Tag: pro wrestling

What, You Don’t Want to Read About the Time Vince McMahon Challenged Dana White to a Fight?


(I have nothing funny to say, so instead I’ll remind everyone that this guy was an ECW champion, and that makes me feel empty inside.)

For a guy who doesn’t believe that MMA is a threat to his business, WWE owner Vince McMahon is certainly very conscious of its existence. In fact, I’m willing to bet that McMahon is secretly a pretty big MMA fan. In the past, he has basically taken credit for the MMA success of Brock Lesnar, financed a movie about a mentally-challenged MMA fighter (I’m being dead serious), paid tribute to Sonnen vs. Silva II during one of his company’s matches, and once tried to pay Mike Goldberg to no-show his UFC announcing duties. What hardcore MMA fan hasn’t thought about doing that last one?

So I guess it should come as no surprise then that according to Dana White, Vince McMahon once challenged him to a fight. As he told the media leading up to tonight’s UFC 158:


(I have nothing funny to say, so instead I’ll remind everyone that this guy was an ECW champion, and that makes me feel empty inside.)

For a guy who doesn’t believe that MMA is a threat to his business, WWE owner Vince McMahon is certainly very conscious of its existence. In fact, I’m willing to bet that McMahon is secretly a pretty big MMA fan. In the past, he has basically taken credit for the MMA success of Brock Lesnar, financed a movie about a mentally-challenged MMA fighter (I’m being dead serious), paid tribute to Sonnen vs. Silva II during one of his company’s matches, and once tried to pay Mike Goldberg to no-show his UFC announcing duties. What hardcore MMA fan hasn’t thought about doing that last one?

So I guess it should come as no surprise then that according to Dana White, Vince McMahon once challenged him to a fight. As he told the media leading up to tonight’s UFC 158:

I’ve never said this before ever in an interview, anywhere. If Vince hears this, he’s going to go nuts. Vince is too old. He’s too old, which he won’t think he is, and he’ll go crazy. He wanted to do that one time. Vince wanted to fight me. Swear to God. Called me up and said, ‘Let’s do it. We can either do it in the UFC, or let’s do it at Wrestlemania [Author Note: It would have been at Wrestlemania 27].’ And I said, ‘You are crazy, man!’ Vince is- look, a lot of people talk about Vince- I’ve always said it, and I’ll say it again: I respect Vince very much. But Vince is too old to be fighting anybody.

Wait, you mean the world almost lost Snooki: Professional Wrestler just so Vince McMahon could promote a boring, “normal” fight against Dana White? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN…well, okay, I could have lived with that. And not that it matters, but McMahon once featured Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn during Wrestlemania, so the blatant publicity stunt wouldn’t have been the first “real” fight featured on the WWE’s biggest annual pay-per-view.

Interestingly enough, Dana White also spoke about the upcoming WSoF bout between Anthony Johnson and Andrei Arlovski, and let’s just say he isn’t a fan of the match. Via MMAMania:

“The problem with that fight is, it’s not a legitimate fight to me. For Arlovksi to want to get back into the UFC, he’s a heavyweight fighting a 170-pounder, you know what I mean? “Rumble” has trouble making weight, but he’s not a heavyweight. I don’t know man. I just don’t know. I like Andrei Arlovksi and when he left the UFC, there were no issues whatsoever. We respect him, his management. The way that they handled everything back then — there are a lot of guys who leave and do it the wrong way and burn bridges and stuff like that. Like Tim Sylvia. Lot’s of people talk about Tim Sylvia. Tim Sylvia couldn’t have been a worse fucking guy when he was here and how he left and how he did it and everything else. Then you look at a guy like Arlovski who couldn’t have left the company in a better way. Just because you leave, doesn’t mean it’s on bad terms. I just don’t know if Arlovski is at that level and a fight against “Rumble” Johnson isn’t going to make us go, ‘holy shit, Arlovski is going to be back in the UFC.’”

I’m not sure I agree with the notion that a guy who is the same size as Andrei Arlovski isn’t a real heavyweight because he used to destroy his health by cutting to welterweight, but then again, I’m also not expecting Dana White to compliment his competition, either.

Make sure to come back tonight for coverage of what we can all agree are real fights, as we liveblog UFC 158.

@SethFalvo

WWE Champ CM Punk Talks UFC 158, Says Rampage Jackson Will Lose at UFC on Fox 6

More than most professional wrestlers, WWE Champion CM Punk definitely knows a thing or two about mixed martial arts.That’s why when UFC on Fox 6 goes down in the Chicago, the hometown of the “Straight Edge Superstar,” Punk be watching the MMA news cir…

More than most professional wrestlers, WWE Champion CM Punk definitely knows a thing or two about mixed martial arts.

That’s why when UFC on Fox 6 goes down in the Chicago, the hometown of the “Straight Edge Superstar,” Punk be watching the MMA news circuit with keen interest as he makes his own preparations for the 2013 Royal Rumble.

MMA Fighting caught up with Punk to pick the champion’s brain about a few hot issues in the MMA world, including his predictions for Saturday’s card, the main event at UFC 158 and a few other fighters that he’s been watching.

Never one to shy away from talking about superfights, CM Punk cited Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz as the one thing that’s interested him most in MMA recently. However, he doesn’t think the Stockton bad boy will pull off an upset:

I’m looking forward to GSP [and] Nick Diaz. Can Diaz hang with [St-Pierre]? Sure. Can he beat him? I don’t know. I definitely think he can hang. I always think GSP’s problem is—when’s the last time he finished a guy? That was a long time ago.

I’m a Carlos Condit fan. That’s why I’m looking forward to that PPV, too. I think Rory MacDonald’s nuts. He’s got this personal beef with Condit for no reason. ‘Just because he beat him.

For UFC on Fox 6, Punk noted that Quinton Jackson would most likely lose his co-main event fight due to his developing, habitual weakness to wrestling:

Both [Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson] are ridiculously fast. I know they’re trying to promote that Dodson has the knockout power that a lot of flyweights don’t have, so it’s going to be interesting to see. I like Demetrious [to win].

Rampage has always been kind of wacky. I think Rampage is going to want to stand, so Glover’s going to try to win. So, that means Glover’s going take him down. I’ll pick Glover.

Punk additionally singled out Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone as the match he’s most excited about, breaking down their strengths and recent bouts.

Although Cerrone lost in dramatic fashion to Nate Diaz not long ago, Punk believes that “Cowboy” is simply too strong a fighter to pick against going into this title eliminator:

That’s an interesting fight. I don’t think there’s a harder one to take a bet on. This is one that I wish was five rounds, because I don’t think three’s enough. I don’t see either guy finishing any other guys. When Cerrone fought Nate Diaz, it was a completely different Donald Cerrone. It was like he kinda got tooled.

But then [Cerrone] KOs Melvin Guillard… and Pettis, he’s a Milwaukee boy, so that’s close to Chicago. I almost don’t want to bet against him. [It’s] strictly a gut feeling, but [I pick] Cerrone.

CM Punk also showed hometown solidarity by predicting Chicago-born Ricardo Lamas to beat Eric Koch, although he admitted not knowing too much about either featherweight.

For his part, CM Punk will be a longshot to win his own bout on Sunday, as he meets Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a singles match for the WWE Championship.

This will be the first time that The Rock has competed for a championship belt in World Wrestling Entertainment since 2002, when lost the title to Brock Lesnar, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion and Undisputed WWE Champion.

For CM Punk, this match will also put one of his most prized career records at stake, as his WWE Championship reign stands as the sixth-longest in the company’s history. In the last 25 years alone, Punk has retained the title for 433 days, an accomplishment that he’ll seek to continue building by defeating The Rock.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Horrible Video of the Day: Pro Wrestler Nearly Kills Himself During Botched Moonsault

(Don’t try this at home, kids. / Props: Peezy P via Deadspin)

Among pro-wrestling moves, aerial techniques are about as high-risk/high-reward as they come. Brock Lesnar nearly ended his career fucking up a shooting-star press at Wrestlemania XIX, and at a Beyond Wrestling show in Rhode Island on September 30th, Atlanta-based wrestler Charade botched one even worse, under-rotating during a moonsault and landing directly on the top of his head. The horrific impact fractured Charade’s skull, and immediately silenced the meager crowd. But Charade — working off of pure muscle memory — remained conscious and actually kicked out his opponent’s first attempt at a pin before letting the match come to a merciful conclusion.

Beyond Wrestling is hosting a charity dinner/event this Sunday in Bridgewater, MA, to raise money for Charade’s medical expenses.


(Don’t try this at home, kids. / Props: Peezy P via Deadspin)

Among pro-wrestling moves, aerial techniques are about as high-risk/high-reward as they come. Brock Lesnar nearly ended his career fucking up a shooting-star press at Wrestlemania XIX, and at a Beyond Wrestling show in Rhode Island on September 30th, Atlanta-based wrestler Charade botched one even worse, under-rotating during a moonsault and landing directly on the top of his head. The horrific impact fractured Charade’s skull, and immediately silenced the meager crowd. But Charade — working off of pure muscle memory — remained conscious and actually kicked out his opponent’s first attempt at a pin before letting the match come to a merciful conclusion.

Beyond Wrestling is hosting a charity dinner/event this Sunday in Bridgewater, MA, to raise money for Charade’s medical expenses.

TNA Wrestler King Mo Crosses Over to the Dark Side, Calls MMA a ‘Joke’

(“I don’t give a damn about some Bellator fighter that goes by the name of King Mo.” Well, that makes two of you. Video via TNAWrestling)

When Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal signed a dual-contract with Bellator and TNA Wrestling earlier this year, fans wondered how he’d be able to straddle the often-opposing worlds of real fighting and show fighting — a rare trick to pull off outside of Japan. But Lawal’s one-year suspension for steroids has allowed him to focus the majority of his energies on learning the pro wrestling game, and we’re starting to get the feeling that we might lose him altogether. Call it hunch, based on the fact that Mo thinks MMA is a fad, and can’t stand you people. Here’s what he told BleacherReport in an interview published yesterday:

“It starts with the way the fans don’t think for themselves,” Lawal stated. “They have to look to certain people for approval on how they think. They bash the fighters and think fighting is easier than it really is. A lot of people didn’t grow up fighting. They grew up playing football and basketball. So they can relate to missing a pass, a layup, free throws and dropping a pass, an interception or kicking a field goal.

“MMA fans never grew up fighting. They just put on their Affliction or Tapout shirts and say, ‘Hey I’m a fighter or hey I’m going to a fight.’ To me, its a joke. It is a certain demographic that’s involved and I’m not with that.“


(“I don’t give a damn about some Bellator fighter that goes by the name of King Mo.” Well, that makes two of you. Video via TNAWrestling)

When Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal signed a dual-contract with Bellator and TNA Wrestling earlier this year, fans wondered how he’d be able to straddle the often-opposing worlds of real fighting and show fighting — a rare trick to pull off outside of Japan. But Lawal’s one-year suspension for steroids has allowed him to focus the majority of his energies on learning the pro wrestling game, and we’re starting to get the feeling that we might lose him altogether. Call it hunch, based on the fact that Mo thinks MMA is a fad, and can’t stand you people. Here’s what he told BleacherReport in an interview published yesterday:

“It starts with the way the fans don’t think for themselves,” Lawal stated. “They have to look to certain people for approval on how they think. They bash the fighters and think fighting is easier than it really is. A lot of people didn’t grow up fighting. They grew up playing football and basketball. So they can relate to missing a pass, a layup, free throws and dropping a pass, an interception or kicking a field goal.

“MMA fans never grew up fighting. They just put on their Affliction or Tapout shirts and say, ‘Hey I’m a fighter or hey I’m going to a fight.’ To me, its a joke. It is a certain demographic that’s involved and I’m not with that.”

Part of me wonders if Lawal is intentionally playing a sort of MMA-traitor heel here, dissing MMA fans so that they’ll tune in to TNA Wrestling on Spike and watch him compete out of…hostility, I guess? I don’t know. It’s kind of a stretch. Let’s just assume that this is really how Lawal feels, and that he’s under the impression that pro-wrestling fans are a well-informed, well-dressed, and respectful bunch, who have all spent time gaining hands-on training in the Dungeon. Let’s see how Mo feels in six months, after being mobbed by dudes like this after every show.

Lawal, who made his introductory TNA appearance on October 4th (see the video at the top of this post), has spent all month studying his new trade at Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky, under the guidance of Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore. And it’s kicking his ass, to hear him tell it:

“I thought it was going to be hard, but this (pro wrestling training) is harder than I expected,” Lawal stated. “I’m going to tell you this. Pro wrestling training is three times harder than MMA. It’s harder because of the psychology, the positioning, the bumps, hitting the ropes and cutting promos…That s**t is hard. People don’t understand this s**t. People think wrestling is all fake. If you think it is fake, come try it out and you will see how real it really is.”

On the other hand, you get to do as many steroids as you want and nobody bothers you about it. (Boom. Score another one for us asshole MMA fans.)

Cheesy WWF Promo Photos of the ’80s/’90s, And Their MMA Counterparts [GALLERY]

Our friends at With Leather just put together an incredible/awful collection of cheesy WWF promo photos from the late ’80s and early ’90s, and as we were browsing through some of these gems while drinking our coffee this morning, we couldn’t escape the eerie feeling that we’ve seen these faces elsewhere. The same snarling mugs, the same wacky personas — it’s obvious that some of our favorite MMA fighters owe a debt to these guys. So follow us back to pro wrestling‘s golden age, and allow us to make some startling comparisons.

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart was the original…
Hillbilly Jim was the original…
Legion of Doom were the original…
Junk Yard Dog was the original…
Ultimate Warrior was the original…
The Honky Tonk Man was the original…
Tatanka was the original…
Big Boss Man was the original…
George “The Animal” Steele was the original…

Our friends at With Leather just put together an incredible/awful collection of cheesy WWF promo photos from the late ’80s and early ’90s, and as we were browsing through some of these gems while drinking our coffee this morning, we couldn’t escape the eerie feeling that we’ve seen these faces elsewhere. The same snarling mugs, the same wacky personas — it’s obvious that some of our favorite MMA fighters owe a debt to these guys. So follow us back to pro wrestling‘s golden age, and allow us to make some startling comparisons.

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart was the original…
Hillbilly Jim was the original…
Legion of Doom were the original…
Junk Yard Dog was the original…
Ultimate Warrior was the original…
The Honky Tonk Man was the original…
Tatanka was the original…
Big Boss Man was the original…
George “The Animal” Steele was the original…

Brock Lesnar Gets Clotheslined Out of the Ring on 1,000th Episode of WWE Raw [VIDEO]

(Props: WWEFanNation)

After some awful soap opera bullshit involving Paul Heyman and Triple H, former cage-fighter Brock Lesnar showed up on the historic 1,000th episode of WWE Raw last night to save his manager from getting slapped to death by Stephanie McMahon. Though his last run-in with Triple H ended in a Submission of the Night performance, Brock got the short end of the script this time, and was clotheslined directly out of the ring. (Perfect execution on that fall, by the way. The man’s still got it.)

Plus, the Undertaker and Kane reunited, and Fozzie Bear showed up. Hardcore, bro.


(Props: WWEFanNation)

After some awful soap opera bullshit involving Paul Heyman and Triple H, former cage-fighter Brock Lesnar showed up on the historic 1,000th episode of WWE Raw last night to save his manager from getting slapped to death by Stephanie McMahon. Though his last run-in with Triple H ended in a Submission of the Night performance, Brock got the short end of the script this time, and was clotheslined directly out of the ring. (Perfect execution on that fall, by the way. The man’s still got it.)

Plus, the Undertaker and Kane reunited, and Fozzie Bear showed up. Hardcore, bro.