tour 365 days a year. But this makes me wonder why then, given the time to train, rest, and prepare between MMA fights, can’t pro-wrestlers have more success in MMA? If pro-wrestlers can endure the mental fatigue, stress and exhaustion of being a part of a pro-wrestling company, they should be able to adapt to MMA. Yes and no. Demand wise yes, but no in terms of pain threshold, skill set, and combat ability.

Pro-Wrestling vs. MMA: Different Disciplines and Mindsets

WWE Monday Night Raw may consistently compete with Monday Night Football as one of the highest rated programs on television, but I’d want to watch something unscripted, left to fate, and not a constructed and pre-determined reality.

Wrestlers need to stick to their hybrid acting-sport. Yes, they suffer and practice, and train, but they’re not skilled in fighting, in truly focusing on testing, hurting, and besting opponents in a grueling contest of physical conflict. This is unscripted, the story of this fight isn’t on your side pro-wrestlers, MMA fighters write their own stories.

You’ve probably heard of professional wrestling. But do you know what it really is?

It’s not just people belting each other over the head with folding chairs.

There are compelling storylines, heroic acts of derring-do, blood-curdling extreme moments, and enough cultural complexities to make Slavoj Žižek grab his nose.

As a professional wrestler and journalist, let me take you through a few frequently asked questions that make me wonder what the hell they’re teaching in schools these days.

So, wrestling. You mean the Olympic stuff?

No, not the Greco-Roman wrestling you might have seen at the Olympics or in Foxcatcher, where wrestlers try and pin each other to the mat.

I mean the other kind of wrestling.

The UFC?

You’re getting closer, but no. The UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a mixed martial arts competition that features people beating the snot out of each other using whatever fighting style they like.

Today’s wrestling was borne out of “catch wrestling”, a combat sport combining elements of Greco-Roman and European grappling.

Promoters realised that they could make more money if they started rigging elements of the competition to create stars and build anticipation for matches.

So you’re saying pro wrestling is fake?

No, I’m saying it’s scripted.

But wrestling did spend 100 years pouring energy into extending the illusion of legitimate competition beyond the fourth wall, to the point that rivals were forbidden from travelling together between shows.

This made it super awkward when mortal enemies Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Iron Sheik were arrested while travelling in the same car in 1987. (They were arrested for drug possession, not for breaking “kayfabe”.)

What’s ‘kayfabe’?

Kayfabe refers to the web of illusion that disguises the contrived elements of wrestling.

Giving away results, publicly appearing out of character or writing articles like this, spoils that illusion and reveals the inner workings of wrestling to outsiders — or breaking kayfabe.

Why the big illusion?

The original idea was that punters would be more inclined to buy tickets and emotionally invest in the wrestlers if they thought the competition was real.

Rigging matches and constructing storylines raises the stakes — but the more you mess with the legitimacy of the competition, the harder it becomes to maintain the illusion of that legitimacy.

Turns out it’s a slippery slope from two wrestlers grappling in a believably competitive way until one deliberately takes a dive, to two wrestlers fighting over a magical funeral urn with one wrestler burying the other alive in a giant pile of dirt and then that dirt being struck by lightning to bring that wrestler back to life. (This actually happened.)

As the characters and storylines became more outlandish, the pretence to legitimacy was abandoned and today, the world’s biggest wrestling promotion — the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) — has openly admitted that its wrestlers are performers engaging in storylines.

But the deception dies hard and wrestling struggles to overcome the stigma of its sporting pretence and be accepted for its theatrical reality.

So it is fake?

“Fake” is the wrong word. You don’t call Wuthering Heights or Star Wars “fake”, you call it fiction.

Also, while the events in wrestling are staged, the physicality is real. Like stunt performers, wrestlers execute feats of athleticism, fly, collide with each other and the floor — all while staying in character.

Unlike stunt performers, wrestlers perform these staged contests in one take, before a live audience. The ultimate theatre in the round, great wrestling is part complex choreography and part improvisation — with wrestlers feeding off each other and the crowd to create a unique work of art.

Behind the Belt is the ABC’s “deep dive” into pro wrestling.

Still, you know how to fall, so it doesn’t hurt?

It all hurts. Everything we do is designed to minimise damage, but it’s inevitable.

A dentist knows how to drill but that doesn’t mean drilling’s not both painful and risky. Likewise, we know how to hit each other and crash to the mat as safely as possible but things can still go wrong.

Even when things go right, studies reveal the physical consequences of a match to be comparable to being in a small car accident.

Why would anyone want to do this? Why would I want to watch?

Because pro wrestling is a century-old artform deftly fusing ancient performance techniques with modern pop-culture sensibilities, capturing an audience with drama, intrigue, comedy and violence, bundling the whole thing together in a sporting context.

As a wrestler, I’m able unleash elements of myself that would have me arrested should I cut loose in a similar way on public transport.

For the audience, wrestling plays out all manner of cathartic fantasies that would see you sitting in a cell next to me were you to indulge them.

Is WWE Fake or Real? A Million Dollar Question Answered

“Is WWE fake?” is a question that we’ve all asked each other and our friends multiple times when we were younger. It would often be a topic of debate, but despite it all, we would still end up watching it anyway. But to answer the question “is WWE real or fake?” is not as simple and straightforward an answer as you might expect.

WWE brands itself as “sports entertainment” and not pro-wrestling. The reason for this is because in the 1990s, to get more levy and pay fewer taxes, Vince McMahon admitted to the Supreme court that WWE(then called WWF) is not a real sport, but simply a form of entertainment. And to his and the company’s credit, it worked. The term “sports entertainment has defined the company through several different eras and decades, up until the current PG era.

Is WWE real, though? The fact of the matter is that the competitive matches and fights between superstars are not real, as the matches have pre-determined outcomes. However, this doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s an athletic form of entertainment, and that all superstars train like athletes.

WWE(and pro wrestling in general) comprises of superstars portraying fictional characters on television with scripted rivalries and subsequently, scripted matches. However, that hasn’t stopped WWE from blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

There are very few other forms of live entertainment that have broken the fourth wall and blended real-life incidents into a storyline. Take, for example, CM Punk’s famous Pipebomb, where he referenced and vented out his real-life frustrations with the company, all on live television. WWE told CM Punk to go all-out, but when they felt he was taking it too far, they would cut off his mic, which is exactly what happened.

However, contrary to popular belief, bringing real-life and backstage aspects into storylines didn’t start off with Punk’s famous promo. It’s something that’s happened occasionally since the 1990s. Even in 2016 and 2017, The Miz was involved in several segments called ” Worked Shoot promos”.

A shoot promo is when the wrestler’s promo is completely off-script and based on reality. A “worked shoot” is where the lines are blurred. It’s using real-life elements to add to the storylines. The Miz was involved in a “worked shoot” promo with Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack, with Enzo Amore on RAW, where he referenced the fact that Enzo had gotten kicked out of the WWE European tour bus in real life.

The bigger stars are also no exception to this. John Cena‘s program with Roman Reigns involved a large part of reality being brought into the story. Roman Reigns has done the same with Brock Lesnar as well.

So to answer the question “is wrestling real?” , it isn’t. But even that can’t be counted as a straightforward answer. As mentioned, the outcomes of matches are predetermined, the superstars portray characters just as they do in any television show, but due to the physical and athletic nature of wrestling, injuries occur frequently and superstars bleeding in the ring is also legitimate, 98% of the time.

WWE superstars and wrestlers, in general, get a lot of flak from a lot of people for being “fake fighters” or participating in a “fake sport”, but what many people don’t understand is that they put their bodies on the line every single night and are at risk of injury constantly. From their hectic travel schedules to their training and the fact that they go all out for our entertainment, they deserve nothing but the highest respect.

WHY DO PEOPLE WATCH PRO WRESTLING WHEN THEY KNOW IT’S FAKE

Earlier today I was asked the question, “Why do people enjoy professional wrestling when other things, like mixed martial arts, are real.

This question presumes that the choice between MMA and WWE is an either/or proposition.  Despite sharing common elements, the two are distinctly different forms of entertainment and are appealing for different reasons.

MMA is a legitimate athletic sport, while professional wrestling is a form of entertainment. While MMA’s results are not predetermined, this can be either a blessing or a curse.  At best, mixed martial arts can be highly dramatic and unpredictable.  At worst, it can be drawn out, boring or over in a flash.

Professional wrestling offers an improvement over the MMA model – it has the artistic liberty to craft its own narrative.  If done well, there should never be a boring professional wrestling segment.

Furthermore, the creative domain of pro wrestling is large.  Unlike MMA, pro wrestling offers tag team matches, lucha libre-style bouts (i.e. highly acrobatic performances), hardcore matches, elaborate music/video/pyrotechnic displays and storyline developments that make heroes, villains, and underdogs out of its characters.

Some people are troubled by this.  They wonder how anyone can enjoy pro wrestling’s offerings when they know what they are seeing isn’t real.  Strangely, they seldom fret over the scripted nature of television, movies, novels or other similar works.  The key with all these art forms is the same – suspension of disbelief.  The only way to truly enjoy a performance is by allowing yourself to be sucked in by it.

My second response is that it is naïve to consider professional wrestling “fake.”  Not only must wrestlers possess real resilience and athleticism, but what is presented in arenas around the world is far more “real” than most people understand.

While the key storylines and finishes to matches are predetermined, what happens between the ropes is mostly improvised.  The effect is similar to that of improv comedy.  Two performers who understand the basic toolbox of their craft can play off each other, creating a completely original performance each time out.  In pro wrestling, as with comedy, becoming a master requires years of training and experience.

Connoisseurs of wrestling acknowledge these skills and are appreciative of seeing moves, counters and chains they never have before.  For many fans the “real” aspect of in-ring performance is more important than the scripted component of who wins and loses.   In most cases, the latter is a tool to enhance the former.

The best professional wrestlers not only know more moves than their MMA counterparts, but because wrestling is more a showcase than a pure competition, they are permitted more opportunity to display them.  For example, a top rope hurricanrana or a superkick are spectacles to behold in wrestling, but they, like many other moves, are unthinkable in MMA.  Again, people seldom seem concerned when similar actions occur in the context of, say, a Hollywood fight scene.

In MMA, the fighters who make it to the top of the card (ignoring political considerations) are generally the most skilled, but not necessarily the most entertaining.  The best professional wrestlers are not only tough and athletically gifted, but also can speak well on a microphone, have great innate charisma, and possess the underrated ability to tell a compelling story using in-ring psychology.

Fan involvement is more pronounced in professional wrestling.  If the fans chant for, buy the merchandise of, and generally support a particular performer, then WWE will, as a financially motivated company, push that performer higher up the card.  This ability to drive the trajectory of the product creates a level of fan involvement MMA doesn’t provide.  The pro wrestling business is a meritocracy, one in which fans are in control of who gets promoted.

I have also found the emotional connection fans have for their favorite wrestlers are often stronger than those they have for their favorite MMA fighters.  Starting as a kid, I watched one of my favorites, Shawn Michaels, on television every week for years, gradually becoming more invested in the character.

But over time, I began to appreciate that the best wrestlers are hardly characters at all (e.g. CM Punk), but are merely exaggerated versions of their real personas.  When I cheer as a fan, I am not only helping create a lively atmosphere, but I’m also expressing support to the performer behind the character.  When your favorites win, it’s a vindication of sorts.  It means that those who script the show see as much value in them as you do.  Whenever you get a chance to meet the wrestlers at events (which happens surprisingly often), it only serves to make that connection stronger.

And the thing is, when all of these pieces fall together in just the perfect combination, there is nothing better in the world than professional wrestling.  For those who want to experience this for themselves, I suggest you check out WWE’s Summer of Punk 2011 surrounding the Money in the Bank PPV and its main event match of the year.

Finally, for fans who are really in-the-know, pro wrestling websites offer backstage news that provides an entirely new dimension to the business.  For example, in late March 2012, news broke that former UFC champion Brock Lesnar was in negotiations to return to WWE.  This built fans’ hopes and anticipation for an imminent return.  Trying to predict when it will occur and under what circumstances can be just as much fun as the matches themselves.

For another example, consider the case of WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan.  After winning and defending the title for months in weaselly ways, this undersized but exceptionally skilled wrestler defended, and lost, his World Heavyweight Championship in near record time at Wrestlemania 28.  As a big fan of Daniel Bryan, I was intrigued by how WWE would choose to present him at the show, an aspect distinct from his actual performance.

After the loss, I can’t help but wonder about the backstage politics that led to the title change.  Has the company lost faith in him or was this done just for shock value?  Is the fact that the new champion’s first defense is against another returning Superstar suggestive of the fact that Bryan’s time is over?  I don’t know how things will shake out for him, but I can’t wait to find out.

CM Punk Talks WWE Being Too Scripted, Who Was The Best Wrestler At Working Safe, More

Source: UFC Unfiltered

As noted, this week on UFC Unfiltered hosts Matt Serra and Jim Norton welcomed WWE Superstar turned UFC Fighter, CM Punk, to the show. Among other things, Punk discussed the differences between WWE and UFC and he talked about how the best talkers in WWE history improvise their promos.

According to Punk the main difference between WWE and UFC is the fact that WWE performers are supposed to make moves appear impactful, but not make contact at all.

“In [professional] wrestling, you’re trying to make it look like you’re smashing a guy without actually touching him at all. And somebody who was super, super good at that was Bret Hart. He always made it look like he was killing a motherf–ker and he never was. And there [are] guys that are really, really good at that and there [are] guys that aren’t so good at that.” Punk added, “some guys are safer than others and that’s all I’m saying. I worked my share of unsafe guys and that’s not to say they have the mentality that there were going to go in [the ring] and hurt me. Some guys are just clumsy. f–k, I was a clumsy motherf–ker. I was never the most super athletic guy, so sometimes I’d do s–t and f–king end up hurting myself.”

Moreover, Punk admitted that he would work lighter on talents he did not like because he wanted to avoid being accused of purposely hitting people harder than necessary.

“The people you actually wind up beating the s–t out of, those are your friends. If I was wrestling a guy I didn’t like, I would make sure to go out of my way to not f–king stiff the guy because then there’s a problem because he’s like, ‘oh, you did that on purpose’. If I f–king clock my friend in the face or kick him in the nuts or step on his hand or something like that, it’s just funny. You can laugh about it afterwards.”

In Punk’s view, the best professional wrestling promos are improvised. While some performers need to be scripted, others should be given the freedom to be themselves.

“I think the good ones, the interviews and the promos people remember, those are improv. Now, [professional] wrestling’s just overscripted to death. It’s almost like they have a chokehold on it. Some guys need to operate that way and I feel like some people need to let loose and be themselves. You’ve got a whole room of guys writing for you. They don’t know you. They don’t know where you’re coming from. They don’t know your perspective or your character and stuff like that. And if you’re out there being disingenuous and saying words that three other people wrote, I always felt that the crowd could tell and then they’re going to pay attention to their phones or s–t on whatever segment you’re in. So yeah, I was always a fan of just kind of doing my own thing.”

This is what a professional wrestling script looks like from the WWE

WE’VE all suspected it for years, and now we have the proof. Professional wrestling is staged. But, importantly, not everything is fake.

WE’VE all suspected it for years, and now we have the proof: professional wrestling is staged.

But, importantly, not everything is fake.

Below you will find a nearly complete script from the April 14 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw, which was leaked on social media.

And it’s rather interesting.